Blogger Magic - Adding Label Search URLs

One of the simplest ways to make a blog useful is to add label searches.

Adding label searches, in page / post text, is not easy - unless you know how to build the URLs. Here's a label search from this blog.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/search/label/Blogger%20Magic

All that I want, when using that label search, is to add another reference to my "Blogger Magic" post series.

"Blogger Magic" emphasises how easy it is, to use Blogger. How easy is it, to remember that syntax - to add a label link? Maybe, a "Blogger Magic" reference, in this post?

When you read a blog post, that has label references, look at the bottom of the post.

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Please note the advice, at the bottom of the post.

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Look in the post footer, for the "Labels" section.

Here's the bottom of another post, from this blog.

Here's the bottom of this post.



Note that not all blogs will provide a "Labels" posts section. That is an owner choice.

Look at a label link, in the "Labels" section of the post - when provided.

There's the bottom of two of my "Label Search" posts - "Blogger Magic - A Blog Within A Blog", followed by this post "Blogger Magic - Adding Label Search URLs". Now, look at the Labels links.

In most blogs, the Labels links would be labeled "Labels". I call mine "Topics". As owner of this blog, that is my personal choice.

Also, in most blogs, the "Labels" section will be found, in the post footer. Some blog owners have chosen to position their "Labels" in the post header. This, too, is their choice - and carries with it, some risk.

See "Label Search"?



Look in the browser status area, when hovering over the link caption.

Look at the "Topics" section. See "Label Search"? Hover the mouse cursor, over the "Label Search" link.

See the label search URL, in the browser status area?



Look in the browser status area, when hovering over the link caption.

Hover the mouse over "Label Search", and look in the browser status area.

blogging.nitecruzr.net/search/label/Label Search

For a blog using an HTTPS redirect, you might see a slightly different URL.

If this blog uses the "HTTPS: Redirect" option, you might see it slightly differently.

https://blogging.nitecruzr.net/search/label/Label%20Search

Click on either of the above 2 links. OK, I cheated with the second link - since this blog, right now, does not support HTTPS - and I obviously don't want you looking at an HTTPS Error display.

Whether HTTP - or HTTPS - is in use, there is the label search link.

Whichever you see - and decide to use - with your blog, there is a label search URL. Now, get a label search URL from your blog - and use the URL, in another page or post in your blog.

This post opens many links in new tabs / windows, intentionally.

BTW - and if you have clicked on any of the links above - and since you have apparently read to this point - I have to warn you that many of the links, above, are intentionally coded to open in a new tab / window. That is necessary, based on the nature of the links in this post.

Many of the links in this post are clickable, simply to illustrate to you the content in label searches - as opposed to links which lead you to additional information in the blog. So as not to lead you away from this post, you should not lose context after clicking on a link - as long as you simply close the new (illustrative) tab / window.

My sincere apologies, if my seemingly gratuitous opening of new tabs / windows inconveniences or offends you.

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Some #Blogger blog owners want to use label search URLs, in page or post text. Getting a label search URL is easy enough, when you look in the post label search section - which is generally in the post footer.

Blogger Magic - Updating Labels

Not all blog owners know the best ways to update labels, with the posts in their blog.

We see occasional signs of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.

How do I add a label, to many posts at once?

and

How do I correct the spelling of my label, already added?

and

How do I remove all of the labels, from one of my posts?

These owners are not aware how to use the dashboard Posts page - and Post Editor - to add, delete, and edit labels.

Blogger gives us labels (aka "categories") - and two ways to manage labels.

You choose the appropriate procedure, based on what changes are needed. The difference is whether you have one label, that needs to be applied to many posts - or one post, that needs multiple labels applied.

1. Using the dashboard Posts page - one label, many posts.
2. Using Post Editor - many labels, one post.

Using the dashboard Posts page - one label, many posts.

The Posts page, and the Posts menu, is used to add, delete, and edit one label, for many posts - one label, at a time.

