Helplogger | Blogger tips, tricks, tutorials and widgets

How To Add A Tabbed Navigation Widget to Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:55:00 +0000

The tabviews are elements that allow us to group in a single container various gadgets and these can be selected via tabs.
Its main function is to save space on the blog to avoid scattered gadgets in the same category so you can group multiple gadgets into one. There are several methods for creating tabviews, some require jQuery, other MooTools, or any other script.

To add this widget to your blog, just follow the steps below:

Step 1. From your Blogger Dashboard, go to Template and click on the Edit HTML button

Step 2. Expand the style of the template, by clicking on the sideways arrow before <b:skin> ... </b:skin>

Step 3. Search using CTRL + F for the following tag:

]]></b:skin>

Step 4. Just above it, add the following code:

/* Tabview for Blogger
----------------------------------------------- */
.tabviewcont{
margin:15px 0;
padding:0;
clear:both;
}

.tabviewnav {
margin: 0 0 0 14px;
padding:3px 0; /* If you are using a Blogger Template change 0 with 15px */
font-size:12px; /* Font size of text inside tabs */
font-weight:bold;
}
.tabviewnav li {
list-style:none;
margin:0;
display:inline;
}
.tabviewnav li a {
padding:3px 6px;
margin-right:1px;
background:#F6F6F6; /* The background color of the tabs */
border-radius:5px 5px 0 0;
-moz-border-radius:5px 5px 0 0;
-webkit-border-radius:5px 5px 0 0;
text-decoration:none;
color:#222222;
}
.tabviewnav li a:hover {
color:#222222;
background:#EBEBEB; /* Background color of the tab on mouseover */
text-decoration:none;
}
.tabviewnav li.tabviewactive a,
.tabviewnav li.tabviewactive a:hover {
background:#EBEBEB; /* Background color of the active tab */
color:#222222;
}
.tabviewcont .tabviewtab {
padding:5px;
border:1px solid #EEEEEE; /* Border around the container */
background:#fff; /* The background color of the gadget */
}
.tabviewcont .tabviewtab h2,
.tabviewcont .tabviewtabhide {
display:none;
}
.tabviewtab .widget-content ul{
list-style:none;
margin:0 0 10px 0;
padding:0;
}
.tabviewtab .widget-content li {
border-bottom:1px solid #ccc;
margin:0 5px;
padding:2px 0 5px 0;
}

Step 5. Find the </head> tag and just above it, paste this script:

<script type='text/javascript'>
// Tabview for grouping gadgets

//<![CDATA[
document.write('<style type="text/css">.tabview{display:none;}<\/style>');function tabviewObj(argsObj){var arg;this.div=null;this.classMain="tabview";this.classMainLive="tabviewcont";this.classTab="tabviewtab";this.classTabDefault="tabviewtabdefault";this.classNav="tabviewnav";this.classTabHide="tabviewtabhide";this.classNavActive="tabviewactive";this.titleElements=['h2','h3','h4','h5','h6'];this.titleElementsStripHTML=true;this.removeTitle=true;this.addLinkId=false;this.linkIdFormat='<tabviewid>nav<tabnumberone>';for(arg in argsObj){this[arg]=argsObj[arg]}this.REclassMain=new RegExp('\\b'+this.classMain+'\\b','gi');this.REclassMainLive=new RegExp('\\b'+this.classMainLive+'\\b','gi');this.REclassTab=new RegExp('\\b'+this.classTab+'\\b','gi');this.REclassTabDefault=new RegExp('\\b'+this.classTabDefault+'\\b','gi');this.REclassTabHide=new RegExp('\\b'+this.classTabHide+'\\b','gi');this.tabs=new Array();if(this.div){this.init(this.div);this.div=null}}tabviewObj.prototype.init=function(e){var childNodes,i,i2,t,defaultTab=0,DOM_ul,DOM_li,DOM_a,aId,headingElement;if(!document.getElementsByTagName){return false}if(e.id){this.id=e.id}this.tabs.length=0;childNodes=e.childNodes;for(i=0;i<childNodes.length;i++){if(childNodes[i].className&&childNodes[i].className.match(this.REclassTab)){t=new Object();t.div=childNodes[i];this.tabs[this.tabs.length]=t;if(childNodes[i].className.match(this.REclassTabDefault)){defaultTab=this.tabs.length-1}}}DOM_ul=document.createElement("ul");DOM_ul.className=this.classNav;for(i=0;i<this.tabs.length;i++){t=this.tabs[i];t.headingText=t.div.title;if(this.removeTitle){t.div.title=''}if(!t.headingText){for(i2=0;i2<this.titleElements.length;i2++){headingElement=t.div.getElementsByTagName(this.titleElements[i2])[0];if(headingElement){t.headingText=headingElement.innerHTML;if(this.titleElementsStripHTML){t.headingText.replace(/<br>/gi," ");t.headingText=t.headingText.replace(/<[^>]+>/g,"")}break}}}if(!t.headingText){t.headingText=i+1}DOM_li=document.createElement("li");t.li=DOM_li;DOM_a=document.createElement("a");DOM_a.appendChild(document.createTextNode(t.headingText));DOM_a.href="javascript:void(null);";DOM_a.title=t.headingText;DOM_a.onclick=this.navClick;DOM_a.tabview=this;DOM_a.tabviewIndex=i;if(this.addLinkId&&this.linkIdFormat){aId=this.linkIdFormat;aId=aId.replace(/<tabviewid>/gi,this.id);aId=aId.replace(/<tabnumberzero>/gi,i);aId=aId.replace(/<tabnumberone>/gi,i+1);aId=aId.replace(/<tabtitle>/gi,t.headingText.replace(/[^a-zA-Z0-9\-]/gi,''));DOM_a.id=aId}DOM_li.appendChild(DOM_a);DOM_ul.appendChild(DOM_li)}e.insertBefore(DOM_ul,e.firstChild);e.className=e.className.replace(this.REclassMain,this.classMainLive);this.tabShow(defaultTab);if(typeof this.onLoad=='function'){this.onLoad({tabview:this})}return this};tabviewObj.prototype.navClick=function(event){var rVal,a,self,tabviewIndex,onClickArgs;a=this;if(!a.tabview){return false}self=a.tabview;tabviewIndex=a.tabviewIndex;a.blur();if(typeof self.onClick=='function'){onClickArgs={'tabview':self,'index':tabviewIndex,'event':event};if(!event){onClickArgs.event=window.event}rVal=self.onClick(onClickArgs);if(rVal===false){return false}}self.tabShow(tabviewIndex);return false};tabviewObj.prototype.tabHideAll=function(){var i;for(i=0;i<this.tabs.length;i++){this.tabHide(i)}};tabviewObj.prototype.tabHide=function(tabviewIndex){var div;if(!this.tabs[tabviewIndex]){return false}div=this.tabs[tabviewIndex].div;if(!div.className.match(this.REclassTabHide)){div.className+=' '+this.classTabHide}this.navClearActive(tabviewIndex);return this};tabviewObj.prototype.tabShow=function(tabviewIndex){var div;if(!this.tabs[tabviewIndex]){return false}this.tabHideAll();div=this.tabs[tabviewIndex].div;div.className=div.className.replace(this.REclassTabHide,'');this.navSetActive(tabviewIndex);if(typeof this.onTabDisplay=='function'){this.onTabDisplay({'tabview':this,'index':tabviewIndex})}return this};tabviewObj.prototype.navSetActive=function(tabviewIndex){this.tabs[tabviewIndex].li.className=this.classNavActive;return this};tabviewObj.prototype.navClearActive=function(tabviewIndex){this.tabs[tabviewIndex].li.className='';return this};function tabviewAutomatic(tabviewArgs){var tempObj,divs,i;if(!tabviewArgs){tabviewArgs={}}tempObj=new tabviewObj(tabviewArgs);divs=document.getElementsByTagName("div");for(i=0;i<divs.length;i++){if(divs[i].className&&divs[i].className.match(tempObj.REclassMain)){tabviewArgs.div=divs[i];divs[i].tabview=new tabviewObj(tabviewArgs)}}return this}function tabviewAutomaticOnLoad(tabviewArgs){var oldOnLoad;if(!tabviewArgs){tabviewArgs={}}oldOnLoad=window.onload;if(typeof window.onload!='function'){window.onload=function(){tabviewAutomatic(tabviewArgs)}}else{window.onload=function(){oldOnLoad();tabviewAutomatic(tabviewArgs)}}}if(typeof tabviewOptions=='undefined'){tabviewAutomaticOnLoad()}else{if(!tabviewOptions['manualStartup']){tabviewAutomaticOnLoad(tabviewOptions)}}
//]]>
</script>

Step 6. Finally, look for this line:

<div class='column-right-inner'>

Or if you use an old template of Blogger, search this line:

<div id='sidebar-wrapper'>

Step 7. Paste below one of these two lines, this code:

<div class='tabview'>
<b:section class='tabviewtab' id='Tab1' maxwidgets='1'/>
<b:section class='tabviewtab' id='Tab2' maxwidgets='1'/>
<b:section class='tabviewtab' id='Tab3' maxwidgets='1'/>
</div>

Step 8. Save changes, and go to Layout and there you will see the new areas to add gadgets.

You just have to click on Add a Gadget to add the gadget to the tab that corresponds, or drag a gadget you already have to that section.

If you want to add more tabs, then just add before the last </div> a line like this:

<b:section class='tabviewtab' id='Tab4' maxwidgets='1'/>

Note that each line you add should have a different ID, for example Tab5, Tab6, etc..

You can add multiple tabs, just repeat the last step and likewise remember to change the name of the IDs.

Remember that if your sidebar is too narrow, then you should not put a lot of tabs, or tab titles that are very long.

You should also note that this gadget does not speed up the loading speed of the blog, is only to group gadgets into one, even, depending on the blog-may take a while to load the tabview.

Expandable Recent Comments Widget for Blogger/Blogspot

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:00:00 +0000

This Expandable Recent Comments is a very accessible widget that can be collapsed or expanded through user interaction, so that now, we don't have to click on the commenter or post title link in order to see the content of a comment.

