How to Add Missing Quick Edit Wrench to Blogger

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I show you how to add a quick edit wrench to Blogger if it is missing from a Blogger gadget. Check here to find a solution for a missing quick edit pencil not showing in Blogger

The quick edit feature allows you to edit a Blogger gadget directly from the blog itself rather than having to go through the Design > Page Elements screens and then finding the actual widget itself before you can edit it.

Heaps of times I have downloaded custom Blogger templates only to find that there are lots of omissions compared to a default Blogger template. If you are using a custom Blogger template with the quick edit feature missing here is a step by step guide to insert the missing quick edit feature into your Blogger template

The quick edit can be missing from anywhere in your Blogger template. I have chosen to use the sidebar for this tutorial but the solution works wherever the quick edit feature has been removed or never inserted in the first place.

Tutorial Difficulty rating: Easy
Time: Less than 5 minutes
Suitable for all levels of Blogger expertise

How to Add the Quick Edit Wrench to a Blogger Gadget

1. Login to Blogger
   
   
2. Go to Design > Edit HTML
   
   
3. Check the Expand Widget Templates box
   
   
4. Using CTRL + F buttons together bring up the search box
   
   
5. Enter the following search term
   
   

   </b:includable>

   
   
   
6. Scroll through your Blogger template. You will see that every instance of </b:includable> is highlighted in yellow.
   
   
7. Once you come to the sidebar widgets which is the most likely place for the quick edit to be missing from look for something like the following (this will vary from template to template). This is the start of the first sidebar if you had a template with a two column sidebar
   
   <b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar1' preferred='yes'>
   
   
8. Now look at the picture below. You can see that this is the code for a Javascript/HTML widget as shown in red
   
   
   
   
9. Just identify the widget that has the missing quick edit feature and add the following line of code immediately before the </b:includable>
   
   

   <b:include name='quickedit'/>

   
   
   
   
   
10. Use the Preview button to check your changes before committing to them
    
    
11. Don't forget to click on Save Template

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) you have learned how to fix a missing quick edit button often missing from custom Blogger templates. No matter where the quick edit button has been omitted (sidebar, footer, header etc) it can be added in to a Blogger template very easily so that a Blogger gadget can be edited without having to go through the Blogger design screen.


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How to Add a Flickr Slideshow Gadget to Blogger

In today's Blogger tutorial I am going to show you how to add a Flickr Slideshow (Flickr Photostream) to a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). This Blogger tutorial is suited to beginners and newbies to Blogger and contains step by step instructions to create your Flickr slideshow.

This Blogger slideshow tutorial covers the steps to insert a slideshow widget (slideshow gadget) in the sidebar or footer of Blogger and display a set of images uploaded to Flickr. Note the maximum number of images displayed in the slideshow is 20.

There are several different methods to add a Flickr slideshow to Blogger. Which method you use is largely dependent on your own individual requirements. I cover two different methods in the tutorial.

Method 1 - Add a Flickr Slideshow Gadget to Blogger - Photos in photostream are not organized into sets

Method 2 - Add a Flickr Slideshow Gadget to Blogger to display images that are organized in a set


Method 1 - Add a Flickr Photostream to Slideshow Gadget in Blogger

If you will only ever add one slideshow to Blogger from Flickr and don't want to bother with sets use this method to quickly and easily add your Flickr slideshow to Blogger:

1. Go to Flickr and find your Photostream link. On your home page when logged into Flickr you will see Your Photostream at the top left under the Flickr salutation
   
   
   
2. Click on the Your Photostream link and copy the photostream id from your browser address bar.
   
   

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/27647187@N07/

   It will look something like this. Copy the identifier eg 27647187@N07
   
   
3. In Blogger go to Design > Page Elements
   
   
4. Select Add Gadget from the sidebar or footer depending on where you want to place your Flickr slideshow
   
   
5. Choose Slideshow from widgets in the Basics list
   
   
6. Choose a title for your slideshow or leave blank
   
   
   
7. Under Source use the drop down menu to select Flickr
   
   
8. Under Option select User
   
   
9. Under Username enter you Flickr Photostream id eg 27647187@N07.
   
   Note:If you have entered your Flickr Photostream id correctly you will be able to see a preview of your slideshow.
   
   
10. Click on Save and then View Blog to see your new Flickr slideshow in action on your Blogger blog
    
    

Method 2 - Add a Flickr Photostream Set to a Slideshow Gadget in Blogger

If you use sets in Flickr to organize your photos and images you will need to use a slightly different method to install a Flickr slideshow into Blogger.

1. Log on to Flickr
   
   
2. Upload your photos and create sets to organize your photos if desired
   
   
3. Go to view your sets in Flickr and select the set you wish to use for your Blogger slideshow
   
   
4. In your browser window you will see a URL address similar to the following:
   
   

   http://www.flickr.com/photos/27647187@N07/sets/72157624508265319/

   
   
5. There are two important parts to this address that you need to note because we will be using these to create our slideshow:
   
   
   • Your photostream - designated by something similar to 27647187@N07
     
     
   • The id of the set - designated by something similar to 72157624508265319
   
   
   
   
6. In a different browser window log on to Blogger if not already logged in
   
   
7. Go to Design > Page Elements
   
   
8. Select Add Gadget from the sidebar or footer depending on where you want to place your Flickr slideshow
   
   
9. Choose Slideshow from the list of Basics Widgets
   
   
10. Click on the blue plus sign to the right of the Slideshow gadget to activate and configure your Blogger Flickr Slideshow
    
