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Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Share Blogger Post Automatically to Facebook using IFTTT

Automatically posting a blog post to Facebook used to be a challenge. The idea was simple, which is to notify Facebook that you have a blog you want posted on your wall, and the social media will do as you command. The implementation, however, was more complicated than that.

Even with Facebook's post-by-email feature, only the blog name and title will appear on the wall, leaving behind the content or link. There are other plugins available, but they don't work as straightforward as they're supposed to be. There is always something missing.

How to Share Blogger post automatically to Facebook using IFTTT

Here is an online utility IFTTT (If This, Then That), which is capable of moving social postings between sites. Setting it up is fairly easy, and just as easy to use. So, let's see how we can share Blogger posts automatically to Facebook using IFTTT.

Step 1. Sign up for a free IFTTT account

Visit IFTTT.com and set up an account by creating a username and password.

Now, IFTTT will take you through a mini-tutorial - click on the word 'this', 'that' and 'Continue' button several times. Finally, select 3 channels that interest you and click 'Continue' to finish with the registration.

Step 2. Create a new recipe

Once registered, we need to 'Create a Recipe'. A recipe is basically the process of combining two platforms together - in our case, we will combine Blogger with Facebook. This shouldn't take more than five minutes.

To get started, click the 'My Recipes' link and then click the 'Create a Recipe' button, as shown below:

Start creating the recipe by clicking the blue 'this' word and select a "trigger channel". The trigger you need to choose is Blogger - search for it in the box, as illustrated below:

Step 3. Connect Blogger blog with IFTTT

Connect your Blogger account in order to tie it with your IFTTT account. A 'Request for Permission' pop-up will appear > click the 'Allow' button and choose which blog you want to use with IFTTT from the drop-down menu, then click the 'Update' button.

add Blogger blog to IFTTT for automatic posting

After our Blogger blog has been connected, 'Choose a Trigger' that allows you to specify what kind of posts will be published to Facebook. You can choose 'Any new post' or 'New posts labeled'.

automatically publish new Blogger post using IFTTT

Finally, press the blue 'Create Trigger' button to proceed to the next step.

connect Facebook to Blogger to post automatically

Step 4. Creating the 'That' trigger

After registration, Create a Recipe that will specify the direction with which your blog posting will take. Since you want to link Blogger to Facebook, then the Recipe will be - if Blogger, then Facebook. What you're doing is replacing 'this' to Blogger, which is the source, and 'that' to Facebook, which is the target destination.

To set up 'that', click on the blue-colored 'that'. This will bring up a window that contains a list of social media sites. Search for 'Facebook' in the box and select the 'Facebook Pages' option (select the plain 'Facebook' option if you want to post to your personal profile).

Step 5. Connect Facebook page with IFTTT

Connect your Facebook account. Make sure you are logged into your Facebook account, before you connect. Pressing the 'Connect' button will open a pop-up window to allow IFTTT post on your Facebook page, then select your Facebook page.

Hit the 'Done' and 'Continue to the next step' buttons and we're almost done...

You will be prompted to 'Choose an Action', where you get to specify if you only want to 'Create a status message', 'Create a link post', or 'Update a photo from URL'. Choose 'Create a link post' as shown below:

Step 6. Choosing the ingredients

Once you choose an action, a 'Complete Action Fields' window will appear with 'Link URL' and 'Message' box. To add an ingredient, click on the 'Message' field and you'll see a test tube icon on the right hand side. If you click it, a drop-down menu will appear which will let you choose a field to include - select 'PostTitle' and click 'Add Ingredient' blue button on the right side.

IFTTT Blogger recipe ingredients for Facebook

If you are unsure of what each ingredient does, please visit this page.

Step 7. Finish creating the recipe

Finally, click the blue 'Create Action' button and your recipe should look something like this:

share blogger post automatically to facebook

To complete your recipe, hit the 'Create Recipe' button.

And that's it! This is how IFTTT recipes are created. Next time you publish a Blogger post, it will be automatically shared to Facebook.

Author. Erwin Widianto

Saturday, September 24, 2016

How to Hide Posts from Blogger Homepage

beginner's guide blogger posts how to

The point of blogging is to make your blog posts visible to your target audience as well as to search engines. However, there are times when you need to hide certain blog posts from homepage. For instance, one post may contain outdated information, so you don't want it to be seen by your audience but you also want to keep it on your site for records purposes. Or perhaps you want a certain post to still be seen on your blog, but you don't want it to show in the home page.

Either way, you have to find ways to hide certain blog posts. Fortunately, if you're using Blogger, you can easily do so by taking a few simple steps. You can use this guide to get started.

Backdate Blogger Posts

Let's discuss this technique first since it's simple and doesn't require you to deal with any lines of code. Basically, the only thing you need to do is to change the publishing date of the post you want to hide; specifically, you need to backdate it to the oldest possible date. Doing this is effective if your Blogger site is configured to show the latest posts first (as most blogs are); once a post is backdated, it will no longer be shown in the home page.

How do you do this? If you're publishing a new post and want to hide it, look for the "Schedule" option on the right side of the post editor and click on "Set date and time". Choose a previous date on the calendar, click 'Done' and Save the post, then go back to your blog's home page to check if the post has disappeared.

The same process applies if you want to hide an older post; the only difference is that you need to click on the post's title in the dashboard to open it in the editor. Backdate the post using the steps above and save it, then open your blog to verify that the post is indeed hidden from view.

Please note that this process will only hide your posts from the homepage. People will still be able to see them if they'd take the time to go through your blog posts from the previous years. This is also the case for those who'd come across your hidden blog post through search engines.

Hide Blog Posts in Blogger Using Code

Another thing you can do to hide a blog post is to edit its code. This is a bit complicated since one small mistake can affect the post structure and make it unreadable. This, in turn, can affect your readers' experience as they browse through your site and even have a negative effect on your search engine optimization techniques. With this in mind, it's important to be careful when dealing with code.

Method 1: Hide Blogger Post Using the Post's label

There are two techniques to choose from, and one of them involves the label of the blog post you want to hide. If you're ready to go ahead with this method, you'll first need to make a backup of your template. Having a backup is important since it ensures you'll have a copy to fall back on in case something goes wrong.

Once you've backed up the template, go to "Templates", click on "Edit HTML" and then click anywhere inside the code area -> press CTRL + F keys and search for this line:

<b:include data='post' name='post'/>

Once you've found it, replace it with this code:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
        <b:if cond='data:label.isLast == "true"'>
            <b:if cond='data:label.name != "add label here"'>
                <b:include data='post' name='post' />
            </b:if>
        </b:if>
    </b:loop>
<b:else/>
    <b:include data='post' name='post' />
</b:if>

Note: replace the text "add label here" with the label (case sensitive) of the blog post that you want to hide in Blogger homepage. Keep in mind that above code won't work if you have multiple labels on that post, so please make sure the post has only 1 label.

Important: every post that you want to show on the homepage should have at least one label otherwise they will not be visible because the b:loop statement won't be executed for them.

Finally, Save the changes by pressing the 'Save template' button on the upper left side of the editor, then view your blog to check if the blog post has been hidden.