The expanding content can be shown or hidden by clicking on the plus/minus icon or by pressing the "Show all" or "Hide all" button at run time.

How To Add The Expandable Recent Comments Widget to Blogger

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger dashboard and go to Layout > Click on "Add a Gadget" link

Step 2. From the pop-up window, scroll down and click on the HTML/JavaScript widget

Step 3. Copy and paste this code inside the empty box:

<style type="text/css" media="screen">
.row-aa { background: #f2f2f3; }
.row-bb { background: #F8F5F1; }
.row-div {
margin:0px;
padding:5px;
}
.comment-header {
font-size:0.9em;
// border:1px solid #E0E0E0;
// background-color:#F3F3F3;
padding:4px;
margin-top:10px;
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.comment-box {
margin:0px;
padding:0px;
font-size:0.9em;
height:500px;
overflow:auto;
}
.comments1 {
// background: #F3F3F3;
padding:3px;
border-left:1px dashed #A6A6A6;
color: #888888;
font-style: italic;
padding-top:4px;
margin-bottom:5px;
}
.comment-footer {
text-align:center;
font-size:0.9em;
padding:4px;
margin-top:5px;
}
</style>

<div style="text-align: center" class="comment-header"><input class="comment-button" id="commshowall" type="button" onclick="if (this.value == 'Show all') { unfold_all(this); this.value='Hide all'; } else { fold_all(this); this.value='Show all'; }" style="width:8em;font-size:1em;font-family:Verdana,sans" value="Show all" /></div>

<div class="comment-box">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/expandable-recent-comments.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://helplogger.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?start-index=1&max-results=999999&alt=json-in-script&callback=showrecentposts">
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://helplogger.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?start-index=1&max-results=999999&alt=json-in-script&callback=showrecentcomments">
</script>

</div>

Note: Replace http://helplogger.blogspot.com with your blog/site address.

Step 4. Save your widget and you're done!

Enjoy :)

Create Horizontal Navigation Menu With Drop Down Submenus Using CSS

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 22:01:00 +0000

The following drop down menu is made only with CSS, is a horizontal menu with sub-tabs and the right side has a rounded search. A menu is handy for those who do not require complex menus or prefer not to use one that requires scripts and/or too many images, also the installation and customization is quite simple, and to top it off is quite functional.

To see this drop down menu in action, visit this demo blog

Prior to doing anything, if you are using a Template made through Blogger Template Designer, then you should consider doing these changes in the template, otherwise the menu might not be displayed correctly:

From your Blogger's Dashboard, go to Template (make a backup < see the screenshot) > Edit HTML:

and search (CTRL + F) for the following line:

<b:section class='tabs' id='crosscol' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='yes'>

Screenshot

Remove the code in red.
You may have many parts as the one in red, delete all you find.

....then find this section in your template:

/* Tabs
----------------------------------------------- */

...and remove all that is within it, until you reach to the Headings part.

/* Tabs
----------------------------------------------- */
.tabs-outer {
overflow: hidden;
position: relative;
background: $(tabs.background.color) $(tabs.background.gradient) repeat scroll 0 0;
}

#layout .tabs-outer {
overflow: visible;
}

.tabs-cap-top, .tabs-cap-bottom {
position: absolute;
width: 100%;

border-top: 1px solid $(tabs.border.color);

}

.tabs-cap-bottom {
bottom: 0;
}

.tabs-inner .widget li a {
display: inline-block;

margin: 0;
padding: .6em 1.5em;

font: $(tabs.font);
color: $(tabs.text.color);

border-top: 1px solid $(tabs.border.color);
border-bottom: 1px solid $(tabs.border.color);
border-$startSide: 1px solid $(tabs.border.color);
}

.tabs-inner .widget li:last-child a {
border-$endSide: 1px solid $(tabs.border.color);
}

.tabs-inner .widget li.selected a, .tabs-inner .widget li a:hover {
background: $(tabs.selected.background.color) $(tabs.background.gradient) repeat-x scroll 0 -100px;
color: $(tabs.selected.text.color);
}
/* Headings
----------------------------------------------- */

Then add this to where the code has been removed (instead of the code in green):

#crosscol ul {z-index: 200; padding:0 !important;}
#crosscol li:hover {position:relative;}
#crosscol ul li {padding:0 !important;}
.tabs-outer {z-index:1;}

Having done this, we can finally add our menu.

How To Add Horizontal Drop Down Menu to Blogger

To put this horizontal menu with submenus in your blog, then follow the next steps:

Step 1. From Template, go to Edit HTML and just above ]]></b:skin> paste these styles:

/* Horizontal drop down menu
----------------------------------------------- */
#menuWrapper {
width:100%; /* Menu width */
height:35px;
padding-left:14px;
background:#333; /* Background color */
border-radius: 10px;
}
.menu {
padding:0;
margin:0;
list-style:none;
height:35px;
position:relative;
z-index:5;
font-family:arial, verdana, sans-serif;
}
.menu li:hover li a {
background:none;
}
.menu li.top {display:block; float:left;}
.menu li a.top_link {
display:block;
float:left;
height:35px;
line-height:34px;
color:#ccc;
text-decoration:none;
font-family:"Verdana", sans-serif;
font-size:12px; /* Font size */
font-weight:bold;
padding:0 0 0 12px;
cursor:pointer;
}
.menu li a.top_link span {
float:left;
display:block;
padding:0 24px 0 12px;
height:35px;
}
.menu li a.top_link span.down {
float:left;
display:block;
padding:0 24px 0 12px;
height:35px;
}
.menu li a.top_link:hover, .menu li:hover > a.top_link {color:#fff; }
.menu li:hover {position:relative; z-index:2;}
.menu ul,
.menu li:hover ul ul,
.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul ul,
.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul ul,
.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul ul
{position:absolute; left:-9999px; top:-9999px; width:0; height:0; margin:0; padding:0; list-style:none;}

.menu li:hover ul.sub {
left:0;
top:35px;
background:#333; /* Submenu background color */
padding:3px;
white-space:nowrap;
width:200px;
height:auto;
z-index:3;
}
.menu li:hover ul.sub li {
display:block;
height:30px;
position:relative;
float:left;
width:200px;
font-weight:normal;
}
.menu li:hover ul.sub li a{
display:block;
height:30px;
width:200px;
line-height:30px;
text-indent:5px;
color:#ccc;
text-decoration:none;
}
.menu li ul.sub li a.fly {
/* Submenu Background Color */
background:#333 url(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-38QeToUdU48/UWmqpRNO-LI/AAAAAAAADP4/A4AJhnSm0Fg/s1600/arrow_over.gif) 185px 10px no-repeat;}
.menu li:hover ul.sub li a:hover {
background:#515151; /* Background Color on mouseover */
color:#fff;
}
.menu li:hover ul.sub li a.fly:hover, .menu li:hover ul li:hover > a.fly {
/* Background on Mouseover */
background:#646464 url(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-38QeToUdU48/UWmqpRNO-LI/AAAAAAAADP4/A4AJhnSm0Fg/s1600/arrow_over.gif) 185px 10px no-repeat; color:#fff;}

.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul,
.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul,
.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul,
.menu li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul li:hover ul {
left:200px;
top:-4px;
background: #333; /* Background Color of the Submenu */
padding:3px;
white-space:nowrap;
width:200px;
z-index:4;
height:auto;
}
#search {
width: 228px; /* Width of the Search Box */
height: 50px;
float: right;
z-index: 2;
text-align: center;
margin-top: 5px;
margin-right: 6px;
/* Background of the Search Box */
background: url(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vDyTcAWn58E/UWm0GuAgYII/AAAAAAAADQg/1MqJrXZSQ9A/s1600/searchBar.png) no-repeat;
}
#search-box {
margin-top: 3px;
border:0px;
background: transparent;
text-align:center;
}

Screenshot

Step 2. Save the Template

Step 3. Go to Layout > click on Add a Gadget link

Step 4. Choose HTML/Javascript and paste the following inside the empty box:

<div id='menuWrapper'>
<ul class='menu'>
<li class='top'><a class='top_link' href='Link URL'><span>Title 1</span></a></li>

<li class='top'><a class='top_link' href='Link URL'><span class='down'>Title 2</span></a><ul class='sub'><li><a class='fly' href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.1</a><ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.1.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.1.2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.1.3</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class='mid'><a class='fly' href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2</a>
<ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.3</a></li>
<li><a class='fly' href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.4</a>
<ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.4.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.4.2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.4.3</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.5</a></li>
<li><a class='fly' href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.6</a>
<ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.6.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.2.6.2</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.3</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.4</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 2.5</a></li>
</ul>
</li>

<li class='top'><a class='top_link' href='Link URL'><span class='down'>Title 3</span></a>
<ul class='sub'>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 3.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 3.2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 3.3</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 3.4</a></li>
</ul>
</li>

<li class='top'><a class='top_link' href='Link URL'><span class='down'>Title 4</span></a>
<ul class='sub'>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.1</a></li>
<li><a class='fly' href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2</a>
<ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2.2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2.3</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2.4</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2.5</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.2.6</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.3</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.4</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.5</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 4.6</a></li>
</ul>
</li>

<li class='top'><a class='top_link' href='Link URL'><span class='down'>Title 5</span></a>
<ul class='sub'>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 5.1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 5.2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Submenu 5.3</a></li>
</ul>
</li>


<li>
<form action='/search' id='search' method='get' name='searchForm' style='display:inline;'>
<input id='search-box' name='q' onblur='if (this.value == "") this.value = "Search here...";' onfocus='if (this.value == "Search here...") this.value = "";' size='28' type='text' value='Search here...'/></form>
</li>

</ul>
</div>

Customization:

- replace the text in blue and red with your links and titles.
- if you need more tabs, then add a line like this just above

<li class="top"><a href="Link URL" class="top_link"><span>Title</span></a></li>

- if you want to add a tab with sub-tabs, then add this code:

<li class="top"><a href="Link URL" class="top_link"><span class="down">Title</span></a>
<ul class="sub">
<li><a href="Link URL">Submenu Title</a></li>
<li><a href="Link URL">Submenu Title</a></li>
<li><a href="Link URL">Submenu Title</a></li>
</ul>
</li>

- and if you want one of the other sub-tabs have sub-tabs then remove a line like the one in orange and change it to a code like this:

<li><a href="Link URL" class="fly">Submenu Title</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="Link URL">Other Submenu</a></li>
<li><a href="Link URL">Other Submenu</a></li>
<li><a href="Link URL">Other Submenu</a></li>
</ul>
</li>

And that's it! Now Save your Widget and enjoy your new drop down menu! ;)

How To Use The New Blogger HTML Editor

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 22:28:00 +0000

The Blogger template editor now includes a number of changes that seem interesting and make it much more friendly than it was.