    
11. Choose a title for your slideshow or leave blank
    
    
12. Under Source use the drop down menu to select Other (Note do not select Flickr if you are using a set as this will not work - see Method 1)
    
    
13. In the Feed URL section enter the following feed:
    
    

    http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photoset.gne?set=72157624508265319&nsid=27647187@N07&lang=en-us&format=rss_200

    
    
14. Substitute your photostream id (this will unique to your Flickr account)
    
    
15. Substitute the id of the set of images you wish to display
    
    
    
16. Leave the speed of the slideshow at medium unless you specifically need it to be faster or slower
    
    
17. Click on Save
    
    
18. Click on the View Blog link to admire your new Flickr slideshow

In today's Blogger tutorial you have learned two different methods to add a Flickr slideshow to Blogger. Both methods use the Blogger Slideshow Gadget but the difference between them is that method 2 shows you how to use a selected part of your Flickr photostream to create a Blogger slideshow for your blog instead of your whole Flickr photostream. Hope you have lots of fun with this Blogger slideshow gadget. Enjoy!


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Add a Twitter Profile Widget to Blogger

If you use Twitter then you are going to want to let your Blogger readers know about it. One effective way to show your Twitter updates on Blogger is to add a Twitter profile widget to the sidebar of your blog. This widget is quite a bit more fancy than the current Twitter Updates Widget available through Blogger which I showed you how to insert into your blog in my recent article Add a Twitter Updates Widget to Blogger. On the minus side the widget may slow your blog down so test it out first if fast loading time is crucial to you.


How to Insert a Twitter Profile Widget into Blogger

1. Go to Twitter Widgets and sign in
   
   
   
2. Choose Profile Widget and you will be taken to a default profile widget page where you can customize your Twitter widget according to your needs.
   
   
3. Choose Settings and make sure that your username is correct
   
   
4. Choose Appearance and make any custom color changes you need to so that the widget will blend into your blog. At the very least you will need to change the shell background and the links colors to suit your blog
   
   
5. Choose Dimensions and change the sizing of the widget if it is too large to fit into your Blogger sidebar. The default setting is 250x300
   
   
6. Click on Test Your Settings to ensure your new widget looks the way you want it to
   
   
7. Click the Finish and Grab Code button
   
   
8. Copy the code by right click the mouse in the code box and choosing Select All. Right click again and choose Copy
   
   
9. Sign in to Blogger. From the Dashboard go to Layout | Page Elements
   
   
10. In the sidebar choose Add a Gadget and then a HTML/Javascript widget
    
    
11. Paste the Twitter code into the gadget content box and click Save
    
    
12. Your Twitter Profile Widget will now be showing in your Blogger sidebar so click on View Blog to admire it
    

In this Blogger tutorial I have showed you how to add a Twitter Profile Widget to the sidebar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). This Twitter widget will encourage your blog readers to visit your Twitter Profile and with luck you may get some new Twitter followers out of it.

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Add a Simple Drop Down Menu to Blogger

In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to add a simple drop down menu widget sometimes called a select box to the sidebar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). If you want to add lots of links to your Blogger blog but are worried about the amount of space this will take up on your blog this tutorial is for you. A drop down widget is a neat solution to the cluttered sidebar problem as it is both space saving and easy to install. The convenience of a drop down menu widget can be seen on many blogs where it is used for lists like a long Blogroll, Categories list, Labels list or a Recommended Posts list.

How to Add a Drop Down Menu Widget to Blogger
Adding a drop down menu to Blogger is well within the capabilities of even beginner bloggers. Most of the work is in cutting and pasting the links which is not difficult for anyone with basic computer skills. So let's get started but first here is a working drop down menu list with links to various posts in my blog:

- Blog Know How Tutorials -Twitter Badge or ButtonTwitter Retweet ButtonTwitter Updates Widget

1. Log in to Blogger if not already logged in
   
   
2. Navigate from the Dashboard to Layout > Page Elements.
   
   
3. Click on Add a Gadget in the sidebar or other location if you wish
   
   
4. Select a HTML/JavaScript gadget from the list of gadgets
   
   
5. Paste the following code into the content box of the widget:
   
   

   <form><select name="menu" onchange="window.open(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value,'_blank')"
   size=1 name=menu>
   <option>- Your Menu Title -</option>
   
   <!-- Change the following links to your own -->
   
   <option value="http://URL of link1">Link 1</option>
   <option value="http://URL of link2">Link 2</option>
   <option value="http://URL of link3">Link 3</option>
   <option value="http://URL of link4">Link 4</option>
   <option value="http://URL of link5">Link 5</option>
   
   <option value="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com">Blog Know How</option>
   </select></form>

   
   
6. Replace _blank as follows:
   
   
   • To have a new window open leave the same
     
     
   • To have the new page appear in the same window replace _self
   
   
   
7. Replace - Your Menu Title - with a title of your own
   
   
8. For each instance of the option values highlighted in red substitute your own links and link names. For example:
   
   <option value="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com">Blog Know How</option>
   
   
9. Click Save
   
   
10. Use drag and drop to position the drop down menu widget in the location you want it within your sidebar and save any changes
    
    
11. Click View Blog to admire the new drop down menu in the sidebar of your blog
    

In today's Blogger tutorial I have provided you with instructions to create and insert a simple drop down menu widget in the sidebar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). This widget is ideal for reducing clutter on your Blogger sidebar and excellent for displaying long lists of links such as labels in a convenient, neat and space saving way. A drop down menu gadget is easily installed from the Layout > Page Elements page and can be customized to your own specifications. Any problems with this Blogger tweak please let me know. Enjoy!