1. Use the Label Selection list, to select the posts to display.
2. Use the Posts Selector column, to select any or all posts displayed, for action.
3. Use the Label Action list to add, delete, or edit a given label, for the selected posts.
• To add a label, click on "New label...", type the new label, enter the new label, and click "OK".
• To delete a label, click on any label that has previously been applied to all posts selected. With any one post selected that does not have the label clicked, that label will be added as necessary.
• To edit a label, you have a slightly more complicated procedure.
4. Repeat as necessary, for another label.

The Posts page.

Open the Label Selection list, by clicking on the pulldown arrow.

Select the posts for the label needed.

Use the Posts Selector column, to select any individual posts, or all posts, for action.

Open the Label Action list, by clicking on the pulldown arrow.

Add a label, using "New label" - or delete or edit a label, by selecting one of the listed labels.



Editing the name of one label, for many posts, requires adding a new label - then removing the old label. This is a slightly more complicated procedure - and is subject to label related limits. "Editing" a label, using the Posts page, will require planning, in some cases.

Using Post Editor - many labels, one post.

Post Editor is used to add, delete, and edit many labels, for one post - one post at a time.

1. Find and select the "Labels" caption, in the "Post settings" sidebar.
2. In the window that opens, add, delete, and edit as necessary.
3. Click "Done".
4. Click"Update".

Select "Labels", in the sidebar.

Add, delete, and / or edit the label cloud.



If you have multiple labels, in multiple posts, that need changing, you can use a combination of the above techniques.

Beware the label limits.

When updating labels, you need to avoid exceeding the limits.

• Per blog label count.
• Per post label count.
• Per post label character count.

If you exceed a limit, you may have less choices than you would want. If your changes are extensive, you may do well to script the task, before starting.

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Making label changes, to multiple labels and / or posts, in a #Blogger blog, can be done using either the dashboard Posts page or Post Editor. There are reasons for choosing either alternative.

Post Data Cannot Be Moved Above The Post Body

Blog owners have been requesting the ability to position various post content items above the post body, for years.

We've seen reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about problems moving Comments, Labels, Share Bar, and others.

Several years, "Arrange Items" was upgraded to allow Labels to be moved above the post body. That option was provided briefly - then removed later.

Depending upon what items are currently in a specific location, moving other items into - or out of - that location may or may not be successful.

The "Arrange Items" wizard is not magical.

Code for each item, which can be moved, has to specifically support repositioning into any one of the target boxes.



Any item move may, or may not, be successful. Various details may affect success.

• Item being moved.
• Item current location.
• Item target location.
• Other items in the same current location.
• Other items in the same target location.
• Post template status - customisation, etc.

Frequently, when a problem with "Arrange Items" is reported, the blog owner is trying to target a position above the post body.

Diagnosing a post template problem, which involves arranging items, can involve any of these details. Not so many blog owners want to re arrange items - and even less want to arrange items above the post body - so there is not a lot of experience with diagnosing these problems.

Success - or failure - may involve several scenarios.

In some cases, the drag and drop operation, in "Arrange Items", may not accomplish anything. The owner may drag the item into place - and watch as the item perversely moves itself back, to where it was.

In other cases, the move may appear successful. The item may seem to move, and stay where is is dropped.

The owner may Save - then refresh blog display, and see the item still where it was. Opening "Configure Blog Posts", the item may or may not be displayed where it is now - or where it is wanted.

In some cases, the item may be moved successfully - and some other item, in the original or current location, may stop working.

We have seen all of these problems reported. Frequently, there is only one course of action.

• Reset the post template.
• Start over.

In many cases, resetting the post template is the only way to repair a problem caused by moving an item to where it should not go. With the template reset, the owner will have to choose whether to try again - and risk a repeat, of the same problem.

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Moving #Blogger post template items, from one location to another, is not always successful - and sometimes causes problems with other blog content. Attempting to move items above the post body is a frequent cause of problems.


https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/blogger/Gv2Mgnpg3TE

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/blogger/u6mZEd1mjLY

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/u6mZEd1mjLY/discussion

Blogger Magic - FeedBurner Email For Your Blog

Some people who will enjoy your blog may prefer to follow it using their email.