To begin with, what we see now is all the template's code starting with numbered and colored lines showing us different code snippets: tags, variables, properties, etc.. depending on the HTML, CSS, JavaScript and even the language of Blogger - include, b:if and other occurrences.

This is what any decent external editor does, but certainly, from now on it will be much easier to find that little bug that drives us crazy when we omit quotation marks or add one more semicolon. This also applies to CSS, which appears mostly in dark blue without distinguishing selectors and rules, but the rest is a major improvement.

Another great help are the numbers that appear in front of each fragment of code, so that we can easily pinpoint and correct errors of this type: "Error parsing XML, line 103, column 9: The element ... "

Using the New Blogger Template HTML Editor

When you want to search for a code in the HTML editor, click inside the editor and press CTRL + F on your keyboard, then enter what you want to find in the search box that appears inside the editor.

Finally, hit the "ENTER" button on your keyboard and it should take you to the requested code.

If you want to be taken to the section of code that belongs to a particular widget, just click on the Jump To Widget button at the top of the editor, choose the widget's name from the list and it will take you directly to that portion of code.

The CSS rules can be found folded at the top of the template, between <b:skin>...</b:skin> and <b:template-skin>...</b:template-skin> tags. To expand them, you have to click on the sideways arrow next to the line number.

Another great functionality is that now we can Preview Template in the same window without needing to leave the page and we can easily go back to customize our template by clicking on the Edit Template button.

Finally, Format template re-orders the code, adding indentation automatically.

As always, we must use the Save button for the changes to take effect or we can Revert the changes.

And that's it. With a bit of effort, we can easily familiarize with this new HTML editor. Surely as usual and even reasonable to be something inherent in the human condition, this change does not appeal to many. Same with the Lightbox for images, the new template designer, the new desktop and other new things that have been added in the past. But who now remembers that they once were new?
----------
For more info, check out this post on the Blogger Buzz blog, where Google software engineers +Samantha Schaffer and +Renee Kwang explained the steps for moving the date of a blog post from above the post title to underneath it, as an example in using the new Blogspot HTML editor.

Show Recent Posts With Thumbnails For Particular Label or Category in Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 02:23:00 +0000

Sometimes we want to have everything organized so that our readers can find topics of interest more easily, and that's when instead of putting a widget with the latest posts, we can put together the latest entries sorted by category, so that we'll be able to show the latest posts for each label we want and also display a thumbnail for our category.

Screenshot

To add this cool gadget/widget for the latest categories, just follow the next steps:

Steps

Step 1. From your Blogger Dashboard, go to Template/Edit HTML

...then tick the Expand Widget Templates checkbox:

Step 2. Search for this piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

and just above it, paste this one:

/* Recent posts by labels
--------------------------------- */
img.label_thumb{
float:left;
margin-right:10px !important;
height:65px; /* Thumbnail height */
width:65px; /* Thumbnail width */
border: 1px solid #fff;
-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
-moz-border-radius: 10px;
border-radius: 10px;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
-moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
box-shadow: 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
}

.label_with_thumbs {
float: left;
width: 100%;
min-height: 70px;
margin: 0px 10px 2px 0px;
padding: 0;
}
ul.label_with_thumbs li {
padding:8px 0;
min-height:65px;
margin-bottom:0px;
border-bottom: 1px dotted #999999;
}

.label_with_thumbs li{
list-style: none ;
padding-left:0px !important;
}

.label_with_thumbs a { text-transform: uppercase;}
.label_with_thumbs strong {padding-left:0px; }

Step 3. Now search for this tag (CTRL + F)

</head>

...and add the following script above it:

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
function labelthumbs(json){document.write('<ul class="label_with_thumbs">');for(var i=0;i<numposts;i++){var entry=json.feed.entry[i];var posttitle=entry.title.$t;var posturl;if(i==json.feed.entry.length)break;for(var k=0;k<entry.link.length;k++){if(entry.link[k].rel=='replies'&&entry.link[k].type=='text/html'){var commenttext=entry.link[k].title;var commenturl=entry.link[k].href;}
if(entry.link[k].rel=='alternate'){posturl=entry.link[k].href;break;}}var thumburl;try{thumburl=entry.media$thumbnail.url;}catch(error)
{s=entry.content.$t;a=s.indexOf("<img");b=s.indexOf("src=\"",a);c=s.indexOf("\"",b+5);d=s.substr(b+5,c-b-5);if((a!=-1)&&(b!=-1)&&(c!=-1)&&(d!="")){thumburl=d;}else thumburl='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zP87C2q9yog/UVopoHY30SI/AAAAAAAAE5k/AIyPvrpGLn8/s1600/picture_not_available.png';}
var postdate=entry.published.$t;var cdyear=postdate.substring(0,4);var cdmonth=postdate.substring(5,7);var cdday=postdate.substring(8,10);var monthnames=new Array();monthnames[1]="Jan";monthnames[2]="Feb";monthnames[3]="Mar";monthnames[4]="Apr";monthnames[5]="May";monthnames[6]="June";monthnames[7]="July";monthnames[8]="Aug";monthnames[9]="Sept";monthnames[10]="Oct";monthnames[11]="Nov";monthnames[12]="Dec";document.write('<li class="clearfix">');if(showpostthumbnails==true)
document.write('<a href="'+posturl+'" target ="_top"><img class="label_thumb" src="'+thumburl+'"/></a>');document.write('<strong><a href="'+posturl+'" target ="_top">'+posttitle+'</a></strong><br>');if("content"in entry){var postcontent=entry.content.$t;}
else
if("summary"in entry){var postcontent=entry.summary.$t;}
else var postcontent="";var re=/<\S[^>]*>/g;postcontent=postcontent.replace(re,"");if(showpostsummary==true){if(postcontent.length<numchars){document.write('');document.write(postcontent);document.write('');}
else{document.write('');postcontent=postcontent.substring(0,numchars);var quoteEnd=postcontent.lastIndexOf(" ");postcontent=postcontent.substring(0,quoteEnd);document.write(postcontent+'...');document.write('');}}
var towrite='';var flag=0;document.write('<br>');if(showpostdate==true){towrite=towrite+monthnames[parseInt(cdmonth,10)]+'-'+cdday+' - '+cdyear;flag=1;}
if(showcommentnum==true)
{if(flag==1){towrite=towrite+' | ';}
if(commenttext=='1 Comments')commenttext='1 Comment';if(commenttext=='0 Comments')commenttext='No Comments';commenttext='<a href="'+commenturl+'" target ="_top">'+commenttext+'</a>';towrite=towrite+commenttext;flag=1;;}
if(displaymore==true)
{if(flag==1)towrite=towrite+' | ';towrite=towrite+'<a href="'+posturl+'" class="url" target ="_top">More »</a>';flag=1;;}
document.write(towrite);document.write('</li>');if(displayseparator==true)
if(i!=(numposts-1))
document.write('');}document.write('</ul>');}
//]]>
</script>

Note: to add your own pic for the posts with no thumbnail, replace the image url in blue with your own

So we have added the Css to style the widget and the script to make it work. Now all we have to do is to add the widget's code to the blog sidebar in a Html/Javascript gadget:

Step 4. Go to Layout - click on Add a Gadget

Step 5. Choose the HTML/Javascript widget and paste this code inside the empty box:

<script type='text/javascript'>var numposts = 3;var showpostthumbnails = true;var displaymore = false;var displayseparator = true;var showcommentnum = false;var showpostdate = false;var showpostsummary = true;var numchars = 100;</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/feeds/posts/default/-/Name-of-the-label?published&alt=json-in-script&callback=labelthumbs"></script>

Note: Where it says Name-of-the-label is the name of the label you want to display, and if your label is case sensitive, like in my example, then you should type it that way.

Also within the last code, there are parts that we can customize, just change true with false or vice versa:

var numposts ← Number of posts to display
var showpostthumbnails ← Show/hide thumbnails
var displaymore ← Show or hide the read more link
var displayseparator ← Show/hide separator
var showcommentnum ← Show/hide the number of comments
var showpostdate ← Show/hide the posts dates
var showpostsummary ← Show or not the posts summaries
var numchars ← Number of posts characters (here you have to change the 100 value)

Remember that the gadget displays the latest posts from a particular label, therefore, if you want to display the latest posts from other labels then just repeat step 5 for each additional category you want to add.

That's it :) Enjoy!

CSS Basics. How to Apply Rounded Corners On Images #2

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:25:00 +0000

In the previous post I have mentioned that we will learn to round images using CSS, without needing to edit them one by one using a program. Now that we have seen the basics of CSS, let's try to apply to some images.

What we will do is to upload an image as normal (HTML) and then add some rules in our style sheet that will transform the outer shape as a circle... or at least to appear round. This will depend on the proportions of image that we use.

In fact, we can apply this effect to any image, to all of an area or to all in our blog. That depends on your tastes.

Marking up HTML

Obviously the first thing we need for in order to round an image is an idem. The code could be more complicated, but an image is built within the img tag and basically looks like this:

<img src="image_URL"/>

Screenshot:

This is how we make it look something like the one from the left. Normally, it should also keep an alt text and sometimes it carries some forced dimensions (with width and/or height). When you upload an image, the code inside the Blogger editor also contains a link that is pointing to the original image.

