Connect Your Blog to a Google+ Page

If you log into your Blogger dashboard today, you'll notice a new Google+ tab which can be used to integrate our blogs with Google+.



For some time, we have been able to link our blogs with a personal Google+ profile. Now we are also able to connect to a Google+ page for business, organisation or brand!



If you haven't already connected your Blogger site to a Google+ profile, go to the Google+ tab in your dashboard and click the button to upgrade:

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Page Navigation with Arrow Keys in Blogger

Navigating between pages using the keyboard arrow keys is a very useful feature. It saves time scrolling down the page to find links to the next page in a site and is very intuitive for visitors.



In this tutorial, I offer a very simple Blogger template hack which can be used to navigate between newer and older posts on any page where the "blog pager" is present (including index, search, archive and item pages) using the left and right arrow keys.



Try out this functionality on my latest Blogger template release and read on for details of how to add this function to your own Blogger-based site.



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How to add a music player in Blogspot

Since this archived post was written in 2007, web design and Blogger templates have changed immensely. The development of HTML5 and <audio> tags enable us to add music to our Blogspot websites and posts far more simply, and with improved control.



In preparation for explaining how to podcast with Blogger, this tutorial explains how to easily add an HTML5 mp3/audio player to your blog posts or layout. No JavaScript, Flash or plugins are required, and with a fallback for older browsers which don't support the player.



I've even created a simple form to generate basic tags for you! Adding music to your Blogspot site has never been so easy!

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Blogger for Beginners - Free eBook Guide (PDF)

New to Blogger? Need to know the basics of Google's blogging platform to start your first blog?



Blogger for Beginners is a free guide for those new to the Blogger publishing platform. From creating your very first blog through to customising the appearance of your site and publishing feeds, this ebook covers all the basic knowledge you need with detailed instructions and full colour screenshots.



Download Blogger for Beginners (PDF)



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How to tell if a website is powered by Blogger

Since we can completely customize the appearance of our blogs and use custom domains, it is not always easy to tell if a website is powered by Blogger. Having looked at hundreds of websites while researching for the Blogspot Top 100 list, I've discovered a few methods to discover if a website is built on the Blogger platform.

For those who would like to know if their favourite blogs operate using Blogger, here are some tips to help you find out.

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Add a Facebook Invite Friends Link to your Blogger Site

Over at 9Lessons I read a very helpful tutorial to add an "Invite your Facebook Friends" link to a website. I was able to modify this in order to add to a gadget which now appears in the sidebar on all pages of Blogger Buster (beneath the Facebook Like box).

If you click on this link, a box will appear on the page enabling you to invite chosen friends from your Facebook profile to visit Blogger Buster.



In this simple tutorial I'll explain how you can add this functionality to your own Blogger powered blog.

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Is Opera incompatible with Blogger?

In recent days, those using Opera to maintain their Blogger sites may have received warnings that their browser is not compatible with the platform:

According to The Register, Blogger appears to operate "just fine and dandy" when using Opera 12.0 for Mac, but after dismissing the message it re-appears.

The alert box is banished if Opera changes its user-agent string - the line of text the browser sends to a server to identify itself - and pretends to be a build of Chrome.

Back in August last year, Blogger Buzz posted details of browsers which would be supported by both Blogger and other Google platforms:

Beginning August 1st, we’ll support the current and prior major release of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version is released, we’ll begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version.

An Opera spokesman has told The Register that this is assumed to be an error and that there is discussion with Google about fixing the problem.

Are you using Opera? If so, please let us know if you've been affected by this message. Your comments and opinions are most welcome.