Squidoo Tech Stew - Tips for Tasty Lenses

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Ranked #351 in Squidoo Tips, #59,540 overall

A Compendium of Squidoo Tips for Lensmasters of All Levels

Squidoo Tech Stew is a collection of top notch Squidoo lens building and promotion resources. Remember the fable about Stone Soup, where each member of the group added a single ingredient to a humble pot of soup and the result was a big and delicious meal for everyone? That's how this lens works - it's a recipe for success on Squidoo.

Lensmasters learn something new as they create each lens. No matter how many lenses I build, I learn a new technique or spiffy trick. It might be a unique way to organize my modules, or a new module. Sometimes its a layout tactic (for example the best place to put a Guestbook). I might figure out how to use some nifty CSS or advanced HTML to spiff up a lens that deserves some extra pizazz. Or I might just get better at creating a suite of niche lenses and connecting them to one another plus my web sites.

If you discover a topic lacking from this lens, feel free to contact me and suggest a new section. If you have a top-notch lens about lens design, lens marketing, lens development or lens etiquette - please add it to the appropriate plexo and share as much of this knowledge as you can.

Squidoo Lens Development Tips 

The best resources with how-to tips for building best-in-category Squidoo lenses

The Squidoo Top 100 is the ultimate challenge for any lensmaster. Creating and keeping a quality lens that achieves the very top tier in Squidoo isn't rocket science, but it takes work and dedication to keep it there. If you're just starting with Squidoo - or still thinking about why you should Squidoo, read these lenses first:

Why Should You Squidoo?

Why Join Squidoo? - all the reasons why: how it works, why it's fun and how easy it is to be a Squidoo lensmaster.

First Lens Mentor

Top Tips for Lens Success - The 9 Free Things Every Site or Lens Should Do - by Seth Godin

The Squidoo Answer Deck - the definitive source for all you need to know and learn. Hundreds of pages of useful answers, run by community experts.

Hitchhikers Guide to Squidoo - If there's a Squidoo Biblography, this is it. Nearly everything about Squidoo that's on Squidoo is on this lens, including profiles of the best and brightest lensmasters and SME (subject matter experts).

Traffic - the key to building a following and increasing your lens rank. This link will present a list of all Squidoo lenses tagged with the keyword "traffic"

Squidoo Resources - Tools, Resources, Guides for development and promotion

Squidoo Tips - All topic lenses in the Squidoo Tips category

Squid Blogs on Squidoo - The first and foremost Squidoo resources with the latest and greatest info for lensmasters

Bookmark This Lens - Share It 

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Q&D: Squidoo Lens Development Tips 

Quick Top Shelf Guidance for New Lensmasters

Actually, these tips are handy for all lensmasters, newbies or not.
Squidoo
The original and still foremost guidance to building quality lenses is Squidoo and the staff who build and shape this community.
Squidoo : Tags : lens
All lenses tagged with the keyword "lens" - with tips about building and beautifying your Squidoo lenses.
Squidoo : Topic : Squidoo Tips
Quick jump to the Squidoo category Squidoo tips: all the lenses in this category are in this listing.
SquidDon't!
It's simple: given our pedigree, our point of view and our dyed-in-the-wool, we-will-never-change-our-mind conviction on this issue, spam is not okay at Squidoo.This page outlines our thinking on the issue. It supplements our terms of service. It explains the difference between junk and spam ...
Squidoo : Just the FAQ
This is the official Squidoo FAQ page where those in the know will answer the big questions about Squidoo - the questions most newbies have already asked.
Guestbooks and You
Guestbooks are great tools for your lens. They let you get great feedback from readers, ask questions, run conversations, ask for help, collect links, and any other fun thing you'd like them to do.If you're looking for some help managing the settings on your guestbooks and approving comments, you're
Do I Need A Squidoo Mentor?
Squidlog article: Do I need a mentor? (Yes) How do I find a Squidoo Mentor? (Look here!)