But if we want to modify this image using CSS, we need to incorporate a class selector. We can add it in two ways: within the img tag or to a parent box. The name that I have chosen for the selector is roundedcorners:

<img class="roundedcorners" src="image_URL"/>

<div class="roundedcorners">
<img src="image_URL"/>
</div>

Applying style to all homogeneous elements

But that selector alone will do nothing. It needs to be linked to a style rule that tells what to do with it. As much as we add classes, if these are not defined in the CSS, the appearance of the image (or a certain element) will not change.

To change the shape of all the images on our blog, this would be what we should add to our CSS:

img {
border: 2px solid #BADA55;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border-radius: 900px;
-moz-border-radius: 900px;
}

And how it translates to your browser? As follows:

Search for images by name tag (img) and apply the following style:

a solid green border of 2 pixels
margins (space outside the border) and padding (space inside the border) is set to zero
the image is round at the four corners

Now that we have this rule in our style sheet itself, we can see the picture as we wanted - see the example on the right.

To declare a property correctly, we need to know what it does and how to write and you can find more info in many places, although W3C is the authority in this.

For example border-radius requires initially 4 values reading from left to right that represent the roundness of the upper-left, upper-right, lower-right and lower-left corner. If you put a single value is understood that all four will be equal to that.

You should also know that when the value of the border exceeds the dimensions of the box, this border is adapted to form a circle.

How to Apply Style to the Elements of the Same Block

But surely we do not want all the blog images to be round, but only those that we choose, otherwise adding the above style in the head tag will make all of our blog images to take this shape. Before we used an HTML tag (img) and not a selector and that is why the style will affect all images.

To avoid this, we can do one of the things we saw at the beginning and that was to put the image inside a div with the roundedcorners class. In this way, only the images that are in a box with that class will be affected by the rule that will make them round.

<div class="roundedcorners"><img src="image_URL"/></div>

But the rule then should not attack the img tag directly, but the roundedcorners selector. In this case, you should write it like this:

.roundedcorners img {
border: 2px solid #BADA55;
....
}

This means that this style applies only to images that are in a box with roundedcorners class.

Epilogue

To close the subtopic of rounding images, you have to keep in mind that if these are not square, instead of becoming circular, they will look oval.

To fix this we should add the width and height with the same measure (value in pixels), that is to force the image cropping and to make it appear perfectly circular. That was all!

If you enjoy reading this blog, please share and subscribe. For any questions, drop a comment below ;)

CSS Basics. How to Apply Rounded Corners On Images #1

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:48:00 +0000

This tutorial will explain how to change the outside border of any image using some simple CSS rules to make it round, but this is so easy to do, that I'm finally going to make this entry for other purposes.

The trick today that I'm going to publish in two parts is to help to understand at least a little of what CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is. But very briefly that I'm not able to do a good comprehensive manual on the subject. For those who want to see a bit more, take a look at this link and for those who really want to learn thoroughly, I recommend to visit this site.

Introduction and terminology

Style sheets aim to help sort out what is the structure of a website and which is its format, its appearance. Thus, the CSS box model is essentially a box that wraps around HTML elements, and it dictates how those boxes are presented in terms of colors, fonts, width, backgrounds etc.

The advantage is that if in the future we decide to change something, we don't have to change all the pages one by one, but simply change the properties of one kind or another box from the style sheet and these changes will automatically apply in all the pages.

The style sheet is a set of rules, in turn composed of selectors and declarations. The selector is to be used as a nickname or name of what you want to configure from the sheet and apply to the HTML and declarations are properties that are assigned to the desired values (more information on CSS syntax)

Adding the CSS selector

Once we put for example the one above in our style sheet, we see that in our website... nothing happens. I said that the selector is what relates HTML and CSS so that if we want a box to take these values for width, background color, border and font size (that's what we defined earlier), we need to include the selector, thus:

<div class="SelectorName">Text here</div>

What we have added is a rule that tells the browser to interpret that this box has to be of a certain type or class. A class that was mentioned earlier is called selector having some specific properties and values defined in the style sheet.

Now we'll see how this will change the look of the box, while all others that don't have the SelectorName name will follow the standard appearance.

Therefore, when we include a rule in a style sheet, or modify an existing one, what happens is that all boxes marked with that selector will change their appearance according to the properties-values that we have defined.

On the contrary, if we want that an unmarked box to change its appearance with the CSS rules defined, we'll add the appropriate selector.

Where to add the CSS style

The style can be put in a CSS file. The file is created with all the rules, you get the address and then include the following line in the header of your template. For Blogger, you can add it between <head> and <b:skin><![CDATA[/*:

<link href="syle.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>

Note: in blue is where the address of your CSS file should be added.

You can also add the style directly mixed with HTML, inserted between the style tags:

<style>
.SelectorName {
background-color: #EAEAEA;
border: 1px solid #444444;
width: 200px;
font-size: 12px;
}
</style>

It can be inserted into a particular box, as well. In this case, you do not need to add any selector to indicate where the CSS style is:

<div style="background-color: #EAEAEA; border: 1px solid #444444; width: 200px; font-size: 12px;">Text here</div>

In Blogger the rules are between the skin tags, which means they are between <b:skin><![CDATA[/* and ]]></b:skin>. If you edit the template, will find that there are many things in between. All this is CSS that marks the appearance of your blog.

In case we want to see the effect after changing the value of some propriety, we can click on the Preview button. We can also remove anytime a declaration or add another to the desired selector.

For those who don't want to touch the template, you can add the CSS directly by going to the Advanced section > Add CSS of your Template Designer.

That's enough for today. The next tutorial will discuss in more detail about how to add rounded corners to our images using CSS.

10 Places to put Adsense ads in Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:20:00 +0000

This article will discuss about the more common 10 places on our blog where we can place ads and about how to implement them and also which are the most suitable formats based on those available in our AdSense account.

Advertisements

In the Sidebar

How to implement.

This is one of the easiest places to place AdSense. Just go to the page elements (layout), click on the "Add a Gadget" link and add an HTML/Javascript widget with your ad code inside it or add directly an AdSense widget.

Recommended formats: 125 × 125, 120 × 600 and 160 × 600

Between posts

Implementation. You can implement AdSense ads between your posts: go to Layout, click on the "Edit" link below the Blog Posts section, then check the "Show Ads Between Posts" option.

Recommended formats: 468 × 60, 300 × 250 and 336 × 280

Under the header

Implementation:

Firstly, convert your AdSense ad code. You can use this converter here:
AdSense Ad Converter

Then, go to your Blogger Template (from your Dashboard, click on Template and press the Edit HTML button) and search for:

<div id='header-wrapper'>

Then paste the converted code right after it.

Recommended formats: 728 × 90 and 728 × 15

Above the blog posts

Implementation:

Convert your ad code and search for <div id='main-wrapper'> in your template.

Paste the converted code right after it.

Recommended formats: 460 × 68, 468 × 15 and 336 × 280

Under the title of the post (this will be visible on all the pages)

Implementation:

Convert your AdSense ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

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

Note: if you can't find it, search it without the ending slash /

Paste the converted code right after it.

Recommended formats: 468 × 68 and 468 × 15

Under the post title (visible only on the posts pages)

Implementation:

Convert your ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

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

Note: if you can't find it, search it without the trailing slash /

Paste the converted code, following this example:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>



</b:if>

Recommended formats: 468x68 and 468x15

In the posts' footer

Implementation:

Convert your ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

<p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'/>

Note: if you can't find it, search it without the trailing slash /

Paste the converted code right after this line.

Recommended formats: 468x68 and 468x15

In the post's body (it will be visible on all pages)

Implementation:

Convert your ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

<div class='post-body entry-content'>

Note: in case you don't fint this code, search only for <div class='post-body'>

And paste the converted code, following this example:

<div style='float:right'>



</div>

Recommended formats: 125x125, 180x150, 120x240 and 200x200

In the post's body (visible only in post pages)

Convert your ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

<div class='post-body entry-content'>

Note: in case you don't fint this code, search only for <div class='post-body'>

And paste the converted code, following this example:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<div style='float:right'>



</div>
</b:if>

Recommended formats: 125x125, 180x150, 120x240 and 200x200

Between post and comments (visible only on posts pages)

Implementation:

Convert your ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

</b:includable>
<b:includable id='commentDeleteIcon' var='comment'>

Paste the converted code just above it, following this example:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>



</b:if>

Recommended formats: 468x60, 300x250 and 336x280

In the blog's footer

Implementation:

Convert your ad code and then go to your Template, Expand Widget Templates and look for:

<div id='footer-wrapper'>

Paste the converted code right after it.

Recommended formats: 728x90 and 728x15

FAQ

I anticipated some questions likely to arise:

I can't find the codes, what should I do?
Always check the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox. These are the default codes of Blogger and should be found in all the templates unless they have been changed by a hack or the template designer.

Why should I convert my AdSense code?
The Blogger's Template reads it as text and not as code and it is good to avoid any errors when trying to save it.

The ads are not displaying properly, why is that?
The ads could be affected by the styles (CSS) selectors (divs) containing them and some templates could be wrong designed, then you should consider modifying these styles, look for another relevant place or in extreme cases, change the template.

Can I put the all 10 codes on my blog?
No, you should choose just one of the places where you want to put the ads considering that AdSense have some limits on the number of ads that could be displayed. Try to make a balance with your content.

Why we there should be only 3 ads displayed on the main page?
Is due to the limit set by the AdSense. Combine the type of ads (text, rich media ads and link units) to be able to show the number of ads you want.

Hopefully, this will be useful to those of you wanting to display AdSense ads on your blog.

Add a Different Background For Author Comments in Blogger's Threaded Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 20:09:00 +0000

In this tutorial we will learn how to highlight the author comments so that they will have a different background color, border, or anything that makes them stand out from the others. To achieve this, we need to add a code in the Blogger's template and to modify the style according to our preferences.