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Add Twitter Retweet Button to Blogger

Did you know that Twitter can help drive traffic to your Blogspot blog? In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to add a free Twitter Retweet button to your Blogger posts. Adding a Tweetmeme Twitter Retweet button to Blogger will help promote your blog on Twitter in 2 ways: one by attracting new Twitter followers and two by increasing the direct traffic to your blog from Twitter.

Forget the preamble and take me straight to the instructions to insert the Retweet button into Blogger

What is Twitter and How Does it Work?
Twitter is currently the fastest growing free social networking site. Essentially, Twitter users micro blog about what they are doing or what others are doing by posting tweets of around 140 characters to Twitter. When Twitter members read these tweets and like what they read they can become followers much in the same way that your readers can choose to follow your blog.

Twitter is great news for bloggers because it can be used as a vehicle to promote blogs. Blogger can easily be linked with Twitter services so that every time a post is made to Blogger a short message with a link is posted on Twitter. As every follower is notified that you have tweeted, a blog publisher can gain lots of exposure for their blog with very little effort.

Once you add Tweetmeme retweets to the mix the spread compounds because not only do you have followers hearing about your tweet but the followers of followers. So say one of your followers retweets your post all that person's followers hear about it too and pretty soon a tweet plus your retweets can popularize a post to the point that it spreads so widely that it goes viral.

Advantages of a Twitter Retweet Button
A Tweet/Retweet button looks similar to and behaves like an integrated Digg button but it counts retweets rather than diggs. A Retweet button counts reposts of a tweet so that readers can see at a glance how popular your article is on Twitter. Another benefit of the Retweet button is that it allows your blog readers to retweet your post so that their followers hear about your post too.

How to Add a Twitter Retweet Button to a Blogger Blog (Blogspot Blog)
The following instructions will place a Tweetmeme Retweet button into all of your blog posts.

1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in
   
   
2. From the Dashboard navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
   
   
3. Check the Expand Widget Templates button
   
   
4. Back up your Blogger template by clicking on Download Full Template as a precaution
   
   
5. Using CTRL + F find the following code:
   
   

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

   
   
6. Directly after the above line paste the following code depending on which Retweet button and position you prefer:
   
   
   Large Retweet Button - Right Aligned
   

   <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
   <script type="text/javascript">
   tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
   tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
   </script>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
   </script> </div>

   
   
   
   • Large Retweet Button - Left Aligned
     

     <div style="float:left;padding:4px;">
     <script type="text/javascript">
     tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
     tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
     </script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
     </script> </div>

     
     
     
   • Compact Retweet Button - Right Aligned
     

     <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
     <script type="text/javascript">
     tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; 
     tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
     tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
     </script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
     </script> </div>

     
     
     
   • Compact Retweet Button - Left Aligned
     

     <div style="float:left;padding:4px;">
     <script type="text/javascript">
     tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; 
     tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
     tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
     </script>
     <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
     </script> </div>

     
     
   
   
7. Change your_twitter_user_name for your actual Twitter username. For instance I would enter BlogWizz
   
   
8. Click on Save Template
   
   
9. Click on View blog to admire your Tweetmeme Retweet button in your Blogger posts

Tips and Troubleshooting

• To Add Retweet Button Below Blogger Post
  If you want the button to appear at the bottom of Blogger posts instead of just below the post title locate the first instance of the following code and then paste the code for your chosen button immediately after this line: (don't forget to change your Twitter username as in Step 7)
  
  

  <data:post.body/>

  
  
• To Have the Retweet Button Appear on Post Pages Only in Blogger
  If you want the button to only appear on the post pages and not the home page you will need to enclose the button code in an if statement. See below for an example of what the full code would look like with this extra code.
  
  

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

  
  Thus the full code for a right-aligned large Retweet button which only appears on the individual post pages and not the home page would be:
  
  

  <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
  <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
  <script type="text/javascript">
  tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
  tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
  </script>
  <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
  </script> </div>
  </b:if>

In this tutorial you have learned how to add a Tweetmeme Retweet Button to your Blogger posts. The Retweet button will encourage your blog readers to retweet your content on Twitter thereby increasing your blog traffic. I have provided the code for both a large and compact button with the option of left or right alignment. The button appears just below the post title and counts the number of retweets of your Blogger post. I have also included details of how to add the Tweetmeme Retweet button to the foot of your Blogger blog and how to add the button to post pages only.


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Add a Twitter Updates Widget to Blogger

If you are a regular Twitter user and have a bunch of followers you might want to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). In today's tutorial I will show you the easy way to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). It is fairly straightforward to add this Twitter Updates widget to Blogger so please don't be put off if you are a Blogger beginner as you can have this widget up and running in no time.

If you are new to Twitter and don't have an account yet you can sign up to Twitter for free


How to Add a Twitter Updates Gadget to Blogger
There are several methods of adding a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger which I will be discussing over the next few posts. Today I will start with the easiest method by far. This Twitter widget won't slow down your blog loading time particularly but I suggest as with all HTML widgets that you place it near the bottom of your column of gadgets and limit the number of updates shown.

This Twitter Updates widget will provide a basic widget only and is fine if you aren't too bothered about styling. The widget uses the styling from your blog based on the Blogger template you are using but unfortunately there is no way to modify its appearance at the moment. If you want something a little more fancy keep an eye out for my future posts about Twitter Updates widgets.