It's not difficult to setup email delivery of the comments or posts - from various source selections. FeedBurner offers a wide assortment of delivery options, for the many sources.

Blogger offers the "Subscribe by Email" gadget and service, which delivers the posts newsfeed. That's one feed possibility - and you can have many more, with very little work.

Using the many options provided by FeedBurner, combined with the many feed possibilities, you can produce a generous set of email subscription options.

1. Setup a FeedBurner feed.
2. Activate the "Subscribe by Email" service, for the feed.
3. Add a FeedBurner form, to the blog.
4. Setup the Post Feed Redirect, to connect the blog and the FeedBurner feed.

Setup a FeedBurner feed.

To add a standard blog posts subscription, add a "Subscribe by Email" gadget (for blogs with non dynamic Blogger templates) - or a "Subscription Links" gadget (for all blogs, including those with dynamic templates).

The standard blog posts subscription is not the only possibility. You can setup a FeedBurner feed for any blog published feed - including various label based feeds.

Blogger now publishes a pages feed, which complements the posts feed. And FeedBurner will distribute the pages feed, as it does the posts feed.

Start with the URL of any blog native feed.

Give the feed an Address and a Title.

The feed is setup. Proceed to the dashboard, to Activate the feed.



Activate the "Subscribe by Email" service, for the feed.

Activate "Email Subscriptions", for the FeedBurner feed that you setup.



From the FeedBurner dashboard Publicize - "Email Subscriptions" - "Subscription Management" page, Activate the "Email Subscriptions" service, for the feed.

The service is active - now check out other options.



With the "Email Subscriptions" service activated, look at the various formatting and distribution options available.

Add a FeedBurner form, to the blog.

You can use the form provided with "Subscribe by Email", if you are setting up the standard blog posts feed. For any other feed, you can use either form provided on the "Subscription Management" page, installed as an HTML / JavaScript gadget.

Using the "Subscription Link Code", you can add a fixed location ("floating") subscription icon.

Setup the Post Feed Redirect, to connect the blog and the FeedBurner feed.

FeedBurner "Edit Feed Details" is used to link the FeedBurner feed, to the blog. Similarly, you use the Blogger "Post Feed Redirect" to link the blog to the FeedBurner redirected feed.

Just use your imagination.

FeedBurner presents you with endless choices, for letting your readers enjoy your blog from their Email inboxes. Think about what will look good on your blog - and what will interest your readers.

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Not all #Blogger blog owners know how easy it is to use #FeedBurner email delivery, to provide your readers the option to view your blog - in many content options - using their email inboxes.

Google+ +1 Counts Disappearing From Posts List

This week, we have a number of reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, from blog owners who like to monitor the Google+ +1 counts, for their posts, using the dashboard Posts list.

The ability to observe, at a glance, the +1 count for any given group of posts is useful - and popular with some folks. I use it, myself, with newer posts in this blog.

Unfortunately, my Posts list shows no +1 counts for recent posts, for some Posts lists.

It appears that pagination of the Posts list affects ability for any Posts list to have the +1 counts displayed.

In some cases, +1 counts will not display, for a paginated Posts list, on the first display page of the list. Subsequent display pages, seen by hitting the ">" button at the top, will show +1 counts for the posts.

In other cases, +1 counts will display, for a paginated Posts list, on the first display page of the list. Subsequent display pages, seen by hitting the ">" button at the top, will not show +1 counts for the posts.

Posts lists which are not paginated (have only one display page) do not seem to be affected by the problem.

Blogs with smaller "All posts" lists, and blogs with smaller Posts Label lists, may not show the problem - so not all blog owners will observe the problem. Also, owners of blogs which receive few +1s - and who do not use Google+ for posts distribution - will probably not observe the problem, either.

You may be able to examine this effect on your blog, by choosing Labels which have more, or less, than the number of posts compared to the Posts display page size (100, 50, 25, or 10) - and by changing the Posts display page size, to a different number.

We have a rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are attempting to diagnose the spread of the problem. If you find your blog affected by this oddity, and are able to answer a few questions, your input could be useful.