How to highlight author comments in Blogger:

Step 1. Go to Template, click on Edit HTML

Step 2. Tick the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox:

Step 3. Find this tag:

</body>

Step 4. Just above it, paste the following code:

<script src='http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js'/>
<script>
$(function() {
function highlight(){
$('.user.blog-author').closest('.comment-block')
.css('border', '1px solid #FFA500')
.css('background','#F1F1F2 url("http://www.blogblog.com/1kt/transparent/white80.png")')
.css('color', '#444444')
.css('font-size', '12px')
.css('padding', '10px');
}
$(document).bind('ready scroll click', highlight);
});
</script>

Customization:

Border:
The line marked in orange represents the border's style.
What it can be done:

1px - you can increase the value to change the border's thickness
solid - change the border's style to dotted, dashed, inset, outset etc.
#FFA500 - this is the border's color value, change it with your own color

Background:
The line marked in blue represents the background's style. You can use a plain color or an image. By default there's a combination of both (a white transparent image with a gray plain color).
To change/add:

a different color: replace the #F1F1F2 value with your own (use this tool to find the hex code of your desired color)
an image: replace the defaul url http://www.blogblog.com/1kt/transparent/white80.png with that of your image

Font Color:
To change the font's color, replace the #444444 color value in green with your own. (you can use this tool to find the hex code of your desired color)

Font Size:
Modify the value in red by increasing/decreasing the "12" value in order to change the size of text.

Step 5. Now Save your Template.

To customize the entire style of threaded comments, please check my previous tutorial: How to Customize Comment's Background, Font Color and Border in Blogger.

How to Customize Blogger Comments By Adding a Background Color and Border

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 23:07:00 +0000

The comments are an essential part of a blog because in them is reflected the readers' opinions regarding a post or our blog, so it is important to spend a little of our time to make this part looking more presentable, accessible and neat.

To set in order our comments, it is necessary to make each comment easy to identify, therefore to know from where it begins and to where it ends, otherwise it becomes a jumble of letters of which the reader can run away. Here are some ways to make some order by separating each comment.

- Add a Separator To Blogger Comments
- Add a Divider Below Comments in Blogger
- Fully Customize Your Blogger Comments By Changing The Background Color and Border

The first method is the easiest, and is about how to put a border below our comments, this is to separate each blog comment in a simple but effective way.

How to Add a Separator/Border To Blogger Comments

Step 1. To add a simple separator go to Template > Edit HTML (check the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox) and search for the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 2. Then paste the following just above it:

- If we are using threaded comments (with the reply option):

.comment-block {
border-bottom: 1px solid #000000;
}

.comments .continue {
border-top: 0px solid $(widget.alternate.text.color);
}

- If we are using previous commenting system (with no reply option)

#comments-block .comment-footer {
border-bottom:1px solid #000000;
}

Note: To change the border's color, replace the bolded color value and to change its thickness, increase/decrease the 1 value.

Step 3. Save the Template.

Instead of a simple border, we can also add a divider/image between our comments.

How to Add a Divider (Image) Between Each Comment in Blogger

Step 1. Go to Template > Edit HTML (check the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox) and search for the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 2. Paste the following just above it:

- If we are using threaded comments (with the reply option):

.comment-block {
background-image:url(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YaY5yi0UcbM/UTpA2jWBJFI/AAAAAAAAC_0/UXbviThYl2w/s1600/74.gif);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-position:center bottom;
padding-bottom:30px;
margin-top: -10px;
}

.comments .continue {
border-top: 0px solid $(widget.alternate.text.color);
}

- If we are using previous commenting system (with no reply function)

#comments-block .comment-footer {
background-image:url(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YaY5yi0UcbM/UTpA2jWBJFI/AAAAAAAAC_0/UXbviThYl2w/s1600/74.gif);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-position:center bottom;
height: 50px;
}

Note: The URL that is in blue represents the image that you can change as you like, just remember that at the height must set the height of an image with 30px more, for instance, if the image's height is 50px then the value will be 80px. This is for making sure that the image won't overlap the date of comments. (for threaded comments, increase/decrease the padding 30 value)

Step 3. Save the Template.

But you can still have more styles for each comment, for example adding a background color and a border.

How to Add A Border and A Background Color To Blogger Comments

Step 1. Go to Template > Edit HTML (check the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox) and search for the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 2. Paste the following just above it:

- If we are using threaded comments (with the reply option):

.comment-block {
background:#F9F9F9; /* Background Color */
border: 1px solid #f1f1f1; /* Border style */
margin-bottom:20px;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
-moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
-moz-border-radius: 10px;
-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
border-radius: 10px;
}

.comments .comment-thread.inline-thread {
background-color: #FAFAFA; /* Background color behind the replies */
border-left: 4px dotted #E6E6E6; /* Border on the left side of replies */
}

.comment-content {
padding:2px 10px 10px 10px;
color:#444444; /* Font Color in Comments */
}

.datetime a {
font-style:italic;
font-size:9px;
margin-left: 2px;
}

.comments .comments-content .user a{
color:#1982D1; /* Author's name color */
font-size: 12px; /* Author's name size */
padding-left: 10px;
font-weight:bold;
text-decoration:none;
}

.comments .comment .comment-actions a,.comments .comment .continue a{
display:inline-block;
margin:0 0 10px 10px;
padding:0 15px;
color:#B4B4B7;
text-align:center;
text-decoration:none;
background:#F8F8FB;
border:1px solid #C2C2C5;
border-radius:4px;
height:20px;
line-height:20px;
font-weight:normal;
cursor:pointer;
}

.comments .continue {
border-top: 0px solid $(widget.alternate.text.color);
}

.comments .comments-content .icon.blog-author {
background-image: none;
margin-left: -10px;
}

.comments .avatar-image-container{
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
width: 40px;
max-height: 40px;
border: 1px solid #F2F2F2;
padding: 1px;
}

.comments .avatar-image-container img{
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
max-width: 40px;
height: 40px;
}

Step 3. Save the Template.

- If we are using previous commenting system (with no reply function):

Step 1. Search for this line in your template:

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

Step 2. Then, add the following code just below of it:

<div class='comments-ct'>

Step 3. Look a little further down and you'll see the </b:loop> code and just above it, add this:

</div>

Step 4. Now find this:

]]></b:skin>

Step 5. And just above of it, add this CSS code:

.comments-ct{
background:#F9F9F9; /* Background Color */
border: 1px solid #f1f1f1; /* Bprder Style */
margin-bottom:20px;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
-moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, .4);
-moz-border-radius: 10px;
-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
border-radius: 10px;
}

.comment-body {
color:#444444; /* Font Color in Comments */
padding:10px;
}

.comments-ct a {
padding-left: 5px; /* Link color */
color: #4A9BD8;
}

.comment-timestamp a {
font-style:italic;
font-size:9px;
padding-right:10px;
padding-left:10px;
}

(The rounded edges will not work in Internet Explorer with CSS)

In either case, you can change the background color, border, etc.. in parts with annotations in green.

Step 6. Save the Template.

If you need more help, leave a comment below.

How to add go to top and go to bottom buttons Using jQuery in Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 22:28:00 +0000

The Up and Down buttons can be used to navigate to the top and bottom of the page content, especially when on the main page there are many articles or when an article has too many comments. These buttons have a fadeIn and fadeOut effect, this means that they will fade slightly when we are scrolling to the top or bottom of the page and additionally, have the function of going up/down the blog.

Demo

You can see a live demo on my blog, the buttons are located on the right side.

How to put Go Up and Go Down buttons using the jQuery slide effect

Step 1. Go to Template, click on the Edit HTML button

Step 2. Select the "Expand Widget Templates" box

Step 3. Search (using CTRL + F) for the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 4. Just above this code, paste this one:

/* Up and Down Buttons with jQuery
----------------------------------------------- */
.button_up{
padding:7px; /* Distance between the border and the icon */
background-color:white;
border:1px solid #CCC; /* Border Color */
position:fixed;
background: white url(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7zE5N9GdDUk/T6rH17KE6II/AAAAAAAACeQ/aEcKRyEhxsE/s16/arrow_up.png) no-repeat top left;
background-position:50% 50%;
width:20px; /* Button's width */
height:20px; /* Button's height */
bottom:280px; /* Distance from the bottom */
right:5px; /* Change right to left if you want the buttons on the left */
white-space:nowrap;
cursor: pointer;
border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px;
opacity:0.7;
filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(opacity=70);
}
.button_down{
padding:7px; /* Distance between the border and the icon */
background-color:white;
border:1px solid #CCC; /* Border Color */
position:fixed;
background: white url(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sukwuViZaYY/T6rH15A8niI/AAAAAAAACeM/YErd0S8lPGA/s16/arrow_down.png) no-repeat top left;
background-position:50% 50%;
width:20px; /* Button's width */
height:20px; /* Button's height */
bottom:242px; /* Distance from the bottom */
right:5px; /* Change right to left if you want the buttons on the left */
white-space:nowrap;
cursor: pointer;
border-radius: 3px 3px 3px 3px;
opacity:0.7;
filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(opacity=70);
}

Note: - in green are some annotations that explains what styles you can modify on their left side.
- You can change the arrows by changing the URLs in blue.
- To change the buttons background color of buttons, change the white text with your color

Step 5. Now search (CTRL + F) for this tag:

</body>

Step 6. And just above it, paste the following code:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<div class='button_up' id='button_up' style='display:none;'/>
<div class='button_down' id='button_down' style='display:none;'/>

<script>
//<![CDATA[
(function(){var special=jQuery.event.special,uid1='D'+(+new Date()),uid2='D'+(+new Date()+1);special.scrollstart={setup:function(){var timer,handler=function(evt){var _self=this,_args=arguments;if(timer){clearTimeout(timer)}else{evt.type='scrollstart';jQuery.event.handle.apply(_self,_args)}timer=setTimeout(function(){timer=null},special.scrollstop.latency)};jQuery(this).bind('scroll',handler).data(uid1,handler)},teardown:function(){jQuery(this).unbind('scroll',jQuery(this).data(uid1))}};special.scrollstop={latency:300,setup:function(){var timer,handler=function(evt){var _self=this,_args=arguments;if(timer){clearTimeout(timer)}timer=setTimeout(function(){timer=null;evt.type='scrollstop';jQuery.event.handle.apply(_self,_args)},special.scrollstop.latency)};jQuery(this).bind('scroll',handler).data(uid2,handler)},teardown:function(){jQuery(this).unbind('scroll',jQuery(this).data(uid2))}}})();

$(function() {
var $elem = $('body');
$('#button_up').fadeIn('slow');
$('#button_down').fadeIn('slow');
$(window).bind('scrollstart', function(){
$('#button_up,#button_down').stop().animate({'opacity':'0.2'});
});
$(window).bind('scrollstop', function(){
$('#button_up,#button_down').stop().animate({'opacity':'1'});
});
$('#button_down').click(
function (e) {
$('html, body').animate({scrollTop: $elem.height()}, 800);
} );
$('#button_up').click(
function (e) {
$('html, body').animate({scrollTop: '0px'}, 800);
} );});
//]]>
</script>

Note: In case you want to remove the "Go to top" button, remove the 1st bolded code and to remove the "Go to bottom" button, remove the 2nd one.

