The Featured Post Gadget, With Multiple Posts

The "Featured Post" gadget is a useful tool, for spotlighting individual posts.

One of the limitations of the gadget is that it, like many (though not all) Blogger supplied gadgets, allows only one copy on the blog, at any time. The gadget is, after all, called "Featured Post" - not "Featured Posts". Blogger does not give us the ability to feature multiple posts, simultaneously.

Given a little imagination, we can make the gadget work, for multiple posts. We can't feature multiple posts, simultaneously - but we can alternate featured posts, sequentially.

Combining the "Featured Post" gadget and labels, we can alternately feature multiple posts, in a daily or weekly sequence.

I added a label in this blog, "Featured Posts".

I identified a couple dozen posts, in this blog, which need to be featured - and gave each post the label "Featured Posts". My intention, once the Blogger Followers gadget rewrite effort is behind us, is to feature one different post in "Featured Posts", each day.

Just edit the "Featured Post" gadget, and select a different post - each day.

The "Featured Post" gadget is at the top of my blog.

I can edit the gadget, and open the label list.

And, select "Featured Posts".

That gives me a list of my posts, with the "Featured Posts" label.

And, I selected the currently featured post, "Dear Followers Of This Blog".



Next month, I may select a different post to be displayed as a Featured Post.

So I can't feature more than one post at a time - but I can alternately feature different posts. And with some planning, I can make it easy to alternately feature different posts.

---

The #Blogger supplied "Featured Post" gadget can't be used with more than one such gadget on any blog, simultaneously. It is called "Featured Post" - maybe, for a reason.

With a little planning, though, you can organise the posts to be featured - and change the gadget, daily or weekly.

Add A Fixed Location "Subscribe" Button To Your Blog

To encourage email subscriptions, and other social connections, some blog owners provide gadget toolbars, with useful links.

Some blog owners would like to position their gadgets in fixed screen positions.

I want to have a subscribe button hover at the top of the page, while people read my blog.

This blog has a hovering AddThis toolbar, which provides selected social sharing options. And, it has a hovering "Top of Page" button.

Adding a custom subscription gadget, in a fixed screen location, is not complicated.

AddThis has a large library of social sharing gadgets, with their icons - but they don't have any email subscription selections. But you can add an icon based "subscribe" button, "hovering" at the top of the page.

An occasional request suggests using a popup window, containing a subscription form. We don't recommend using a popup window - but a subscription form, on a FeedBurner hosted page, will provide the same function.

1. Add FeedBurner "Subscribe by Email".
2. Add a "Subscribe by Email" FeedBurner hosted form, and a link.
3. Add a suitable icon, containing the FeedBurner subscription link.
4. Try It.

See below "See the code asssembled.", for the detailed procedure.

Add FeedBurner "Subscribe by Email".

Using the dashboard Layout page, and "Add a Gadget", add a "Subscribe by Email" gadget. This creates a blog posts FeedBurner hosted feed.

FeedBurner provides the "Subscribe by Email" gadget, with the choice to display either an on screen form - or a simple link to a FeedBurner hosted form page.

Add a "Subscribe by Email" FeedBurner hosted form, and a link.

Once a "Subscribe by Email" gadget has been added, get the gadget link from the FeedBurner dashboard, at Publicize - "Email Subscriptions" - "Subscription Management" - "Preview Subscription Link…".

Start from the dashboard, at Publicize - "Email Subscriptions" - "Subscription Management".

The "Preview Subscription Link…" window contains the code, that we need.



Add a suitable icon, containing the FeedBurner subscription link.

Choose an attractive icon to contain the FeedBurner supplied link. Add an HTML gadget using "Add a Gadget", containing the icon with the link to the FeedBurner form - and displayed in a fixed location.


Try It.

I added a button, and a new subscription, to my test blog, "Chucks Tech World".

See the icon, in the top right margin?

See how the new icon floats?

See how it floats from the top - and from the right?





See the code, assembled.

A floating subscription button is simply an "HTML / Javascript" gadget, containing button code, linking to a FeedBurner subscription form. I position my gadget, in the footer, out of sight. The code "top:40px;right:60px;" positions the button to display relative to the top right corner - regardless of where the HTML gadget is positioned.