Method 2: Hide Blogger Post Using the Post's ID Number

Aside from the method above, you can use another technique that involves the post ID number of the blog post you'd like to hide. To know the ID number, you must go to the dashboard area, find the title of the post you want to hide, and click the "Edit" text link below it. Doing this will open the post in the Blogger editor.

Once you're in the editor, click on the address bar above and go to the end part of the URL. Here, you'll see a line of text that looks like this: postID==, followed by a long string of numbers. This is your post's ID number. The ID number usually contains 19 numbers, so it will look somehow like this: postID==1234567890123456789. Copy this ID since you'll need it for the next step.

When you have your blog post's ID, open the Blogger dashboard, go to Template, and click "Edit HTML". Search for this line:

<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'>

Replace it with this one:

<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template' expr:id='"post-" + data:post.id' itemprop='blogPost' itemscope='itemscope' itemtype='http://schema.org/BlogPosting'>

Note: if you found two occurrences of it, replace both of them.

Now search for this tag:

</head>

Once you find it, paste the following code above it:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<style type='text/css'>
#post-1234567890123456789{display:none;}
</style>
</b:if>

Don't forget to replace "1234567890123456789" with the 19-digit ID number of the blog post you'd like to hide. Once you're done, make sure to save the template. You can open your blog in another tab or browser to check if the post has indeed been hidden.

That's it!

Whether you backdate your post or opt for the post ID method, you have to remember that the blog post you've hidden is still on your website. This means that it will still be indexed by search engines, show up on search engine results, and get found by people who are searching for the keywords that are present in the post. If you really want this blog post to be seen by no one, you'll need to use robots.txt (for Google) to remove it from search results. Better yet, completely delete the post from your Blogger dashboard and just keep a soft copy of it in your computer.

Author. Erwin Widianto

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Customizable Related Posts Widget for Blogger

blogger posts javascript posts related posts

We already posted a few tutorials on how to add related posts widget with thumbnails in Blogger with summaries or only titles, which can be compiled into a single All-In-One Widget with powerful options. This new customizable related posts widget for Blogger integrates all the features we've seen before and more, such as thumbnails (square or round), post dates, excerpts, display only titles / thumbnails.

Now let's see what this related posts blogger widget has to offer.

Adding Customizable Related Posts Widget in Blogger

Log into your Blogger dashboard, go to 'Template' and open template editor by clicking the 'Edit HTML' button below 'Live On Blog' preview.

Next, we're going to use the template search feature, be sure to follow these directions exactly:

1. Place your cursor on the template code.
2. Click once.
3. Press CTRL and F at the same time (PC) or Command and F (Mac).

The search box will open in the upper right corner of the template editor.

Type </head> in the search box, then press ENTER. This will take you to the </head> tag in your template and highlight it in yellow.

Select and copy the entire CSS style below and paste it directly ABOVE the </head> tag:

<style type='text/css'>
.related-posts-container{margin:55px 0px;}.related-posts-container h4{font:20px 'Open Sans', sans-serif;margin-bottom:20px;}.related-posts-container ul,.related-posts-container ul li{list-style: none;margin: 0;padding: 0;}.related-posts-container ul li a{text-transform:capitalize !important;font:bold 13px 'Open Sans', sans-serif;outline: 0;}.related-snippets{margin-top:5px;font:italic 12px 'Open Sans', sans-serif;}.related-posts-1 li{list-style:inside none disc !important;}.related-posts-1 li,.related-posts-2 li{border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.04);padding:0.8em 0 !important;}.related-posts-1 li:first-child,.related-posts-2 li:first-child{border-top:medium none;}li.related-post-item{margin:0 3% 3% 0 !important;width:22.7%;float:left;list-style:none;position:relative;}li.related-post-item:last-child{margin:0 0 2% !important;}.related-thumb-large{width:100%;height:auto;border:none;margin:0px auto 10px;padding:0 !important;}.related-posts-8 li .related-title,.related-posts-9 li .related-title,.related-posts-9 li .related-snippets{padding-left:74px;}.related-posts-8 li:nth-child(even),.related-posts-9 li:nth-child(even){margin:0 0 4% !important;}.related-posts-8 li,.related-posts-9 li{background-color:#ffffff;box-shadow:0 0 4px rgba(180, 180, 180, 0.55);width:42% !important;float:left;margin:0 4% 4% 0 !important;padding:3% !important;}.related-thumb{float:left;height:64px;margin-right:10px;object-fit:cover;width:64px;}.related-posts-6 li,.related-posts-6 a{line-height:0 !important;}.related-posts-6 .related-thumb-large{margin-bottom:0;}.related-posts-7 li.related-post-item{margin:0 !important;width:25% !important;}.related-wrapper{position:absolute;left:0px;right:0;top:0px;bottom:0;margin:0 auto;z-index:4;background:rgba(77,77,77,0.2);}.related-wrapper-inner{position:relative;height:100%;z-index:99;width:100%;display:table;vertical-align:middle;text-align:center;-moz-box-sizing:border-box;-webkit-box-sizing:border-box;box-sizing:border-box;}.related-wrapper .related-title{vertical-align:middle;display:table-cell;color:#ffffff;font:bold 16px 'Open Sans', sans-serif;padding:0 20px;}.related-date{margin-top:5px;font:italic 11px 'Open Sans', sans-serif;color:#999999;}
</style>

Next, we need to add the script - search for the following line:

<b:includable id='postQuickEdit' var='post'>

Once you found it, click the small arrow not beside it but with one level above to expand code and scroll down until you see </b:includable> - right below this tag, you should see the line including the "postQuickEdit" id.

See the screenshot for more help:

