Free Blogging Tools

Add the WeatherBug weather report to your blog with this new widget from Blogger in Draft

2008-04-22T12:52:00.006-05:00

I spent a little more time over at Blogger in Draft today, and found a few more new widgets (gadgets) worthy of mention. The first is a new local weather widget that displays the weather for any city or area. See it in action over on the Free Blogging Tools test site. The weather data comes from WeatherBug. You can edit the settings to change the zip code for the area you want. You can also

"Dynamite" secret message widget for your blog, profile or website

2008-04-21T12:11:00.003-05:00

fancygens.comAnother cool widget from Fancygens.com. Just click on the bundle of dynamite and your "secret message" is delivered with a bang. This works inside of posts on Blogger - no need to add a page element. Can also be used on your profile at Blogger, MySpace, etc. or any website. You can customize the message paper and text color using the widget generator for this widget at

More new widgets - generators allow for fully-customized widgets

2008-04-18T21:09:00.004-05:00

Rotating image cube widgetI found another new widget site today - FancyGens.com. They have lots of "widget generators", which allow you to fully customize a widget, then get the HTML/Javascript/Flash code to put the widget on your site. You can see 3 of the widgets I found in action over on the Free Blogging Tools testsite. What you see here are screenshots - some of these widgets consume a

Free Blogger Templates

2008-04-16T19:34:00.008-05:00

Need a 3-column Blogger template? Or just bored with the same old tired templates available in Blogger layout? Try these on for size. I found a new stash of free Blogger custom templates today. These are from a site called, suprise, Blogger Templates (bloggertemplates.itmag.org).View DemoThis one's called Vistered Multi-Style. Visitors can choose from one of 11 different styles (backgrounds,

Get this nifty Popular Posts widget for your blog

2008-04-15T11:03:00.006-05:00

I searched all over the net for a "Popular Posts" widget that works with Blogger. I found several that didn't work at all, much less with Blogger. Then I finally came across Spotplex. You can see a screenshot of their Popular Posts widget above, or you can see one in action over on my other blog, No Cost Software (it's in the right-hand column, right under the tag cloud). This widget works

Add this cool tag cloud widget to your Blogger blog

2008-04-13T13:14:00.004-05:00

The built-in Labels widget provided by Blogger is ok when you first start your blog. But after a while, the list starts to get too long and it makes for difficult viewing. I was having this problem with both my blogs, so I started searching for a good tag cloud widget that works with Blogger Layout. The best one I've found so far comes from a site called Frivolous Motion.You can see the tag

More free Blogger templates

2008-04-12T16:50:00.007-05:00

Bored with the default Blogger templates? Want a custom template that works with the Blogger layout feature? Then try these on for size. All of these cool templates have been customized to work with Blogger and can be used with the drag-n-drop layout editor. Most of the fonts and colors can be changed, too.Demo Download and instructionsThis is one of my favorites, Blue Steel from

BlogRush Widget - Free traffic for your blog

2008-04-11T15:15:00.006-05:00

BlogRush is a new service that can help you increase traffic to your blog. You can see their widget in action on the right-hand side of this blog (the one above is a screenshot). Here's how it works - You get a credit each time someone visits your blog and the BlogRush widget is displayed. For each credit that you have, a link to your latest blog post is displayed in the BlogRush widget on

Free Blogging Tools - More new widgets (gadgets) from Blogger in Draft

2008-04-10T14:21:00.008-05:00

I've been spending quite a bit of time on Blogger in Draft lately, and have tried a few more of the new widgets (Blogger refers to them as gadgets). Here's my feedback on a couple more.Subscription widgetThis new widget places RSS icons on your blog so your readers can easily subscribe to your site's feed. Users can choose to subscribe to posts and/or comments, and there is a drop-down box for

What you didn't know about Blogger in Draft

2008-04-08T18:25:00.004-05:00

If you are currently on Blogger, there's a feature available to you that you might not be aware of. It's called Blogger in Draft, and it is where Google is testing new features soon to be added to Blogger. To access it, log in to your blog at draft.blogger.com instead of the usual www.blogger.com.Google has a link to this feature below the dashboard, but what they don't tell you (or at least

Free Blogging Tools - AddThis! to all of your posts

2008-04-07T19:02:00.011-05:00

Get an AddThis! button for your siteYou've probably seen this little button on blogs and other content around the web. It drops down a list of most (all) of the social bookmarking sites out there, and allows your readers to bookmark your content to the site that they prefer. Ever wonder where it came from? Well, it comes from the folks at AddThis!, and there's more under the hood than appears

5-star ratings widget evaluation - Update

2008-04-07T12:06:00.006-05:00

5-star ratings widget evaluation - UpdateWell, I've been using this little widget in the evaluation post and over on the Free Blogging Tools testsite for a few days now, and it seems to function perfectly. So I plan to start using one in each post on this blog. I guess the only remaining question is whether or not the getuserfeedback.com site stays up and running to host the data for this. The

Free Blogging Tools - TotalPing! blog pinging service

2008-04-06T15:02:00.004-05:00

If you're not pinging the major RSS feed directories after you update your blog, you probably should be. If you're not, it's probably because it takes too much time to do this manually. Enter TotalPing!, the best service for automatically pinging the major RSS feed directories I've found. They ping to the most up-to-date list of RSS feed directories I've seen.All you have to do to use this