1. Log in to Blogger if you are not already logged in
   
   
2. Go to Layout > Page Elements
   
   
3. Click Add a Gadget in the Blogger sidebar
   
   
4. Click on More Gadgets to the left and choose the Twitter Updates widget. Blogger may change this so if you don't find it there try looking in Featured or Popular.
   
   
5. Enter your Twitter name (usually your blog name)
   
   
6. Choose the number of updates to display. By default this is set to 5
   
   
7. Uncheck display link to your Twitter page if you do not want visitors to go to your Twitter page for some reason otherwise leave it as is.
   
   
8. Click Update to Preview any changes and then Save
   
   
9. Use Blogger's drag and drop feature to reposition your Twitter gadget in the desired location in sidebar or footer of your Blogger blog. Save any changes
   
   
10. Click View Blog to admire your new Twitter Updates widget
    

In today's tutorial I have shown you how easy it is to add a Twitter Updates widget to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). The Twitter Updates widget will display your latest Twitter tweets on your blog. The disadvantage of this third party Twitter Updates widget is that it has basic styling only and no way to modify it. On the plus side it loads fast and is likely to be trouble free. I will be writing more about Twitter updates widgets in the next couple of posts so keep an eye out. Enjoy!


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Make Money Add an Amazon Widget to Blogger

In today's tutorial you will learn how to place an Amazon widget on your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) to enable you to add a further income stream to your existing Blogger earnings.

Adding an Amazon widget to Blogger is not difficult. No change or very little change to your Blogger template is required. There is some time involved in setting up the widget itself and choosing the products to link to and customizing the look to match your blog however. This tutorial will walk you through the steps involved but first a few need to know facts about Amazon's affiliate program.


Important Details For Bloggers About Amazon's Affiliate Program

• Amazon have 2 referral structures: Classic Plan and Performance Plan
  
  
  • For the Classic Plan - A flat rate commission of 4% is paid
    
    
  • For the Performance Plan - A sliding scale between 4% and 8.5% commission is paid on general product items shipped. Consumer electronics is paid at a flat rate of 4%. Kindle, MP3,video on demand and game downloads are at the rate of 10%. View fee structure for Performance Plan
    
  
  
• Sell 7 items in a month and you will receive 6% commission on sales. Sell in excess of 30 items and receive referral fees at the rate of 6.5%
  
  
• Affiliates earn commission on the total of items shipped not just the first product bought
  
  
• Payment options are direct credit, check or Amazon Gift Certificate. There is a $15 charge for the issue of a check.
  
  
• Payment of referral fees is made once your account reaches $10 provided you have opted for the direct credit or Amazon Gift Certificate option. Otherwise it is $100 for a check (cheque)
  
  
• Amazon offer a choice of 17 different widgets
  
  
• Amazon also offer links and banners and an astore option

Earning Money from Amazon Widgets
Linking to Amazon products on your blog can generate significant income depending on your blog topic and the type of links you choose. I personally find that my sales are not always related to blogging despite the Amazon widget on this blog linking to books about blogging. However I would strongly suggest that you try to match the products offerred to the general content of your blog so that your links are targeted to your blog's audience. Another option is to add a generic Amazon widget such as the Deals Widget to snag those bargain hunters and impulse buyers from your readership.

Placing Amazon Widgets on Blogger
There are 17 different Amazon widgets to choose from. The decision about which widget is best will partly be determined by the type of blog you have and where you want to place the widget.

I have had some success with the Carousel Widget that I have on Blogspot Blogger Guide - another of my blogs. I have found under the header to be a prime location for this gadget and as it is displayed on every page the widget is getting maximum exposure. I have also had moderate success with a sidebar location using the I Recommend widget. I think it is true to say that you will need to experiment a bit to find the best type of widget for your blog.

How to Add an Amazon Widget to a Blogger Blogspot Blog

Difficulty Level: Easy to Moderate

1. Join Amazon's Referral Program and create an affiliate account at Amazon. You will need to supply your direct deposit details as Amazon charges to issue affiliate checks (cheques)
   
   
2. Once your affiliate registration is confirmed (this is a fast process) you will then be ready to start to create an Amazon widget for your blog. So go ahead and login to your affiliate account at Amazon and click on the widgets tab
   
   
3. Now comes the fun part - choosing a widget. Amazon currently have 17 different widgets to choose from. The Amazon help section is good and I suspect will answer most of your questions if you get stuck.
   
   
4. Choose your widget. For the purposes of this demonstration let's choose a Recommended Product Links widget. Click on the Add to Your Webpage button
   
   
5. From the drop down select a product line eg Cameras and Photo. Select a subcategory eg General Bestsellers. Click the Continue button.
   