Just ABOVE the </b:includable> tag, add the following script:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<div class='related-posts-container' id='related-posts-widget'/>
<div style='clear: both;'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
var labelArray = [<b:if cond='data:post.labels'><b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>"<data:label.name/>"<b:if cond='data:label.isLast != "true"'>,</b:if></b:loop></b:if>];
var relatedSettings = {
blogURL:"<data:blog.homepageUrl/>",
relatedHeading:"<h4><span>Related Posts</span></h4>",
relatedPosts:4,
relatedStyle:4,
thumbnailSize:"w300-h200-p-nu",
defaultThumb:"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYphQtNKeMmZooToNMgUY7XpNF7ZMkG4miPDgXDUMajcUOhf94ZQlBkDoB0FEpRr_HBO5KfDdavKV3VXOYXeC-J8oj3tnQ-Ssi95dzLWAEXrSgb7MdEN7zlGBfmYvhmkgtRkMu-WPL1JQ/300-h200-c/no-thumb.png",
roundThumbs:false,
titleLength:"auto",
snippetLength:45,
centerText:false,
openNewTab:false
};</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
var randomRelatedIndex,startRelated;!function(a,b,c){var d={callBack:function(){}};for(var e in relatedSettings)d[e]="undefined"==relatedSettings[e]?d[e]:relatedSettings[e];var f=function(a){var d=b.createElement("script");d.type="text/javascript",d.src=a,c.appendChild(d)},g=function(a,b){return Math.floor(Math.random()*(b-a+1))+a},h=function(a){var c,d,b=a.length;if(0===b)return!1;for(;--b;)c=Math.floor(Math.random()*(b+1)),d=a[b],a[b]=a[c],a[c]=d;return a},i="object"==typeof labelArray&&labelArray.length>0?"/-/"+h(labelArray)[0]:"",j=function(a){var b=a.feed.openSearch$totalResults.$t-d.relatedPosts,c=g(1,b>0?b:1);f(d.blogURL.replace(/\/$/,"")+"/feeds/posts/summary"+i+"?alt=json-in-script&orderby=updated&start-index="+c+"&max-results="+d.relatedPosts+"&callback=startRelated")},k=function(a){var l,m,n,o,p,q,b=document.getElementById("related-posts-widget"),c=h(a.feed.entry),e=d.relatedStyle,f=d.relatedHeading+'<ul class="related-posts-'+e+'">',g=d.openNewTab?' target="_blank"':"",i=d.centerText?"text-align:center;":"",j=d.roundThumbs?"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;":"",k='<span style="display:block;clear:both;"></span>';if(b){for(var r=0;r<d.relatedPosts&&r!=c.length;r++){n=c[r].title.$t,o="auto"!==d.titleLength&&d.titleLength<n.length?n.substring(0,d.titleLength)+"…":n,p="media$thumbnail"in c[r]&&d.thumbnailSize!==!1?c[r].media$thumbnail.url.replace(/\/s[0-9]+(\-c)?/,"/"+d.thumbnailSize):d.defaultThumb,l=h(c[r].published.$t);for(var s=[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12],t=["January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],u=l.split("-")[2].substring(0,2),v=l.split("-")[1],w=l.split("-")[0],x=0;x<s.length;x++)if(parseInt(v)==s[x]){v=t[x];break}postdate=v+" "+u+" "+w,q="summary"in c[r]&&d.snippetLength>0?c[r].summary.$t.replace(/<br ?\/?>/g," ").replace(/<.*?>/g,"").replace(/[<>]/g,"").substring(0,d.snippetLength)+"…":"";for(var y=0,z=c[r].link.length;y<z;y++)m="alternate"==c[r].link[y].rel?c[r].link[y].href:"#";1==e?f+='<li><a href="'+m+'" '+g+">"+o+"</a></li>":2==e?f+='<li><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><div class="related-title">'+o+'</div></a><div class="related-snippets">'+q+"</div></li>":3==e?f+='<li class="related-post-item" style="'+i+'"><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb-large" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-title">'+o+'</div></a><div class="related-snippets">'+q+"</div></li>":4==e?f+='<li class="related-post-item" style="'+i+'"><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb-large" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-title">'+o+'</div></a><div class="related-date">'+postdate+"</div></li>":5==e?f+='<li class="related-post-item" style="'+i+'"><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb-large" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-title">'+o+"</div></a></li>":6==e?f+='<li class="related-post-item"><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb-large" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-wrapper" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-wrapper-inner"><div class="related-title">'+o+"</div></div></div></a></li>":7==e?f+='<li class="related-post-item"><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb-large" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"></a></li>':8==e?f+='<li class="related-post-item"><a class="related-post-item-wrapper" href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-title">'+o+'</div></a><div class="related-date">'+postdate+"</div></li>":9==e&&(f+='<li><a href="'+m+'" '+g+'><img alt="" class="related-thumb" src="'+p+'" style="'+j+'"><div class="related-title">'+o+'</div></a><div class="related-snippets">'+q+"</div></li>")}b.innerHTML=f+="</ul>"+k,d.callBack()}};randomRelatedIndex=j,startRelated=k,f(d.blogURL.replace(/\/$/,"")+"/feeds/posts/summary"+i+"?alt=json-in-script&orderby=updated&max-results=0&callback=randomRelatedIndex")}(window,document,document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0]);
//]]>
</script>
</b:if>

How to Customize the Related Posts Widget for Blogger?

To change the 'Related Posts' text that appears above the widget, modify the text in red:

relatedHeading: "<h4><span>Related Posts</span></h4>",

To change the number of posts to display, change the '4' value from this line:

relatedPosts: 4,

Note: you may need to change the percentages in the CSS styles above in order to make posts fit the related container. Just follow the values in red and play with them until you get the best results.

To change the style of the related posts widget, modify the '4' value from:

relatedStyle: 4,

Available Related Posts Styles

simple related posts widget that will show post titles only
display post titles and snippets
display post thumbnails, titles and snippets
display related posts thumbnails, titles and post date (shows by default)
display related posts thumbnails and titles
post titles in front of thumbnails, instead of having them below the thumbnail
display thumbnails only
small thumbnail with titles on the right and date below
small thumbnails with post titles and excerpts on the right

Customizing the Related Post Thumbnail Size & Style

By default, thumbnails are resized and cropped automatically to be 300px wide by 200px tall. If you want to change the width and height of the thumbnails, modify the '300' and '200' values from:

thumbnailSize: "w300-h200-p-nu",
defaultThumb: "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYphQtNKeMmZooToNMgUY7XpNF7ZMkG4miPDgXDUMajcUOhf94ZQlBkDoB0FEpRr_HBO5KfDdavKV3VXOYXeC-J8oj3tnQ-Ssi95dzLWAEXrSgb7MdEN7zlGBfmYvhmkgtRkMu-WPL1JQ/300-h200-c/no-thumb.png",

Note: 'w' comes from width, 'h' comes from height. To make the thumbnails square, change the 'h' (height) value and make it equal with 'w' (width) value. A higher value will result in more high-res images.

If you want thumbnails have rounded corners, change 'false' with 'true':

roundThumbs:false,

Customizing Related Titles & Excerpts

To shorten the post title, change auto with the number of characters to show:

titleLength: "auto",

To reduce or add more characters to the snippets, change the "45" value:

snippetLength: 45,

If you want to center text (title and summary), change 'false' to 'true':

centerText:false,

To open links in a new tab when visitors click on a related post, change "false" to "true":

openNewTab: false

Once you're done with the settings, click the 'Save Template' button and now you can see the related posts widget live on your Blogger blog.

Final words

That's it! With the new customizable Related Posts widget for Blogger you will be able to add unique features to the related content section of your blog. However, all of these styles look and work slightly different, so take your time, and pick your favorite.

Author. Erwin Widianto

Friday, September 9, 2016

Add Load More Posts or Infinite Scrolling to Blogger

blogger posts jQuery Navigation

You might have seen the implementation of infinite scrolling at Facebook, Twitter or Google+. Instead of showing Older / Newer posts links, we can load posts dynamically whenever a "Load more posts" button is clicked, or by scrolling down the page. This tutorial will show you how to implement Ajax based loading script that will add Load More Posts or Infinite Scrolling to Blogger, so that visitors can easily navigate without reloading the page.

How it works?

- You have the option to add a 'Load More Posts' button or load automatically the older posts as visitors scroll down the page.
- Once implemented, Load More Posts / Infinite Scrolling applies to all Blogger posts on index pages (homepage, archive, label pages). It can't be added on individual posts.

Demo

To see it live, check out the demo below. When you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will see the "Load More Posts" button. Once you click it, the next 3 posts set to display will load below.

Demo

Adding Load More Posts or Infinite Scrolling to Blogger

1. Log into your Blogger account and click on your blog where you want to add it.
2. Go to 'Theme' and click the 'Edit HTML' button to open the Template editor > click anywhere in the code area and press CTRL + F keys (or Command + F) to open the search box.

