Another Popular Posts Widget from AideRSS

AideRSS analyzes RSS/blog feeds to determine the popularity of each item according to the number of comments, Diggs, Del.icio.us bookmarks, backlinks and clickthroughs.

One of the most useful features of AideRSS for bloggers is the ability to analyze the popularity of items in your own blog feed. Consequently, you can use this data to create a widget of your highest ranking feed items - your popular posts - which can be displayed in a widget in your sidebar, which is very easy to install!

Getting Started With AideRSS?

To begin analyzing the rank of items in your own blog feed, simply visit the AideRSS homepage and type your blog's RSS feed URL into the box.

If you use Feedburner to burn your Blogger feed, enter the URL of your Feedburner feed (eg: http://feeds.feedburner.com/YOUR-FEED-NAME).

If you do not redirect your feeds through Feedburner, you will need to enter your feed URL like this instead:

http://yourblog.blogspot.com/rss.xml

On the following page, AideRSS will analyze your blog feed, then refresh to offer results of each items Postrank:

Once you've taken a look at the popularity of your most recent posts, you can go ahead to create your popular posts widget by clicking the "Sharing and Widgets" link near the top right of the screen.

This page displays a preview of what your widget would appear like on the left, and the code you can use to display this widget to the right.

Adding the AideRSS Popular Posts Widget to Your Blog

To add the widget in it's default format, simply copy the code in the box, and paste this into an HTML/JavaScript widget.

If you would prefer to customize the widget, there are prompts in the JavaScript code which explain how to change the following:

• Date Range: Choose from Year, Month, Week or Day


• The Number of Posts: by default, this is set to 5. Simply replace this variable with the actual number of posts you would like to display.

If you prefer, you can even add the JavaScript code to display the results with a post, like this:

To use the JavaScript in a blog post, you must ensure that you create your post in Edit HTML mode, otherwise the JavaScript will become malformed and not display once your post is published.

There is no need to register with AideRSS to analyze your blog feeds or use the popular posts widget.

Once you have first analyzed a feed URL using this free service, you will be able to access the data anytime you like.

More about AideRSS

This popular posts feature is not the only useful aspect of AideRSS. You can also use this free service to save time by filtering your feed subscriptions to display only those which you may be interested to read. Also, Jake Luciani used AideRSS functionality to research the best time of day to publish blog posts.

You can learn more about this popular internet startup on the AideRSS about page, and get a feel of what this system is capable of by looking through the API pages.

Please let me know what you think about this widget by leaving your comments and opinions below.

The Best and Worst Times to Publish your Posts

At one point or another I'm sure we've all wondered the same thing: "What is the best time to publish our posts?".

Jake Luciani has done some pretty hefty research to find the answer to this question. By analyzing over 10,000 entries from Digg, Del.icio.us, Reddit and Mixx, he has discovered the optimum times of day, and days of the week to post for best results in social media and maximum comments.

According to Luciani's results:

• The best time to post is Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 2pm Pacific Standard Time (PST)


• The worst time to post is on Saturday or Sunday between 3 and 5pm PST

These findings seem to correlate with the times US blog readers are most active online (around lunchtime and just after work on weekdays), so posting around these times should work well for bloggers whose readership is mostly based in this area of the world.

If your main readership is located in another part of the world, you may want to consider altering these times to suit your own audiences active times instead.

Here are charts displaying the full results of Luciani's research using GMT (Greenwich Mean Time):

Don't forget to account for the time-zone differences when working out the best "local" time for you to publish your blog posts!

For a detailed explanation of Luciani's findings, head over to ReadWriteWeb's article which analyzes the data and method used in great detail.

I hope this will be useful to you in deciding what is the best time to publish your blog posts. Please let me know what you think about Jake Luciani's research by leaving your comments and opinions below.

Suggest Future Posts for Blogger Buster

Do you have any burning questions about Blogger?

Is there a particular article you would like me to write about?

At Blogger Buster, I am committed to writing posts about Blogger which you will all find useful or interesting. I appreciate your suggestions and input, and to make it even easier for you ti suggest future articles, I have added a Skribit widget to the sidebar.

This widget will allow you to suggest ideas for posts which you would like me to write about in the future! It's really easy to make a suggestion: simply click on the "Suggest a future post" link at the top of the widget, then write your idea in less than 100 words. Alternatively, you can vote for a suggestion which has already been made, and help this idea float to the top of the list.

You don't need to register or login to Skribit to make or vote for a suggestion, and you can vote for an article more than once.

Registering with Skribit enables you to track the progress of your votes on any site which uses a Skribit widget, and also to create a widget of your own to feature in your own blog sidebar.

I'm sure many of you would like to suggest future posts or have questions about using Blogger, so please jump in and offer your ideas!

As suggestions posted in the widget are answered in my posts, I will link to the post from within Skribit (though I'm not sure this will appear in the actual widget).

Also, I will soon be posting a full article about adding and using Skribit in Blogger which will answer the default question: "Why are you using Scribit".

As always, you comments are appreciated so please feel free to leave your own below. And be sure to post any ideas for posts you may have in mind! Reader interaction is something I really love about this site, and a feature I would like to foster in regard to future posts.

