BloggerStop.Net - Blogger Widgets, Templates, Help!

Image Zoom [JQZoom] For Blogger Blogs

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Here's a creative and innovative way to display large pictures in limited area:
that's JQzoom !

Purpose of this hack:

While the smaller thumbnail image is displayed in your post, the corresponding larger image is displayed inside a floating window only when the reader hovers his/her mouse cursor over the thumbnail-image. The image displaying-style inside the floating-window is exactly like that of a view through a magnifying lens or that of a microscopic view.

To get a clear idea of the hack,
check out the Live Demo... (in a Blogger blog).
And another standalone DEMO

Now follow these instructions to add this hack to your Blogger/BlogSpot blog:

STEP #1
Log in to Blogger and go to Layout -> Edit HTML
then, find (CTRL+F) this code in your template:

</head>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it, paste this code:

<script src="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/jquery-1.3.2.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/jquery.jqzoom1.0.1.js" type='text/javascript'></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/jqzoom.css" type="text/css" />
<script type="text/javascript">

$(function() {
var options =
{

zoomWidth: 275,
zoomHeight: 275
}
$(".jqzoom").jqzoom(options);

var options2 =
{

zoomWidth: 275,
zoomHeight: 275,
zoomType:'reverse'
}

$(".jqzoom2").jqzoom(options2);

});
</script>

Default width and height of zoom-window is fixed as 275x275 pixels. You may change the values if you want.

STEP #2
Save your template.

STEP #3
Now whenever you want to add this image-zoom effect to your images, simply add the class "jqzoom" to your a href tag.

So, if this is the usual code you use to display an image in your blog:

<a href="DIRECT_LINK_TO_THE_LARGER_IMAGE" title="IMAGE_TITLE"><img src="DIRECT_LINK_TO_THE_SMALLER_IMAGE"/></a>

Now to implement the hack, the new code becomes:

<a href="DIRECT_LINK_TO_THE_LARGER_IMAGE" class="jqzoom" title="IMAGE_TITLE"><img src="DIRECT_LINK_TO_THE_SMALLER_IMAGE"/></a>

In the DEMO, this is the larger image used while this one is the thumb-nail.

NOTE #1: To display the images with Reverse Opacity Effect (second image in the DEMO), add class="jqzoom2" instead of class="jqzoom"

NOTE #2 (IMPORTANT): For this hack, you should have two sizes of the same image. The smaller image is displayed in the blog, and the larger image is hyperlinked to the smaller image (displayed in the floating window).
You may use any image-editor (MS-Paint/Adobe photoshop) to create the smaller thumbnail-image (displayed it in the blog posts).

Browser Support:
6+ | 2+ | 1.0 | 2+ | 9+ |

This hack is similar to Blogger-LightBox, where the zoom effect is seen in the entire image (where image-zoom is observed only on mouse click instead of mouse-hover).

Project Author:
Renzi Marco from Mind Projects, presently working on the next release of
jqzoom with thumbnail image switch.
R. Marco is an Italian Engineer skilled in php, CodeIgniter, javascript, JQuery, XML and SOAP... He is actually looking for a full-time job in a collaborative and innovative web team. Hire Him.

Friday Blogger BackUp #4 - Protect Your Blog!

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:50:00 +0000

Another reminder to all the readers of BloggerStop.net, to protect and save all their content.

It is important to take regular back-ups of your template and blog-content, to avoid circumstances like these:
Example 1 - Template lost
Example 2 - Comments deleted
Example 3 - Blog banned and marked as spam

Official word from Blogger: Mistakes do happen.

So, precaution is aLwAyS BeTTer than Cure !!!

1. Tutorial for blog posts and comments backup.

2. Tutorial for template and widgets backup (read the first 6 steps of the tutorial).

BEST Method To Truncate Posts In Blogger/BlogSpot Blogs

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 12:36:00 +0000

This post is important for all the bloggers, blogging on Googles Blogger platform. Whether you are presently using any post-truncating method or not, you should read this post at least once.

Truncating posts on homepage/archives/label-pages is a must for every blog. If you care for your readers and search engines, then you should know that truncating the posts will make both of them happy.
By showing only a small part instead of the complete post, you will save some bandwidth and time of your readers. And similarly search engines will load your pages quickly too. Moreover your readers will not miss the posts present at the bottom and when they click on the "read more" links to read the posts in detail, it will increase your pageviews too.

If you are working on Blogger/BlogSpot platform, then you have at least 3 ways to truncate the posts. Two of them involve javascripting to truncate the posts and the third one (that is officially announced and suggested by Blogger) is non-javascript based. You would have seen all three of them being used by different bloggers. Some of the newly developed Blogger-Custom-Templates use the javascript based automatic-read more hack.

Sponsored Ads

What's the problem?
As the first two hacks, (viz. automatic read more hack, and manual read-more using <span class="fullpost">) use javascript to truncate the posts, so most of your readers (at least 90%) will be able to see the truncated posts, but search engines like Google/Yahoo without javascript support in their browsers will not see your blog-pages with truncated posts. So, even though you are using the truncating (read-more) hack in your blog, they are of no help in optimizing your blog for search engines.

If you are also using one of those javascript based techniques to truncate your posts, then I will advice you to stop using that method and better switch to the third option (non-javascript based).

The solution
So I will suggest you to use the official method of truncating posts suggested by Blogger: i.e. use  anywhere in the blog-post to truncate it. Read the complete post here.
And if you are facing any problems in using this method, then read; how to fix errors in Blogger Read-More hack.

Benefits you will get by using this method:
1. Posts are truncated for both your readers and search engines.
2. Decreases loading time of your blog (you can check it in your Google Webmasters account), as posts are truncated for search-engine-bots too.
3. Increases page-views.

A suggestion to further optimize your blog:
Limit the non-truncated part of the posts to only 1 image (that means, show only 1 image per post in the homepage). Hide extra images in the hidden/truncated part, as it will decrease the loading time of your hompage/archive pages.

Check it yourself... - Immediately after implementing this hack in all the blog posts (being shown in the homepage), you can check and see the improvements your blog has made:
1. Go to Pingdom-Tools and note down the loading time of your blog.
2. Now apply this hack to all the posts present on your blogs homepage, and then again check the loading time of your blog at Pingdom.
You'll notice the difference;
- in the total HTML size of the blog (it will decrease) and,
- in the loading time (it will also decrease, that means your blog now loads faster).

Image credits

"Be Unique" Says Mohammad !

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:30:00 +0000

Blogger Of The Week: Mohammad Mustafa Ahmedzai (author at MyBloggerTricks)

About the Author:
I am Mohammad Mustafa Ahmedzai, a Computer System Engineering Student and the author of the blog MyBloggerTricks.com
I am an addicted blogger,designer, web enthusiast and a certified SEO. I write first heard tutorials on Blogger tools, resources and their uses with main focus on CSS and HTML.

BS: Welcome to BloggerStop, Mohammad. How long have you been in the Blogosphere? And who/what inspired you to start a blog of your own?
Ans.: Firstly let me thank you Divya Sai for your extreme love, respect and keen interest in knowing about me through this friendly interview. I have no words but to wish you a successful and memorable life online and offline.
Dear I started blogging in August 2008 after completing my A Levels. I came across Blogger while doing a Google search for "What is a Blog?" After watching some videos I signed up for a Blogger Account and started my first blog i.e. Tecfun.co.nr where I share my experiences with my college friends and teachers. Honestly speaking, it were the videos made by Blogger team and commoncraft.com which inspired me to start the blogging career. It was in fact this visual interaction that brought about a dramatic change in my life.

BS: How will you describe your blog in one line/less than 20 words?
Ans.: MBT has the reputation of publishing unique and first heard Blogger tutorials which includes mainly CSS based widgets, Magazine style templates and Social Media icons.

BS: What do you blog about? Is this blog devoted to a single theme or do you have more than one quite unrelated categories in your blog?
Ans.: Well my tutorials are mainly focused on areas like CSS and HTML, Blog Optimization, webmaster tools, Blogger widgets, templates and most importantly Blogging Goodies. By Blogger tricks I generally speak of all blogging platforms and not just Google Blogger. So in short the categories are all related and speak of nothing but weblogs.

BS: Are you the only author in your blog or do you have co-bloggers to manage the blog? In future are you planning to team up with like-minded bloggers?
Ans.: Unfortunately at present I am the only victim who is shedding sweat and tears day and night :((. Blogging really requires a lot of precious time and I am feeling a dire need for a trustful partner who could help me in writing interesting tutorials. For your second question, I will surely join hands with niche blog partners in near future but only after I have stabilized MBT more firmly on Blogosphere.

BS: Do you blog anonymously or your readers know well who you are?
Ans.: My blog is an open Bio of myself in brief. I share everything their with my readers from my home, University till Blogging. Many readers have become so much socialized with me that many wish me on special occasions through chats, emails, blog comments and some even through phone calls. I think by blogging anonymously one can never achieve true appreciation, love and self confidence. It is indeed the true identity of a Blog author that keeps him spiritually comfortable with his online work.

BS: Do you have any specific goals/expectations from your blog? Have you already achieved any of these goals (or would you like to share any milestones that your blog has achieved)?
Ans.: The biggest blogging ambition that I have is to revolutionize the importance and significance of Blogging in my country. Only 6-7% people living in Afghanistan and Pakistan use internet and those who use it, don't even know what a blog is. Since I am a student myself still exploring the ever expanding Blogosphere, I am waiting for the day when I will have a true professional cap on my head with enough confidence to explain the advantages and value of Blogging to young generation living in developing countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The biggest milestone that I achieved is that a shy guy with a blog that is only 10 months old, is now being interviewed by one of India's finest young Blogger i.e. Divya Sai. I think there can be no better milestone than this within my one year of blogging career.

BS: How much time do you devote to your blog? Do you blog on weekends and do you think Blogging is eating too much of your time and is it affecting your day-to-day (offline) life too?
Ans.: Man Blogging is tough! It demands a lot of time, motivation, continuous hard work and plenty of patience. I spend about six hours daily in front of the computer but still I feel as if I am devoting less. My mom and dad often shout at me due to my late night work! :D
Blogging can affect your health also if you don't work carefully. During the recent days I had complains of eye sight issue and backache but as soon as I realized these side effects I started going gym and luckily things have improved a lot. I have now a screen filter on my monitor and a comfortable darling seat to help me blog safely :D To be honest my social background i.e. my friends and family members are not affected at all. I spend day time with my friends and family and night with my readers.