As always, I will respectfully request that you keep your replies, in the rollup topic, brief and relevant. And please read the first post in the topic, for instructions how you may participate in the diagnosis of the problem.

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(Update 2015/03/09): This problem appears to be resolved.

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Static Pages Do Not Appear In Newsfeeds

We see occasional confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.

How do I let my readers subscribe to my pages?

A static page, by definition, does not produce newsfeed content. This is one original purpose for the static pages feature, in Blogger blogs.

You can publish posts, to any non home page, as you wish - and create a dynamic page.

From a label based dynamic page, you can publish a labels newsfeed. Then, you can publicise your label feed.

Any feed based accessory gadget - such as a "feeds" gadget, a "Subscribe to my blog" gadget, or even a "Subscribe to email from my blog!" gadget will use a labels feed, as well as a posts feed. A label search produces a subset of the posts - and a labels feed is simply a subset of the blog posts newsfeed.

If you want specialised content on a page, separate from the main page - and you want to distribute your content using a newsfeed - make a dynamic page based on a label. That will give you the feed that you need.

Adding Label Search Pages To A Dynamic Template

We've been dealing with the limitations of the dynamic template - how you can't easily edit dynamic template HTML code, with a blog published to a dynamic template - for a while.

At one time, you could link a dynamic and non dynamic view of the blog - and let your readers use the sidebar, and the many options there, in non dynamic view - and switch back to dynamic view, for the comments and posts. That choice was taken away, in 2014, because of "privacy issues".

Like Designer and Layout templates, you can add a Pages gadget - and index dynamic pages, like label searches - as you may have done with gadgets on static pages.

Dynamic templates now support positioning of the Pages gadget, in the menu bar - and let you add both dynamic and static pages.

If your blog, published to a dynamic template, doesn't have a pages menu, in the menu bar, you can always index the label searches in your blog, from a linklist in the sidebar. Or, you can upgrade your blog.

Using a working Pages gadget, add dynamic pages, referencing one or more label searches which interest you. And make sure that the pages are properly sequenced, in "List Order".

Checkout the blog, using a non dynamic template, and make sure that the Pages gadget works as expected. Once you have what you like, go back to the Template wizard, and re select the non dynamic template.

With the blog once again using a dynamic template - and if you added / relocated the Pages gadget into the Tabs section of the template, you should now see your label searches, indexed in the menu bar, just below the title section of the blog. You can see my favourite topics, now indexed in my "Musings" blog menu bar.

You may not have room for every topic, in the menu bar - but you can pick your favourites. And you can still index all of the label searches, in a linklist, which will work in the pop out sidebar.

Blogger Magic - A Blog Within A Blog

One of the most fascinating features of Blogger blogs is the various options to organise our content.

Long ago, I wrote a simple article, Adding A Blogger Blog To A Website. That's become one of the most consistently popular posts, in this blog. Most blog owners have multiple interests, and like to organise their different interests, by subject - and have a different blog, for each subject.

Some people like to have a blog, and a website - and host both the blog and website in one Blogger blog, under one URL. For a small blog / website combination, that's an easy way to start out - and a good alternative, to having multiple blogs / websites.

It's easy to create a Blogger blog, and have the blog host multiple virtual blogs and / or websites.

The simplest "blog" uses a static home page, and the posts accessed from Pages, as "Blog".

A static home page - and all posts accessed as "Blog".

First, redirect the Home page to a static page.

From: /
To: /p/Welcome.html

Then add a simple dynamic "Blog" page, using "Configure Page List" - if you want all of the posts visible from the "Blog" tab.

Caption: Blog
Link: /search/label/

But, there are more possibilities.

Organised right, you can do without an archive section.

Done carefully enough, you can maybe display an entire blog without archive pages.

Have enough sections - and consistently use Jump Break on the posts - may let you fit a dozen or so posts onto one index page.

Some people organise blog content, using static pages.

The most obvious solutions for this need - to some people - is to setup static pages, one page / subject. But sometimes, interests / subjects overlap - and material that's published on one static page (as in one blog or website) might be relevant to another page (or blog / website).