Google Analytics Integration for Blogger is on the way!

Google Analytics for Blogger is currently in private beta! Over the next year, the Google team will be refining this interface until it's ready for public release in both Blogger and Google Analytics accounts.

Analytics for Blogger is the product of collaboration by several teams and marks the transition of Measure Map customers to a new Google Analytics interface which has been designed for Blogger users.

This development was announced by Jeff Veen at the South by Southwest conference held a few weeks ago:

Many of you may remember when Google acquired Measure Map, our analytics product for blogs. When we came to Google, our first job was to take the experience of providing clear, accessible reports, coupled with powerful tools for analysis, and apply it to Google's already robust Analytics product. The result of that collaboration launched last May, in the redesigned Google Analytics interface.



Since then the team has been hard at work fulfilling our original promise: to help bloggers understand the impact that their blogs are having on the world. To that end, we've rebuilt Measure Map as an integrated feature of both Google Analytics and Blogger. We hope you like what you see (via Google Analytics Blog)

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Now I have to say that this development is something I have been hoping to see for some time! Such statistics present in the dashboard of our Blogger powered blogs would certainly save us time and effort visiting many different sources for information of blog development, backlinks and the like.

As soon as I hear news of any developments regarding this new interface, I will be sure to post it here!

In the meantime, I'm working on a post outlining the different methods currently available to Blogger users for statistical reporting of our blogs, so be sure to subscribe for news of future posts!

"A New Day" Blogger XML Template Download

Here's a new Blogger XML template download for you: "A New Day".

Take a look at the demonstration blog for this new template to see it in action.

This is a pale, two column template with a wide posts area and sidebar (which should be wide enough to accommodate most wider styles of widgets, Adsense and possibly video too!).

You can download both the XML file and the HTML code for this template. Full instructions and download links are provided below.

Features of this template

A New Day is a wide two column template, providing ample room for posts and also provision for wider sidebar widgets.

The header section features an integrated "navigation" links list widget, so you can easily add and edit links to the main pages of your blog.

Other useful features include:

• Rounded corners for the sidebar widget headings


• Fonts and colors can be changed within the "Fonts and Colors" section in your Blogger dashboard.


• Author comment highlighting (with a different color heading for author's comments)


• Automatic "copyright" (according to blog title) in the lower footer section.


• Comment count below post titles


• Unique header image which spans the entire width of the page.

Using This Template

I have tried to ensure this template is as user-friendly as possible! A New Day should work "right out of the box" once this is uploaded to your blog.

The only thing you may need to configure is the "Link List" widget in the header section, which you can access in the Layout>Page Elements section of your dashboard. In this widget, you can add links to the important pages of your blog (such as your "About" and "Contact" pages. Or if you prefer not to feature such links, you can simply delete this altogether!

Fixed elements of this template

The main background, and the background images for the main area of the blog are embedded in the template code. As such, the colors of these areas cannot be changed, unless you are willing to alter these images and upload these to your own image host.

However, I do plan to bring out a darker version of this template in the near future for those of you who would prefer a darker color scheme for your blogs ;)

Other than this, all other elements of this template may be changed, including all fonts, font colors and the border colors (which will also alter the color of the sidebar widget borders).

You can change these elements dynamically from within the Fonts and Colors section of your Blogger dashboard.

Download Options for this template

There are two options for downloading this template: the XML template (which should be uploaded to your Blogger dashboard) and the HTML Code (a text based file which you should copy and paste).

Here are links to each download version, along with full instructions for your to upload this to your blog.

XML Template Download

The following is the XML version of the "A New Day" Blogger template. To download this template, right click and choose "Save As".

Download XML File

Save this XML file to a convenient location on your computer.

Then go to Layout>Edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard. Near the top of this page, you will see a section which appears like this:

Use the "Browse" button to locate the XML template on your computer, then click on the "Upload" button to upload the "A New Day" template to your blog.

Once you have uploaded this template, you can then begin to add widgets, change the layout and tweak this template to your needs.

Read more about uploading Blogger XML templates.

HTML Code Template Download

For those who prefer to copy and paste template code for their Blogger blogs, I have also provided the full HTML code for this template as a text file.

You can view or download this file using the link below:

Download HTML Code

You may either view this code by following the link in your browser, or download this text file to your computer.

To upload this template using the HTML template code, simply highlight all of the text and copy this to your clipboard. Then go to Layout>Edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard. Highlight all of the code in the box, then paste the new code instead of the existing code.

Finally, preview your Blogger template to ensure everything looks well. If you have done this correctly, you should receive no errors and can proceed to save your new template.

Read more about uploading templates using the HTML template code.

Usage and Copyright Notice

All images featured in this template are hosted by Blogger Buster; you do not need to host these yourself (unless you would prefer to do so!).

This template is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

This means that you may use, redistribute and modify this template in any way you like, so long as you provide correct attribution to the original author of this template in the form of a link back to Blogger Buster.