1. Upload a suitable icon.
2. Add the FeedBurner Subscription link code.
3. Add the button code.

Start with an icon, uploaded:

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2fCZTJEcS0rg0NliF0abn3LvuRvBFczagaR3aJo66JQ2X2VzNScrxHothiYOgP83ZrrLHN7fFcFeA5ihXLTdIHu8oO7kaxaILeNXcICvNkVNwj2pVG86bXn2qyvJd13-luA-hoijps09/s1600/Subscribe+Icon.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2fCZTJEcS0rg0NliF0abn3LvuRvBFczagaR3aJo66JQ2X2VzNScrxHothiYOgP83ZrrLHN7fFcFeA5ihXLTdIHu8oO7kaxaILeNXcICvNkVNwj2pVG86bXn2qyvJd13-luA-hoijps09/s320/Subscribe+Icon.png" /></a>

Here's the FeedBurner Subscription Link:

<a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ChucksTechWorld&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Chucks Tech World by Email</a>

Here's the Floating Top Of Page Button:

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:20px;right:60px;" href="#" title="Top"><img border="0" height="60" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eOcCRS3N1_JwNrk6zva82CQybo8TWCvgMs6lUtZhyl_6XrkbjWP8Ayf2eQLtg3KEaUMruYNMT3uHK7llf3gltPNd6PMaMEjSWXuTpPzCX-fAebzTg5xQTb9kdRRiRhVVm347DAyfZzdk/s320/Up+Arrow+4.jpg" /></a>

And put them all together:

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;top:40px;right:60px;" href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ChucksTechWorld&loc=en_US" title="Subscribe by Email" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="60" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2fCZTJEcS0rg0NliF0abn3LvuRvBFczagaR3aJo66JQ2X2VzNScrxHothiYOgP83ZrrLHN7fFcFeA5ihXLTdIHu8oO7kaxaILeNXcICvNkVNwj2pVG86bXn2qyvJd13-luA-hoijps09/s320/Subscribe+Icon.png" /></a>

And that's it.

I now have a hovering subscription icon, in this blog. Given a collection of icons, carefully arranged, you can have a hovering toolbar - to maybe complement a social media button toolbar.

---

Some #Blogger blog owners would like a hovering button or toolbar, to provide an email subscription form. This is an accessory that is not difficult to add.

Adding A "Top Of Page" Button To The Blog

This week, I added a gadget that's been needed, on this blog, for some time.

You may see my new "Top" button, at the lower right corner of this blog. If you have a normally wide browser window, with wallpaper showing on either side of the posts / sidebar section, you'll see the new gadget floating on top of the wallpaper. If you have squeezed your browser window to save horizontal space, you may see the new gadget floating on top of the sidebar (but beneath the sidebar gadgets).

This is an extremely easy tweak to add. The hard part was finding - and sizing - the icon that I used.

To find a suitable icon for the button, Google for it.

To find the icon, Google Is Your Friend. Just look through the search listings, until you find one that fits with your blog.

free up arrow icon

Once you have found an icon that you like, download to your computer - then upload to your blog - politely. Don't hot link icons.

• Hotlinking is rude, and may abuse somebody's limited bandwidth.
• Hotlinking depends upon somebody's intention to host their icons, using their service, for eternity (however long you publish your blog, anyway).

Once your chosen icon is saved as a blog image, setup the button code.

Once you have your icon politely saved as part of your blog, add an HTML gadget - and add the gadget code, in the Content window of the HTML gadget.

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:20px;right:60px;" href="#" title="Top"><img border="0" height="60" width="60"  src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eOcCRS3N1_JwNrk6zva82CQybo8TWCvgMs6lUtZhyl_6XrkbjWP8Ayf2eQLtg3KEaUMruYNMT3uHK7llf3gltPNd6PMaMEjSWXuTpPzCX-fAebzTg5xQTb9kdRRiRhVVm347DAyfZzdk/s320/Up+Arrow+4.jpg" /></a>

Here's the magic.

style="display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:20px;right:60px;"

That positions the icon in a fixed location on the screen. The new HTML gadget contains the code - and can be located anywhere in the blog. The magic determines where the icon is displayed.

Adjust settings, to make the button appear in an acceptable screen position.

Adjust "Bottom" and "Right" values, to position your new icon in the desired location, for your blog. Resize the browser window a few times - make it narrower and wider - and get an idea how the final location of the icon may vary. Test in different browsers, too.