   
   
6. Select the size of widget according to the location where it will be placed on your blog eg 160x600 in the sidebar of Blogger. Click on the Select This Size button at the right of the example widget
   
   
   
7. Now you will need to customize your widget. Click on Customize Link Appearance and enter link and text colors to suit your blog. Ensure that the widget opens in a new window unless you are quite happy for your readers to leave your blog. Leave this window open in the meantime as we will be returning
   
   
   
8. In a new window login to Blogger if not already logged in
   
   
9. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements
   
   
10. Click on Add Gadget in the sidebar and choose HTML/Javascript from the list of available gadgets
    
    
11. Copy the widget code which contains Amazon's tracking code and paste it into the content area of the gadget. Add a title if you wish. Click the Save button
    
    
12. Use the drag and drop feature to reposition your widgets in the sidebar in the order that you want them to appear. Save any changes
    
    
13. Click on View Blog and admire your new widget in the sidebar of your blog
    

Tips and Troubleshooting
Some placements of Amazon widgets will require tweaks to your Blogger template. For instance the Carousel widget which I mentioned earlier I inserted under the header in my blog. To place an Amazon widget or for that matter any widget below the header and above the first post in Blogger do the following:

1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in
   
   
2. Navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
   
   
3. Find the following line of code
   
   

   <b:section class='crosscol' id='crosscol' showaddelement='no'/>

   
   
4. Replace the no with yes and click the Save button
   
   
5. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements
   
   
6. You will see that you can now add a gadget below the header
   

In this tutorial you have learnt about adding Amazon widgets to a Blogger Blogspot blog in order to earn cash from referral fees. Most bloggers earn around 4 to 6.5% in commission for items shipped from Amazon. While not the best affiliate scheme Amazon referral fees can add up to tidy sum at the end of the month. I would recommend giving it a try. You will need to experiment to get the best fit of location and widget. Good luck and let me know how you get on.

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Free Social Bookmark Buttons for Blogger

One way to get your blog to grow is add social bookmarking buttons to your Blogger Blogspot blog. In an earlier article I wrote about the simplest way to place social media on a Blogger blog - that is to add an all-in-one Add This social bookmarking button.

However, as one size doesn't fit all situations there may be lots of times when you would prefer to add individual social bookmark buttons to your Blogger blog. That's why I have put together this list of useful free social bookmarking button sets. All are free to use on a personal blog and most have no restrictions for commercial use either but please do double check the license when you download them if you want to use the buttons commercially.

Best Sources of Social Bookmarking Buttons for Blogger Blogspot

128 Completely Free Icons Set
128 Icons available in 48×48px. Includes Social Media Icons such as: Design Float, Digg, Delicious, Furl, Technorati, Flickr, Stumble Upon, Twitter & more…

Web 2.0 Icons (23 icons)
23 freeware “iPhone-like” icons sized from 512X512 to 16X16 pixels. Includes Blinklist, BlogMarks, Delicious, Digg, FaceBook, Favorite, Feeds, FeedBurner, Flickr, Furl, Google Magnolia, Misterwong, Myspace, Newsvine, Netvibes, Reddit, Simpy, Stumbleupon, Technorati, Twitter, Youtube.

Socialize (12 icons)
12 high quality, free icons in these sizes: 16x16px, 32x32px, 48x48px, 64x64px and 128x128px and 32-bit transparency PNG file format.



Handycons (12 icons)
Handycons is a free, hand drawn social media icon set containing 12 icons. Package contains icons for del.icio.us, Digg, Mixx, DesignBump, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Developer Zone, DesignFloat, Technorati, Twitter and RSS feed & Email icon, of course. All icons are available in four sizes: 16x16, 24x24, 32x32 and 48x48 pixels.




Handycons 2 (20 icons)
20 more hand drawn icons following on from the first Handycons set. Package contains Facebook, Blinklist, Feedburner, Flickr, FriendFeed, Furl, Gmail, Google, Heart icon, Last FM, Linked IN, Magnolia, Newsvine, PayPal, Skype, Sphinn, Twitter, Vimeo, Yahoo and You Tube icons. All icons come in four sizes: 16x16, 32x32, 64x64 and 12x128px.




Social Media Icons (26 icons)
26 clean looking free social media icons available for personal or commercial use.

Aquaticus Social (30 icons)
30 Web 2.0 social media icons in 4 sizes. Free to use on blogs. List includes popular icons like: Blogger, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, flickr, furl, Google, Ma.gnolia, Mixx, MySpace, NetVibes, NewsVine, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Twitter, Yahoo!


Aquaticus.Social by ~jwloh on deviantART


Social Me Icons (30 Icons)
30 free iPhone-inspired icons that can be used on blogs and websites without restriction. 4 sizes up to 60x60px, 48x48px, 24x24px, 16x16px. List includes popular icons like: Blogger, Delicious, Digg, Facebook, flickr, furl, Google, Ma.gnolia, Mixx, MySpace, NetVibes, NewsVine, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Technorati, Twitter, Yahoo!


Social.me by ~jwloh on deviantART


Social Bookmark Iconset Pt I


Social Bookmark Iconset Pt II



Ok so that's my current list of some of the best free social bookmark icons available on the net suitable for a Blogger Blogspot blog. This is a pretty extensive list to get you started but I will add more as time goes on and I come across other great sets. If you find what you are looking for here please let me know and if not I would be interested in that too.


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Add Simple Image Slider to Blogger

Today's tutorial will teach you how to add a very simple image slider to the sidebar or content area of your Blogger Blogspot blog. The image slider will enable you to show off your images to readers and makes a nice addition to a personal blog. Each scrolled image is linked to the related post so that readers can find the posts they are interested in very easily. When the reader hovers over the image the slider stops and resumes again when the mouse is removed. See a for a working demo of this image slider in the content area or for a working demo of this image slider in the sidebar area.

This slider is so simple you will be able to have it up and running in about 5 minutes. No change to the template is required making it a breeze to install. Even if you are very new to Blogger and a beginner I will show you just how easy it is to add an image slider to your Blogger blog.

