Blogger Buster in Beta!

Most of the work on the new look Blogger Buster site is now complete. Luckily the shift didn't take quite as long as I thought!

There may still be a few minor errors and I am now checking the whole site to see what may need adjusting. Please do let me know if you discover something wrong with this new template!

If you experience any major difficulties in using the site today, please email me on amanda [at] bloggerbuster [dot] com and I'll try to help you out as soon as possible.

Why "Beta"?

I'm launching the new site in Beta for at least a week or so until I am sure there are no flaws in the design, missing links, script errors and such. As I'm sure you will understand once you've seen some of the changes, the new template is a major reconstruction for the whole of Blogger Buster, and it will take some time to perfect everything.

I do appreciate your patience during this time, and will soon provide a full explanation of all the changes I am making.

Hope you enjoy the new look Blogger Buster site!

What is Atom/RSS?

Would you like to keep up to date with the latest content at Blogger Buster? There are a number of ways you can subscribe to receive news of the latest updates to the site, and the main ones used by Blogger Buster readers are the Atom and RSS feeds.

What is Atom/RSS?

Atom and RSS are both a similar technology which was developed to help people receive automatic updates of their favorite websites.

Although there are some differences between the technology of Atom and RSS, they both do essentially the same job: they fetch updated content from your favorite sites in a format you can easily read in a feed reader.

A better alternative to bookmarking.

Before Atom and RSS were invented, web users had to bookmark their favorite sites instead, and return to the bookmarked sites manually to see if anything had been updated. This creates more work for you as the reader, and means you could easily miss new content if you forget to check your bookmarks. Also, it can be complicated trying to keep track of many bookmarked sites at the same time.

Atom and RSS can do all the hard work for you!

If you subscribe to a website's feed, you are asking the website to send you new content, instead of having to fetch this yourself. It's a bit like getting a magazine subscription, but rather than being sent your magazine once a month, you will be sent new website content each time the site is updated. This could be daily, or even more regularly!

So... How can I use Atom/RSS feeds?

You will need a Feed Reader to be able to read Atom and RSS feeds from websites. In their native forms, Atom and RSS feeds are difficult to read and look a little like raw html code. Feed readers translate this into something which you can easily read, which looks a little like a web page which focuses on written content.

Two of the most popular feed readers you could use are Google Reader and Bloglines. Both of these services are free and very easy to use, especially as they both feature detailed help sections.

There are of course many other feed readers available which you can easily using your favorite search engine.

The easiest way to learn how to use a feed reader is to sign up for one of these services, then subscribe to a few feeds. For both of these services, you'll notice that new items will stand out from those you have read, and also that the newest content will feature at the top of the page. This makes it easier for you to know which items you have read.

How can I subscribe to feeds?

There are many places to look feed subscription links, including:

• Your favorite website


• Your feed reader's website


• Your internet browser

Let me explain a little about these subscription links:

On Site Subscriptions

You may have noticed feed icons on your favorite websites; these are often orange icons (which seems to have become the standard color for feed icons), or may also be counters to let you know how many subscribers a site has. On the right are some more examples you may have noticed too.

Usually these feed icons will link directly to the Atom or RSS feed for the site. You can either copy the link location for use in your RSS reader, or may be able to subscribe from the link directly.

Your feed reader's website

Most feed readers will have a search utility to help you find feeds of interest which you can then subscribe to. Google Reader for example allows you to search through literally thousands of blog and news feeds simply by searching for keywords of interest to you!

Browser subscription

Some internet browsers (eg: Firefox) have a built in function to detect and subscribe to website feeds. If your browser detects that the website you are looking at has an Atom or RSS feed available, you will usually see an orange icon to the right of the address bar, like this:

If you were to click on this icon while reading this site, you would be locating the Atom feed for Blogger Buster.

For different browsers, the feed icon in the address bar may look different, or be another color though it should still be easily distinguishable as a feed icon.