3. Type the tag below in the search box and press ENTER to find it:

</body>

4. Just above the </body> tag, add the script below:

a. If you want to load posts with 'Load More Posts' button like in the demo blog, add this script:

<script src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.0/jquery.min.js'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
function resizeThumb(e,n){for(var t=document.getElementById(e).getElementsByTagName("img"),a=0;a<t.length;a++)t[a].src=t[a].src.replace(/\/s72\-c/,"/s"+n+"-c")}window.labelfx=function(){var e=function(e){var n=e||{},t=n.url_blog||window.location.host,a=n.id_labelcontent||"#labelfxn";$.ajax({url:"http://"+t+"/feeds/posts/summary?max-results=0&alt=json-in-script",type:"get",dataType:"jsonp",success:function(e){var n=e.feed.category,t="";if(void 0!==n){t="<ul class='labelx'>";for(var i=0;i<n.length;i++)t+='<li><a href="/search/label/'+encodeURIComponent(n[i].term)+'" target="_blank">'+n[i].term+"</a></li>";t+="</ul>",$(a).html(t)}else $(a).html("<span>No Label!</span>")},error:function(){$(a).html("<strong>Error Loading Feed!</strong>")}})};return function(n){e(n)}}(),resizeThumb("main",250),labelfx(),function(e){function n(n){e.getScript("http://"+n+".disqus.com/blogger_index.js")}function t(){s||(s=!0,o?(r.find("a").hide(),r.find("img").show(),e.ajax(o,{dataType:"html"}).done(function(t){var a=e("<div></div>").append(t.replace(l,"")),i=a.find("a.blog-pager-older-link");i?o=i.attr("href"):(o="",r.hide());var p=a.find(d).children(".date-outer");e(d).append(p),resizeThumb("main",250),window._gaq&&window._gaq.push(["_trackPageview",o]),window.gapi&&window.gapi.plusone&&window.gapi.plusone.go&&window.gapi.plusone.go(),window.disqus_shortname&&n(window.disqus_shortname),window.FB&&window.FB.XFBML&&window.FB.XFBML.parse&&window.FB.XFBML.parse(),window.twttr&&window.twttr.widgets&&window.twttr.widgets.load&&window.twttr.widgets.load(),r.find("img").hide(),r.find("a").show(),s=!1})):r.hide())}function a(){if("item"!=_WidgetManager._GetAllData().blog.pageType&&(o=e("a.blog-pager-older-link").attr("href"))){var n=e('<a class="loadpost" href="javascript:;" style="text-decoration:none;font:11px Open Sans, sans-serif;letter-spacing:1px;padding:10px 20px;background:#000000;color:#ffffff;">LOAD MORE POSTS</a>');n.click(t);var a=e('<img src="'+i+'" style="display: none;">');(r=e('<div style="display:block;text-align:center;margin:20px auto;"></div>')).append(n),r.append(a),r.insertBefore(e("#blog-pager")),e("#blog-pager").hide()}}var i="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoL_tLzzMIisEClimOWVktV6fv-g6w7eYwiA6VVtin_hJQRVv70eEL_aT0reOJ-sy_NgkvMhL6Y9GD_5Agvsdp3FA2Il8d_E7Fafa7wcdupUTJt76UUqye6IfKipC5WncGxw7kGAk_u6Nq/s1600/loader.gif",o="",r=null,d="div.blog-posts",s=!1,l=(e(window),e(document),/<script\b[^<]*(?:(?!<\/script>)<[^<]*)*<\/script>/gi);e(document).ready(a)}(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>
</b:if></b:if>

b. If you want to add the infinite scrolling without button, paste this instead:

<script src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.2.0/jquery.min.js'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<style type="text/css">.status-msg-wrap{display:none;}</style>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
!function(i){function e(e){i.getScript("http://"+e+".disqus.com/blogger_index.js")}function t(){g||(g=!0,r?(w.find("a").hide(),w.find("img").show(),i.ajax(r,{dataType:"html"}).done(function(t){var n=i("<div></div>").append(t.replace(c,"")),o=n.find("a.blog-pager-older-link"),d=n.find(s).children();i(s).append(d),window._gaq&&window._gaq.push(["_trackPageview",r]),window.gapi&&window.gapi.plusone&&window.gapi.plusone.go&&window.gapi.plusone.go(),window.disqus_shortname&&e(window.disqus_shortname),window.FB&&window.FB.XFBML&&window.FB.XFBML.parse&&window.FB.XFBML.parse(),window.twttr&&window.twttr.widgets&&window.twttr.widgets.load&&window.twttr.widgets.load(),o?r=o.attr("href"):(r="",w.hide()),w.find("img").hide(),w.find("a").show(),g=!1})):w.hide())}function n(){return Math.max(p.height(),l.height(),document.documentElement.clientHeight)}function o(){n()-(p.scrollTop()+p.height())<150&&t()}function d(){if("item"!=_WidgetManager._GetAllData().blog.pageType&&(r=i("a.blog-pager-older-link").attr("href"))){var e=i('<a href="javascript:;">Load more posts</a>');e.click(t);var n=i('<img src="'+a+'" style="display: none;">');p.scroll(o),(w=i('<div style="text-align: center; font-size: 150%;"></div>')).append(e),w.append(n),w.insertBefore(i("#blog-pager")),i("#blog-pager").hide()}}var a="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoL_tLzzMIisEClimOWVktV6fv-g6w7eYwiA6VVtin_hJQRVv70eEL_aT0reOJ-sy_NgkvMhL6Y9GD_5Agvsdp3FA2Il8d_E7Fafa7wcdupUTJt76UUqye6IfKipC5WncGxw7kGAk_u6Nq/s1600/loader.gif",r="",w=null,s="div.blog-posts",g=!1,p=i(window),l=i(document),c=/<script\b[^<]*(?:(?!<\/script>)<[^<]*)*<\/script>/gi;i(document).ready(d)}(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>
</b:if></b:if>

Note: This code uses jQuery library, so if you already have jQuery on your page, please remove the line in red highlighted above.

5. Click 'Save template' button and check the 'Load More Posts' button / Infinite Scrolling in your Blogger blog.

Conclusion

That's it! So this is how we can easily add Load More Posts / Infinite Scrolling to Blogger. From now on, our visitors can stay in same page and navigate through infinite number of posts on the fly!

Author. Erwin Widianto

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Building a List/Grid View Switcher in Blogger with Auto Read More

Blog Design blogger posts javascript posts

A list of posts in grid or list view provides a more defined canvas with which a blogger or website owner can use as a guide in creating content. This concept has extended to visitors, where they can have control on whether or not they wish to display posts in list or grid view. While custom modification codes are shared by some blogging sites, others are not. Some that are shared, however, can be complex even to bloggers themselves, such as JQuery.

The good news is there are lightweight codes available, including the Auto Read More in Blogger. Through it, a blogger can add two buttons that will enable visitors to switch between grid view and list view, depending on what they prefer. These buttons, however, are only visible on limited pages - homepage, label page and archive page. Nonetheless, it is better than not having this particular feature at all.