Step 7. Finally, Save your Template. Enjoy!

How to Add a Vintage Style to Images In Blogger using CSS

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:23:00 +0000

To get that vintage Instagram effect for your pictures you don't have to use a program, now you can use CSS and get a similar result! We will apply a shadow inside the image, add a border, we will put a color in it, and on top of our image, we will add another semitransparent image with a grunge style that will give a vintage touch.

You can see the example in this picture below, moving the cursor changes to normal but keeps the edge.

Obviously there will be images that will fit better these effects than others, but regardless of that we do, there should be made a few observations:

It is made with CSS styles so as some of you might already know, it will not recognize browsers, specifically Internet Explorer, so using IE browser does not show any effect.
Hovering around the image will change with a transition effect, but only in Firefox.
The images are not centered, you will have to align to left (default), or right.

Having clarified the above, let's start adding the CSS code to our template.

Adding a Vintage Effect to Blogger Images

Step 1. Go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 2. Select the "Expand widget templates" box

Step 3. Search for the following piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 4. Just above it, add the following CSS code:

/* Vintage Images
----------------------------------------------- */
.vintage img {
padding:0;
float:left;
}
.vintage {
border:10px solid #000;
position: relative;
float: left; /* Change to right if you want the images to be aligned to the right */
margin-right: 20px;
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.vintage:before {
content: "";
display: block;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
bottom: 0;
left: 0;
right: 0;
background-color: rgba(255,102,0, 0.6); /* sepia */
background-image:url(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Qva8IVtO25k/UFejhDww-zI/AAAAAAAADAY/RnlCb7JO0xs/s000/grunge.png);
background-size: cover;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 50px #000, inset 0 0 50px #000, inset 0 0 50px #000;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
transition: all .1s;
}
.vintage:hover:before {
background: none;
box-shadow:none;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
transition: all .1s;
}

Note: In the first code, you see in bold the line that corresponds to the color of the image, you can change it to any other color, these are some examples of traditional vintage:

background-color: rgba(0,0,255, 0.5); /* blue */
background-color: rgba(0,255,0, 0.5); /* green */
background-color: rgba(0,255,255, 0.5); /* cyan */
background-color: rgba(255,0,0, 0.5); /* red */
background-color: rgba(255,0,240, 0.5); /* violet */

If you want the image to not change to its original state on mouse hover, then remove the last code:

.vintage:hover:before {
background: none;
box-shadow:none;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
transition: all .1s;
}

Step 5. After you've made your changes, click on Save Template

Step 6. Finally, add this code inside your posts each time you want to apply the vintage effect to an image (switch to HTML tab if you want to use this code inside your post)

<div class="vintage">
<img border="0" src="URL of the image" /></div>
<div style="clear: both;"/>

And add the URL of the image to where is the text in blue.

And that's it, with this little experiment you can have your vintage-style images using CSS only. Enjoy!

How to Add a Widget Below First Post in Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:33:00 +0000

This tutorial will show you how to make a gadget/widget to appear just below the first Blogger post.

First, you must understand that the usual gadgets provided by Blogger can be added only in the areas where the design section permits. Still, we can show any element, for example, an AdSense ad, an image, a flash file, a video etc.

So what we will do in this tutorial is to display an item under the first post, this means that it will not be visible below the other entries. This is great when you use any automatic summary, although it is not a requirement.

Well, this is easy to do and we will use the isFirstPost conditional tag for that element to show it under the first entry.

Adding An Element Below First Post

Step 1. First, go to your Blogger Template and click on the Edit HTML button:

Step 2. Check the "Expand Widget Templates" box:

Step 3. And find this line:

<b:include data='post' name='post'/>

Step 4. Just below it add this code:

<b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost'>
<div align="center" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:10px;">
Here goes the code of the element you want to show
</div>
</b:if>

Note:

- The bolded text indicates to where you should paste the code of the element (eg. AdSense ad, a widget).

- In red are the top margins (margin-top) and the bottom margins (margin-bottom), this is in case you want the element to move towards or away from the entries, also you can add any style like a background color, border etc..

Step 5. Preview to make sure everything is okay, then Save your Template.

How to Customize Blogger's Lightbox

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 02:46:00 +0000

Now, for those of you who have chosen to use the Blogger's Lightbox View to display the images, you have the option to change its style in a whole different way. We'll be able to change the black color of the screen, the border or shadow of the images and the color of the thumbnails background as well. We can customize the Blogger Lightbox entirely on your taste.

Demo

Take a look at the screenshots below:

Before:

After:

After adding our CSS code, the entire look of the modal window will be changed: the background color, the bar showing the thumbnails, the edge of images (border), the text that appears in it, transparency and the close button.

All we have to do is to overwrite the default styles and change them for ours.

How to Change the Blogger's Lightbox Background and Style

Step 1. Go to Template, click on the Edit HTML button (also click on the Proceed button if needed)

Step 2. Search using CTRL + F the following code snippet:

]]></b:skin>

Step 3. Copy and paste the following code just above it:

/* Blogger Lightbox
----------------------------------------------- */

/* Background Color */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_BG_MASK {
background-color: #ffffff !important;
background-image: url(image-url-address) !important;
opacity: 0.8 !important;
filter: alpha(opacity=90) !important;
}

/* Images Border */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG {
outline: 0px solid #fff !important;
-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
-moz-border-radius: 10px;
border-radius: 10px;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #000000;
-moz-box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #000000;
box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #000000;
}

/* Close Button */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_BTN_CLOSE {
background: url(image-url-address) no-repeat !important;
width: 24px !important;
height: 24px !important;
}

/* Thumbnails Bar Color */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_FILMSTRIP {
background-color: #eaeaea !important;
}

/* Text Color */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_ATTRIBUTION_INFO, .CSS_LIGHTBOX_ATTRIBUTION_LINK {
color: #000 !important;
}

/* Index Info (number of images) */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_INDEX_INFO {
color: #555555 !important;
}

Note:

- The text in green explains to which part the code belongs (it doesn't need to be modified)

For example, the / * Background Color * / part can change the background color or even the LightBox background color to an image. If you want to do that, then change this line by replacing the red text with the url address of your image:

background-image: url(image-url-address) !important;

- The opacity is just below, if you add a lower value ( 0.8 ) the background will become more transparent.

- To change the icon for close button, you have to replace the text in red from /* Close Button */ with the url of your image. (you can host image at tinypic or upload it into a blogger draft and then Copy the Link Location)

- To change the text color of images, replace the #555555 value from /* Index Info (number of images) */

- The border of the images can be changed as much as we want: you can change the borders' roundedness, shadow, etc... but remember this is CSS3 so older versions of Internet Explorer will not see it.

Step 4. Click on Save Template and you're done!

Missing for a while

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 23:24:00 +0000

It’s been pretty silent for a long while, isn’t it? So, I'm finally back, after a very long break. Life’s been really busy and hectic in the last time. New home, new job, new projects and a whole new environment.

I apologize everyone for not replying to your messages/comments. Because I have gotten too many spams comments lately, many of the comments are not yet approved, so now all of them are put in moderation. (there are over 2000 comments, wow... there's a lot of hard work to do)

And most important, I want to thank everyone for your support and for keeping this blog alive! Your presence really encourages me to write more and produce more content and I'll try to make more time from now on.

Now, getting back into the swing of blogging, I will post more tutorials from time to time and also, have to share lots of goodies for your blog, so keep an eye out for them :>

Any suggestions for future tutorials are welcome!

How to Make the Blogger Posts Have a Calendar for the Date in

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 05:03:00 +0000

It's quite common to see calendar style dates next to some WordPress posts but for the Blogger platform it isn't always an very easy task to add this. But who said you can't do it? You need to look no further than this blog. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create a calendar style date for your Blogger posts.

DEMO

How to create calendar style dates in Blogger

Step 1. Go to Settings > Language and Formatting - Date Header Format and change the date format as you can see in my example below (put day first, then the month and finally the year)

Step 2. Then go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 3. Select the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox

Step 4. And search (CTRL + F) the following line:

<h2 class='date-header'><span><data:post.dateHeader/></span></h2>

Step 5. In case you find it twice, then you should replace it twice with this code:

<div id='Date'>
<script>changeDate('<data:post.dateHeader/>');</script>
</div>
<b:else/>
<div id='Date'>
<script>changeDate('');</script>
</div>

Step 6. Now search for this tag (CTRL + F to find it)

</head>

Step 7. And paste the code from below just ABOVE the </head> tag:

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
var DateCalendar;
function changeDate(d){
if (d == "") {
d = DateCalendar;
}
var da = d.split(' ');
day = "<strong class='date_day'>"+da[0]+"</strong>";
month = "<strong class='date_month'>"+da[1].slice(0,3)+"</strong>";
year = "<strong class='date_year'>"+da[2]+"</strong>";
document.write(month+day+year);
DateCalendar = d;
}
//]]>
</script>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<style type='text/css'>
/* Calendar style date
----------------------------------------------- */
#Date {
background: transparent url(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NVj6tUKJgLo/UBShW2dCLSI/AAAAAAAACZk/3TkTa8Hzqt0/s1600/calendar07.png) no-repeat;
display: block;
width:60px;
height:60px;
float: left;
margin: 15px 2px 0 -108px;
padding: 0 0 8px 0px;
border: 0;
text-transform: uppercase;
}
.date_month {
display: block;
font-size: 15px;
font-weight:bold;
margin-top:-1px;
text-align:center;
color:#ffffff; /* Month's color */
}
.date_day {
display: block;
font-size: 28px;
font-weight:bold;
margin-top:-8px;
text-align:center;
color:#282828; /* Day's color */
}
.date_year {
display: block;
font-size: 10px;
margin-top:-8px;
text-align:center;
color:#282828; /* Year's color */
}
</style>
</b:if>

Before saving your Template, we can make some changes:

To change the calendar style, replace the url in blue with yours;
If the calendar doesn't appear correctly, change -108 with 0;
With green are marked the areas where you can change the color of the dates

Step 8. Now Preview your Template and if everything is ok, click on the Save button. Enjoy!