I recommend basing the blog on dynamic content - and dynamic accessories.

The easiest way to make all of the content accessible is to add various dynamic indexing and search accessories. But some static structural accessories are useful, too.

Then, add a Pages gadget, if not already added. You can have a linkbar / tab index - or possibly a linklist, positioned anywhere convenient. Or both.

Start by labeling your posts.

First, add labels, to the posts. You can use either the posts index, or post editor, to add labels. You use the former, to add one label to many posts - and the latter, to add many labels to one post.

With the posts well labeled, decide how you want to display the pages.

Dynamic content lets you display one post, in multiple pages.

Using this blog as an example, this post could be useful in my "Labels", "Magic", and "Redirecting" sections of this blog, to start. Look above, at the toolbar. Do you see the "Magic" button?

Hover the pointer cursor over "Magic" - and see what's there.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/magic

From: /Magic
To: /search/label/Blogger%20Magic

There's my "magic" blog, within this blog.

Magic

Just as easily, I could have "Labels" and "Redirecting".

From: /Labels
To: /search/label/Labels

From:  /Redirecting
To: /search/label/Redirecting

You can separate the "Home" page from the "Blog" page.

Some people want to keep the blog and home page separate. They have 2 labels, "Blog" and "Home". All that they do is publish various posts, to either label - and setup 2 redirects.

From: /Blog
To: /search/label/Blog

From: /
To: /search/label/Home

And there's a blog

Blog

within a blog.

Making things simpler, if you want "Blog" to index all posts (as in an actual "blog"), you don't need to label the posts. Apparently, "... /search/label/ " retrieves everything, instead of nothing.

From: /Blog
To: /search/label/

There are several possibilities for "Home" page content, too.

As an alternate to redirecting the home page to a label search, you can always redirect the Home page to a single post - if that's your preference.

From: /
To:  /2014/07/blogger-magic-blog-within-blog.html

And that is a very basic blog, within your blog.

And you can still use static pages, for truly static content.

And one final detail - add one or more actual static pages. For non changing content, that you don't want ending up in a search engine hit page, add a simple static page.

You may have to add the Pages gadget, using "Add a Gadget".

Most blog owners will use the Pages gadget, to index their dynamic and static pages (such as "posts" and "pages"). If the Pages gadget is not already present in the blog, you may use the dashboard Layout page and "Add a Gadget", to add the gadget. Then, use "Configure Page List" to add the pages created.

Continued Inability To Update The Labels Gadget, With A Large Partial List

In February, we observed that various blog owners were reporting problems with updating label and link lists. We setup a problem rollup in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, where we observed a small but significant number of reports from unhappy blog owners, unable to update the gadgets on their blogs.

Last month, Blogger Support supposedly resolved the reported problem, and the volume of problem reports dropped significantly. The problem, however, has not been eliminated.

The problem with updating various accessory gadgets, initially reported several months ago, is still present in various Blogger blogs - though significantly reduced - following an improvement last month.

This blog has a total of 626 labels defined, in the various posts. If I want to spare my readers (slightly) from an excessively long list of labels, I can edit the list and selectively display only significant ones. I cannot display all significant ones, unfortunately. I currently have 501 of 626 labels selected for display.

If I edit my label list, in "Select labels to show", I can select any one of the remaining 125 labels. Having hit the tiny "Done" caption at the bottom left of the window, I am left with "Configure Labels". If I hit "Save", the earlier reported problem continues - the yellow "Saving ..." flag pops up, and the gadget hangs while saving.

If I hit Cancel, and edit the list again, I can de select any one label, and save the list, successfully - again with exactly 501 labels selected. Then adding any one label, and attempting to Save once more, the gadget will again hang. The bottom line is that I can selectively display 501 labels - and no more.

I have observed this problem in both Chrome and Firefox (V11 and V12) - and using both the Classic and New GUIs. With up to 501 labels selected, no problem. With any more than 501 labels selected - big problem. During the past month, after I first observed this problem, I added half a dozen new labels, to reach the current total of 626. The problem has limited me to 501 selected labels, consistently, regardless of the total number.