How To Add a Very Simple Image Slider to a Blogger Sidebar
(note this code will scroll the image from bottom to top)

1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in

2. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements

3. Click on Add a Gadget in Blogger sidebar

4. Select the HTML/Javascript widget from the list of available gadgets

5. Paste the following code into the content box of the gadget

<br /><!-- HTML codes by blogknowhow.blogspot.com --><br /><marquee behavior="scroll" direction="up" scrollamount="5" onmouseover="this.stop();" onmouseout="this.start();"><a href="url of blog"><img alt="description of image" width="160" src="url of image" height="110" /></a><p>Image title</p><a href="url of blog"><img alt="description of image" width="160" src="url of image" height="110" /></a><p>Image title</p><a href="url of blog"><img alt="description of image" width="160" src="url of image" height="110" /></a><p>Image title</p><a href="url of blog"><img alt="description of image" width="160" src="url of image" height="110" /></a><p>Image title</p><br /></marquee><br />

6. Add a title to the widget if you wish

7. Substitute the url of your blog posts, the description of your image, the url of the image, and the title of the image for each image you wish to display. For example:

<br /><!-- HTML codes by blogknowhow.blogspot.com --><br /><marquee behavior="scroll" direction="up" scrollamount="5" onmouseover="this.stop();" onmouseout="this.start();"><a href="http://best-free-blogger-blogspot-"><img alt="Blue Magz - Best Free Blogger Blogspot Templates" width="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9qtDLXoK4uYbtBzK0SDXUNsZX8bLrthbJE1Fg0XYr5yLBjG3w5v23S9kk04A_6bTo_u6-Yupd4l1ynX5GEwbsYTjixb2LKfCmu0n6By3HWIvIElT8j_Mf33S-j0B0ALmFWeerwZpa4M/s320/blue-magz_blogger-template.jpg" height="110" /></a><p>Blue Magz</p></marquee>

This code results in:

Sample text under image

To find the URL of your blog post go to the individual post page and copy the url from the address bar in your browser.

To find the URL of the your image. Upload your image to a blogger post and copy the address enclosed in src=" " tags.

8. Save the gadget

9. Use the drag and drop feature to position the new widget in the sidebar

10. Click on save to save your changes

11. View your new widget in the sidebar of your blog

Tips and Troubleshooting

• To change direction of the slider
  Please note that this code will scroll the image from bottom to top. If you would like it to scroll in the reverse direction all you need do is change the direction in the code from "up" to "down". Or alternatively you can scroll from left to right by setting "right" and right to left by setting "left"
  
  
• To increase the size of the images
  To increase or decrease the size of the image displayed simply adjust the width and height parameters to suit your needs
  
  
• To add more images
  To add more images to the slider add the following to the code before </marquee>
  
  <br /><!-- HTML codes by blogknowhow.blogspot.com --><br /><a href="http://"><img height="110" alt="description of image" src="" width="160" /></a> <p>Image title</p>
  
  
• To adjust scroll speed
  Scroll speed is set to 5 by default but any number can be set between 1 and 20 with "1" being the slowest and "20" being very fast indeed.
  
  

In today's tutorial I have shown you how to add a very simple image slider to your Blogger Blogspot blog to show off the images on your blog. There are a number of other image and content sliders and image slide carousels that can be added to Blogger and I will be writing about some of these in my upcoming posts.


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Add a Twitter Followers Counter to Blogger

In this tutorial you will learn how to place a Twitter Follower Counter on your Blogger Blogspot blog to display the number of followers you have on Twitter. A Twitter count button will encourage readers to follow you on Twitter much in the same way as putting a Feedburner subscriber counter on your blog will encourage new subscribers.

How To Place a Twitter Followers Counter on Blogger

1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in

2. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements

3. Click on the link to Add a Gadget to the sidebar or footer

4. Select HTML/Javascript from the list of gadgets

5. Paste the following script into the widget content box depending on the button your prefer:

Standard Button

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://twittercounter.com/embed/?username=yourTwitterusername"></script>

Black Button

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://twittercounter.com/embed/?username=yourTwitterusername&style=black"></script>

Big Bird Button

<script type="text/javascript" language="javascript" src="http://twittercounter.com/embed/?username=yourTwitterusername&style=bird"></script>

If you would like to view more Twitter Counter badges you will find them at http://twittercounter.com/pages/buttons/

6. Replace the username with your own Twitter username. For example my username is blogwizz so I would enter username=blogwizz. If you are not already a member of Twitter sign up is a breeze

7. Enter a title for the widget if you wish

8. Click Save

9. Move your new widget into position on your sidebar by using Blogger's drag and drop feature

10. Click the View Blog link to admire your new Twitter Followers Counter



In this tutorial you have learned how to put a Twitter Followers Counter on your Blogger Blogspot blog so that you can display an accurate count of your Twitter followers. This will encourage other readers to begin following you on Twitter.


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Add Outbrain Ratings Widget to Blogger

Outbrain provides a free and very stylish content recommendations and ratings widget which can be easily added to your Blogger Blogspot blog. In this tutorial I will discuss the benefits of Outbrain and also provide a step by step walkthrough of the process of adding an Outbrain widget to your Blogger blog and your Feedburner FeedFlare if you have burned your blog feed at Feedburner.