How to Create Drop Caps (Big First Letters) in Blogger/Blogspot

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 15:18:00 +0000

Here's another way you can customize your Blog. In this case, your Posts and Comment's first letter. The effect is a large first letter stretching down three or four lines with the text wrapped around. The drop cap letter can also use a different font and can be a different color to the rest of the text. You often see this style in newspapers, literature, magazines. In this tutorial i will show you how to apply automatically Magazine text style in Blogger Posts and Comments. So let's start adding it!

-> Add Drop Caps For Blogger Posts

-> Add Drop Caps For Blogger Comments

Big First Letter for your Blogger / Blogspot Posts

Step 1.

If you are using the old Blogger interface:

Go to Dashboard - Design - Edit HTML - Expand Widget Template (make a backup)

If you are using the new Blogger interface:

Go to Dashboard - Template - Edit HTML - Proceed - Expand Widget Template (make a backup)

Step 2. Search (CTRL + F) for this piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 3. Just above it, add the following:

.capital:first-letter {
float: left;
display: block;
font-family: Times, serif, Georgia;
font-size: 40px;
color: #000000;
margin:0px 5px 0 0;
padding:0 0 0 10px;
}

Customize:

Color - change the color highlighted in blue with the value of your desired color
Size - to change the letter size, increase/decrease the value highlighted in pink.

Step 4. Now search for this code:

<data:post.body/>

Step 5. Then immediately before and after add the red fragments you see in the example below:

<div class='capital'><data:post.body/></div>

Step 6. Save your template.

Important! If the above code is not working, add one of following codes from this example:

<p class="capital"><data:post.body/></p>

<span class="capital"><data:post.body/></span>

Big First Letter For Blogger/Blogspot Comments

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger account, then go to Design (Layout) >> Edit HTML >> check the "Expand Widget Templates" box

Step 2. Search (CTRL + F) for this piece of code (if you have already added this code, skip step 2 & 3):

]]></b:skin>

Step 3. Add the following code just above ]]></b:skin>:

.capital:first-letter {
float: left;
display: block;
font-family: Times, serif, Georgia;
font-size: 40px;
color: #000000;
margin:0px 5px 0 0;
padding:0 0 0 10px;
}

<data:comment.body/>

Step 5. Add the red codes before and after <data:comment.body/> as you can see in my example below:

<p class="capital"><data:comment.body/></p>

Step 6. Save your Template.

That's it! Now you have a cool drop cap first letter on your blog.
If you have any question, leave a comment below!

Numbered comments on threaded comments for Blogger/Blogspot

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 22:26:00 +0000

In a past tutorial, I've been talking about how you can add numbered comments to your blogger blog and today we'll learn how we can add numbered comments along with comment bubbles on the threaded comments as well.

What the following CSS trick will do for you:

When the general block of comments is initiating (.comments-content) a counter called countcomments activates and starts with an initial value of 1.
Then, each time the code flow goes through a review of any level, either a principal or a reply comment (.comment-thread li), content will bring us in front (:before) of the body of the comment, the number that is the counter at the time.
Then is incremented in one unit the counter (counter-increment).

See the screenshot:

Isn't that great? Well, i'm pretty sure many of you have been waiting for this cool trick. So let's begin applying it for our threaded comments system.

Steps to add bubble comments count

Step 1: Go to Dashboard - Template - Edit HTML (click on Proceed if needed)

...Expand Widget Templates:

Step 2: Search (CTRL + F) for this piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 3: Add the following code just above it:

.comment-thread ol {
counter-reset: countcomments;
}
.comment-thread li:before {
content: counter(countcomments,decimal);
counter-increment: countcomments;
float: right;
z-index: 2;
position:relative;
font-size: 22px;
color: #555555;
padding-left:10px;
padding-top:3px;
background: url(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-f6ByQfbwApQ/T4x_8p1FGpI/AAAAAAAAB2A/WJKf-ybmvQk/s1600/comment+bubble2.png) no-repeat;
margin-top:7px;
margin-left:10px;
width: 50px; /*image-width size*/
height: 48px; /*image-height size*/
}
.comment-thread ol ol {
counter-reset: contrebasse;
}
.comment-thread li li:before {
content: counter(countcomments,decimal) "." counter(contrebasse,lower-latin);
counter-increment: contrebasse;
float: right;
font-size: 18px;
color: #666666;
}

Note:

for no bubble icon, remove the code in red (including the blue code)
to change the comment bubble, replace the code in blue with the URL address of your own icon. If you're not sure what icon you should use, you can find some cool icons in my previous posts (see these tutorials here and here)
to change the position of comments count, increase/decrease the values (3 & 10) from padding-top and padding-left
to change the position of comments bubble/icon, change the values (10 & 7) from margin-left and margin-top

Step 4: Now Save the Template and you're done!

If you enjoy reading this blog, please share and subscribe. For any questions, leave a comment below.

How to add “Email Subscription Form” to Blogger Blogspot

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:58:00 +0000

When you are providing useful information in your blog, then many times some readers will need to get the latest updates from your blog. For that purpose, you need an Email Subscription Form in your blog, so that the interested visitors can easily get the latest updates.

To add email or Feed Subscription Form to your blogger blog (blogspot) is very easy.
Just follow the next steps:

1. Log in to Blogger, then go to Layout > click on "Add a Gadget" link:

2. From the pop-up window, scroll down and click on the "HTML/JavaScript" gadget:

3. Paste the following code inside the empty box:

<style>
.hl-email{
background:url(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-u3UaeUufpmI/T8lFuelsg8I/AAAAAAAACQY/tOWbHsgTYKc/s1600/mail.png) no-repeat 0px 12px ;
width:300px;
padding:10px 0 0 55px;
float:left;
font-size:1.4em;
font-weight:bold;
margin:0 0 10px 0;
color:#686B6C;
}
.hl-emailsubmit{
background:#9B9895;
cursor:pointer;
color:#fff;
border:none;
padding:3px;
text-shadow:0 -1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.25);
-moz-border-radius:6px;
-webkit-border-radius:6px;
border-radius:6px;
font:12px sans-serif;
}
.hl-emailsubmit:hover{
background:#E98313;
}
.textarea{
padding:2px;
margin:6px 2px 6px 2px;
background:#f9f9f9;
border:1px solid #ccc;
resize:none;
box-shadow:inset 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
-moz-box-shadow:inset 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
-webkit-box-shadow:inset 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); font-size:13px;
width:130px;
color:#666;}
</style>
<div class="hl-email">
Subscribe via Email <form action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" id="feedform" method="post" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helplogger', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true">
<input gtbfieldid="3" class="textarea" name="email" onblur="if (this.value == "") {this.value = "Enter email address here";}" onfocus="if (this.value == "Enter email address here") {this.value = "";}" value="Enter email address here" type="text" />
<input type="hidden" value="helplogger" name="uri"/><input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US"/>
<input class="hl-emailsubmit" value="Submit" type="submit" />
</form>
</div>

Settings

Replace the url address in green to change the email icon
Increase/Decrease the 130 width value for a wider text area
Replace http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helplogger with your Feedburner Email Feed link. You can get it by visiting your feedburner account then navigate to Publicize and then to Email Subscriptions.
Replace helplogger with your feed title. It appears at the end of your feed link. In my case it is http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helplogger

4. Now Save your widget and check your blog. Enjoy!

Add Floating Social Media Sharing Buttons To Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 31 May 2012 23:10:00 +0000

The Floating Social Media Sharing is a very popular widget on all the top blogs, being a very good way to increase the number of times your posts get shared on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks. It has some of the following functions: Facebook Like, StumbleUpon, Twitter Share, Digg This, Google+ and RSS Feed Icon and each of them comes with a live counter. You can add more sharing buttons or social bookmarking icons later if you wish.

How to add the scrolling social bookmarking bar

Go to Layout
Click on Add A Gadget link
From the pop-up window, scroll down and select HTML/Javascript
Copy the code below and paste it inside the empty box.
Save the gadget.