If you use your browser to subscribe to a site feed, you may wish to change the default settings so that subscriptions are added to the feed reader of your choice (eg: Google Reader or Bloglines) rather than the default reader built into the browser itself. This is generally done in the settings section of your browser, and may also be chosen when you open the link to a website's feed.

Atom or RSS - which feed should I choose?

Modern feed readers are able to read both Atom and RSS feeds. RSS is the most popular feed format, but by default Blogger published Atom feeds for our blogs. So I decided to publish both the Atom and RSS feeds for Blogger Buster to provide a choice in the subscription type.

Currently most subscribers to Blogger Buster choose the Atom format, but since there really is very little difference in how these feeds function, so the choice is up to you.

If you would like to know a little more about the difference between Atom and RSS feeds, you can read this post.

Would you prefer to receive updates by email instead?

Many sites offer updates by email too. Here at Blogger Buster you can easily subscribe for email updates by using the form near the top of the sidebar. All you need to do is enter your email address and click "Subscribe". A confirmation email will be sent to you to ensure you do wish to receive updates.

It's easy to unsubscribe too!

If ever you decide you don't want to subscribe to a feed, either using your feed reader or by email, it is very easy to unsubscribe:

• For those using a feed reader
  
  Simply delete the feed from your feed reader, and you will no longer receive updates from this site.


• For email subscribers
  
  Usually you will find an "Unsubscribe" link near the bottom of any emails sent for feed updates. Alternatively this may have been sent in the confirmation email you were sent when you first subscribed for updates. When you click on this link you will be able to remove your address from further updates.

If you are new to the concepts of web feeds, I hope this explanation has been useful to you, and perhaps has persuaded you to experiment with Atom and RSS for yourself. Please feel free to leave your comments and opinions below.

Technorati Tags: what+is+rss | atom | xml | feeds | blog+feeds | feed+reader | bloglines | google+reader

Create "Wordpress" style pages for your Blogger blog

A few people have asked how I created "Wordpress style" pages which are accessible from the header section. Since I will be making much use of these pages in the near future, I thought it best to explain how Blogger users can create their own blog pages.

Wordpress blogs can include blog pages; these are often used to provide an "about" page or contact information. Such "pages" are separate from the main blog: they do not appear on the main page or archives, and links to these pages from within the template are usually created dynamically. However, updates to Wordpress pages are still included in the blog's feed.

Although Blogger does not currently use blog pages in the same manner as Wordpress, we are still able to mimic this in our blogs with a little effort.

The blog pages you see in my blog are actually regular blog posts which I have make links to from within the template itself. This is how you can create your own:

1. If you haven't already done so, change your "Enable post pages" setting to "on" in your Blogger dashboard. This is done in the Settings>Publishing section, and enables each blog post to appear on it's own page.


2. Next, you will need to create your "blog pages". To do this, just create a regular post with the title and content you wish to offer as a blog page. For example, an "About" page could be titled "About this blog" with the content being a description of your blog.


3. Since we cannot omit this post from the archives pages, you will want to consider how easily a reader could find this post within the archives! Usually I change the publishing date when I create post pages to a much earlier date: this ensures that the page does not get mixed in with regular posts so easily, and since such pages are usually "timeless" (they are not news items or contrained by current events) I doubt many readers will care about the date featured on this particular page.
   
   To change the posting date of a post, so it appears much further back in the archives (and not on your main page), click on "Post Options" near the bottom of the post editing box, and alter the date manually in the right hand section.


4. Once you have created your post and changed the date (if you prefer to, that is), you can publish your post. You will need to publish this post in order to discover the permalink to this post so that you can then link back to it from your header or sidebar. A "permalink" is the URL of a particular post page. You can find the permalink url for this page in your browsers' address bar.


5. To find the permalink for the blog page you have just created, you can either locate this page in your archives, or go to "Edit Posts" in your dashboard click on the "View post" link for this post. Once you have the permalink, paste this into your favorite text editor for later use.


6. Now you will probably want to create the link to your post page somewhere in your template. The easiest place to place this link is in a widget in your sidebar or footer (though if you are confident in HTML you can also place this elsewhere).
   
