One of the first steps to creating a Xanga page is to find a cute Xanga background that expresses your personality and sets the tone for your page. A cute background will give visitors an idea of what to expect from you once they start reading. The background contributes to the first impression, so take some time to find the one that best suits your needs.
Designing your Xanga Page
Designing your own Xanga page is a form of creative expression and most people want their pages to reflect their personalities. As with other social networking websites, one user would see another's background and ask how it was created. Many users share their codes, while others are stingy, refusing to share their coding secrets.
Many background codes can be found on the Internet. Here are some places in which you can find cute backgrounds for Xanga:
- Createblog.com - These backgrounds have the HTML code underneath them, so all you have to do is copy and paste.
- Moo.com - Find a ton of cute backgrounds for your Xanga, MySpace or Friendster pages.
- Glitter-graphics.com - This site offers a variety of patterns and images for Xanga.
- Code My Space - There literally thousands of Xanga backgrounds and graphics here.
Uploading Your Xanga Background
Once you find a cute background, you need to upload it to the Xanga website:
- Download the background to your computer and then save it. Be sure to give it a distinct name and remember which file or folder you saved it to so you can find it later.
- Upload your image - You can only upload your background directly to Xanga if you have a Premium account. Classic account holders need to use the webhosting site imageshack.us. Once there, here's what you need to do:
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- Click on "Browse" to find the background you downloaded to your computer.
- Once you find your background, click "Open".
- Click "Host It!" and your file will begin uploading.
- Copy the link that reads "Direct link to homepage"
- Go to your Xanga page and click on the "Look and Feel Editor"
- Go to "Pic" and paste in the "Direct link to homepage" link you copied earlier.
- Select a tiling or non-tiling option.
- Click "Save Changes."
Consider Copyright
With social networks such as Xanga, MySpace, Facebook and Friendster, and with increased Internet usage, copyright laws are becoming a little more complicated then back in the day when all the law needed to deal with was print. Many of the images used for backgrounds on social networking websites are copyrighted, but it's difficult to tell and most users don't really notice or even care. By downloading copyrighted material including pictures, music and the written word and then uploading it to a personal webpage, the user is breaking these copyright laws.
With the millions of users on these social networking websites, there really is no telling whether there will be a "crackdown" on illegal use of copyrighted material, especially when it comes to music. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has attempted in the past to come down on Peer-to-Peer file sharing for music and has charged a few people with breaking the laws. Although P2P file sharing has slowed a little bit due to the RIAA's actions, it is still extremely pervasive on the Internet. It might just be up to the individual artists, photographers and creators of these backgrounds to go after users that are downloading and using their copyrighted material illegally. Users just need to be careful what they are downloading. If it is copyrighted, it's probably best to just keep searching for an image that isn't.