This is my icon:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eOcCRS3N1_JwNrk6zva82CQybo8TWCvgMs6lUtZhyl_6XrkbjWP8Ayf2eQLtg3KEaUMruYNMT3uHK7llf3gltPNd6PMaMEjSWXuTpPzCX-fAebzTg5xQTb9kdRRiRhVVm347DAyfZzdk/s320/Up+Arrow+4.jpg

Your icon will have a different URL. Use your own icon, please!

Then sit back, and enjoy your blog, with its new navigational aid.

A caveat.

If you add your "Top Of Page" button code into a page or post, never switch between Compose and HTML modes, when editing that page or post.

Putting A Post At The Top (A "Welcome" Post) - Part 2

Many people have asked how they can have a Welcome or Index message in their blog.

I have a Welcome message, at the top of Nitecruzr Buzz, or on this blog, for instance.

This blog uses a text gadget, positioned above the post gadget, which leaves a gadget that shows up on every page. On Nitecruzr Buzz, I used a future dated post, so my "Welcome" showed up only on the "Home" page. Neither solution was optimal.

• A true "Welcome" message should show up only on the "Home" (first) page. A text gadget shows up on every page.
• A future dated post shows up only on the "Home" page, but it shows up in the Archive index with a future date.

Today, I fixed my Buzz Welcome message, so it only shows up on the "Home" page, and it does not show up as a post, in an archive index.

What I now have is a Text gadget, that only displays on the "Home" page. Here's how you do that.

First, (you should have to ask?) backup the template. Then add a Text gadget to the page, and position the gadget just above the post gadget. Give it a snappy title, "Welcome To My Blog!".

Then tweak the new gadget.

1. Identify the gadget to be tweaked.
2. Add the Conditional Gadget CSS rule, using the Template Designer "Add CSS" wizard.

 
<b:if cond='data:blog.canonicalUrl != data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<style>
#Text1 {display: none !important;}
</style>
</b:if>

Remember to add a blank line, above or below the code block being added, if there is already code visible in "Add CSS".

Save the change. Edit the text gadget as displayed on the blog, and remove the "WelcomeMessage" title. And of course, backup the template, again. And, it's done.

Now, if you want a dynamic "Welcome" page - maybe one based on posts published to a given label, you can do that too, with just a bit more work. And there are several variations on the "if" statement, that will let you selectively display (or not display) your gadget on other specific pages.

An easy alternative solution for this need, more recently offered, would be to use a static page, and a redirected Home page.

The choices are multiple. Just consider your needs, and how easy the various alternatives may be.

Help Your Readers Search Your Blog

When your blog gets larger, you'll want your readers to be able to find the content easier - sometimes using more detail than can be found in the Archives index.

You can generally use Labels for a more comprehensive index of the blog contents - but both labels, and titles, index the posts based on your vision of the blog. What if you want your readers to view your blog, on their terms?

This is where the Navbar, with its search box, becomes useful.

The Navbar based search is a good choice, for most readers of the blog.

It's a good choice - assuming that you don't block the Navbar, and assuming that your readers like using the Navbar - and that the navbar based blog search is not broken.

You can use search accessories outside the navbar.

But you're not confined to using the Search box on the Navbar - you can make your own search box, and position it where you like.

Setup a new HTML / JavaScript gadget, to get a very simple search box for your blog. Use the "HTML/JavaScript" selection in "Basics".

Just copy the code - a simple 4 lines - to the new gadget.

<form action="/search" method="get">
<input name="q" type="text"/>
<input value="Search This Blog" type="submit"/>
</form>

You can add this gadget, in many places.

Having setup your new gadget, you can position it anywhere on the page. Or, you can have a search box inside a post, as I show above. See "Search This Blog", above - and "Search The Real Blogger Status", at the top of the sidebar?

And, there are still more possibilities.

You can get way more fancy, for instance search multiple blogs at once, using a Google Custom Search box, but for a 5 minute blog upgrade, this is all that you need.

• Search only the posts, in the one blog.
• Search your blog directly, not from search engine cache. No waiting for search engine updates.
• Search private blogs, with some chance for success.
• Display search results as part of the blog display, with all blog accessories and decorations visible.

This is very user friendly - your readers will appreciate it. And it's so easy to add.