BS: What are your present blog stats, i.e. number of daily visitors, your global reach etc.?
Ans.: Now this is a risky question..! I will try to be more honest with you. Since MBT is only 10 months old, it is receiving 10,500 page views monthly with 230+ subscribers, 229 Facebook followers, 70+ Google friend connect followers and 1100+ twitter followers. The numbers are still increasing MashAllah! The MBT homepage has a PR-2 with some pages with PR-3 and all internal pages with PR-1 to PR-2 . This is what I achieved so far. Hope that was an open answer!

BS: What do you think is a better source of traffic - search engines, traffic exchange sites or social networking sites?
Ans.: I guess traffic from search engines is never constant but it is huge for sure. For me personally as a SEO, driving Traffic through search engines is more interesting, easy and less hectic. Traffic from search engines is everlasting with no doubts. If any of your page hits the first page with a rich keyword then you can enjoy an ever-growing readership through that one keyword for a longer period as long as you keep working hard on that specific keyword. Social networking sites and traffic exchange sites are also good sources of Traffic but this kind of traffic is more hectic. You will receive Traffic only if you actively participate in forums and talks and undoubtedly doing so requires a lot of time and energy.

BS: Do you regularly respond to your readers and do you think it is important for a blogger to always comment back or reply back to his readers?
Ans.: Well I am pretty serious when it comes to reader's queries. I deal it so seriously that most readers receive replies within seconds and minutes or at most within 24 hours. No matter whether the question is relevant, irrelevant, a feedback, suggestion or criticism, I welcome them all with a smile. :>
The true self confidence that an author achieves is when readers leave comments. No doubt the best identity of a good Blogger is his good and friendly attitude towards his readers. I personally hate giving feedback to well established blogs (xyz) just because I feel it morally an insult when your feedback or query is left ignored and not replied.
It takes months and years to build up a good number of subscribers but it takes only a week or a month at most to lose precious loyal readers due to lack of communication on the author's side.

BS: What are your unique strategies to survive and to perform better in your blogs niche against your competitor blogs?
Ans.: My strategy is the word "unique" itself i.e. I believe in offering resources that are never published or shared anywhere else may that be blogger tutorials, templates or blogger goodies. In short the best strategy to survive against your niche competitors is to beat them with unique and first heard content. One should not just blog about what is already shared on famous major blogs rather he should explore and discover his own talent and must come out with his own creative ideas. No doubt God has blessed us all with equal senses.

BS: Other than Blogging what are your other hobbies or what do you do in your leisure time?
Ans.: Unfortunately I don't have any leisure time. I go university early in the morning, teach O Level students in the evening, go gym at night and do blogging late night. Now tell me where goes my leisure time :(

BS: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Are you earning enough to quit a 9 to 5 day job?
Ans.: I started it with passion but now as I am investing more and more time in it, I must accept the fact that I am trying hard to achieve some revenue in return.
For your second question I would say, no... not at all! I am not a richi rich blogger :D. At present Blogging keeps me happy spiritually but not very much economically.

BS: Do you sell any of your products, work as an affiliate partner or advertisements are the only source of income for you?
Ans.: Since I started blogging just a year ago (i.e. 2008-2009) I rely much on revenue through advertisements. But as days are passing, I am receiving good offers from some niche blog authors to start a niche partnership. I will pay due respect if any offer appears appealing.

BS: Are you planning to employee someone to help you in blogging or outsourcing some of your work like blog-designing, social networking or someone for your PR department?
Ans.: As you know I am an Engineering student and hiring someone one at this stage will not be affordable to me. Though I have plans to offer Guest posting at MBT. The Guest poster will be provided all legal blogging rights like a link in signature, Adsense revenue sharing and many internal links that will help him with rich links, traffic and some good bugs in return :>

BS: Blogs you follow and read regularly…
Ans.: Friendly speaking I follow no blog! Just for the reason that I read all blogs randomly. It is natural that not all posts of one specific blog are entertained. So instead of flooding my inbox with lots of emails I prefer reading a blog relevant to the query I am searching for at that specific moment. But I really don't recommend this style to other bloggers. Indeed subscription helps you keep track of all your favorite blogs and saves a lot of time but I prefer bookmarking a blog.
The blogs that I often visit and read are indeed those of my niche friends which include Bloggerstop.net with no hesitation.

BS: Communities/Forums you have joined (that help you in blogging):
Ans.: Facebook, Youtube and Yahoo Answers are my best friends! Among them Yahoo Answers is the best traffic resource I can recommend with full confidence. Wiki Answers are also as good as Yahoo answers but I have not signed up for an account as yet and will do so shortly.

BS: Have you done any mistakes in your blogging life? And what have you learnt from these mistakes?
Ans.: My first mistake was to create a blog with many topics like Internet, Social Media, Computer, Software and Blogger. But later I realized that I was really getting no good traffic neither were people taking interest in receiving my regular newsletters. Then I focused on one single topic and that was Tutorials on Google Powered Blogger. This was the best decision I ever made. Things have really changed dramatically thereafter. This experience taught me that the success of blogging indeed lies in just one strong Topic!

BS: Has blogging added any special flavor to your life? Would you like to share it with us?
Ans.: Blogging is the best experience one could have. You make new friends everyday. You have a large crowd to read and appreciate your efforts. You socialize with people from different cultural backgrounds and with different tones and colours. You learn everyday for every single day in Blogosphere has a different message to deliver. No matter what some clumsy people may say but Blogging. is for those who want to enjoy the world far different from the real world we live in.
I find peace and satisfaction in blogging and verily I will blog till death! :D

BS: Something you really want to change in your blog or in yourself being a blogger?
Ans.: I want to speedup my publishing process. I really try hard to publish one post per day but since I have uni(versity) in morning and students in evening, no matter how hard I try, I can not make it. This is one main problem I am struggling hard to combat and I am sure in the coming few days I will really knock it down!

BS: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?
Ans.: I would pick up a wildlife zone especially in South Africa. I have seen and learnt enough of Humans and wish to see with my own eyes how our neighbor species live and survive in their lush greeny Natural Habittes. Wildlife zones are areas where true beauty of planet Earth actually lies. Anyone would love snow capped mountains, dense green forests, volatile rivers, cute little creatures, singing trees and birds and united groups of animals. Wildlife has a lot to offer for the peace and tranquility of our souls.
I would take with me my laptop! :D

BS: Bloggers generally love to read books? Do you agree with this and if yes what you’re your favorite books/novels?
Ans.: Of course I agree. One who writes more actually reads more. I read my field related books like Physics, Further and applied Mathematics and my dearest subject i.e. Chemistry.
You said Novels??..... Oh never!!, I have always scored bad in literature :D

BS: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ans.: Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). He taught me the purpose of this life and identified to me the Almighty force Who is responsible for balancing the system of the Universe. I know God because I know Mohammad (PBUH). He was the last amongst Prophets after Adam, Solomon, Abraham, Moses and Jesus (May Peace Be Upon Them All).

BS: Which is your favorite television show? & favorite movies and songs?
Ans.: Honestly speaking, no television show or movie did ever impressed me for none offered peace of mind. As far as songs are concerned I love Nasheeds (Arabic Songs) by Ahmed Bukhatir and Zain Bikha. I find peace and a good lovely message in these Nasheeds. They make me cry, laugh and smile. The Nasheed "Last Breath" by Ahmed Bukhatir brought about a turning point in my life.

BS: What’s your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?
Ans.: I love an Afghani Dish called "Kabuli Palow". It is an extremely healthy and tasty dish consisting of rice and beef with a sprinkle of dried grapes on it. One of the most beloved dish in Afghanistan. We serve every guest with Kabuli Palow! :>>

BS: Blogs are replacing personal diaries, magazines, journals and today more than just being a hobby we can see corporate blogs too, so what do you think is the future of blogs?
Ans.: I see blogs as an ever expanding medium for quality education. Blogs have revolutionized the web and have made the Cyberspace a rich source of education and entertainment. Journals, magazines and other classical source of knowledge are dead papers which can only be read but can not be questioned. On contrary Blogs are an open medium for communication between the author and a reader. People ask questions, bring problems and they receive answers and solutions within minutes. After 10 years or more you will find every child saying "Did you read Mr. X's blog? and not "Did you read Mr. X's book?

BS: Any special message you would like to share with our readers as well with everyone else?
Ans.: As a blogger one should think more about the content than the revenue. Many bloggers often underestimate the importance of this beautiful learning experience by turning their blog into a fish-market occupied with ads. I believe that only those bloggers succeed who pay more attention towards providing useful and unique content rather than that content which is already published somewhere else. It is good to spread the voice of one blogger to your readers by sharing his content but try to play your own individual roles in bringing something interesting, inventive and creative to the blogosphere. Every one of you is a genius and it is only a matter of time to realize it. Invest your time and energy for at least one year and then expect a fruitful outcome in terms of revenue. I believe that If you really want to be a really successful blogger then share what is revolving in your mind and dress this idea and present it in a manner so that it may look appealing to your readers. For a desired succesful blogging career do not work harder but smarter! Wishing you all a good luck and success and an ever growing readership. Keep blogging for the generation ahead needs you!

BS: How can we connect with you?
Ans.: At present the best way to contact me is my blog and the secondary is Facebook. It would be an honour to connect with you guys.
Twitter ID: MBT-Twitter
Facebook Profile: Facebook-MBT
Contact Me Page:- Contact Mohd.

New Lines Error In Blogger Post-Editor

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 14:49:00 +0000

A quick update on an error reported by many Bloggers in the Blogger post-editor:

In the recently updated Blogger post-editor, you might have noticed a delay/lag in the loading time of the post-editor, with a loading image in the center like this:

While updating the post-editor, the Blogger team has set the default settings of "Edit HTML settings" under "Post Options" to "Ignore newlines".
Due to this, bloggers who use Edit HTML instead of Compose mode to write posts, are facing problems in separating new lines.
So follow these simple instructions to make things easy again.
Edit any of your previous posts, and at the bottom of the post-editor frame, click on the link "Post Options" to expand it.

Now under "Edit HTML Settings", select the radio button "Convert newlines to <br />s", then click on save now or publish post button.

Now, this option will be saved for your account and you need not change this setting every time you write a new post. Of course you can undo this change anytime you want.