Benefits of Adding Outbrain to Your Blogger Blog
By adding an Outbrain content and ratings widget to your Blogger blog you will encourage visitors to record their reactions to a post they have just read. Along with features likes polls this is another good method of encouraging visitors to interact with your blog. Outbrain also makes it possible to display your most popular posts within the widget. In addition the Outbrain ratings widget may help drive more traffic to your blog when your visitors use the Recommended Posts feature which is embedded in the widget. By the same token it may also mean that the traffic doesn't stay long as visitors will be wooed away by recommended links so you will have to weigh up the benefits versus the costs for yourself. Outbrain also provides reports on widget activity

How to Add an Outbrain Ratings Widget to Blogger
1. Register at Outbrain. This is a simple sign up process that requires you to click on a confirmation email once you have requested sign up and filled out a simple form.

2. Once registered click on Get the Widget from the footer menu

3. Choose Blogger as your Blogging platform

4. Select the language of your widget if other than English which is the default

5. Click on Get the Widget button and Outbrain will automatically refer you to Blogger in a new window. Sign in to Blogger in the new browser window. Don't close the Outbrain window as we will be returning here.


6. Choose your blog from the drop down menu and click on the Add Widget button.


7. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements and reposition if necessary your new widget which will now be appearing in the sidebar of your blog. Save any changes you make.

8. Return to Outbrain in your open browser window and click on the click here link to verify your blog. You will receive a message verifying that you have claimed your blog

9. Click on the View Blog link in the menu tab section and view your new Outbrain widget in action.

Note that once your readers start to rate your posts by clicking on them the stars will become yellow. 5 yellow stars is an excellent rating


Customizing Your Outbrain Ratings Widget
1. Return to the Outbrain window in your browser

2. Navigate to Manage Posts using the Sidebar Menu on the lefthand side

3. In the list of blogs you will see your blog listed. Click on the settings link

4. If you leave the default setting you will see recommended links appearing as pictured above in #9. If you don't want any recommendations you can set this to no.

5. If you have set up your blog with the idea of earning a little extra money you may choose to turn off sponsored recommendations. If you leave the radio button set to yes any proceeds from the sponsored links clicked on will go to charity. The charity sponsored can be selected via the drop down menu

6. Outbrain will show the most popular posts in the sidebar of your blog if this feature is enabled. To enable popular posts select the enable radio button.

7. Click on the Submit button


Adding Outbrain to Your Feedburner FeedFlare
If you already have a FeedFlare appearing at the footer of your burned Feedburner feed of your blog you can easily add Outbrain too. Check out my article on adding a Feedburner FeedFlare to Blogger if you are not sure what a FeedFlare is or how to add one to Blogger.

Go to Feedburner and choose your blog from the list of My Feeds. Select the Optimize tab and then FeedFlare from the lefthand sidebar menu. In the Personal FeedFlare section paste the following code (URL) into the text box:

http://widgets.outbrain.com/FeedFlareUnit.xml

and click on the Add New Flare button. Click on Save. Your readers will now be able to rate your blog straight from your Blogger feed.

Outbrain Troubleshooting Tips for Blogger Installation

• When you install Outbrain on your blog resist the temptation to rate one of your posts as this vote can't be deleted once it is cast. Even when I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the widget the vote did not clear.
  
  
• The Popular Posts feature takes a while to show any posts as it needs at least 2 visits before it will start rating the post
  
  
• If you have other problems with Outbrain try this active Outbrain support forum for answers

In this tutorial you have learned how to install the Outbrain Ratings widget on your Blogger Blogspot blog and customize it. Also some of the benefits of the Outbrain widget were discussed along with a couple of Outbrain installation troubleshooting tips. If you have a moment let me know how you get on installing this widget. Don't forget to bookmark this post for easy reference.

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Add Paypal Donate Button to Blogger

If you want to make a few bucks from all the hard work you are putting into your Blogger blog then consider adding a Paypal donate button to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog).

Adding a donation button will encourage all those happy readers to say a big thank you for helping them out. Not everyone will donate but you will get the odd generous soul who will willingly donate some chump change to shout you a coffee.

In this Blogger tutorial we will be adding a gadget to the Blogger sidebar or alternatively you could place it in the foooter of your Blogger template. We will be using a widget to contain our Paypal Donate Button and will not be changing your Blogger template. If you wish to place the donate button into your Blogger posts see the end of this Blogger tutorial for details.

Skill level is rated easy.

How to Add a Paypal Donate Button to Blogger (Sidebar or Footer Gadget)
Note: Updated on January 20 2012 to take account of new Paypal interface

1. Get yourself a Paypal account if you don't already have one

2. Login to your Paypal account

3. Click on the Merchant Services tab


4. Choose Donations from the list of key features displayed in the right sidebar of the PayPal Website Payments Standard Option (first of 3 payment solutions)
Note Paypal have changed its interface. You now need to select PayPal Website Payments Standard from Merchant Services drop down and then under the buttons in option 1 you will see in pretty tiny writing I must say "There are also buttons for donations and gift certificates." Click on donations.