   To create a regular text link to your blog page, you could use a simple text widget. Write the link text you would like your readers to see, then highlight this text. Click on the hyperlink icon in the editing page, and paste your blog permalink into the box which pops up. Save the widget, and then look at your blog to see the new link to your blog page.


7. If you would prefer to use an image to link to your post page, you will need to create an image to use as a link, and host this on an external image host. Then create an HTML/Javascript widget, and insert your image using the <img> function, like this:
   

   <img src="http://the-url-of-your-image.com/yourimagename.jpg" />

   
   Then to make this image become a link, you will also need to add anchor links around the image, like this:
   

   <a href="yourpermalinkurl"><img src="http://the-url-of-your-image.com/yourimagename.jpg" /></a>



8. Save your widget and then view your blog to see the image link to your blog page.

You can repeat this for any number of blog pages you would like to create for your blog. As I mentioned before, the only disadvantage is that these pages will appear in your archives, and they will also be published in your blog feed. However, I'm sure the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks of this method, since these blog pages can provide an useful information about your site for your readers.

Technorati Tags: blog+pages | wordpress+style | about+page

Why the new Blogger Buster site will be a much better resource for Bloggers!

A few readers have asked me when the new Blogger Buster template will be uploaded, and what features the new site will have. So I thought it was about time I explained more about the new Blogger Buster site, and why it's taking so long to get it all ready!

A better Blogger resource!

While I strive to feature posts and resources which are of benefit to all my readers, I feel that the current template is lacking in clear navigation. So, I am currently redesigning the whole site to ensure that you can easily find the posts, tools and templates you need. When the work is complete, you'll find all of my blog posts, tools and templates are part of the same site, with clear navigation and improved search functionality too!

What the new site will look like

Here is a small screenshot of the new site template for you (click the image for a larger version).

When complete, you'll find the whole site will have this same theme making it easy for you to get from one area to another using the navigation tabs near the top of the page.

Overall, I've tried to give this new template a "Web 2.0" theme, which will make the whole blog more interesting, informative and easier to read.

Here are some of the main features I have brought into this new site design:

• A single wide sidebar, to help pages load more quickly and better distinguish content.


• A wider posts column


• Navigation tabs, to enable you to easily find the resources you need.


• A distinguishing logo for Blogger Buster.


• Better use of the space in the footer section.


• Easier subscription methods.


• An improved posts layout.

Of course, there are many more changes than I can describe in a brief list. Once the new site is ready, I will post in detail about these changes so be sure to visit again soon to find out more!

So... What's taking so lone to get this online?

Okay, I know it's taking too long to make these site improvements, though I assure you that it will be well worth the wait! I have had a few complications in constructing this new template due to the extreme changes in the template layout, and the use of Ajax javascripts (which I have only recently begun to learn about). I can safely say now that most of the major work is complete, and only minor alterations are needed now. I will also be creating some new pages (and rewriting some old ones) which will help you have a better experience of using the site.

When will the new site be ready?

I hope to have completed everything by the weekend, at which point Blogger Buster will be in "Beta". This means that while most of the site is working correctly, there may still be areas which require further tweaks to make them better. Also during this time I will be making changes to some existing pages, and ensuring links all operate correctly within the template.

The "Beta" format is in preference to making the site inaccessible for a few days. All of the existing posts will still be here, and the changes will happen seamlessly without interruption to your experience of the site.

I cannot say a definite day or time at present for the availability of the new site, but I will of course post a message to let you all know!

Your input is always appreciated!

As always, I do appreciate it when you offer your opinions and comments about your experience of this site. In redesigning this site, I have taken opinions already offered into account and will continue to do so while ever you all give me your opinions!

Is there any particular thing you would like to see improved? Any information you see lacking in this site? Is so, please leave your comments below and feel free to email me about anything to do with this site. I look forward to reading your comments, and strive to cater to the needs of my readers.

To hear more about these changes as they happen, please subscribe to Blogger Buster using one of the subscription methods in the right hand sidebar.

