Showing posts with label Blogger Hacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogger Hacks. Show all posts

Related Posts Widget for Blogger / Blogspot

Now here is wonderful hack for displaying links to related posts beneath each of your blog posts. The related articles are chosen from other posts in that same category/label/tag. With this hack many of your readers will remain on your site for longer periods of time when they see related posts of interest.


Updates:

If your related posts have not been showing up lately: See How to Fix!

Steps for Implementation:
  1. Go to Layout >Edit HTML in your Blogger Dashboard.
  2. Back up your existing Template before making any changes!
  3. Make sure to check the "Expand Widget Templates" box.
  4. Search for the </head> tag.
  5. Add the following code just before the </head> tag.
  6. <style> #related-posts { float : left; width : 540px; margin-top:20px; margin-left : 5px; margin-bottom:20px; font : 11px Verdana; margin-bottom:10px; } #related-posts .widget { list-style-type : none; margin : 5px 0 5px 0; padding : 0; } #related-posts .widget h2, #related-posts h2 { font-size : 20px; font-weight : normal; margin : 5px 7px 0; padding : 0 0 5px; } #related-posts a { text-decoration : none; } #related-posts a:hover { text-decoration : none; } #related-posts ul { border : medium none; margin : 10px; padding : 0; } #related-posts ul li { display : block; background : url("https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigfxHGG_fSQhX8epzUOMjfFRqPTj-ivlfDhmb9XyQ_JMqxIci_T9Sl8KeSiuDi8K52MM1vMMplJDgXaQ4fRREE_KpAHhL7FzvF2MLzasvxeu8ZVoeOtfe0W3cBKvPrEj5kzN5Y0_DvAE0/") no-repeat 0 0; margin : 0; padding-top : 0; padding-right : 0; padding-bottom : 1px; padding-left : 21px; margin-bottom : 5px; line-height : 2em; border-bottom:1px dotted #cccccc; } </style> <script src='http://theblogtemplates.com/scripts/Related_posts_hack.js' type='text/javascript'/>
  7. Now search for <data:post.body/>. In some of the templates this code may look like this
    <div class='post-body>
    or
    <data:post.body/>
  8. Add the following code just beneath the code you just searched for.
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
    <div id="related-posts">
    <font face='Arial' size='3'><b>Related Posts : </b></font><font color='#FFFFFF'><b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'><data:label.name/><b:if cond='data:label.isLast != &quot;true&quot;'>,</b:if><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
    <script expr:src='&quot;/feeds/posts/default/-/&quot; + data:label.name + &quot;?alt=json-in-script&amp;callback=related_results_labels&amp;max-results=5&quot;' type='text/javascript'/></b:if></b:loop> </font>
    <script type='text/javascript'> removeRelatedDuplicates(); printRelatedLabels();
    </script>
    </div></b:if>
  9. Now Save your Template and you're done!
Customization
  • In order to change the number of maximum related posts being displayed for each label, search for the code below (within the code given in step 7) and change the number "5" to any desired number.
  • max-results=5

Change the Title Tags in Blogger for More Search Engine Traffic

y default Blogger displays the blog title first, followed by the name of the post. As you might notice this is not good when it comes to SEO. It's important for the name of the post to come before the name of your blog, especially when it comes to google search results. Learn how to make your post title show up first so that you can reel in more traffic from the search engines.

Why Change the Titles?
It's quite important to have the Post Title + Blog Title arranged accordingly because this is how you would want your blog to be displayed on google's search results. This way more people will click on your link when searching google because the post title is more relevant than your post name.
Example Google Search Results:
You are most likely to click on the bottom image when searching google for the keywords "image reflection generator". The reason being is that your mind reads text from left to right. So it makes sense to have the more important title on the left.


How to Change the Titles:

  1. Go to Layout>edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard.
  2. Search for this tag: <title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>
  3. Replace this tag with the following code:
  4. <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;index&quot;'> <title><data:blog.title/></title> <b:else/> <title><data:blog.pageName/> | <data:blog.title/></title> </b:if>
  5. Save your template and you should see the results in your web browser as depicted in the images below.
  6. It may take a few days for the changes to show up on the google search results. I guarantee you that you will start receiving more traffic from google once you are re-indexed!