Static Pages Are Now Available On Blogger Blogs

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:09:00 +0000

Back in September 2009, along with introducing a new feature in the official Blogger hacks list - i.e. Read More/post-truncating feature, the Blogger team also gave an indication that BlogSpot blogs will soon have static pages too.

So today Blogger has announced that now, we can add some static pages to our blogs like About-Us/Contact-Us/Privacy-Policy/Advertise etc. - one of the most awaited features on Blogger blogs to stand against WordPress.

Adding these pages is really simple. Once you log in to your Blogger account (log in at Blogger In Draft-that's the Beta-Blogger and not the usual www.Blogger.com), under the tab "Posting" similar to the link "Edit Posts", now there's a new link called "Edit Pages". Initially no pages will be displayed in your pages-list. So click on the "New Page" button to get started with it.

Type a title for your page, write a few lines in the content section and hit the "Publish Page" button.

Just like the usual posts on Blogger, you can edit the content of these pages anytime you want. But again, similar to the posts, although you can change the title of these pages even after publishing the pages, but you can not change the url of these pages (of course you can delete and create a new page with a completely new url).

Static Pages vs. Regular Posts
These pages are not your regular posts, so they are not visible in your blogs feed. And these are absent from your blog followers reading lists too. Your blog visitors can access any of these pages only if they know the page-url. So you have to link these pages from your blogs layout/any published post, so that your blog readers can read them.

Limitations:
1. Only 10 static pages are allowed per blog.
2. If you are already using a Blogger SEO hack to show only titles in arhive/label pages, then that will apply to these pages too, i.e. in these pages, post-content will be hidden and only the title will be displayed. So undo that Blogger trick, if you want to add static pages to your blog.

To Allow Commenting in Blogger Static-Pages

NOTE:
In static pages, under "post options", by default comments option is set to "don't allow, hide existing", so you will not see any comment-form below the pages. If you want to allow commenting in your static-pages too, then change that option to "Allow" before publishing the page for the first time.

Additional Associated Widgets
A page-list widget has also been added to the list of Blogger Widgets, this widget will have the list of all the static pages of the blog. The widget has two layouts: Horizontal - as tabs at the top of your blog, or Vertical - as links in your blog's sidebar. You can decide which pages will have links, and in what order they will appear in the widget.

But it is not necessary to use these widgets to display your pages on your blog. Rather my sugegstion is to use any horizontal multi-evel menu/ vertical multi-level menu with links not limited to these pages but you can add links to many other posts/labels/blogs.

I have created the First Static page on BloggerStop - Become a Guest Author.
So what's your first static post? comment and show it to all our readers !

Image credits: Smarter

16 Inspirational Blog Footers

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:06:00 +0000

A few years back, website/blog footers were dull and boring with a copyright message and a link to the theme designer. But now webmasters and bloggers have realized the potential of this important part of websites and blogs. As footer is the bottom-most part of a website, so it plays a crucial role in holding your readers for a longer time (and even in monetizing their presence), once they finish reading your articles. So bloggers now have various widgets in their footers with links to their other blogs, popular/recent posts, authors bio, contact-form or some sponsored/affiliate banners. Footers must integrate properly with the overall blog/site design and it should stand out too. So, look at these impressive and inspiring footers and start building your own...

1. WebDesignerDepot

2. Branded07

3. DavidHellMann

4. Nymfont [Your bio and links to sites you like]

5. KulurBanause

6. Meomi [Interactive footer - flash based]

7. FatBurgr [Funny]

8. Sohtanaka

9. MrDiggles

10. EdgePointChurch [Links to your social profiles]

11. CSS-Tricks [About the author + Latest Twitter updates]

12. Spoon-Graphics

13. VOLLL (Interactive and non-Flash)

14. DC2009-Drupalcon

15. RevolutionDrivingTuition

16. iprimidieci

Blogging Made Me A Published Author - Says Michelle

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 12:25:00 +0000

Blogger Of The Week: Michelle Mitton (author at Scribbit)

Scribbit has been featured in publications such as Better Homes and Gardens, The Denver Post and The Wall Street Journal - ranked fifth in the list of ten Top Motherhood Blogs in the Wall Street Journal, "The Blogger Mom in Your Face" by Sue Shellenbarger.

About The Author:

Blogging from Alaska since 2005 at Scribbit, I've worn off the lettering on two keyboards from my inability to keep quiet. Mother to four and wife of Andrew, I've won awards from the Anchorage Daily News for blogging and for creative writing (though I'd argue all writing is creative) and I do freelance writing or editing when I’m not sewing cub scout patches, picking Silly Putty out of carpet or looking for lost hamsters.
In 2009 I published an ebook, Blogging in Pink: A Woman's Guide to Blogging, and am currently working on a "real" book (a novel).

BS: Welcome to BloggerStop, Michelle. How long have you been in the Blogosphere? And who/what inspired you to start a blog of your own?
Ans.: My husband is a fun blend of tech savvy know-how and artistic, creative energy and he's usually aware of communication and internet trends before most people. He began pestering me back in 2004 to start a blog but it took me until 2005 before I finally listened and since then he's been a great coach and mentor.

BS: How will you describe your blog in one line/less than 20 words?
Ans.: A mother to four, I publish recipes, reviews, crafts, thoughts on parenting and stories of life in the Last Frontier.

BS: What do you blog about? Is this blog devoted to a single theme or do you have more than one quite unrelated categories in your blog?
Ans.: Scribbit is an online magazine and as my tagline--Motherhood in Alaska--suggests I publish anything that touches parenting, families or children as well as stories about what it's like to live in a wild, isolated place that is known for its extremes.

BS: Recently I came across a post “10 misconceptions about Mommy bloggers” on Mashable. So being a mommy bloggers, do you agree with that article?
Ans.: Smith does a decent job of trying to introduce mombloggers to those outside the niche and I agree with some of her points because in my experience the most successful mombloggers don't like being referred to as "mommybloggers," they're typically attractive, intelligent, educated and ambitious and they're making money (though not enough to quit their day jobs).
However, they're the exception. Smith is speaking in generalities and, frankly, as with any niche there are hundreds of thousands of blogs that are never considered when formulating a profile because only the most popular sites are considered. Most mombloggers never get traffic, never get noticed, don't get product reviews and probably do wear sweats a great deal of the time. Most of them are read by their families and friends and do it as a hobby or as a way to keep in contact with the grandparents.
Momblogging follows the standard path of any trend--you have the pioneers in the field (i.e. Dooce) followed by the early adopters who started up in the two-three years after that. But about the time I got serious about blogging it was starting to gain attention and within a year after that there was a tidal wave of new momblogs. Then, about 2007, you saw a whole new genre: those out for product reviews. They've become a niche in and of themselves and generally speaking they will do pretty nearly anything for free stuff.
I've worked briefly with marketing agencies on the other end of things--pitching ideas to mombloggers--and one of the things that surprised me was how much they would do for little or no compensation coupled with how little traffic they had. There is Dooce at the top of the food chain--the very top, the Everest of mombloggers with no one coming even remotely close to her level--and then there is another tier of successful bloggers who have clout because of writing ability and staying power who may or may not have huge traffic but who still garner good press and plenty of respect. Alongside them there is a branch of successful, long-term bloggers that have opted for the corporate model and have banded together to make an empire--such as Allie Worthington Media or 5 Minutes for Mom--and who get great traffic but are more of a magazine rather than a memoir. Then below that dual level you have lots of third tier late comers who, unless they're brilliant, won't likely see the upper levels and will eventually burn out on blogging and then finally you have the bottom tier who have virtually no traffic but lots of badges and buttons flashing at you on their sidebars.
You'll see the successful one remain and the rest will fade away as their kids age or they realize there is no money at the bottom levels.

BS: Are you the only author in your blog or do you have co-bloggers to manage the blog? In future are you planning to team up with like-minded bloggers?
Ans.: I've considered other projects where I would team up with other bloggers--even went so far as to have a partner, design a site, hire a graphic designer to make the logo and register the URL--but it fell apart just before launch. I've been very interested in the capabilities of the Wordpress MU platform and am certain that its potential hasn't been yet realized, particularly in the areas of hyperlocal sites such as what the NY Times has been experimenting with.
I'd love to try something like that here in my own community because Anchorage is an ideal location. We have a population of 300,000 and because of the rural/urban divide about a third of the people live in Third World style villages with the internet as their link to the outside. The Anchorage Daily News is owned by McClatchy which also owns papers such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the Miami Herald yet Anchorage's online site is the second-most visited, with nearly 4 million views per month. The lure of Alaska and the unique isolation it presents makes a union of blogging and traditional media an obvious choice--though like most newspapers the Anchorage Daily News is pathetically outdated and steeped in old-school traditions. They want the quick fix, the quick way to make a buck rather than investing in the long term and new technology--who knows if they'll survive or if they'll go the way of the Seattle Monitor or even the Rocky Mountain News?--so I think that the arena is open for a good business model of a hyperlocal site.
Of course that would take time . . . something I have in short supply right now.

BS: Do you blog anonymously or your readers know well who you are?
Ans.: I am Michelle Mitton. You can look me up in the phone book if you don't believe me.
When I first started I used a pen name--call it Blogger's Paranoia if you will--thinking it would be safer for the family but realized after a year or two that that was ridiculous. It's safer to be a momblogger than to be a teen on Facebook. Of course there is always potential for harm but I compare it to the odds of being hit by a sniper at the mall. Of course it could happen but what are the chances? Pretty slim.
So use your real name, take ownership of your writing and take that first step toward being a real writer.

BS: Do you have any specific goals/expectations from your blog? Have you already achieved any of these goals (or would you like to share any milestones that your blog has achieved)?
Ans: It feels as if I've been blogging forever. Honestly? I'm not nearly so enticed by fame and fortune as I once was because it doesn't matter what you achieve, it's never enough. I get mentioned in one paper, I get an award in another and it doesn't matter--I'm still not satisfied. My husband laughed at me in the beginning because I'd say, "If I only had 100 people visit a day--wow! Then I'd know that I'd arrived!" But as soon as I hit that mark I'd up the ante and say, "As soon as I get 200 visits--that's when I'll be happy." And so on and so on. I upped it to 1,000 but that wasn't enough, then I said 2,000 and on it went. I thought I'd feel successful when I got celebrity interviews and found myself talking to people like Mary Lou Retton and Patrick Dempsey, I thought I'd feel successful when I began giving away computers and jewelry and clothes and working with PR firms to promote products. While it was fun being flown in for Hollywood premiers and treated to celebrity spas and dinners with supermodels it never really felt as if I could sit back and rest on what I'd done to that point.
So you can't base your happiness on blog traffic--unless perhaps it's your sole source of income in which case I'd really like to meet you and shake your hand.
Instead I've treated blogging as an opportunity to improve my writing, which it has. In fact, it's because of blogging that I'm now working on my second book and have become a published author. For me, blogging hasn't been an end in and of itself but a means to another more fulfilling end. I do still like to post and I do need my blog which has a strange, symbiotic relationship with my offline writing, but as for goals, in the last year I've redesigned my objectives for my blog to concentrate less on the trappings of momblogs--the product reviews, the giveaways, etc.--and instead work more on quality writing and issues that are more meaningful because when I'm able to write a thought-provoking post on being a parent and have commentors thank me for how it's helped them--that feels like success.