5. From the Paypal Create a Donation Button screen choose Create Your Button Now link (one of two).



6. Stick with the default button unless you wish to customize it

7. Choose your currency depending on your needs and location

8. Choose Donors enter their own contribution amount radio button unless you want to have a set amount


9. Ensure the Secure Merchant ID radio button is selected. This will prevent spammers getting hold of your email address

10. At Step 2 it is worth saving your button

11. At Step 3 Customize your checkout page by allowing donors to write a short comment by selecting the Yes radio button to special instructions to seller

12. Select the No radio button for Customer's Shipping Address

13. Select the Create Button button

14. Once Paypal creates the donate button code copy it by right clicking your mouse and choosing copy

15. Logout of Paypal

16. Login to Blogger if you are not already logged in

17. Go to Design > Page Elements

18. Click on the Add a Gadget link in the sidebar

19. Choose HTML/Javascript widget from the list provided

20. Paste the button code into the Content box of the dialog box that appears by placing the mouse inside the box and right clicking the mouse and then paste

21. Select a title like "Shout Me a Coffee Today!" or whatever you would like

22. Click on the Save button

23. Drag and drop your new donation gadget into the spot you want it to appear in

24. Click the Save button to ensure your changes are saved

25. Click View Blog to see your new donate button in the sidebar of your Blogger blog

26. Click on your new donate button and you will be taken to the Paypal Checkout screen



Tips and Troubleshooting

1. To Add a Paypal Donate Button to Blogger Posts
   The following instructions will add a Paypal Donate button to all new Blogger posts. Note previous posts will not be changed. You will need to hard code the button into your Blogger template to have the Paypal Donate button added to every Blogger post. (Please ask if you need help with this)
   
   
   1. Follow the directions (steps 1-16) as above to get your Paypal button code
      
   2. In Blogger go to Settings > Formatting
      
   3. Paste the Paypal Donate Button code into the Post Template box
      
   4. Save changes
      
   5. Click on New Post to see that the code will be automatically inserted at the foot of each new post. (you will need to be in Edit Html mode to see the code)
   
   
2. To Add a Paypal Donate Button to Individual Blogger Posts
   
   1. Follow the directions (steps 1-16) as above to get your Paypal button code
      
   2. In Blogger go to the post you wish to insert the button code into
      
   3. Insert the button code taking care to change all instances of double quotes to single quotes
      
   4. Save post and publish as normal. (If you have trouble with the preview post button in the old editor in Blogger click on compose and then edit html)

This Blogger tutorial has walked you through the steps needed to add a Paypal donate button to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) including how to configure your Paypal button at Paypal. I have covered adding the button as a sidebar gadget or footer gadget or alternatively added to Blogger posts. Have fun!

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Add Feedjit Live Traffic Feed to Blogger

Would you like to know more about the traffic visiting your Blogger blog (Blogspot Blog)? Feedjit is a free tracking tool that tracks visitors to a blog in real time and identifies what pages are visited. In this Blogger tutorial you will learn how to add a Feedjit widget to your blog which will track where visitors originate from and what pages they viewed. Adding a Feedjit widget to your Blogger blog is easy and takes less than 5 minutes. This tutorial is suitable for all Blogger bloggers (Blogspot beginners). Updated 10 October 2009.

Feedjit monitors traffic to your site and ranks it based on popularity and relevance against the traffic received by other Feedjit users in your local area. There is a choice of 4 different widgets: Live Traffic Feed, Live Traffic Map, Recommended Reading, and Page Popularity. Each of these widgets has different functions.

Feedjit Live Traffic Feed Widget for Blogger
Places a widget on your Blogger blog of the last 10 visitors. By clicking on the real time link you can actually view the last 50 or so visitors along with the keyword search phrase used to find your site. The Feedjit's Live Traffic Feed shows statistics in real-time about:

The city and country your visitors are in

The website they arrived from, if any

The page they visited on your website

Which external link they clicked to leave your site, if any

Feedjit Traffic Map
The Traffic Map widget places visitors to your site on a world map according to their physical location

Feedjit Recommended Reading
The Recommended Reading widget makes suggestions to visitors about what other blog posts they might be interested in based on general page popularity

Feedjit Page Popularity
The Page Popularity widget lists the 10 most popular pages that have been accessed by visitors on that day.


How to Add a Feedjit Live Traffic Feed Widget (Gadget) to Blogger

1. Visit Feedjit
   
   
2. Select Live Traffic Feed.
   
   
3. Click on the Customize It link under Live Traffic Feed. This will allow you to enter colors to match the theme of your blog. If you are in doubt I have found that the easiest method to get the custom colors of a site is to go to the Layout > Page Elements screen in Blogger and click on Add a Gadget and then Adsense. From the configuration screen that pops up you can get the colors of the background, border, title (heading in Feedjit), URL, text. If you use these same colors in your Feedjit widget it will blend in with the rest of your site. You can preview your widget to make sure it looks as you would like it before adding it to your blog.
   
   
4. To automatically add the widget to Blogger select the Click to Add to Blogger Link and follow the instructions. Or to manually add it which I myself prefer right click the code in the box under the heading Live Traffic Feed and select copy.
   
   
5. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements in your blog if that page is not already open
   
   
6. Select Add a Gadget in the Sidebar and then HTML/Javascript
   
   
7. Paste the code by placing the mouse in the box and right clicking and selecting paste
   
   
8. Save the widget and then using the drag and drop feature of Blogger move it to your desired location. Note HTML/Javascript widgets are best placed after your other widgets for faster loading.
   
   
9. Save Template
   
   
10. Click on View Blog to view your newly created Feedjit widget
    
    
11. Click on Options in the Feedjit widget and then Ignore My Browser otherwise the widget will record your visit each time you view your blog. The option on the widget will now change to Stop Ignoring Me which you can reverse by clicking on the link again.If you use more than one browser you will need to tell Feedjit to ignore you for each browser.

This Blogger tutorial has discussed how to add a Feedjit Live Traffic Feed widget, gadget or button to Blogger to track where visitors are being directed from and what posts they are most interested in. A Feedjit Live Traffic Feed will help you learn about the visitors to your blog and what search phrase they used to arrive. To add a Feedjit Live Traffic Feed widget to Blogger is simple and takes less than 5 minutes to install.

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