Unlike JQuery, the Auto Read More uses HTML, CSS and JavaScript. To view posts in a list view, two sets of CSS codes are added as one. Another set is added to view posts in grid view. Other combination of codes is used to enable easy switch between views, particularly at a click of a button.

Live Demo

How to Add a List/Grid View Switcher in Blogger

Step 1. Log into your Blogger dashboard and select your blog, then go to "Template" > press the "Edit HTML" button.

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the search box. Type this tag below inside the box and hit Enter to find it:

</head>

Step 3. Just above the </head> tag, copy and paste the following CSS style and scripts:

Step 4. Next, search for the following line:

<b:section class='main' id='main' name='Main' showaddelement='no'>

...in case you can't find it, search for this one instead:

<b:section class='main' id='main' name='Main' showaddelement='yes'>

Step 5. Just above this line, add the following code:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= "item"'>
<div id='list-view-button'><a class='grid-view-button' onclick='grid_view()'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcT9iJTD4ZMvMTokpcZGUyeqqU9jS_aXXS0I8p6H9xAkL2j0P9Q81EZg6S0SzG7H9CaUNJ0N3mEH8JNxQXi4UnTK2og-L4Rm7Lv0mEMvkQ0Oq1Mp5CzcvC4gz4l1pRS0nk0D5jBrvklsW/s1600/search-grid-icon.png' style='margin: -8px 1px -3px -6px;width: 16px;'/> Grid View</a> <a class='list-view-button' onclick='list_view()'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnmoEsb3GdwKP7VZYbxAZl8KA_G8kuBk83imAHUV91nf1GPwUa4psirvG3h4N_Yju_jNzKAYytvbkqVwU-K8EtfpTlB-dWBsaR03chVbioJnTZ6yBaEjbE2s5gwkKxB1XstS-6pgJd01g1/s1600/icon-list-view.png' style='margin: -8px 1px -3px -6px;width: 16px;'/> List View</a></div>
</b:if></b:if>

Step 6. Now, search the tag below:

<data:post.body/>

Step 7. You will find 3 occurrences of this code... replace only the second and third one with this one below:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
        <div expr:id='"summary" + data:post.id'>
            <data:post.body/>
        </div>
        <script type='text/javascript'>createSummaryAndThumb("summary<data:post.id/>","<data:post.url/>");</script>
        <b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
            <a class='comment-bubble' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'>
                <data:post.numComments/>
            </a>
        </b:if>
    </b:if>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
    <data:post.body/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "static_page"'>
    <data:post.body/>
</b:if>

Important: if you already added the auto read more script, remove the previous one in order to make this work.

Step 8. Finally, click "Preview" to see if everything looks good and press the 'Save Template' button to save the changes...

That's it!

Adding a dynamic view switcher on a blog will make viewing content a lot easier for visitors. Whether using a list or grid view, a more compressed list of posts will eliminate the need to click on the next page, which could take time if loading takes a while to complete. For a blog archive, using the Auto Read More codes in Blogger will surely make everyone's viewing experience very convenient.

Considering the ease with which the codes can be customized, building a list/grid view switcher would be completed in no time. A real bonus is that Auto Read More works on all platforms, with cross-browser support as well.

Author. Erwin Widianto

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Add Masonry, Grid Layouts to Blogger Posts with CSS and Javascript

Blog Design blogger posts javascript posts

How a website's content is displayed can spell the difference between being popular and obscure. Anything that looks chaotic or hardly readable is never going to be anyone's favorite. This is why content must be displayed in an organized, easy to follow and straightforward manner. Nothing works better than a structured grid, in this case.

Posts listed in grid view provide an excellent viewing experience for both the blogger or website owner and the visitors. This is especially true if the grid comes with images that would play with a person's visual inclination. What is great about grids is the seamless and smooth layout, complemented with a structured yet simple architecture. This makes it easier to navigate through a blog archive or product page. The style also enables a website owner to present posts in a more artistic and informative manner, without delving into the details. Suffice to say that a grid view demands creativity to be effortlessly mixed with functionality.

How views can be switched depends on a number of changes in a blog's codes. Some are fairly easy to implement, while others can be a little complex. Not to worry, as there are guides that will be provided. Grid styles also come in huge varieties, with each one designed to cater to a specific audience. Now, are you ready to go on the grid?

Features

What features can you expect from a grid style post in Blogger?

All the posts will follow the grid style when switching to grid view.
While the codes are being customized, the posts are left untouched. Their length, however, could be changed accordingly.
Auto Read More will be applied on all posts.
Thumbnails are automatically added based on the first picture found in each post.
Code is secure and is used across the board. In fact, 99% of bloggers are using a similar code to enable grid style posts in blogger.

What are the benefits of grid style?

Quick loading time of posts. Since only the snippets are loaded in certain pages, or a thumbnail and a caption, pulling up a blog archive would be quicker. When loading time is decreased, user experience is greatly enhanced.
Professional-looking blog. Without the chaos and concerns on readability, a website can look really clean and professional. Combined with the right colors and images, it can also leave a visual impact.
Improved website ranking. Because visitors have to click in order to view the rest of the post, page views of a site will significantly increase. This makes for a better SEO strategy.

Although changes to the CSS codes have to be made to implement the grid style view and make it compatible with a blog's template, all the work will be worth it once it is up and running.

Important:
Before anything make sure that you backup your Blogger template! If have encounter any problems with your edits, you can revert the template back to its previous condition by restoring it from your backup. For this, go to 'Template' in the left menu > click on the 'Backup/Restore' button in the upper right corner and press the 'Download Full Template' button - choose where you want to save the file on your computer and click the 'Save' button.

Now we can safely proceed with editing our Blogger template. If you run into problems, just revert back to your saved template.

How to Create Masonry, Grid Style Posts in Blogger

Step 1. Log into your Blogger dashboard and click on the blog where you want to apply the grid style.

Step 2. Go to "Template" located on the left side of the screen and press the "Edit HTML" button.

Step 3. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL+F keys to open the search box, then type the following tag inside the box (hit Enter to find it):

</head>

Step 4. Now copy the script below and paste it just before the </head> tag:

<script type='text/javascript'>
posts_no_thumb_sum = 100;
posts_thumb_sum = 100;
</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
function removeHtmlTag(a,b){if(a.indexOf("<")!=-1){for(var c=a.split("<"),d=0;d<c.length;d++)c[d].indexOf(">")!=-1&&(c[d]=c[d].substring(c[d].indexOf(">")+1,c[d].length));a=c.join("")}for(b=b<a.length-1?b:a.length-2;" "!=a.charAt(b-1)&&a.indexOf(" ",b)!=-1;)b++;return a=a.substring(0,b-1),a+"..."}function createSummaryAndThumb(a,b,c){var d=document.getElementById(a),e="",f=d.getElementsByTagName("img"),g=posts_no_thumb_sum;f.length>=1?(e='<div class="posts-thumb" style="float:left;"><a href="'+b+'"><img src="'+f[0].src+'" /></a></div>',g=posts_thumb_sum):(e='<div class="posts-thumb" style="float:left;"><a href="'+b+'" title="'+c+'"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcew9z16VlZms_B_OaMTd7mNK_W8lthIr6yFFtl7aeRf5_b7PTmo68jtuHtWiOOOPshqYNQbnoAXOQJ0YU034wDDWvs2j0cTQwnZhiVBeV9paMSYT2QD7IKHsoHYOEMbEf_rG7rh1knku/s1600/sorry-image-not-available.png" /></a></div>',g=posts_thumb_sum);var h=e+'<div class="post-summary-text">'+removeHtmlTag(d.innerHTML,g)+"</div>";d.innerHTML=h}
//]]>
</script>