The code to copy-paste (updated!):

<style type="text/css"> #pageshare {position:fixed; bottom:5%; margin-left:-721px; float:left; border-radius:5px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px;background-color:#fff;padding:0 0 2px 0;z-index:10;} #pageshare .sbutton {float:left;clear:both;margin:5px 5px 0 5px;} .fb_share_count_top {width:48px !important;} .fb_share_count_top, .fb_share_count_inner {-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;} .FBConnectButton_Small, .FBConnectButton_RTL_Small {width:49px !important; -moz-border-radius:3px;/*bs-fsmsb*/-webkit-border-radius:3px;} .FBConnectButton_Small .FBConnectButton_Text {padding:2px 2px 3px !important;-moz-border-radius:3px;-webkit-border-radius:3px;font-size:8px;} </style> <div id='pageshare' title="Get this from Helpblogger.com">
<div style="margin-left:8px;"><div class='sbutton' id='like' style='margin: 5px 0 0 5px;'><script src='http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1'></script><fb:like layout='box_count' show_faces='false'></fb:like> </div></div>
<br /><div class='sbutton'><a class='twitter-share-button' data-count='vertical' data-via='Helplogger' expr:data-counturl='data:blog.url' href='http://twitter.com/share' rel='nofollow'>Tweet</a><script src='http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; type='text/javascript'></script>
<br /><div class='sbutton' id='su'> <script src="http://www.stumbleupon.com/hostedbadge.php?s=5"></script> </div> <div class='sbutton' id='digg' style='margin-left:3px;width:48px'> <script src='http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js' type='text/javascript'></script> <a class="DiggThisButton DiggMedium"></a> </div> <div class='sbutton' id='gplusone'> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script> <g:plusone size="tall"></g:plusone></div><br/><a href='http://feeds.feedburner.com/helplogger' rel='nofollow' target='_blank' title='Subscribe To Our Rss Feed'><img src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MoGJ9Y3EdzQ/T8f4cj6LHMI/AAAAAAAACP4/VsM0eaG2EM4/s1600/icon_rss_reader.png'/></a><div style="clear: both;font-size: 9px;text-align:center;">Get <a style="color: #3399BB;" href="http://helplogger.blogspot.com/">widget</a></div> </div> </div>

Customization:

Vertical alignment - Change the value of bottom in code line 3. The code positions the button relative to the bottom of your browser window. To fix the distance even when window is resized, specify the value in px (pixels) instead of %.
Horizontal alignment - Change the value in red of margin-left. Negative value pushes the button to the left of the main blog column, positive value pushes it to the right. Increase or decrease the value based on your needs.
Twitter setting - Replace Helplogger with your Twitter username
Replacing and removing buttons - You can replace existing buttons with your own. Each button is represented by this code: <div class='sbutton'> BUTTON CODE HERE </div>
RSS Feed - Change the text in blue with the url address of your RSS feed.

Enjoy :)

Create A Rollover Image Effect (change image on mouseover)

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Thu, 31 May 2012 14:23:00 +0000

The Rollover effect is one in which an image web object changes (swaps itself) on mouse over to another web object (called rollovers) and reverts back to the original image on mouse out. Rollover images are preloaded into the page when it is loading, this ensures that the rollovers are displayed quickly. The onMouseOver and onMouseOut attributes of the link tag are used to make this functional.

Demo: Place your mouse over the image below to see its rollover effect

Making Rollover Effect Image

You have the following code:

<a href="URL ADDRESS"><img src="URL OF THE FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE" onmouseover="this.src='URL OF THE SECOND IMAGE GOES HERE'" onmouseout="this.src='URL OF THE FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE'" /></a>

Change the colored texts as it follows:

1. URL ADDRESS

This is the address where somebody will be sent when clicks on the image.
Example, my blog address: http://www.helplogger.blogspot.com

2. URL OF THE FIRST IMAGE GOES HERE

Replace the orange text (two times) with the URL address of the image which will appear before you hover over it.

3. URL OF THE SECOND IMAGE GOES HERE
Replace the text in blue with the url of the image that will appear when the cursor hovers over it.

Now you can paste your image inside a blog gadget, going to Layout > click on Add a Gadget link (right side) > Select HTML/JavaScript from the pop-up window, then add it to your sidebar.

You can also add it inside your post by going to New Post > Switch to HTML tab and then paste the code in the empty box.

That's it. Enjoy ;)

Add Facemoods Emoticons To Your Blogger Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Here are some amazingly funny emoticons compatible with your Blogger comments - also with threaded commenting system! If you want to know how to add them, just follow the next steps:

DEMO

Step 1.

Go to Dashboard - Template - Edit HTML - Proceed

...and select Expand Widget Template (don't forget to make a backup)

Step 2. Search (using CTRL + F) for this code:

For previous commenting system:

<h4 id='comment-post-message'><data:postCommentMsg/></h4>

For threaded comments:

<div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'>

Step 3. Add the below code just above it

(for threaded comments, add the code after):

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<div style=' width: 450px; text-align: left; border: 1px dashed #0084ce; background: transparent; padding: 10px; color:#000000; font-weight:bold; '>
<img border='0' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zY65UBxSl6w/T67AajI_U6I/AAAAAAAACIc/fCV19C1627Q/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(1).gif'/> :a
 
<img border='0' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M8aBZtLjGqY/T67Ai2d8eAI/AAAAAAAACIk/PrDerObloAw/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com+(2).gif'/> :b
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HfIjCWOuxwo/T67Ar7HZiHI/AAAAAAAACIs/RgwvdPP4JSc/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(3).gif'/> :c
 
<img border='0' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-98YuuiC8MIc/T67AzJ3Xf0I/AAAAAAAACI0/UtaFpgTb_PM/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(4).gif'/> :d
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ikCFMFesIrE/T67BAtTQGhI/AAAAAAAACI8/AisqU7R--Yc/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(5).gif'/> :e
 
<img border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VSY5nbsSEIs/T67BK3G-B6I/AAAAAAAACJE/n_fhk-2Ihqc/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(6).gif'/> :f
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e9hytPNLXeY/T67BSj27JJI/AAAAAAAACJM/Rwonrid9oiQ/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(7).gif'/> :g
 
<img border='0' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mT-nqGFvXec/T67BZDPxvxI/AAAAAAAACJU/fgTPtQNxMK8/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(8).gif'/> :h
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xcMDAiCizIE/T67BfnBeWSI/AAAAAAAACJc/_OqmXLGhjLg/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(9).gif'/> :i
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XJUn74vJTwo/T67BrafHO3I/AAAAAAAACJk/B40nJjxUxNE/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(10).gif'/> :j
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JgARtAx7IHo/T67B2Db6LjI/AAAAAAAACJs/U1EWgczqOYY/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(11).gif'/> :k
 
<img border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--K1Z6RvN57w/T67CCzlaGcI/AAAAAAAACJ0/iF2-osmFALE/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(12).gif'/> :l
 
<img border='0' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-c0DJDg4M2n4/T67CTf-xShI/AAAAAAAACJ8/BqUmJYoDBLI/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(13).gif'/> :m
 
<img border='0' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zrvYy6caFXM/T67CZi7etnI/AAAAAAAACKE/iPJsX_duWjE/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(15).gif'/> :n
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-F2LUTd1hG_o/T67CfNLnIlI/AAAAAAAACKM/UHuPyigCX24/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(16).gif'/> :o
 
<img border='0' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Vd6U_2eq_Gk/T67CosaWm8I/AAAAAAAACKU/JgnYMS4AJOc/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(14).gif'/> :p
 
<img border='0' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-faDYi6E_d6E/T67CybEuj1I/AAAAAAAACKc/nHxSH7KMSwY/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(17).gif'/> :q
 
<img border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QiwXpJ7gxk/T67C41ItlCI/AAAAAAAACKk/8sba1I9fZOY/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(18).gif'/> :r
 
<img border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KUlSaDVWqW8/T67C_4ITH-I/AAAAAAAACKs/e6N7K2jJvl8/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(19).gif'/> :s
 
<img border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UC_5gE8LgaQ/T67DGU12FBI/AAAAAAAACK0/oHA628PaDhk/s1600/helplogger.blogspot.com(20).gif'/> :t <a href='http://helplogger.blogspot.com/2012/05/add-facemoods-emoticons-to-your-blogger.html' style='color: rgb(30, 122, 183); font-size: x-small;'>Add smileys to Blogger + </a>
</div></b:if>

Step 4. Now search for this piece of code:

</body>

Step 5. And add the following code immediately above it:

For previous commenting system:

<script type='text/javascript' src="http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/facemood emoticons.js"/>

For threaded comments:

<script type='text/javascript' src="http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/facemood emoticons threaded.js"/>

Step 6. Save the Template. Now, enjoy your comments!

How to Change Default Anonymous Avatar in Blogger Comments

noreply@blogger.com (Admin) — Sun, 06 May 2012 12:31:00 +0000

In the last tutorial, I wrote about how you can change avatars size in blogger comments and in this simple tutorial, I will show you how to change or customize default avatar of anonymous commenters or Blogger users with no picture added on their profiles. After Blogger announced new feature of threaded comment, we can still customize it by adding a jQuery plugin to our template and replacing the default anonymous avatar found at this

URL http://img1.blogblog.com/img/anon36.png
and the one for blogger users http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b36-rounded.png

...with our own.

Step 1.

Go to Dashboard - Template - click on the Edit HTML button and then Proceed

...then select Expand Widget Template (don't forget to make a backup)

Step 2. Find (CTRL + F) this code in your template:

</body>

Step 3. Add the following code just above it:

<script src='http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js'/>
<script>
$("img[src='http://img1.blogblog.com/img/anon36.png']")
.attr('src', 'http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zphr2YJH_6w/T6ZZE4YeNBI/AAAAAAAACF0/Tyuj8hkOpdc/s1600/default_avatar.gif')
.ssyby('blank')
</script>
<script src='http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js'/>
<script>
$("img[src='http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b36-rounded.png']")
.attr('src', 'http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eKbzORzVaBQ/T6ZXHmdgHqI/AAAAAAAACFs/rVy3T4gxojM/s1600/blogger-user.png')
.ssyby('blank')
</script>

Step 4. Save the Template

How to change avatar:

For Anonymous users: Replace the code in red with the url address of your image
For Blogger users: Replace the URL in blue with your own.

You can choose one from these below (copy the url address):

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zphr2YJH_6w/T6ZZE4YeNBI/AAAAAAAACF0/Tyuj8hkOpdc/s200/default_avatar.gif

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p4JvM7rWNG4/T6ZcU5eKqTI/AAAAAAAACGM/K0DB35A5brE/s1600/facebook.gif

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5nGzg5T-9qA/T6ZbL9JF0iI/AAAAAAAACF8/TvTnURwsNb0/s1600/anonymous3.png

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oivPlkvBNBY/T6ZoNQhfAII/AAAAAAAACGY/3gem5DBmmQ8/s1600/blogger-user.png

That's it!
If you liked this post, please consider sharing it.

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Create A Rollover Image Effect (change image on mouseover)

Add Facemoods Emoticons To Your Blogger Comments

How to Change Default Anonymous Avatar in Blogger Comments