BS: How much time do you devote to your blog? Do you blog on weekends and do you think Blogging is eating too much of your time and is it affecting your day-to-day (offline) life too?
Ans.: In the beginning--the first three and a half years--I blogged five or six hours a day, it was a part-time job for me and I ran my blog as I would a magazine with me being editor, photographer, food designer, marketing director, IT technician and writer. Up until this fall I published without fail every day (never missed once) and that included weekends. It didn't cut into my offline life though because I'd reached a point where my children were all in school full-time so it was a great opportunity rather than a burden. My husband was very supportive and my kids loved the attention but as I redesigned my goals and got more into offline writing that changed to where I now blog around two hours a day.
One of the things I've always wondered in the back of my mind is: if I'd been able to dedicate myself to it full-time, if I'd been able to go to all the conferences and accept all the travel opportunitites I've been offered, could I have been able to build my own empire? I'm very ambitious by nature and at one point wanted to rule the world through blogging but it just wouldn't fit with my family obligations as a wife and mother. For example, a year ago I was approached by a company to travel to the Dominican Republic for nine days to blog about humanitarian efforts there. It was a great cause and an amazing, all-expense paid opportunity but I couldn't see leaving the children for that amount of time.
I've wondered what would have happened if I'd taken a different route but I certainly don't lie awake at night over it. I'm quite confident I've chosen the better part.

BS: What are your present blog stats, i.e. number of daily visitors, subscribers, your global reach etc.?
Ans.:50,000-60,000 visitors per month, not including 2200 RSS subscribers. It fluctuates daily, weekly, and even by season but that's a good estimate though I haven't checked my stats in about six or eight weeks.

BS: What do you think is a better source of traffic - search engines, traffic exchange sites, social networking sites or paid traffic (like Google Adwords)?
Ans.: Search engines will always have their place and you can't ignore the Power of Mighty Google but I get rather sickened by those trying to play the SEO game all the time. I don't sell paid links, I sell ads so if you're trying to tweak the system to get your text link noticed I have little patience for you.
The best, most reliable and long-living source of traffic is good content. You write good content and people link to you--though I've noticed link love has decreased over the last 18 months as the blogosphere gets diluted more and more and bloggers get overwhelmed by the amount of content out there. Regardless, it's still the best way to get noticed.
Twitter and Facebook have their place--just as being active in the blogging community serves a valuable purpose--and using them well is always an advantage but all social media is, first and foremost, social. That means it takes time and effort to be involved and to create a conversation rather than merely a soapbox. Decide which forums you can handle and integrate two or three into your network but don't try to be a presence everywhere at once because you'll just be spreading yourself too thin.

BS: Do you regularly respond to your readers and do you think it is important for a blogger to always comment back or reply back to his readers?
Ans.: Absolutely. It's the difference between your readers talking to a wall and talking to a human being. I answer every email and comment that I possibly can and try to respond with comments of my own from time to time. You have to get a pretty outrageous number of comments to not be able to answer them--and if you're too busy then maybe you might want to realign priorities because blogging is--once again--a conversation. If you want to talk to a wall go write for a newspaper or magazine.
Besides, I like talking with people. It's always interesting.

BS: What are your unique strategies to survive and to perform better in your blogs niche against your competitor blogs?
Ans.:Be that purple cow (to quote HRH Seth Godin). Set yourself apart. Have a name that is different from the swirling pool of blogs with titles like "Mom's Musings," "Mom to Four[or Five or Six or Whatever]," "Random Thoughts from a SAHM" or "Welcome to My Life." If you are a momblog and have any of those words in your title, change it immediately. Unless, of course, obscurity is your goal.
It also helps if you've got a unique background, have a unique circumstance or are from an exotic place. And if none of these work and you can't move to Alaska you just have to be a little more creative than the blog next to you.

BS: Other than Blogging what are your other hobbies or what do you do in your leisure time?
Ans.: My family is, of course, a huge part of my life and four children (two being teenagers) take up an enormous amount of time. My husband and I recently got into barefoot running (posted about it here) but when it gets too cold for that we switch to cross-country skiing, classic style (more about that here). We live in an amazing city where we're surrounded by mountains, ocean, streams filled with salmon and the best system of running or ski trails in the U.S. (though be careful, the moose and bears are equally attracted and it's no fun surprising one).
In the summer I keep an eye on my garden where I grow broccoli, cabbage, chives, thyme, raspberries, hostas, lilies, delphiniums and peonies and in the winter I hibernate with my writing. If I have a spare evening you can catch me with a good book (I'm currently rereading The Midnight Disease by Alice Flaherty, a fascinating read on the neuro-psychology behind writing and the creative process) or with a good movie (I'm part-way through Ghosts of Mississippi but it'll take me ages to finish it).

BS: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Are you earning enough to quit a 9 to 5 day job?
Ans.: I make enough to pay for fun things--trips, a new computer, clothes, that kind of thing. Certainly not enough to quit my day job and that's kind of a relief. In the book I mentioned above they talk about extrinsic vs. intrinsic awards and with the creative process studies show that satisfaction decreases as extrinsic awards increase (i.e. getting paid to do something vs. doing it for the sake of the creative process). I think that says something very important about blogging--once it grows beyong something you do for fun and becomes something you rely on for income it's loses its flavor.
The good news is: you're making money. The bad news is: you're making money. Quite the irony.

BS: Do you sell any of your products, work as an affiliate partner or advertisements are the only source of income for you?
Ans.: I don't do affiliate work at all, never will. First, I've never found it effective (though I'm aware some mombloggers swear by it) but then it feels cheap to me. Rather like selling things door to door though I realize that's an emotional and illogical response.
I sell ads on my sidebar, my sole source of income outside of being given review products.

BS: Are you planning to employee someone to help you in blogging or outsourcing some of your work like blog-designing, social networking or someone for your PR department?
Ans.: Once I considered hiring someone to manage my advertising--admittedly the area I am weakest in--but couldn't find anyone at hand so I ended up limping along by myself. I'm skilled enough to do minor redesigns myself but I'm in the process of a major design renovation and have hired someone to do that for me. I also have hired graphic designers to design logos.

BS: Blogs you follow and read regularly…
Ans.: My guilty pleasure is food and craft blogs but I read them all through Google Feedreader so you can follow me there and get access to my extensive list. I do love Foodblogga though . . . a good friend, great cook and a great writer.

BS: Communities/Forums you have joined (that help you in blogging):
Ans.: Blogging conferences are a great opportunity for this, I've spoken at several and would recommend BlogHer and Blissdom for women, Blog World Expo for anyone. I'll be speaking at two sessions of Blissdom February 4-6 in Nashville.

BS: Have you done any mistakes in your blogging life? And what have you learnt from these mistakes?
Ans.: Using a pen name was a mistake--as I mentioned previously. Also, when dealing with nasty commentors or nasty people my rule is to always let my response letter sit overnight before mailing it. I've learned by sad experience that my initial responses to rudeness is usually ineffective and poorly worded. But if I sit on my words for a day then I'm much calmer when dealing with that kind of thing.

BS: Has blogging added any special flavor to your life? Would you like to share it with us?
Ans.: Having a forum for my thoughts and words is an enormous satisfaction. To have produced 1500 posts, enough for several books, plus freelance work and two full-length books is something I'll always look to with a thrill. Blogging was the exercise my writing muscle needed to be able to write whenever I need the words and has given me the confidence that yes, in fact, I am a writer and not some teenager hiding in my closet crying over my diary.

BS: Something you really want to change in your blog or in yourself being a blogger?
Ans.: Ah I need a redesign . . . working on it. I've got the new logo and the basic layout, now its up to the coder. [Crossing fingers].

BS: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations. Which destinations would you pick up, and why? Would you like to take someone along with you? If yes, whom?
Ans.:Well I'm actually going to India in March already as my parents live in Bangalore--so that's taken care of. But I'd love to take my husband to England. He's never been and I'd love to show him around. Besides that, a world cruise. I've been drooling over a 114-day global cruise on Holland American that circles South America, hits Antarctica, bounces around Africa a bit before stopping in Mombai and Goa then jaunting off through Malaysia and up around through Singapore, China and Japan and up to Russia. Yea, that would be nice.
If Holland America wants me to post for 114 days as they send me around the world as their blogging slave I'd totally be up for it. I am definitely for sale.

BS: Bloggers generally love to read books? Do you agree with this and if yes what you’re your favorite books/novels?
Ans.: I love reading but there is a sad reality that one must either be a producer or a consumer. If you are a producer of words your life is filled with the creative process (or should be) which leaves very little time for consuming other people's words. At first it's helpful to read to be able to find your own voice but once you've found it it's much harder to find time in the day to be on both ends of the production line.
That's been the biggest problem of blogging. In the beginning I visited so many blogs, commenting here and there, keeping up with my feeds and enjoying the community. But once I redefined myself more as a writer it's been hard to find the time to visit and comment and I hear the same complaint from other bloggers I admire.

BS: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ans.: Tough one. I could be intellectual and say Thomas Jefferson or hip and say Malcolm Gladwell or artistic and say Wallace Stegner (favorite writer) but if it really came down to it I'd be tempted to say something stupid like Harry Connick Jr.

BS: Which is your favorite television show? & favorite movies and songs?
Ans.: I don't watch television--I'll stick with the idea of it being a "vast wasteland"--but I do love a good movie. Anything from classics to today that is well done and creative though my favorite is still LOTR and Star Wars. What a geek. As for music, I'm a big fan of The Killers, Muse and U2--not necessarily in that order. Coldplay will get a nod from time to time as well (loved that interview 60 Minutes did with Chris Martin a while back).

BS: What’s your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?
Ans.: Pasta, always always pasta. In any form. If I'm eating out I will always go for it on the menu and will overindulge. Though pizza and sandwiches are second in my affections.

BS: Blogs are replacing personal diaries, magazines, journals and today more than just being a hobby we can see corporate blogs too, so what do you think is the future of blogs?
Ans.: First, I'd say that most "blogs" in magazines and onlines news sites aren't blogs at all, they're just extensions of the magazine or newspaper. People leave comments and that's the end of it. There's no interactivity, no conversation, no relationship. So unless a corporate blog can do better in this department I don't think they're a blog at all.
I do think, however, that blogs will band together as the industry morphs. You'll see more of what you're already seeing--multi-user sites like the Huffington Post (or the momblog sites I've mentioned previously) or blog networks. I have come to the conclusion that it's impossible to run a personal blog by yourself and compete against bigger sites that have a staff. You can be successful--don't get me wrong--but you'll never be as big (however you define "big") as the conglomerates. Even Dooce has her husband running things as her full-time manager and once she's gone, Dooce.com is gone.

BS: Any special message you would like to share with our readers as well with everyone else?
Ans.: If you're interesting in more about blogging I'd suggest downloading my free ebook. Yes, it's called Blogging in Pink: A Woman's Guide but only a small part is actually unique to momblogs.

BS: How can we connect with you?
Ans.:
Twitter ID: @Scribbit
Linkedin Profile: Scribbit
Any other way to connect with you: scribbit [at] gmail [dot] com, on Facebook or by subscribing to Scribbit at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Scribbit

Add Mashable Like "Drag To Share" To Blogger Blogs

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:52:00 +0000

You would have observed a unique bookmarking tool being used at Mashable: "Drag To Share". In 'Drag To Share', when you hover your mouse on some links (usually images), a message is displayed is to drag and share the page.

Script in Action - LIVE DEMOS:

Check out "Drag and Share" on Mashable (drag the image in the post)
"Drag to Share" is a project by No Margin For Errors, check out the demo on their project-page.
Now see a working demo on a Blogger blog: Hot Orange Template [Drag the image of the orange to see the sharing options]

If you are impressed with the widget, then Add "Drag To Share" to your Blogger blog:

STEP #1

Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML

Now find this code:

</head>

And immediately BEFORE/ABOVE it, paste this code:

<link charset='utf-8' href='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/prettysociable.css' media='screen' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
<script charset='utf-8' src='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/jquery-1.3.2.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script charset='utf-8' src='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/jquery.prettysociable.js' type='text/javascript'/>

Now find this code in the template:

</body>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it, paste this code:

<script charset='utf-8' type='text/javascript'>
$.prettySociable();
</script>

Save The Template.

STEP #2

IMPORTANT: Now whenever you want to apply this hack to any of your images/hyperlinks (links), then add a rel="prettysociable" attribute to the "a" tag. (You can edit your previous posts to add this attribute to your images).

For example, a link (hyperlink) with this hack will look like this:

<a href="http://www.google.com/" rel="prettysociable">Link To Google</a>

and a linked image with this hack will look like this:

<a href="http://www.google.com/" rel="prettysociable"><img src="http://www.google.co.in/intl/en_com/images/logo_plain.png" /></a>

STEP #3

Download and save the files used in this tutorial as a backup on your PC [Download Link]

Credits: No Margin For Errors

Show Label Specific Icons Below Post Titles

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:19:00 +0000

In this Blogger tutorial, you will learn to display icons or any text/image specific for any label/category under the post titles in your blog.

For example, if these are the four main topics/categories of your blog: Music, Dating tips, Finance and Books reviews/Literature then for posts on book reviews you can show this icon below their post-titles:

Similarly for posts on music, finance and dating tips you can show these icons:

Instructions to implement this hack in to your blog:
NOTE 1: If you want to display the same icon below the titles of all your posts irrespective of the labels used, then kindly follow this tutorial.
NOTE 2: You must already have some tags/labels/categories in your blog to use this hack.

STEP #1:
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML and tick the tick-box "Expand Widget Templates"

STEP #2
Find (CTRL+F) this code in the template:

<div class='post-header-line-1'/>

and immediately BELOW/AFTER it, paste this code:

<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
<b:if cond='data:label.name == "YOUR_LABEL_#1"'>

TEXT OR LINK TO IMAGE COMES HERE

</b:if>
</b:loop>

If you want to display these icons for four labels (as in the above example), then use this code:

<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
<b:if cond='data:label.name == "YOUR_LABEL_#1"'>

TEXT OR LINK TO IMAGE COMES HERE

</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:label.name == "YOUR_LABEL_#2"'>

TEXT OR LINK TO IMAGE COMES HERE

</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:label.name == "YOUR_LABEL_#3"'>

TEXT OR LINK TO IMAGE COMES HERE

</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:label.name == "YOUR_LABEL_#4"'>

TEXT OR LINK TO IMAGE COMES HERE

</b:if>
</b:loop>

Replace the code in RED with the exact names of your labels/categories (including space " " between two words). And replace the text in GREEN with the link to the icon you want to use. For ex.: To use the books icon displayed above, replace that text in green with this code:

<img src="http://i49.tinypic.com/2elukh4.jpg" alt="Book Reviews"/>

Finally save the template.

This post is based on the request by Christian from World Of Football

Blogger/BlogSpot Pagination (Page Navigation) Made Easy

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:32:00 +0000

Pagination In Blogger/BlogSpot Blogs:

LIVE DEMO (see page bottom)
Read this tutorial to add Pagination to any BlogSpot / Blogger based blog with just two steps. The pagination numbers are completely customizable.

Instructions to follow:

STEP #1:

Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML

Find this code:

</body>

And paste this code immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it:

<script type='text/javascript'>

var pageCount=10;
var displayPageNum=3;

var upPageWord ='Previous';
var downPageWord ='Next';
</script>
<script src='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/pagination1.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/pagination2.js' type='text/javascript'/>

var pageCount=10; is the number of posts to be displayed on each page. [For ex. in a simple Google search on each page you are shown 10 search results] - change the number "10" to any number you want.

var displayPageNum=3; is the number of buttons to be shown (on each side) along with the page number currently seleted.
For eg. If a reader is on page 6, then in the pagination, page numbers will be displayed like this:

Prev 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next
i.e. 3 page numbers on each side of number 6.

STEP #2
Now we'll do the styling of these pagination numbers...
By default, this code will give a purple look to the numbers.

Find this code in the template:

</head>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it, paste this code:

<link href='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/pagination2.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
<style type='text/css'>
.showpage a:hover {
color: #FFFFFF;
background-color: #92416C;
}
// STYLE CODE FOR SELECTED PAGE STARTS
.showpagePoint {
color: #FFFFFF;
background: #92416C;
border: 1px solid #92416C;
}
// STYLE CODE FOR NUMBER BUTTONS STARTS
.showpageNum a:link,.showpage a:link {
color: #000000 !important;
background-color: #92416C;
border: 1px solid #92416C;
}

// HOVER CODE for NUMBER BUTTONS

.showpageNum a:hover {
color: #FFFFFF !important;
background: #92416C !important;
border: 1px solid #92416C;
}
// STYLE CODE FOR "PREV and NEXT" BUTTONS STARTS
.showpageArea a {
border: 1px solid #92416C;
}

// HOVER CODE for NEXT-PREV BUTTONS

.showpageArea a:hover {
border: 1px solid #92416C;
color: #FFFFFF !important;
background: #92416C !important;
}
</style>

In the code above, everywhere #92416C refers to purple color.
Replace it with the color codes you want [view color-combinations and get HTML hex-color codes from this page].
Try different colors for borders, backgrounds, hover effects, and the numbers text too, according to the instructions I have highlighted in RED/BLUE colors.

Some Popular Blogger-Pagination Examples...

NOTE: If you create something unique and it can be modified more to suit other tempates, then do comment on this page and show your work. Your blog will be featured in this post.

Save the template.

STEP #3

Download and save the files used in this tutorial as a backup on your PC [Download Link]

Credits: Pagination for Blogger was originally created by Mohamed Rias from TechieBlogger. Then most of the limitations in the code were removed and the code was optimized by Abu-Farhan from Abu Farhan. He has designed six more beautiful navigation styles.

Add Comments Bubble To Post Titles In Blogger

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:32:00 +0000

A few days back I published a tutorial on how to add numbering in comments in Blogger blogs. Now this tutorial will add comments-bubble icons to your post-titles displaying the total count of the comments.

LIVE DEMO
Instructions to follow:

STEP #1:
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML
And mark the tick-box "Expand Widget Templates"

STEP #2:
Now find this in the template:

<h3 class='post-title entry-title'>

And immediately BELOW/AFTER it, paste this code:

<b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
<a class='comment-bubble' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'><data:post.numComments/></a>
</b:if>

Now find this code in the template:

</head>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it paste this code:

<style type="text/css">
.comment-bubble {
float: right;

background: url(http://i49.tinypic.com/2vugahu.jpg) no-repeat;
width: 55px;
height: 38px;

font-size: 18px;
margin-top: -15px;
margin-right: 2px;
text-align: center;
}
</style>

Edit the code in RED to change the image being used in the hack.
IMPORTANT: You may use any image instead of the one linked in the code above (STEP #3), but you have to mention its dimensions correctly (width and height) for correct placement of numbers on the image.

Comment-Bubbles you may use for this Blogger hack [Right Click and "Copy Image Address/Location"]:

Finally save the template.

Blog Angel Tells You The Key To Successful Blogging

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Blogger Of The Week: Joella Molson (a.k.a. Blog Angel).

What She Says:
A friendly hello to all the readers at BloggerStop. I am honored at having been asked to do this interview. My name is Joella Molson, also known as Blog Angel. I am the author of Blogs With Wings.com. I created BWW because creating a blog is a leap of faith, a journey into the unknown and I wanted to help other bloggers to succeed. After all, every blog deserves a chance to fly.

BS: Welcome to BloggerStop, Joella. How long have you been in the Blogosphere? And who/what inspired you to start a blog of your own?
Ans.: There was no one person that inspired me to start blogging. I actually started blogging on a whim, about 5 years ago. It was just a little Blogspot blog, mostly about my garden. It was a real learning experience and I decided to start a more serious pursuit with my own domain name. All the research I did into blogging and the things I learned gave me the direction for Blogs With Wings. Don't get me wrong, I don't know everything, but I've learned a lot and I am still learning. The best way to become really good at something is to teach it to others, to share what you learn and that's why I blog.

BS: How will you describe your blog in one line/less than 20 words?
Ans.:Blogs With Wings is dedicated to helping bloggers define and reach their own ideals of blog success. I also hope to champion the principle of reciprocity among bloggers, we shouldn't be rivals we should be allies and help each other whenever possible.

BS: What do you blog about? Is this blog devoted to a single theme or do you have more than one quite unrelated categories in your blog?
Ans.: I blog about many topics, but they are for the most part all related to blogging. Things such as: blog SEO, blog promotion, blog success strategies and blog monetization, to name but a few.

BS: Are you the only author in your blog or do you have co-bloggers to manage the blog? In future are you planning to team up with like-minded bloggers?
Ans.:Currently I am the primary author of Blogs With Wings, but I actively encourage my readers to submit guest posts. After all, they are bloggers too and I know that they have learned and experienced many things on their blogging journey. They have much to share, as do I and I wish more of them would take me up on my offer. Do you think that maybe some of your readers will stop by and offer to guest post? I'd like that.

BS: Do you blog anonymously or your readers know well who you are?
Ans.:I certainly don't hide who I am. I go by Blog Angel, but I always sign Blog Angel a.k.a. Joella (that's my real name). I also maintain a link on my blog to my Google profile page so my readers can get to know a bit more about me.

BS: Do you have any specific goals/expectations from your blog? Have you already achieved any of these goals (or would you like to share any milestones that your blog has achieved)?
Ans.: I have a lot of goals. Some of them are sitting on a shelf waiting for me to actively get to them. I have learned that I am only one person and can only do so much. So I only selectively pick and choose what I can realistically tackle at any given time. I've learned to pace myself, to be careful not to bite off more than I can chew. I am, among other things a self-taught web page and blog template designer. I have always hoped at some point to offer both free and premium templates on the blog. This goal has been expanded with the development of a template that is geared towards Blogspot users who want a custom layout that they can easily change from the dashboard. I am very excited that I will soon be releasing The Ultimate Control Blogger Template. I am currently looking for testers, so if any of your readers who would be interested in test driving a highly configurable Blogger template that does not require HTML or CSS knowledge they should contact me through the Blogs With Wings site.

BS: How much time do you devote to your blog? Do you blog on weekends and do you think Blogging is eating too much of your time and is it affecting your day-to-day (offline) life too?
Ans.:This varies greatly as I have health limitations and other projects that I am working on, for instance template design. I work on blog related tasks almost daily. But I love that I can log off and deal with the people and critters in my life on an as needed basis or take some time to deal with my health issues as needed. Blogging lets me be flexible, but I am careful to maintain a minimum of 3 posts or more per week.

BS: What are your present blog stats, i.e. number of daily visitors, subscribers, your global reach etc.?
Ans.: I hate statistics, I guess because I'm not terribly mathematically inclined. I prefer to look at a chart whenever possible. So I've included a summary and chart of my site statistics for the last year. I started the blog just a little over 12 months ago. You can actually see a terrible drop that occurred over the summer months in 2009. I was very inactive on the blog due to a unprecedented number of unhappy events that followed one right after the other and culminated in my becoming ill. I got beat down, but I got back up.

As for my feed statistics, I'm not really sure, some of my subscribers are through my internal feed service, which doesn't seem to have stat reporting and some are through Feedburner. One of my goals is to consolidate my subscription options and hopefully encourage more people to subscribe. This should also help me better track my feed stats.

BS: What do you think is a better source of traffic - search engines, traffic exchange sites or social networking sites?
Ans.:For me there is no “more important”. They are all important, but be wary of who you swap links with. Aim high, good quality sites that the search engines like are your best candidates. You need to use every legitimate means available to drive traffic to your site. I encourage my readers to use blog promotion communities, participate in link exchanges, actively comment on Do Follow blogs with good page ranks and to practice good SEO in their article writing and blog setup. I also think that it is incredibly important to keep the traffic that comes your way by building your readers into a community that is centered around your blog.

BS: Do you regularly respond to your readers and do you think it is important for a blogger to always comment back or reply back to his readers?
Ans.: Yes, I do respond to most of the comments left on my blog. I think it is very important to connect with your readers. It's one of the most powerful ways you can build your readership, by building a relationship with the people who really matter. However, I only reply to comments that are intelligent and well thought out. I am less likely to respond to comments left on older posts unless they really good quality and make a really good point. After all, I am not a super hero, I can't do everything at once. And let's face it, some comments don't deserve a reply.

BS: What are your unique strategies to survive and to perform better in your blogs niche against your competitor blogs?
Ans.: Practice what I preach. LOL Seriously blogging is a very unique experience. Some people just want to make money and to that end they use canned formulas for creating niche sites. I guess that's okay, but people blog for different reasons and not everyone defines success in the same way. I set out to help other people find their way through their blogging experience and provide some helpful advice along the way. I am hoping to derive some kind of income from templates and design services and I'm working towards that end. But I hope I never lose sight of the reasons I originally created Blogs With Wings , to connect with and help other bloggers.

BS: Other than Blogging what are your other hobbies or what do you do in your leisure time?
Ans.:Leisure time? Bloggers have leisure time, lol. Seriously I love to garden, cook, craft, sew, watch movies, spend time with my family, friends and critters (we have two dogs and two cats). Leisure time is important, never let your blog overwhelm your life you need balance in all things if you are to succeed at anything.

BS: Is blogging for you just a passion or a medium for earning too? Are you earning enough to quit a 9 to 5 day job?
Ans.: Blogging is a passion and a joy for me. I have met some amazing people and made some indispensable friends. I am not earning any real income, yet. But if all goes well that will change in the future.

BS: Do you sell any of your products, work as an affiliate partner or advertisements are the only source of income for you?
Ans.: At this point, I make a small amount of income from affiliate advertisements. But I hope things will improve with the introduction of premium blog templates and blog makeover and blog customization services.

BS: Are you planning to employee someone to help you in blogging or outsourcing some of your work like blog-designing, social networking or someone for your PR department?
Ans.:Not at this time. I guess it will depend on how busy I become when I add my own products and paid services. I have a pretty sharp son who might be a likely candidate as an employee though. Time will tell.

BS: Blogs you follow and read regularly…
Ans.: Here are a few that I follow out of professional interest:
Pro Blogger
Blogging Tips
Blogging Without A Blog
Wordtracker.com

Personally I follow a lot of blogs. I use Entrecard and visit 300 blogs daily. But some of my favorites are:
Margs Pets - http://www.margsanimals.com/blogs/index.php/margspets/
Man Over Board - http://man-over-board.com/
Your Daily Cute - http://www.yourdailycute.com/
The Rooster Crows At 4 A.M. - http://www.rooster4am.com/

BS: Communities/Forums you have joined (that help you in blogging):
Ans.: Most notably: Entrecard, Blogged, Blog Catalog and Bloghology

BS: Have you done any mistakes in your blogging life? And what have you learnt from these mistakes?
Ans.:Mistakes? Failure? These are my teachers. You never give up, no matter what happens. If something doesn't work for you find another approach. Always make sure you give whatever you are trying a fair chance, give it some time and work through it thoroughly before abandoning it. One of the most important things I've learned is having a work schedule. Almost as important is how to set goals. Then, make a plan for getting to those goals. Stay focused on both the goals and the plan. And like I said never give up, you will get there. Turning mistakes into learning experiences and failure into opportunity is key to blog success.

BS: Has blogging added any special flavor to your life? Would you like to share it with us?
Ans.: Chocolate? Metaphorically speaking, that's my favorite flavor and blogging is right up there with chocolate. I savor the blogging experience and I revel in the good friends I've made. The best taste of all is when I help someone and they are kind enough to acknowledge this with their expressed gratitude.

BS: Something you really want to change in your blog or in yourself being a blogger?
Ans.: I still need to become better organized. I do set goals and formulate plans, but I have a really hard time anticipating how long it will take to reach my goals. I really wish I could get a grip on controlling things, but life happens and a lot of the time I have re-adjust my expectations. That can be a little frustrating. I guess I need to learn to be more patient with myself.

BS: Say, you are sponsored to travel to 3 world destinations. Which destinations would you pick up, and why?
Ans.: Spain, incredibly steeped in history, unbelievable food and absolutely gorgeous beaches. Scotland : to explore my roots and family heritage. I'd also like to take a motor home and travel all over North America – Canada and the United States – coast to coast. I'd take my hubby, Steve with me, because everything worth doing is better shared with him

BS: Bloggers generally love to read books? Do you agree with this and if yes what are your favorite books/novels?
Ans.:Hmm, I don't know about generally. I hate generalizing. I use to read a great many books. Sci Fi/Fantasy were my favorite, but I hardly get to spend time engrossed in reading like I use too. But when I do read it is still generally Sci Fi/Fantasy in nature. I am especially fond of Mercedes Lackey.

BS: If you could meet one person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ans.: Mother Theresa. If we could all just cultivate a small fraction or her compassion and selfless motivations, think how much better this world would be!

BS: Which is your favorite television show? & favorite movies and songs?
Ans.: I admit I'm stuck in the Sci Fi/Fantasy rut for TV shows as well as forensic dramas. I like shows such as Fringe, Stargate (all of them), Star Trek (all the flavors), CSI (all the variations), Criminal Minds – just to name a few. My taste in movies is similar, but I also enjoy action, comic based, mystery and suspense. Strangely enough my all time favorite movie is the black and white original Miracle On 34th Street. I've loved it since I was a child, I still have moments when I think Santa is real. My taste in music is totally eclectic and changes on an almost daily basis.

BS: What’s your favorite food? Any particular dislikes?
Ans.: I love so many different kinds of food. I love to cook and bake. I grow many of my own herbs and vegetables in our summer garden and I even grow some herbs year round in a sunny window in my dining room. I'm not overly fond of turnip, eggplant or most squashes. Though I love pumpkin and sweet potatoes. My favorite food is tied between King Crab Legs and Lobster!

BS: Blogs are replacing personal diaries, magazines, journals and today more than just being a hobby we can see corporate blogs too, so what do you think is the future of blogs?
Ans.: As long as the internet and blogging remain relatively free from government and corporate regulation and interference I think we will continue to see growth in all these areas. I like to think that as bloggers we will have the most important role in the future of blogs and their evolution.

BS: Any special message you would like to share with our readers as well with everyone else?
Ans.:Well first off – Happy New Year Everyone! I hope 2010 is a great blessing to you all. I would be thrilled if your readers would stop by and visit Blogs With Wings. I'm always looking for guest authors, if you have a blog I'd love for you to share your experiences and/or ideas with my readers. If you have a blog make sure to join my blog roll. If you have a question or a suggestion for a post I will happily credit you with a back link to your own blog if I use it in a post. Most importantly keep on blogging! Don't have a blog? What are you waiting for? All us other bloggers are dying to meet you!

BS: How can we connect with you?
Ans.: Forget Twitter, I am on Twitter and number of other social networks, but the best way to contact me is by email through the contact form on my blog. I don't miss people so easily when they are writing directly. Also stop by the Blogs With Wings site and leave some comments on some of my posts. I generally respond to my readers' astute comments. Great way to get the old brain juices stirring, getting into a comment conversation!
If you must have another way you can:
Follow Me On Twitter - twitter.com/BWW_Angel
On Blog Catalog - www.blogcatalog.com/user/BlogAngel1
Contact Me On Entrecard - entrecard.com/details/140949

Their Experience Is Now Your Inspiration - Blogger Interviews @ BloggerStop

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 13:11:00 +0000

No doubt, blog design and widgets will help your readers to easily find what they want. These will increase your pageviews and decrease the bounce rate. But something that brings the heavy traffic to your blog is your unique content and better blog-management. Whether you already have a couple of blogs or are planning to enter the blogosphere, learning from those bloggers who already have years of experience in this field will certainly help you to blog better and build more authority in the blogosphere. So at BloggerStop I am going to introduce a new series of Blogger-Interviews, one blog per week (BOTW - Blog Of The Week).

In these interviews I have tried to cover many important and common points/issues where bloggers usually get confused. As different bloggers have different solutions for the same problems, so depending on the similarities and differences between you and them, you can learn from these bloggers how they have tackled these situations and became successful bloggers. If you think your blogging experience can also help other bloggers then contact me to get your blog featured on BloggerStop.
Image Credits

Dancing Links - That's Jquery Link Nudging

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:08:00 +0000

If you are a regular reader of BloggerStop, then you might have noticed some of the links in the sidebar (bottom) start dancing as soon as you hover your mouse cursor on them. This is done using Jquery - Link Nudging.

Here's the live demo (hover your mouse cursor on these links):
BloggerStop.Net

Nudging in Images:

Instructions to add similar dancing links to your blog:
STEP #1
Log in to Blogger and go to Layout -> Edit HTML
and find (CTRL+F) this code in the template:

</head>

STEP #2
Now immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it, paste this code:

<script src='http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(document).ready(function() {
$('a.nudge').hover(function() { //mouse in
$(this).animate({ paddingLeft: '20px' },400);
}, function() { //mouse out
$(this).animate({ paddingLeft: 0 }, 400);
});
});
</script>

And save the template.

Now whenever you want to add this dancing effect to any of your links/images (either in widgets/posts), add this code (class="nudge") to the HTML "a" tag, like this:

<a href="http://bloggerstop.net" class="nudge">Link-Text</a>

and to use images instead of text, use this code:

<a href="http://bloggerstop.net" class="nudge"><img src="http://i41.tinypic.com/5wf6h5.jpg"/></a>

That's it. Let your images dance for your readers!

Related Products (From Amazon):

Numbering Comments In Blogger/BlogSpot Blogs

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:44:00 +0000

Here comes the first Blogger tutorial in year 2010 on BloggerStop. This Blogger hack will add numbers against all the comments in your blog. And each number will be linked to that unique comment. You/your readers can use these numbers and corresponding links to mention or point a particular comment on any of your posts.

Working Demo - Hot Orange Blogger Template.

Instructions To Follow:
STEP #1
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML
and mark the tick box "Expand Widget Templates"

STEP #2
Now find (CTRL+F) this code in the template:

<b:loop values='data:post.comments' var='comment'>

Immediately ABOVE/BEFORE that, paste this code:

<script type='text/javascript'>var CommentsCounter=0;</script>

Now find this code:

<data:commentPostedByMsg/>

And immediately BELOW/AFTER it, paste this code:

<span class='comm-num'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.url' title='Comment Link'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
CommentsCounter=CommentsCounter+1;
document.write(CommentsCounter)
</script>
</a>
</span>

And save the template. Now you will see numbers in front of all the comments in your blog. But they are not well styled.

STEP #3
So now we will style these numbers to match your blogs theme.
GO back to the page Layout -> Edit HTML
and find (CTRL+F) this code in the template:

</head>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it paste this code:

<style type="text/css">
.comm-num a:link, .comm-num a:visited {
color: white !important;
text-decoration: none !important;
background: url(http://i50.tinypic.com/egx3t3.jpg) no-repeat;
width: 50px;
height: 48px;
float: right;
display: block;
margin-right: 5px;
margin-top: -15px; /*comments-counter position*/
text-align: center;
font-family: 'Century Gothic','Lucida Grande',Arial,Helvetica,Sans-Serif;
font-size: 15px;
font-weight: normal;
}

.comm-num a:hover, .comm-num a:active {
color: gray !important;
text-decoration: none !important;
}
</style>

Edit the above code (highlighted in RED) to change the image.
And edit the code (highlighted in BLUE) to change the color of the numbers.

Images you may use (Right-Click and select "Copy Image Address/Location"):

IMPORTANT: You may use any image instead of the one linked in the code above (STEP #3), but you have to mention its dimensions correctly (width and height) for correct placement of numbers on the image.

Finally save the template and count your comments...

Via QuiteRandom & Webaholic

Check Google PageRank Of All Internal Pages Of a Website

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Post Updated: Tool used in the hack is changed from SeoBook to SEOQuake.

Although there are some tools available, which claim to find out and show you the PageRank of all the individual internal indexed pages of a blog or website like, iwebtool.com and check-seo.com, but I found them quite inefficient (rather completely inefficient).

So here's a simple method to check the individual PageRank of web pages yourself within minutes.

For this method, you should have Firefox [Download Link] installed in your computer, instead of Internet Explorer.
There's an add-on for Firefox - SEO-Quake Firefox

Once installed, it will be displayed in Firefox at the bottom like this:

To enable or disable this add-on, you just have to click on it.

Now with the help of this tool, during a Google search, you will see addtional details below every Google Search result, like this:

In those additional details, the first one is PR of that particular web page.

Now go to Google.com

And search like this:

site:YOUR_WEBSITE_OR_BLOG.COM

for ex, site:bloggerstop.net

Then you will see all the pages indexed by Google of that website/blog, along with their Google PageRanks.
Refresh the search result pages 1,2,3... if the additional details are not displayed instantly below the search results.

Happy New Year 2010

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 15:27:00 +0000

A very happy and prosperous new year to all the readers of BloggerStop.

I got my Christmas + New Year gift from Google:
BloggerStop is now a PR 5 website. My deepest gratitude to hundreds and thousands of readers of BloggerStop who helped me in achieving this, almost within a year. To all my loyal readers:

May the best of your past be the worst of your future.

Friday Blogger Backup #3 - & - Merry Xmas

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:01:00 +0000

Here comes the last Friday of this month and also of the year 2009. Time flies but do not let your blogs content fly off. Take regular back ups and proper precautions to protect your blogs content and template.
As always this post is a reminder to all the readers of BloggerStop to download and save their blogs content.
Have a look on these posts by Blogger, how they mistakenly marked several blogs as SPAM a year ago: Post #1 | Post #2
So this is what you have to do to protect your content (don't worry, it will not take more than 5 minutes)

1. Tutorial for blog posts and comments backup.

2. Tutorial for template and widgets backup (read the first 6 steps of the tutorial).

Happy Blogging & Merry Xmas !

Embed/Add Christmas Games To Your Blog

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Show your visitors that you enjoy Xmas as much as they do! Play these games and add them to your blog right now.

Show Your Speed...

How to play?
Rotate the wires and bulbs by mouse clicking them. When you have a match, they will light up.

Instructions to add this game to your blog:
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout and click on Add a Gadget
Select it as HTML/JavaScript type. And paste this code in to it:

<embed src="http://www.hypergurl.com/onlinegames/santagame/santas-gift-jump.swf" menu="false" quality="high" width="650" height="400" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>

Train Your Brain!

How to play?
Use your mouse to move Santa left and right. Left click to jump. Don't let the presents and candy canes hit Santa's head. You must collect everything directly above his hand.

Code to add:

<embed src="http://www.hypergurl.com/onlinegames/christmas-tree-game/LightUptheChristmasTreePuzzle.swf" menu="false" quality="high" width="600" height="400" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>

NOTE: Change the values in the code highlighted in RED to modify the dimensions of the widgets.

Courtesy: HyperURL

Add Falling Snowflakes / Flowers / Leaves to Your Blog

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:30:00 +0000

Post Updated: Now this tutorial includes an additional snow-storm script. This hack will display falling snow in your blog even though it does not include any images in the script.

Whether it's winter, spring or your birthday, adding some falling snowflakes/flowers/leaves or balloons to your blog makes it attractive. And to do that, you simply have to paste a code snippet in any of your blogs HTML/JavaScript widgets.
To show this widget only in the Homepage or any other specific page, read this post:
How to show widgets only in specific pages.

Steps To Follow:
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout, click on Add a Gadget and select it as HTML/JavaScript. And add any of the two code snippets:

Falling Snow flakes:

<script language="JavaScript" src="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/falling_snowflakes.js">
</script>

And to display falling leaves, use this code:

Falling Leaves:

<script language="JavaScript" src="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/falling_leaves.js">
</script>

NOTE: To change the images, first download the .js files, open it with text pad, and then in the code change the images with your own images.

UPDATE: Thanks to Schillmania, we now have an additional script to add falling snowflakes which looks very similar to actual snowfall.
Have a look at the live demo of this script. [Another Demo]
Code to add:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/snowstorm.js" />

You can further customize these snowflakes (color, number and twinkle effect) by adding these additional lines of code to it. So to add a customized widget, add this code instead of the previous one:

<script type="text/javascript" src="http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/snowstorm.js" />

<script type="text/javascript">
snowStorm.snowColor = '#99ccff'; // blue-ish snow!?
snowStorm.flakesMaxActive = 96; // show more snow on screen at once
snowStorm.useTwinkleEffect = true; // let the snow flicker in and out of view
</script>

An Easy To Add non-JavaScript Based Orkut Share Button For BlogSpot Blogs

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:10:00 +0000

The previous tutorial on how to add an orkut share button in Blogger blogs was based on javaScript, which will definitely slow down your blog.
So this new method will add exactly the same button, without adding any additional scripts to your blog.