Various reports, in both this blog, and in [Problem Rollup] Updating Label List Gadget Hangs, indicate that other blog owners are still observing this problem. It's becoming increasingly obvious that this problem still exists in

• BlogLists.
• Label Lists.
• LinkLists.

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Google Webmaster Tools And Label Searches

As a publisher of a Blogger blog, besides publishing articles, you have to know how those articles are being read.

Just as knowing who is reading your blog, you need to know who is indexing your blog. The Google Search Engine, which feeds 2/3 of the known major search engines, provides Google Webmaster Tools, so we can monitor how well our blogs are being indexed.

If you're going to use Google Webmaster Tools / Search Console effectively, you need to know how to interpret the reports.

Specifically, you need to know what reports show problems needing attention, and what reports advise us of problems avoided.

Representing the latter, we have a message in the list of URLs restricted by robots.txt, which can be found from a link in "Overview", or from "Diagnostics" - "Web Crawl". Recently, we see email from the Search Console team.

Indexed, though blocked by robots.txt



Note the carefully worded advice.

This means that Index coverage may be negatively affected in Google search results.

With a Blogger blog, "may be" should be "actually, is not".

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/search/label/Search Engines URL restricted by robots.txt

This list, when run against a blog which has a lot of labels, will be rather long. This will cause panic in the hearts of many. Fortunately, this is unnecessary panic.

The keyword here is

/search/label/

This shows us a label search that is blocked, intentionally by Blogger, so the search engines won't follow it.

Were the search engines to index a label search, they would be indexing the same posts in the blog, that they find from the sitemap. They would then penalise both the sitemap indexed content - and the label search indexed content - in their indexing, for "duplicate content".

With "duplicate content" penalties applied, your posts appear lower in the search results - and your blog gets less new visitors.

So, when you see "... /search/label/ ... URL restricted by robots.txt" in your access report, don't panic. This restriction is to your advantage.

The Edit Posts Menu

When you create a blog, do you just post, endlessly? I don't.

For every new post I make, I update, revise, and relink each post to other posts. And the dashboard "Posts" menu (formerly "Edit Posts") is an essential part of that activity.

From the Blogger dashboard menu, click on "Posts" - and you're there.

In the "Edit Posts" / "Posts" display, you'll see a menu of each post in the blog, with the ability to

• Edit (using Post Editor).
• View (using the browser).
• Add, delete, or even edit Labels en masse.
• Identify all posts using a given label.
• Do an onscreen check of the text in that post.
• Delete a post. If you delete, do so very carefully. And do not delete, to quickly clear a post, with the intention of publishing a new post with that same title. You may use the same title, but the post URL will never be the same.
• Review and delete comments published for the post.

The posts will be ordered by post date, as they are when displayed in the blog.

If you don't see the posts that you're expecting to see, check your post type link bar, at the upper right of the posts list.

• All
• Drafts
• Scheduled
• Imported
• Published

If "All" is clickable, click on it. If you want to see a list of posts of a specific type ("Draft" posts, "Scheduled" posts, "Imported" posts, or "Published" posts), click on the appropriate link.

If you have missing posts, that are listed in "Edit Posts", but don't show up in the published blog, look at "Drafts", "Imported", or "Scheduled". Posts that are currently "Draft", "Imported", or "Scheduled" won't show up in the blog, online.

You can also re publish or delete multiple posts, using the "Publish Selected" and "Delete Selected" buttons at the bottom of the posts list. Do the latter very carefully, unless you enjoy posting in BHG

I deleted a bunch of posts, by accident. Help me!!!

Once you get the warning, and hit the button, you're past the point of no return, so do this carefully!

Also, keep an eye on the contents of the "Search" box left of the button. If you just used the posts search, don't count on clearing that box and seeing all posts displayed again. You'll have to click on "Edit Posts" and refresh the entire screen. Try this and see for yourself, if you don't believe me.

It's an essential tool for me, and it probably will be the same for you.

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