Free Blogging Resources - List of free blog directories to submit your blog to

2008-04-06T12:20:00.003-05:00

I've been working on an updated list of blog directories that take free submissions for blog URLs or feeds. I haven't completed it yet, but thought I would share a link to a very good existing list. You can find this list at Top Rank List of RSS and Blog Directories. It's a little outdated - a few of the directories on the list now charge for submission, and a few no longer exist. But

5-Star Ratings Widget Evaluation

2008-04-05T20:10:00.006-05:00

This is the 5-star ratings widget from the folks over at getuserfeedback.com. I've put it up here for evaluation purposes - if it works out well I will be adding it to all my posts. Go ahead and try it, try it more than once if want - it's supposed to track ip addresses so you can't vote twice. It keeps a tally of the number of votes and the average rating.What I like about this widget - You

Free Blogging Tools - Apollofind site counter widget

2008-04-05T18:36:00.005-05:00

This little counter widget is from Apollofind.com . You can register for a free account there, and pick up the code for this widget (they have several styles and colors available. You'll not only get an accurate count of the number of visitors to your site, but they track all kinds of traffic data for you on their site. Just log into your account and click on All-In-One Report, and you can see

Free Blogging Resources - Free templates that work with Blogger layout

2008-04-05T12:53:00.007-05:00

Tired of the meager selection of default templates included with Blogger layout? Well, I was, and I've recently done quite a bit of searching for 3 or 4 column custom templates that will work with the Blogger layout feature. This post is about some of the sites I found.This cool iPhone template comes from Blogger Templates. The author of the templates at this site is very helpful and provides

What the heck is a Blidget, anyhow?

2008-04-04T15:06:00.005-05:00

Well, it's a Blog in a Widget. Ok.... Why would I want one? So your friends can put YOUR blog on THEIR blog in a widget. And vice-versa. And if you have more than one blog, you could put the Blidget for blog #1 on blog #2, and vice versa.What you see above is a screen shot of the blidget for this blog. You can see it live on the Free Blogging Tools test site - just look over on the left-hand

Free blogging resources - Widgetbox.com

2008-04-04T13:10:00.004-05:00

You can get all kinds of cool widgets for your blog (or website) over at Widgetbox.com. They have flash game widgets, hit-counter widgets, rss-feed widgets, tag-cloud widgets, you name it - they have a widget for it. If you are into making widgets, you can do it here and they will publish it for you. Many of the widgets they have work with Blogger,Wordpress, MySpace, Facebook, etc. and they make

Free blogging tools - HTML Colors 1.10

2008-04-04T12:43:00.006-05:00

If you've spent any time at all on the "inside" of your blog's template, you know about those cryptic HTML colors codes used to specify the background, font color, etc. This handy little utility saves you from having to look up, or remember (ohmygosh!) numbers like this > #FF8000 - that's HTML-speak for the color orange. Just pick your color from a color palette, and HTML Colors copies it to

On your mark....get set....GO!

2008-04-04T12:06:00.006-05:00

Well, I think the new template has all the bugs worked out, so I guess we're off and running. I started this blog after posting a couple of articles about free blogging tools and resources on my other blog, No Cost Software. I noticed there was quite a bit of interest, so I decided to start this one focusing on the subject. You can look for posts here that contain short descriptions and links

Browse by Category

2008-03-28T23:07:00.014-05:00

Blogging ToolsBlidgetsBlog AdvertisingBlog Pinging ServicesBookmarking ToolsGadgetsHTML ToolsRatings ToolsSite CountersWidgetsBlogging ResourcesBlog DirectoriesBlogger in DraftRSS Feed DirectoriesBlogger TemplatesWidgets

Browse by Topic

2008-03-27T11:26:00.017-05:00

Showing all topics5-Star ratings widget evaluation5-star ratings widget evaluation updateAddThis! Bookmarking ToolBlogRush Widget - free advertising for your blogTotalPing! Blog Pinging ServiceFree templates that work with Blogger layoutList of free blog directories to submit your blog toMore new widgets gadgets) from Blogger in DraftOn your mark....get set....GO!HTML Colors 1.10Site counter from

Blinks! - Links to other blogging sites

2008-03-26T21:08:00.013-05:00

AddThis! Bookmarking ToolApollofind - Free site counter and site search widgetsBlogger in Draft - try out Beta gadgets (widgets)Blogger Templates - good site with live demos of all templatesBlogRush Widget - increase traffic to your blogFinalSense - Free Blogger templates, 3 and 4 column templates that work with Blogger layoutgetuserfeedback.com - Home of the 5-star ratings widgetJackbook.com -

Oh Dear, has something gone wrong? Or right?

2008-03-25T21:22:00.008-05:00

Use the links below to email me if you are having a problem with the site, or with one of the tools or resources reviewed here. You can also use the Suggestions link to email me if you have a suggestion for a good blogging resource or tool that you would like to see reviewed. Or maybe you just want to tell me this is a great site, you can do that, too.Help! I'm having a problem with the