Customize Your LiveJournal

With so many people crazy about Facebook and MySpace, LiveJournal users are sometimes forgotten. Viewed by many as the intellectual option in social networking, LiveJournal is about more than text entries. LiveJournal may well prioritize thoughts and observations over twinkly comments and automatically-played embedded songs, but this site is still a lot of fun. Half social network, half blogging tool, LiveJournal includes custom avatars, mood indicators, and customization options that allow users to express themselves easily. The recently added "Customize Journal Area" raises the bar even further in this regard.

The brand new Customize Journal Area offers users hundreds of ready-made themes that they can apply to their journal, controlling all aspects of the journal's appearance. Background colors and textures, column layout, text font and size, imagery, and sidebar options can now be changed at the touch of a single button, and with a growing library of themes, there's something that will appeal strongly to nearly every user. From basic color, handwritten journal, or book layouts to elegant themes including pictures and animations, the Customize Journal Area has something to revitalize your journal, and shake things up a little.

The LiveJournal old guard need not worry. The Customize Journal Area is simply an option, and no users will be forced to change the look and feel of their journals at this time. Plus level accounts, Paid Accounts, and Custom Avatars (including the number of avatars available) will be remaining the same at this time. For those new to LiveJournal, or operating at the basic level, these existing customization options are things that you should really be taking advantage of, in order to get the most from your journal. Here's the scoop: