After the Blogger crisis of the past few days, I’m sure many of you have had a horrifying thought cross your mind…

What if my blog doesn’t come back? What if my posts are gone forever?

No matter what platform you’re on, it’s always wise to regularly back-up your content. Here are the easy steps to do this for Blogger blogs:

1. Log in to your Dashboard.

2. Click on Settings.

3. Under the Basic settings tab (the one that automatically comes up first), you will see Blog Tools

4. Click on Export Blog. You will then see this:

5. Click Download Blog. This will give you the opportunity to save the file. You will either have a chance to Save As, or it will go to your designated download location, depending on your computer’s settings.

It’s that simple! Keep in mind that you will not be able to open this .xml file and read your posts. It is in a special format. Your content is within that file though, and it can be uploaded at Blogger later if needed or converted and uploaded to a WordPress blog.

Another thing to remember, your design/layout are not in this file either. It is your posts and comments (if you use the default Blogger comments), the real heart of your blog.

It’s a good feeling to know that your content is saved on your own computer. Making an extra backup on an external drive wouldn’t hurt either! Now that you know what to do, I recommend that you back-up regularly!

If you ever decide to move from Blogger to WordPress, remember that blog migration is one of the services I offer.

This design project for Sarah Mae’s ebook, 31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way, had several different aspects. The first was the actual ebook cover itself:

A fun “book graphic” is always a nice touch as well!

This header is for the 31 Days to Clean official site!

To see the site in action, click here! I highly recommend that you purchase the ebook while you are there as well! It’s available in PDF and Kindle formats!

The winner of the custom blog design giveaway is:

Congratulations Lollie!!

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by and entered my first design giveaway!!

The blog design giveaway has ended, and the winner notified by email. The winner will be announced here next week.

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Welcome to the party! Here at Insight Blog Design, we’re excited to join in the Ultimate Blog Party for the first time. It’s perfect timing since I just unveiled our brand new site design yesterday. I hope you like it!

My goal as a blog designer is to listen to you and create a design that really gives your readers a glimpse who you are and why you blog. Your design should do more than look pretty…it should really say something about you.

To celebrate with all you Ultimate Blog Party-goers, I am giving away…

One Custom Header, Background, and Button Design (with coordinating template colors)

It’s easy to enter….

Mandatory Entry:

1. It’s simple! Just take a peek at my portfolio and leave a comment below telling me which of my designs is your favorite.

For Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each):

2. Follow @designbyinsight on Twitter, tweet about this giveaway, and leave a comment on this post telling me you did (leave the link to your tweet in the comment…to find the permalink to your tweet, just click on the time below your tweet, then copy the url for the direct tweet):

I just entered to win a new blog design at @designbyinsight!! http://ow.ly/4r5UKm #UBP11

3. “Like” Insight Blog Design on Facebook and leave a comment on this post telling me you did!

The winner will be chosen on April 9 by random.org!

Thanks for stopping by today! You can also find me partying at my two blogs, Closing Time and Homeschool Java.

And a huge thanks to 5 Minutes for Mom for hosting this incredible party!

Brooke asked me to build a new home page to make a place for three separate blogs under the same roof, giving each page individuality while maintaining the same overall atmosphere.

We moved Warrior Prayers from Blogger to WordPress, with a new design.

Brooke’s Journals of a Photography Newbie needed a place of its own.

It’s fun to watch a blog grow and sometimes even multiply!

To view more of Insight Blog Design’s portfolio, click here.

Kristen, of Moms Sharpening Moms fame, is launching a brand new blog, Chasing Blue Skies: fresh air encouragement from an undaunted country girl. I loved working with Kristen to create a design that reflects her encouraging, sunny personality!

To view more of Insight Blog Design’s portfolio, click here.