How to control the number of posts displayed in label pages

By default, the 20 most recent posts are displayed on label pages (ie: when you click on a label link in the sidebar. If there are more than 20 posts assigned to a label, then at the bottom of the page you would also find links to next and previous pages.

Recently a reader asked how it is possible to change this, particularly in regard to label clouds. So in this post, I will explain the methods for changing the number of posts displayed, for both default label lists and label clouds too.

To change the number of posts shown on label pages involves editing your template and adding some code which controls the number of posts displayed. It is always good practice to make a full back up of your blog template before making any modifications to the template, so be sure to have done this before implementing this hack!

The process is different depending on whether you use a default label list or a label cloud to display your labels, so I will explain each of these separately for you.

For default label "lists"

By "label lists" I refer to the default label widget which is generated when you add a label widget to your blog in the layouts section of your dashboard. This may be a regular list, drop down list or multi-styled version.

Decide on the number of posts you would like to be displayed in your label pages, whether this be 5 posts or 100 (see below for more details about this). Then ensure you have ticked the "expand widget templates" box. You then need to replace every occurrence of this phrase:

data:label.url

With this instead:

data:label.url + "?max-results=n"

where "n" is the number of posts you would like to display on label pages. An easy way to search for all these phrases is to key CTRL+F. You may also like to copy all of the expanded template to Notepad (or your favorite text editor) and change these phrases using the "replace" function instead. Then you would need to paste the modified template over the existing template.

Once you've done this, save your template and click on a label to see the change in the number of posts which are displayed.

For Label Cloud users.

By "Label Clouds" I refer to the hack developed by Phydeaux to display your labels in cloud form. You can read about this hack in this post, and will often find label clouds in my templates.

To change the number of posts displayed when readers click on an item in your label cloud, find this line in your template:

a.href = lcBlogURL+'/search/label/'+encodeURIComponent(t);

And replace it with this instead:

a.href = lcBlogURL+'/search/label/'+encodeURIComponent(t) +'?max-results=n';

where "n" is the number of posts you would like to be shown on labels pages. This section of code will usually appear in the section for the label widget code in your sidebar.

Save your template, and then click on an item in your label cloud to see the change in the number of items.

If you would also like the same number of posts to appear when you click on a label link from your post (usually found in the post-footer section), you would also need to replace all occurrences of "data:label.url" as described above.

Why you may want to change the number of posts displayed.

If you write particularly long posts, you may prefer to have fewer than 20 posts displayed on label pages which would speed up page loading time slightly, and also ensure the pages are not too long.

Those who use hacks to summarize their posts on the main pages (eg: the selective expandable posts hack) may wish to display more posts than 20 to fill up more space on the page instead.

Technorati Tags: blogger+labels | label+clouds | posts+displayed

My sincere apologies for interruptions to your templates!

If your template suddenly stopped displaying images properly, please accept my apologies! While configuring the new Blogger Buster site, I accidentally made the templates folder unavailable (which is where most of the template images are stored). Be assured this will all revert back to normal within a couple of hours and I promise your templates will work properly again very soon!

Blogdire - A new blog directory

Today I received news of a new blog directory: Blogdire. This directory is free to use and it's quite simple to add your blog to this directory too! Also included is a blog search engine for you to search other blogs for the posts you like.

There are several qualities I like about this directory, most notably the inclusion of recent posts from random blogs on the front page, which link to the blogs quoted and thus help provide more exposure. Also Blogdire uses a tagging system to help you find blogs of interest (or to help readers find your blog) complete with a tag cloud which helps us to understand the most popular tags currently available.

To submit your blog to Blogdire, simply visit the home page and click on the "Add your blog" link near the top right of the page. Then fill out your details, including your blog URL and description. The instructions state that you should include a button link in your blog to ensure your listing is successful, but this is a small non-intrusive button which should fit neatly alongside any others you may also be displaying.

Although this directory is quite new, it does seem to be having a lot of interest from bloggers and many new blogs are being added.

Please let me now what you think to this new blog directory by posting your comments below.

Technorati Tags: blog+directory | directories | blogdire