HTML How-To on Squidoo 

Easy codes to spiff up your text modules

featured lens HTML Tips for Color

Color can be applied via HTML tags to fonts, borders and backgrounds. squidoo.com/basichtml and squidoo.com/advancedhtml show how to implement these colors. This lens however isn't going to show how the code is applied, but is a repository for the...

featured lens Make a Fancy Table of Contents

A clickable Table of Contents helps visitors navigate webpages. A table of contents also shows what's on a single webpage, which helps visitors decide whether your page is worth reading! A great table of contents within the first screen is a powe...

featured lens Lens typography: Beyond bold and italic

We all know bold. We all know italic. Most of us can probably even use both at once. * But how can we use other font effects within the body of our favorite modules (Text/Write and others) to emphasize and enhance our message? Read on to discover the b...

featured lens Super Advanced HTML Tips and Tricks to use on Squidoo

These html tricks for Squidoo are not really that super advanced. But they are super cool! Anyone can do this, Yes, you too! This lens would not be possible if it were not for the groundwork of other lenmasters: specifically, Magicality and N376 so t...

Style Sheet Savvy - CSS for Squidoo 

CSS can be tricky, but it's also a great way to add some spice to a lens.
featured lens My Favourite CSS Tricks on Squidoo

The basic tools provided by Squidoo will do pretty much everything you need to get your content out to your audience. But sometimes you want to format it a little differently, and this is where inline CSS comes into play. Here I show some of the tric...

featured lens CSS Codes Demonstration

Here's the code for this ridiculous CSS widget I made for my Fancy Table of Contents tutorial. I've color coordinated it, but it's still complicated. You may want my CSS Codes Quick Reference to help decipher all this. Feel free to cannibalize the...

Widget Wonderland - Squidoo Add-ons 

Little Code Snippets Make Big Impacts

Adding a small piece of programming code that someone else created can make a big difference to a lens. Most of the ready-to-use modules on Squidoo are widgets that are built into the dashboard. They're great, and very useful, but did you know you can also use free widgets from other places to spice up your lens?

  • Web Publishing Goodies - a lens devoted to all sorts of widgets, fonts and snippets to spice up your lens, blog or web site

  • Clearspring - the Widget Network, where you can grab or build widgets

  • How to Make a Widget - the fluffanutta shares tips on how to create and share your own Clearspring widgets

  • Widget Box - another source for widgets to snag or make

  • SquidUtils - The Ultimate Squidoo tools resource

  • AddThis! Make it simple for readers to bookmark your lens, or remind visitors to share your lens. Place this little chiclet near your guestbook or in your intro text.

  • StatCounter - get in-depth stat information about your lens

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Squidoo Groups, Awards, Teams 

Squidoo : Squidbadges
Squidbadges are the genuine marks of excellence and celebrity on Squidoo. These stars and badges help new readers know when they've landed on a really standout page created by a top member of the community. And they're kind of fun to brag about, too. You might see some lenses with any combination of icons in the top right bio section,
THE GIANT SQUIDS (and how you can become one)
No, it's not a rock group (but it might as well be). It's the core group of movers and shakers at Squidoo. It's a gathering of influentials, the most dedicated lensmakers on Squidoo.
The Purple Star Program!
Some things are worth the wait. That includes the new Purple Star program.Giant Squids, please meet your newest perk.Anyone who hopes to be a Giant one day soon, meet your latest reason to roll up your sleeves and keep trying.
THE GIANT SQUIDS 100 CLUB (and how you can become one)
The 100 Club is for Lensmasters who have created over 100 quality lenses here on Squidoo!They are the best of the best. These top notch lens masters are known for their superior lens making abilities, mentoring, charity work and all around helpfulness.You're likely to spot them on the 100 Lens Rank

Squidoo Link Tactics Lenses 

Links are an important part of lens development. You can create links within your lenses and you should create links that bring traffic to your lenses. There are many ways to create links from your lens - to other lenses, to blogs and to web sites. There are also many tactics you can use to create links INTO your lens that can improve your lens rank and increase potential Squidoo earnings.

These featured lenses will show you how to create outbound links from your lenses and find and create valuable inbound links from within Squidoo and on the Internet.
featured lens Squidoo Guide: Linking Tips

There are many ways that you can add links to your Lens, improving the experience of your readers. How you add those links often depends on what those links are for. This Lens explains the different types of links, and the techniques available to you...