Step 5. Find the following code snippet using CTRL+F or Command + F:

<data:post.body/>

Step 6. After pressing the "Enter" key on your keyboard, you may find three occurrences of the above code, replace only the second and the third one with this code below:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
        <div expr:id='"summary" + data:post.id'>
            <data:post.body/>
        </div>
        <script type='text/javascript'>createSummaryAndThumb("summary<data:post.id/>","<data:post.url/>");</script>
        <b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
            <a class='comment-bubble' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'>
                <data:post.numComments/>
            </a>
        </b:if>
    </b:if>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
    <data:post.body/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "static_page"'>
    <data:post.body/>
</b:if>

Step 7. Now choose one of the styles below, copy the code provided and paste it just above the </head> tag:

Simple Grid Design

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= "item"'>
<style type="text/css">
#blog-pager{clear:both}.post{height:auto;width:30.8%;overflow:hidden;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none;float:left;margin:0 1.1% 2%;padding:0!important}h3.post-title a{font-size:75%;font-family:'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;padding:0;color:#444}h3.post-title{height:26px;text-align:center;width:100%;margin:0!important;padding-bottom:4%}.date-header{display:none}.post-body a{text-decoration:none}.posts-thumb{width:100%;height:190px;overflow:hidden;position:relative}.posts-thumb img{position:absolute;left:-100%;right:-100%;top:-100%;bottom:-100%;margin:auto;width:auto;max-width:340px;height:auto;padding:0;border:none;outline:none;}.post-summary-text{color:#777;font-size:100%!important;font-family:'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;text-align:center;clear:both;overflow:hidden;margin:5px 0 0;padding:7% 10%}a.comment-bubble{color:#fff;text-decoration:none;font-size:100%;font-weight:700;right:10px;position:absolute;top:165px;text-shadow:1px 2px 1px #333;font-family:'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;}a.comment-bubble:before{content:"Comments: ";}.post-header,.post-footer{display:none}
</style></b:if></b:if><link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans+Condensed:300' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Grid Layout with Post Summary and Thumbnail

Demo

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= "item"'>
<style type="text/css">
#blog-pager{clear:both}.post{height:auto;width:31%;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none;float:left;margin:0 1.1% 2%;padding:0!important}h3.post-title a{font:75% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;color:#111;padding:0}h3.post-title{text-align:center;height:22px;position:absolute;bottom:23%;width:100%;z-index:101;overflow:hidden;margin:0!important;padding:10px 0 13px}.date-header{visibility:hidden;height:0!important;width:0!important;margin:0!important;padding:0!important}.posts-thumb{width:100%;height:190px;position:relative;overflow:hidden;clear:both;border-bottom:3px solid #00C8BD;border-top:3px solid #558ABB}.posts-thumb:hover{border-top:3px solid #FF664E;border-bottom:3px solid #FEBE36}.post-body{position:relative;height:auto}.post-body a{text-decoration:none}.posts-thumb img{position:absolute;left:-100%;right:-100%;top:-100%;bottom:-100%;margin:auto;width:auto;max-width:340px;height:auto;padding:0;border:none;outline:none}.post-summary-text{color:#555;background:#f5f5f5 url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV6mPGVtnPwM1g4tOxe-sGFc7xehEeIRnmmKE0BSNosePKOuY7r976NAycU8vg5ixW00SZXqb1dBr0VOEvqGxaViExuABYofSsrhDq9E4JxhlVf0XgiPSpMH5oyAfvE4ar7Ml6gTq7fs1C/s1600/blueprint.png);font:100% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;text-align:center;clear:both;overflow:hidden;margin:5px 0 0;padding:17% 10% 6%}a.comment-bubble{color:#fff;text-decoration:none;right:10px;position:absolute;top:165px;text-shadow:1px 2px 1px #333;font:110% 'Pacifico',cursive;}a.comment-bubble:before{content:"Comments: " url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_3hen7Eh5N4q4GTRuAkEKT03WcNYQzF_krFmYjmlF7WFMsdoT-AiucwU0S7Rf2qQsfV8NtHGb31vjR0JV-KPmnfSDz3WVrDIkgA5LVyo1fSsHRd3zuSiCh_yRiFhMqoSMhYfYJEJGs01/s1600/heart-active.png);}.post-header,.post-footer{display:none}
</style></b:if></b:if>
<link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans+Condensed:300' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
<link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Pacifico' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Grid Layout with Text Snippet on Hover

Demo

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= "item"'>
<style type="text/css">
#blog-pager{clear:both}.post{height:auto;width:31%;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none;float:left;margin:0 1.1% 2%;padding:0!important;}h3.post-title a{font:95% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;color:#fff;padding:0;text-shadow:2px 2px 3px #222}h3.post-title{height:22px;text-align:center;position:absolute;top:1%;width:100%;z-index:101;overflow:hidden;margin:0!important;padding:10px 0}.date-header{visibility:hidden;height:0!important;width:0!important;margin:0!important;padding:0!important;}.posts-thumb{width:100%;height:190px;overflow:hidden;position:relative;}.post-body{position:relative;overflow:hidden}.post-body a{text-decoration:none;}.posts-thumb img{position:absolute;left:-100%;right:-100%;top:-100%;bottom:-100%;margin:auto;width:auto;max-width:340px;height:auto;padding:0;border:none;outline:none;}.post-summary-text{cursor:pointer;background-color:rgba(44,77,163,0.8);color:#fff;font:108% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;overflow:hidden;padding:45px 10px 0;left:0;position:absolute;text-align:center;text-shadow:1px 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.1);top:0;opacity:0;height:100%;transition:all 300ms ease-out 0s;}.post-summary-text:hover{opacity:1;z-index:10;}a.comment-bubble{color:#fff;text-decoration:none;font:104% 'Pacifico',cursive;width:100%;text-align:center;position:absolute;top:160px;left:0;text-shadow:1px 2px 1px #333;z-index:11;}a.comment-bubble:before{content:"Comments: "}.post-header,.post-footer{display:none}
</style></b:if></b:if>
<link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans+Condensed:300' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
<link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Pacifico' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Masonry Layout (Pinterest Like Grid)