I hope that you enjoy this new template as much as I enjoyed creating it! Originally I had planned on using this for a new blog I've been working on, though as I was rather happy with the end result I didn't want to keep this to myself :)

Please do let me know your opinions or any questions about this template by leaving your comments below.

Blogger Buster is featured as a "Blog of Note"!

I was thrilled to notice today that Blogger Buster has been featured in Blogger's Blogs of Note!

Thank you to everyone who has nominated Blogger Buster for this award, and also to the Blogger team. You've given me even more incentive to keep blogging about Blogger!

RSS Awareness Day

Today is RSS Awareness Day: a celebration of RSS (Real Simple Syndication) when we can spread awareness of the benefits of RSS and encourage others to use this too.

RSS is a format used to deliver content in an easily distributable form from websites which are updated regularly. Most blogging systems, for example provide an RSS or Atom feed to accompany the pages of the blog.

In this post, I'll explain the basics of blog feeds with particular reference to Blogger powered feeds; how they are useful for your blog readers and how blog authors can make their feeds more useful and accessible too.

What are RSS and Atom Feeds?

RSS and Atom essentially perform the same function: they offer updates to a blog or website in a portable format. It's like the difference between Internet Explorer and Firefox: both allow you to access the internet, though the format and style of these browsers are different.

You can read the updates of a "feed" in an RSS reader, receive updates by email, or even access them on your mobile phone!

This video offers a simple explanation of RSS though the same principles apply to Atom based feeds too:

Blogger's Atom Feeds

As I mentioned earlier, Blogger powered blogs provide an Atom based feed rather than an RSS feed. This feed contains your posts, either in full or summary format. Your readers can subscribe to your blog's feed and receive updates whenever you write a new post.

How to enable your Blog's Atom Feeds

In order to ensure your blog does publish an accompanying feed, you should check that you have enabled this in your Blogger dashboard.

Simply go to Settings>Site Feed in your blog's dashboard, and you will see a screen which looks like this:

Ensure you have set the site feed to "Full" or "Summary". If you select "None", your blog's feed will not be published!

If you set your blog feeds to "Full":

Your entire posts will be published in the feed, enabling subscribers to read your full posts in their feed reader.

If you set your blog feeds to "Summary":

Only a short portion of your posts will be published, and subscribers will need to visit your site in order to read the rest of your post.

There has always been a debate about whether to publish full or summarised feeds. In my experience, people prefer to subscribe to "Full" feeds than a summary, although this may mean you will have less actual visits to your site as people read in their feed readers instead.

Why Feeds are Useful for your Readers

If you offer an accompanying feed to your blog, readers do not need to revisit your site every day to check if you have updated: instead, they can simply check their feed reader, or have updates delivered by email.

In simple terms, this is like offering a magazine subscription: rather than ask your readers to travel to the newsagent each time they want to read your content, you are offering a delivery service. Convenience offers an incentive for readers to stay faithful with what you have to offer!

Making your Feeds More Accessible

Here are a few ideas you could try to make your feeds more accessible for your readers (and therefore more likely to subscribe!):

Redirect your Feed Through Feedburner

Feedburner is a free service which you can use to make your blog feeds more accessible and also maintain statistics of your subscribers.

Redirecting your feeds through Feedburner is really easy. This way you can keep accurate track of how many subscribers your blog has, and ensure the format is compatible for all feed readers.

You may like to read the full article I wrote about this to get a better understanding of the benefits and what you need to do.

Offer Email Subscriptions

Many internet users are unaware of how feeds work, nor the benefits of blog subscription. To make it easier for such readers to subscribe to your site, why not offer email subscriptions?

Most internet users are familiar with email, so offering your feed in this easily accessible format is an incentive for those unfamiliar with RSS to subscribe too. You can use Feedburner to offer email subscriptions, and easily add a subscription form to your blog sidebar for readers to subscribe directly on your site!

Create a Visible Link to your Blog's Feed

For Blogger Buster, I have added various links to the site feeds in the navigation section, the sidebar and on the front page.

The icons beside the link text offer a visual representation of RSS feeds which are easily recognizable, and offer easy access to subscription pages.

Explain How Readers Can Subscribe (And What This Means for Them!)

A dedicated subscription page can offer explanations of the methods users can use to subscribe to your blog. You could also use this page to explain what your feeds are for those who may be unfamiliar with RSS and Atom feeds.

About RSS Awareness Day

RSS Awareness Day was created by Daniel Scocco of Daily Blog Tips in order to raise awareness of the benefits of RSS and feed subscriptions.

RSSday.org is the dedicated website for this project which explains what RSS Day is all about, and how you may get involved too.

More Useful Posts about Your Blog Feeds

Here are links to some of the other posts I have written about blog feeds:

• What is Atom/RSS?


• Five Useful Ways to Get The Best from Feedburner


• All About Blogger Feeds

I hope this post has been useful in explaining a little about your blog feeds in celebration of RSS Awareness Day!

Why not subscribe to Blogger Buster to receive fresh updates of new Blogger-related posts? :)

As always, your comments and opinions are much appreciated. If you have also written a feed-related post for RSS Awareness Day, feel free to leave a link to your post in your comments too.