In just two steps, you can have this button working on your blog:

STEP #1:
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML
And find (CTRL+F) this code in the template:

<div class='post-header-line-1'/>

STEP #2:
And immediately BELOW/AFTER it, paste this code:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<a expr:href='"http://promote.orkut.com/preview?nt=orkut.com&du=" + data:post.url + "&tt=" + data:post.title' target='_blank'><img src='http://code.google.com/apis/orkut/docs/images/share.gif'/></a></b:if>

And save the template.

NOTE: Instead of displaying it below the post-title, you can display it along with your other social bookmarking buttons too.
Of course you can use any image instead of the default Orkut-Share logo, like these:

DIRECT-LINK: http://i50.tinypic.com/14mz4ac.jpg

DIRECT-LINK: http://i47.tinypic.com/35bba5e.jpg

DIRECT-LINK: http://i47.tinypic.com/2ccmbmo.jpg
Save the widget.

And to display this button, along with Twitter or Facebook buttons, use these tables:

Table to display ANY TWO BUTTONS at a time:

<table border="0">
<tr>
<td style="width:40%;">Paste Code For Orkut Here</td>
<td style="width:40%;">Paste Code For Twitter / Facebook Here</td>
</tr>
</table>

Table to display ALL THREE BUTTONS at a time:

<table border="0">
<tr>
<td style="width:25%;">Paste Code For Orkut Here</td>
<td style="width:25%;">Paste Code For Twitter Here</td>
<td style="width:25%;">Paste Code For Facebook Here</td>
</tr>
</table>

This post was requested by CrazySeawolf.

Redirect Your BlogSpot Blog (or Any Blog-Post) To Some Other Blog/Webpage

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 16:27:00 +0000

This tutorial will help you to redirect your blog or any particular blog post to any other web address (a blog, website or a webpage).
You can do this redirection by adding a single line of code to your blog. This is called Meta-Redirect (also meta-refresh).

Live Example:
http://Google.BlogSpot.com redirects to http://GoogleBlog.BlogSpot.com

Instructions To Follow:

STEP #1
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout -> Edit HTML

STEP #2
Now find this code:

<head>

And immediately BELOW/AFTER this code, add this one:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="3; url=http://bloggerstop.net/" />

And save the template.
Now, your blog will now redirect to BloggerStop.net after 3 seconds (3 seconds countdown will start only after your blog has been completely loaded).

When and How to use it:
1. If you have two blogs, and want to use only one blog, then you can redirect all the traffic of Blog-2 to Blog-1, and keep blogging at Blog-1. This will get you some additional traffic.
2. If you are working on your blogs template/any widget, then temporarily redirect your blog traffic to an under-construction webpage. [In this case, apply this redirection to all but one page of your blog, where you can work and see the changes you are trying to implement - see MODIFIED CODE #1]
3. If you have updated an old post with a new one, then you can update your older post with a message similar to this one: You will be redirected to the newer/updated version of this post in 5 seconds and then redirect the readers to the updated post. [see MODIFIED CODE #2]

MODIFIED CODE #1
Redirect all your blog pages EXCEPT one page/blog-post:
Use this code instead of that in STEP #2

<b:if cond='data:blog.url != "SPECIFIC_BLOG-POST_URL"'>

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="3; url=http://bloggerstop.net/" />

</b:if>

MODIFIED CODE #2
And use this code, to Redirect ONLY a particular post to some other post.

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == "SPECIFIC_BLOG-POST_URL"'>

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="3; url=http://bloggerstop.net/" />

</b:if>

Image Credits: SEOServicesGroup

Add A Blogger Archive Calendar Widget To Your Blog

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:52:00 +0000

Live DemoOne of the most famous widgets available on WordPress which is rarely seen in a Blogger blog is of course a calendar archive widget, in which dates are linked to posts published on that particular date.
Thanks to Phydeaux3 as we now have this widget for Blogger too.
Although you can add a simple calendar to your blog, as a HTML/JavaScript widget, but this one is far more advanced than that one.
This tutorial has mainly four steps, three are common to everyone and in the fourth step, styling of the widget will be done [you can select from the pre-made skins or you may modify/design a unique theme for your widget].

Instructions To Follow:

STEP #1:
Log in to Blogger, go to Layout
Now add the regular Blogger Archive widget (if you do not already have one in your blog). [BTW don't worry nothing will go wrong :)]

Now go to Layout -> Edit HTML
and "Download Your Template" as a back up, if anything goes wrong.

then find this code:

<b:widget id='BlogArchive1' locked='false' title='Blog Archive' type='BlogArchive'/>

The id can also be BlogArchive2 instead of BlogArchive1.

Replace that line with this code:

<b:widget id='BlogArchive1' locked='false' title='Blog Archive' type='BlogArchive'>
<b:includable id='main'>
<b:if cond='data:title'>
<h2><data:title/></h2>
</b:if>
<div class='widget-content'>
<div id='ArchiveList'>
<div expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_ArchiveList"'>
<b:if cond='data:style == "HIERARCHY"'>
<b:include data='data' name='interval'/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:style == "FLAT"'>
<b:include data='data' name='flat'/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:style == "MENU"'>
<b:include data='data' name='menu'/>
</b:if>
</div>
</div>
<b:include name='quickedit'/>
</div>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='toggle' var='interval'>

</b:includable>
<b:includable id='flat' var='data'>
<div id='bloggerCalendarList'>
<ul>
<b:loop values='data:data' var='i'>
<li class='archivedate'>
<a expr:href='data:i.url'><data:i.name/></a> (<data:i.post-count/>)
</li>
</b:loop>
</ul>
</div>

<div id='blogger_calendar' style='display:none'>
<table id='bcalendar'><caption id='bcaption'>

</caption>

<thead id='bcHead'></thead>



<tbody><tr><td id='cell1'> </td><td id='cell2'> </td><td id='cell3'> </td><td id='cell4'> </td><td id='cell5'> </td><td id='cell6'> </td><td id='cell7'> </td></tr>
<tr><td id='cell8'> </td><td id='cell9'> </td><td id='cell10'> </td><td id='cell11'> </td><td id='cell12'> </td><td id='cell13'> </td><td id='cell14'> </td></tr>
<tr><td id='cell15'> </td><td id='cell16'> </td><td id='cell17'> </td><td id='cell18'> </td><td id='cell19'> </td><td id='cell20'> </td><td id='cell21'> </td></tr>
<tr><td id='cell22'> </td><td id='cell23'> </td><td id='cell24'> </td><td id='cell25'> </td><td id='cell26'> </td><td id='cell27'> </td><td id='cell28'> </td></tr>
<tr><td id='cell29'> </td><td id='cell30'> </td><td id='cell31'> </td><td id='cell32'> </td><td id='cell33'> </td><td id='cell34'> </td><td id='cell35'> </td></tr>
<tr id='lastRow'><td id='cell36'> </td><td id='cell37'> </td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table id='bcNavigation'><tr>
<td id='bcFootPrev'></td>
<td id='bcFootAll'></td>
<td id='bcFootNext'></td>
</tr></table>

<div id='calLoadingStatus' style='display:none; text-align:center;'>
<script type='text/javascript'>bcLoadStatus();</script>
</div>
<div id='calendarDisplay'/>
</div>

<script type='text/javascript'> initCal();</script>

</b:includable>
<b:includable id='posts' var='posts'>

</b:includable>
<b:includable id='menu' var='data'>
Configure your calendar archive widget - Edit archive widget - Flat List - Newest first - Choose any Month/Year Format
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='interval' var='intervalData'>
Configure your calendar archive widget - Edit archive widget - Flat List - Newest first - Choose any Month/Year Format
</b:includable>
</b:widget>

Now save the template.

STEP #2
Now find this code in the template:

</head>

And immediately ABOVE/BEFORE it, paste this code:

//STYLE CODE WILL COME HERE - SEE STEP #4
<script src='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/blogger_archive.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='/feeds/posts/summary?max-results=0&alt=json-in-script&callback=timezoneSet'/>

Again save the template.

STEP #3
Now go to Layout -> Page Elements
and edit the properties of the archive widget according to this image:

Now the calendar widget will appear on your blog.

STEP #4
Go back to Layout -> Edit HTML.
Now here's the styling part of the tutorial; select the best theme for your blog from this page:
Archive Calendar Styles [Just remember the name of the style]

Now copy the code of that style (and replace the code in RED in STEP #2 with this one):

Style for Dark Templates

<link href='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/dark_theme.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Style - Plain White

<link href='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/plain_white.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Style - Blue/Black

<link href='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/blue_black.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Style - Dusty Blue

<link href='http://files.main.bloggerstop.net/uploads/3/0/2/5/3025338/dusty_blue.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

If you want to change the color/width etc. of this widget yourself, then instead of using any of the 4 style-themes from step #4, modify the Plain Simple Theme according to the instructions/comments written along the code lines and place it in to your template.

Credits for the widget: Phydeaux3

Bring Them Back - Republish Your Lost Posts !

bloggerstop.net@gmail.com (Divya Sai) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:59:00 +0000

Blogs are dynamic, when you publish new posts, your older posts are lost forever in the archives. While posts on the front page get maximum attention and pageviews but other posts on your blog receive only direct traffic from search engines and social networking sites. With ten or twenty posts in a blog, finding a particular post is not difficult. But when you have 100's of posts published on your blog, then your visitors may easily miss out any post of their interest, while going through your blog archives.
But if you are using Blogger, then you have got an option to bring back your older posts to the hompage whenever you want.
This is especially useful in seasonal events, when a post written in the past must be present on the homepage. But publishing a new post with the same content will cause content-duplication problems, so you can simply edit your previous post to change the publishing date and bring it back to the top.
So to do this, open the post-editor and click on Post Options link present in the bottom of the page. Now Set date and time to present or any future date.

Finally save the post and your work is done (You can of course undo the changes, to send the post back to its original place).

This technique is SEO friendly too, as you are not going to change the permalink of your post. In Blogger, when you publish a new post it gets a unique url in this format (http://YOURBLOG.BogSpot.com/YEAR/MONTH/Title_Of_The_Post.html)
which should and will remain the same, even after doing this hack.