20+ Useful Blogger Widgets and Hacks

Blogger is a great free blog platform that is improving every day. New useful hacks and widgets are being created on a regular basis. Here is a list of some of the very best blogger widgets and blogger hacks that will improve the usability of your blog.


Blogger Hacks

Related Posts Widget
Display related posts beneath each of your blog posts. Links are displayed based on labels given to each post.

Tag Cloud Widget
Display a simple tag cloud in your blog's sidebar. The tags are displayed based upon the labels given to each post.

Random Posts Button
This widget creates a link for your template that directs users to a random post when clicked on.

Change the Favicon
Are you tired of the regular organge favicon provided by blogger? This tutorial will teach you how to display your own customized favicon.

Top Commentators Widget
Reward your readers for commenting on your blog with this widget. The widget displays the names of the top commentators and will direct you to their website when clicked on.

Change the Title Tags for More Search Engine Traffic
This tutorial teaches you how to make your post title show up before your blog title in Google search results. This is very important when it comes to Search Engine Optimization!

Recent Posts with Thumbnails
Grab your readers attention with an appealing recent posts widget which includes thumbnails.

Recent Comments Widget
Make your blog look alive by displaying recent comment discussions.

Digg Vote Button
Let your Digg readers Digg your posts directly from your blog with this handy little widget.

Search Bar for Blogger
This widget displays a small search bar in your blog's footer. Your readers will be able to easily search your blog for specific content.

Table of Contents
Allow your readers to easily navigate through your site with an interactive Table of Contents.

Blog Widgets

Facebook Widgets
Connect your blog or website with your Facebook Account using these powerful widgets.

Currently Online Readers Widget
A small widget which display how many users are currently online. The widget also indicates which pages are currently being looked at.

Contact Admin Widget
Let your users stay in touch with you with this contact form.

Post Ratings by Outbrain
Let your users give your post a star rating from one to five.

Social Bookmarking Widget 
This widget lets your users to easily bookmark your blog posts at the bottom of each post.

PageRank Buttons
 Showoff your blog's Google PageRank with this small widget.

Google Talk Chat Back Badge 
A Google Talk chatback badge will let visitors to your web page chat with you. They'll be able to chat with you whenever you're signed in to Google Talk.

Twitter Widget Tools 
A great post containg 502 twitter widget tools, buttons, and icons for Engaging your followers.

PayPal Donation Button
If you've got a loyal reader community that might be willing to sponsor you as a blogger, this would be the way.

Google Buzz Share Button
Another way to share your content across a great social network.

Performancing Ads Widget
Another way to make some money from your blog by letting others advertise on your site.

Sudoku Puzzle Widget
Have some fun on your blog with this interactive sudoku game that will easily go in the sidebar.  The sudoku has five different levels of difficulty.

Add Google Buzz Share Button - Widget for Blogger

Google Buzz is a great social tool which is very similiar to Twitter and Facebook. It's a wonderful way to engage and interact with your readers! Make sure to implement these Google Buzz buttons into your blogger posts, so that users can easily share your content on Google Buzz.


Add Google Buzz it Button to Blogger

  1. Go to Layout >Edit HTML in your Blogger Dashboard.
  2. Back up your existing Template before making any changes!
  3. Make sure to check the "Expand Widget Templates" box.
  4. Here is the Google Buzz it Code:
    <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
    <a expr:href='&quot;http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=&quot; + data:post.url + &quot;&amp;title=&quot; + data:post.title + &quot;&amp;srcTitle=&quot; + data:blog.title+ &quot;&amp;srcURL=&quot; + data:blog.homepageUrl ' rel='nofolloW' style='text-decoration:none;' target='_blank'>
    <img alt='Buzz It' src='http://i48.tinypic.com/idyc04.png' style='border:0px;'/></a>
    </div>
  5. Search for this line of code in your template:
    <div class='post-header-line-1'/>
    and place the Google Buzz it Code right after the code you searched for above.
    If this doesn't work, then search for this code below and place the Google Buzz it Code directly before it.
    <data:post.body/>
  6. Now save your template and you're done!
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