Squid Merch - Shop for Squidoo Fan Gear 

Stuff to put on Squidoo Rectangle Magnet

Stuff to put on Squidoo Rectangle Magnet

From: SquidSwag

Price: 5.49 Buy Now

Sticker (Oval)

Sticker (Oval)

From: The Squidoo Store

Price: 2.99 Buy Now

Large Mug

Large Mug

From: The Squidoo Store

Price: 11.99 Buy Now

It's Squidoo Time Wall Clock

It's Squidoo Time Wall Clock

From: SquidSwag

Price: 12.99 Buy Now

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Lens Promotion & Marketing 

Build Traffic and Interest in Your Lenses

If you build it some will find it eventually. If you build it, blog about it, get it linked from outside, Tweet it, Tagfoot it and connect you lenses from within Squidoo and outside, then all sorts of other fun things will happen.

These lenses share tips and tactics for marketing your lenses and tooting your own horn to get noticed, build traffic and create a tribe that will follow you.
featured lens Tips on How to Get Your Squidoo Lens Noticed with More Traffic

One of my lenses http://www.squidoo.com/baby_kids_freebies made it into the top 100 and it took it just 43 days to get there. Here are some tips on what I did: * Be sure to have at least four modules (so your lens gets featured on Squidoo) * Add...

featured lens Helpful Beginer Information Collection for Squidoo

I understand some of Squidoo, but there is much more. Instead of saving them on my computer for reference, I put them here to share with you what has helped me learn. I hope this will help other newbies. I will share how I discovered Squidoo and som...

Photo and Image Tips 

featured lens Traffic From Image Searches

Google Images | Traffic and hits to your lens or web-page. Yahoo, MSN, and Google image searches are the best kept secret among experienced webmasters and SEO consultants for acquiring readers to internet locations around the web. Read on to find out...

featured lens Free Images and How to Use Them

This is a listing free image resources to use on your lens or website. Also, it includes several detailed How-To sections on how to add the necessary HTML to control and enhance the images in your pages (or lenses). Examples included. If you do fi...

featured lens Free Images and How to Use Them

This is a listing free image resources to use on your lens or website. Also, it includes several detailed How-To sections on how to add the necessary HTML to control and enhance the images in your pages (or lenses). Examples included. If you do fi...

featured lens Using a Lens as an Image Store

Great lenses use lots of images. Newbies just upload images to Text Modules; experienced lensmasters add images using an HTML tag, but where on the Web can images be stored? Easy - store your images in a special Squidoo lens you create for the purp...

featured lens Create Stunning CSS Backgrounds with Images

Have you heard of CSS Backgrounds? Do you have a Squidoo lens or two? How about a website? A MySpace profile? Are you bored by all those plain old white backgrounds? Here I'm going to show you how to spice up your lenses and pages and create bea...

Squidoo Graphics & Banners 

There's a wealth of free graphics (lens candy) you can use to jazz up your Squidoo lenses, generously offered by lensmasters with graphic talents. Be sure to give credit and a big thank-you to artists whose graphics you use to spiff up your lenses.
featured lens Web Site Apps & Graphics

Find the best free web publishing templates, comment codes, fonts, blog widgets and free graphic images for use on your lens, blog, web site, personal page, MySpace site, eBay store or any other online community page. Check out the tips for designin...

featured lens Borders and Dividers for use on Squidoo

I like to use clip art dividers and borders to dress up my lenses. I like them so much that I've accumulated quite a collection! These dividers and borders are derived from public domain sources such as vintage publications, or I've made them...

featured lens Lens Candy - Free Squidoo Graphics for the Style Conscious Lens Master

Hello and thanks for visiting this lens. I know there are quite a few graphic resource lenses out there but, hey when it comes to style, there can never be too much choice. So here's my contribution :) So far, I've included three sets of squidoo gra...

Squid DON'T - What NOT to Do 

Advice about what to avoid when building a Squidoo lens

Sometimes advice is not about how to do something, it's about what to not do in order to be successful. The lenses featured here will tell you how to apply best practices to create and publish good lenses - they'll tell you what to avoid, and why.

Occasionally a lens gets "locked" - see the reasons why and if this happens to you, what steps you can take to remedy and republish your lens.

On rare occasions a Squidoo account gets DELETED. If your account is Squid GONE, there's probably a really bad reason why it got zapped. Here's what to avoid so you won't become extinct in the Squidoo sea.
featured lens Top Reasons Squidoo Accounts Get Deleted

Squidoo loves lensmasters, and when they're new and trying new things, we love to give them the benefit of the doubt. But occasionally, we get bad actors who just aren't interested in creating great lenses and insist on breaking the rules. Below we'...

featured lens The Best Squidoo Lens NOT To Do

Oh, yippee yay! This is all about me and my Website and what I want you to buy. I am not going to add any of my personality or give you any information on the lens topic, because that would waste my time! In fact, I don't have a topic! After all, all...

featured lens SquidDon't!

It's simple: given our pedigree, our point of view and our dyed-in-the-wool, we-will-never-change-our-mind conviction on this issue, spam is not okay at Squidoo. This page outlines our thinking on the issue. It supplements our terms of service. Don'...

Just Say NO - Don't Spam ... 

EzineArticles Cartoon - to many links in your article

Advanced Lens Building Topics 

featured lens Best Lensographies Ever

Think of your lensography as your Squidoo home page. It can be the single URL that you direct people to, and they will have access to ALL of your lenses. Wait, what's a lensography you ask? It's a collection of all of your hard work here on Squidoo....

featured lens Lensography

Thanks to a fellow Lensmaster for coining the term "lensography". The Lensmaster Bio page is good, but with the use of the Featured Lenses module one can highlight and categorise ones favourite lenses. This lens is a growing collection of le...

SquidUtils Blog 

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Achieving Lensmaster Zen 

I truly believe that Squidoo makes it possible for anyone to build terrific lenses, perhaps even earn a LOTD or Purple Star award, if they apply the basic rules of good lens building and follow the tips shared generously throughout the Squidoo community.

Successful lensmasters are passionate about Squidoo; they freely share their success stories, insider tips and best practices. There are dozens of lenses on Squidoo that share proven methods for building and marketing quality lenses. This Squidoo how-to lens is only one of many resources you can use every day to create, improve and market your lenses.

The information to help you achieve lensmaster Zen is bountiful and free - the Squidoo community is a uniquely generous and sharing environment. There's competition to get lenses into the top tier, but most if not all lensmasters give freely of their knowledge and offer help to newbies and experienced Squids every day, in dozens of ways.

Share Your Squidoo Tips 

Got a favorite Squidoo-related tip or comment to share?

Please leave a comment related to this lens or to a favorite Squidoo-related resource you recommend.

You don't need to be a member to comment on this Squidoo lens, but if you're motivated enough to comment, you can quickly join and participate in all this marketing and design fun. Plus, if you're a member of Squidoo, you can rate this lens and any others you visit with those stars at the top of the page.

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About Pastiche 

My Bio

web counter* Pastiche's Lensography
* Giant Squid 100 Club
* Coloring Book Artist
* 20th Century g33k grrl
* Graphic Artist
* Adult Coloring Fan
* Family Portal Publisher
* Purple Star Lenses Rain Gardens, Nature's Water Filters, Eco-Friendly Tiny Houses, Clip Art Borders & Frames
* LOTD Easter Coloring Books (March 18, 2008)
* Zazzle Artist

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Words to live by: Dream big, then make it happen.
lee hansen is a digital artist and writer who publishes pastiche family portal and designs free clip art, coloring books and crafts at squidoo Senior squid geeks group Manager

A few of my graphics are famous - perhaps you've seen them on blogs, in games on your iPhone or in YouTube videos.

My clip art and paper craft blogs:


Want to look over my shoulder for coloring pages, clip art or crafts ideas? I save my favorite pages as a Shared Resource on Google Reader. I write at Helium, too.


I Am Officially Famous on Squidoo and Poddys

Help Build This Lens 

Contribute Your Bits and Tips to Squidoo Tech Stew

Squidoo Tech Stew is one of many how-to lenses.

The more lensmasters work with Squidoo tools, the more they learn about what works to create excellent lenses. It's like cooking - you work with a recipe to improve it each time you prepare the dish. This lens is a bit of a Stone Soup concoction: each person adds an ingredient and the result is a rich kettle of bounty and goodness. Starting from this basic stock I hope you will sample, savor and improve my Squidoo Tech Stew until it's brimming with the best tips, tricks and techniques for cooking up and serving fine lenses.

There are dozens of quality resources on Squidoo and outside the community where you can find tips for building, improving, marketing and managing Squidoo lenses. This Squidoo tips resource is a little different because it seeks collaborative input from the community to expand and grow into a compiled document. The more lenses added to this one the more you'll be connected to all the best Squidoo development and marketing lenses created by the lensmaster community.

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