DEMO

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= "item"'>
<style type="text/css">
#blog-pager{clear:both;position:absolute;bottom:0;left:0}.blog-feeds{display:none}.post{height:auto;width:100%;padding:0!important;margin:0 0 30px;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none}h3.post-title a{font:bold 95% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;padding:0;color:#fff;text-shadow:3px 2px 2px #222;}h3.post-title,.comments h4{margin:0!important;text-align:center;padding:10px 0;position:absolute;top:10px;width:100%;z-index:200}.post-header{display:none}.date-header{visibility:hidden;height:0!important;width:0!important;padding:0!important;margin:0!important}.posts-thumb{width:100%;height:auto;overflow:hidden;clear:both}.post-body{overflow:hidden;position:relative}.post-body a{text-decoration:none}.post-body img{display:block;width:auto;height:auto;max-width:100%;max-height:none;min-width:100%;min-height:auto;margin:0;padding:0;border:none;outline:none;position:relative}.post-summary-text{cursor:pointer;background-color:rgba(44,77,163,0.8);color:#fff;font:120% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;padding:84px 10% 0;left:0;position:absolute;text-align:center;vertical-align:bottom;text-shadow:1px 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.1);top:0;opacity:0;z-index:10;height:100%;transition:all 300ms ease-out 0s;}.post-summary-text:hover{opacity:1}.post-footer{display:none}a.comment-bubble{color:#fff;text-decoration:none;font:120% 'Open Sans Condensed',sans-serif;right:5px;z-index:222;position:absolute;top:5px;text-shadow:1px 2px 1px #333;}a.comment-bubble:before{content:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj_3hen7Eh5N4q4GTRuAkEKT03WcNYQzF_krFmYjmlF7WFMsdoT-AiucwU0S7Rf2qQsfV8NtHGb31vjR0JV-KPmnfSDz3WVrDIkgA5LVyo1fSsHRd3zuSiCh_yRiFhMqoSMhYfYJEJGs01/s1600/heart-active.png);}.main-inner .column-center-inner{-moz-column-count:3;-moz-column-gap:1px;-webkit-column-count:3;-webkit-column-gap:1px;column-count:3;column-gap:1px;width:100%;padding:0!important}
</style></b:if></b:if>
<link href='https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans+Condensed:300' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

Please note that the masonry layout might not work if you have a customized template, also older posts will appear vertically (from top to bottom) instead of left to right.

Step 8. Click "Preview" and if everything looks fine, press the "Save Template" button.

That's it!

Implementing a grid style view has its pros and cons, but the benefits clearly outweigh the disadvantages. The fact that a website will look visually appealing and professional when set in grid style, is already enough to boost its online reputation. An increase in page views is just the beginning. With the right images and content, a blog will also have better SEO. Most importantly, implementing the changes is not as complex as some might think. With a step-by-step guide available, adding a dynamic view switcher would be completed in no time.

Author. Erwin Widianto

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

How To Set Custom Redirects in Blogger

blogger pages blogger posts how to posts

Over time, most blogs may go through many changes, like posts being added or deleted. In some occasions, you don't want people to get 404 messages when they navigate to posts or pages that don't exist on your blog and instead, make all requests to a specific link to be redirected to another page. One of the best way to avoid broken links and keep your traffic flowing in the right direction is setting custom redirects via the Blogger Custom Redirects tool.

This tutorial will show you how to set custom redirects for Blogger posts and redirect an old URL to a new URL. But before redirecting any URL, you must know that there are two types of redirects:

A 302 redirect means that the page has moved temporarily. This redirect doesn't pass the URL value to the new location and instead, it will take the visitors to an appropriate location so that you aren't showing them a 404 page not found, or an error page. You can use a 302 redirect for coming soon pages or maintenance pages.
A 301 redirect means that a page has moved permanently to a new location. Use the 301 redirect when you deleted or changed the URL of your post. In most instances, the 301 redirects are always recommended for SEO because they will pass link juice (ranking power) to the redirected page and visitors will also benefit from this. However, 301s aren't suitable when you change your custom-domain, because it only supports redirection within the same blog, not to an external URL.

Now that we've established which is which, let's see how to set custom redirects for Blogger posts.

How to redirect old URL to new URL in Blogger

Step 1. Login to you Blogger account with email and password.

Step 2. Click on your blog > go to Settings \ Search Preferences and click "Edit" next to "Custom Redirects."

search preferences, custom redirects, 301, 302 redirect

Step 3. Enter the old URL in the "From" field, and the new URL in the "To" field including the forward slash "/" (see the screenshot below)

custom redirects, redirect old url to new url

Note: Do not enter the full URL in these fields. Just omit the address of your blog and type only the rest of the link. Again, this works only if you wish to redirect within your blogger blog and not to any external links.

Step 4. Click the "Save" link (1) and the "Save changes" button (2), and you're done!

If you want to redirect more pages, just click the "New redirect" button. Also, you can check out this tutorial to learn how to create a static homepage in Blogger using custom redirects.

Author. Erwin Widianto

Monday, May 12, 2014

Responsive CSS Timeline with 3D Effect for Blogger

Blog Design blogger posts css posts

Here's another amazing way to display the Blogger posts. By applying the following Responsive CSS Timeline View with 3D Effect on Blogger Posts, we will have a responsive timeline-like structure of our most recent posts with thumbnails, plus some cool CSS effects. When clicking on the associated radio input, the posts snippet/summary will expand by changing their style and size and will rotate in 3D. The main structure of this CSS timeline with 3D effect is an unordered list.

To get an idea of how it looks like, you can visit this demo blog.

responsive CSS timeline, customize blogger posts

How to Add Responsive CSS Timeline View to Blogger Posts

Step 1. Go to Blogger dashboard > "Template" > click on the "Edit HTML" button:

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the search box:

Step 3. Type or paste the following tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it:

</head>

Step 4. Just above the </head> tag, copy and paste the following style:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<style type='text/css'>
.post-body img, .post-body .tr-caption-container, .Profile img, .Image img,
.BlogList .item-thumbnail img {padding: 0px; border: 0px;}
.post-footer {display: none;}
.post {margin-bottom: 50px; padding-bottom: 0px; background: none; border: none;}
.jump-link a {display: none;}
h3.post-title a {display: none;}
.date-header {display: none;}
*,
.timeline:after,
.timeline:before {box-sizing: border-box;padding: 0; margin: 0;}
.timeline {position: relative;padding: 30px 0 50px 0;font-family: Arial, sans-serif;}
.timeline:before {content: '';position: absolute;width: 5px;height: 100%;margin:0px;top: 0;left: 200px;background: url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAUAAAAFCAYAAACNbyblAAAAJUlEQVQIW2NkQAP/gYARWQwkAOLDBeECjEAAkkEWAKtEFwAJAgAZEBP+oM1IkwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==);}
.event {position: relative;margin-bottom: 80px;padding-right: 40px;}
.thumb {position: absolute; width: 90px; height: 90px;box-shadow:
0 0 0 8px #87939E,
0 1px 1px rgba(255,255,255,0.5);background-repeat: no-repeat;border-radius: 50%;-webkit-transform: scale(0.8) translateX(24px);-moz-transform: scale(0.8) translateX(24px);-o-transform: scale(0.8) translateX(24px);-ms-transform: scale(0.8) translateX(24px);transform: scale(0.8) translateX(24px);}
.thumb:before {content: '';background: transparent url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAICAYAAADA+m62AAAAPElEQVQYV2NkQAP/gYARCNDFUQRgirAphitEl0TngxXisg5ZnBGXIpgbYfIYjkb3BNxGbBLYxIgyEaQRAA8KKAWYsZtjAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);position: absolute;height: 8px; z-index: -1; width: 50px;top: 42px; left: 100%;margin-left: 8px;
}
.thumb span {color: #87939E;width: 100%;text-align: center;font-weight: 700;font-size: 15px;text-transform: uppercase;position: absolute;bottom: -30px;}
.event label,.event input[type="radio"] {width: 24px;height: 24px;left: 158px;top: 36px;position: absolute;display: block;}
.event input[type="radio"] {opacity: 0;z-index: 10;cursor: pointer;}
.event label:after{content: "\2713";background: #8995A1;border-radius: 50%;color: #fff;font-size: 20px;height: 100%;width: 100%;font-weight: bold;left: -2px;top: -3px;line-height: 24px;position: absolute;text-align: center;}
.content-perspective { margin-left: 230px;position: relative;perspective: 600px;-webkit-perspective: 600px;-moz-perspective: 600px;-o-perspective: 600px;-ms-perspective: 600px;}
.content-perspective:before { content: ''; width: 34px; left: -44px; top: 48px;position: absolute;height: 1px; z-index: -2;background: #fff;}
.post-content {transform: rotateY(10deg);transform-origin: 0 0;transform-style: preserve-3d;}
.blog-post-body {position: relative;padding: 20px;color: #333; border-left: 5px solid #8995A1;box-shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);background: #F9F9F9;}
.blog-post-body h3 {border: none;margin: 0px;}
.blog-post-body h3 a{font-size: 21px;padding: 5px 0 5px 0;color: #86919D;margin: 0px;text-decoration: none;border: none;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body h3 a{color: #F26328;}
.blog-post-body p,.thumb span,.event label {-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;}
.blog-post-body p {font-size: 15px;max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden; color: rgba(0,0,0,0);text-align: left;}
.blog-post-body:before {content: '\25c2';font-weight: normal; line-height: 86px; font-size: 86px;position: absolute;color: #8995A1; left: -41px;width: 100%;height: 100%; top: 3px;z-index: -1;}
.thumb,.thumb span,.blog-post-body h3 {transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out 0.2s;-webkit-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out 0.2s;-moz-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out 0.2s;-o-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out 0.2s;-ms-transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out 0.2s;transition: all 0.6s ease-in-out 0.2s;}
.blog-post-body { transition: box-shadow 0.8s linear 0.2s;-webkit-transition: box-shadow 0.8s linear 0.2s;-moz-transition: box-shadow 0.8s linear 0.2s;-o-transition: box-shadow 0.8s linear 0.2s;-ms-transition: box-shadow 0.8s linear 0.2s;}
.post-content {transition: transform 0.8s cubic-bezier(.59,1.45,.69,.98) 0.2s;-webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.8s cubic-bezier(.59,1.45,.69,.98) 0.2s;-moz-transition: -moz-transform 0.8s cubic-bezier(.59,1.45,.69,.98) 0.2s;-o-transition: -o-transform 0.8s cubic-bezier(.59,1.45,.69,.98) 0.2s;-ms-transition: -ms-transform 0.8s cubic-bezier(.59,1.45,.69,.98) 0.2s;}
.blog-post-body p { transition: max-height 0.5s linear, color 0.3s linear;-webkit-transition: max-height 0.5s linear, color 0.3s linear;-moz-transition: max-height 0.5s linear, color 0.3s linear;-o-transition: max-height 0.5s linear, color 0.3s linear;-ms-transition: max-height 0.5s linear, color 0.3s linear;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked + label:after {content: '\2714';color: #fff;background: #F26328;box-shadow: 0 0 0 5px rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective:before {background: #F26328;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body h3 { color: #F26328;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .post-content {transform: rotateY(-5deg);-webkit-transform: rotateY(-5deg);-moz-transform: rotateY(-5deg);-o-transform: rotateY(-5deg);-ms-transform: rotateY(-5deg);}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body {border-color: #F26328;box-shadow: 10px 0px 10px -6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body p {max-height: 460px; color: rgba(0,0,0,0.6); transition-delay: 0s, 0.6s;-webkit-transition-delay: 0s, 0.6s;-moz-transition-delay: 0s, 0.6s;-o-transition-delay: 0s, 0.6s;-ms-transition-delay: 0s, 0.6s;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body:before {color: #F26328;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .thumb {transform: scale(1);box-shadow: 0 0 0 8px rgba(242,99,40,1), 0 1px 1px rgba(255,255,255,0.5); -webkit-transform: scale(1);-moz-transform: scale(1);-o-transform: scale(1);-ms-transform: scale(1);}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .thumb span {color: #F26328;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .thumb:before {
background: transparent url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAoAAAAICAYAAADA+m62AAAAPUlEQVQYV2NkQAOfUjX+882+wYgujiIAU4RNMVwhuiQ6H6wQl3XI4oy4FMHcCJPHcDS6J2A2EqUQpJhohQBbNyaHFmzEqgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==);}
@media screen and (max-width: 850px) {.blog-post-body h3 {font-size: 20px;}
.blog-post-body p { font-size: 14px; text-align: justify; }
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body p { max-height: 500px; }}
@media screen and (max-width: 540px) {.timeline:before { left: 50px;}
.event {padding-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 100px; }
.thumb { transform: scale(0.8); -webkit-transform: scale(0.8);-moz-transform: scale(0.8);-o-transform: scale(0.8);-ms-transform: scale(0.8);}
.event input[type="radio"] { width: 100px;height: 100px;left: 0px;top: 0px; }
.thumb:before,.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .thumb:before {background: none;width: 0;}
.event label {display: none;}
.content-perspective {margin-left: 0px;top: 80px;}
.content-perspective:before {height: 0px; }
.post-content { transform: rotateX(-10deg);-webkit-transform: rotateX(-10deg);-moz-transform: rotateX(-10deg);-o-transform: rotateX(-10deg);-ms-transform: rotateX(-10deg);}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .post-content { transform: rotateX(10deg);-webkit-transform: rotateX(10deg);-moz-transform: rotateX(10deg);-o-transform: rotateX(10deg);-ms-transform: rotateX(10deg);}
.blog-post-body {border-left: none;border-top: 5px solid #8995A1;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body {border-color: #F26328;box-shadow: 0 10px 10px -6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);}
.blog-post-body:before {content: '\25b4';left: 33px; top: -32px;}
.event input[type="radio"]:checked ~ .content-perspective .blog-post-body p {max-height:300px; }}
ul.timeline {list-style-type: none;}
</style>
</b:if>
</b:if>

Step 5. Search for the SECOND instance of this code below (hit Enter two times):

<data:post.body/>

Note: depending on the template you are using, you could find more lines like this one above. Thus, if you don't see any changes after saving the template, try to replace the last one, as well.

Also, please note that if you are using the Read more function, you will need to remove it in order to make it work.

Step 6. After you found <data:post.body/>, replace it this HTML code:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<ul class='timeline'><li class='event'><input checked='checked' name='tl-group' type='radio'/><label/>
<b:if cond='data:post.thumbnailUrl'><img class='thumb' expr:alt='data:post.title' expr:src='data:post.thumbnailUrl'/></b:if><div class='thumb'><b:if cond='data:post.dateHeader'><span><data:post.dateHeader/></span></b:if></div>
<div class='content-perspective'><div class='post-content'><div class='blog-post-body'><h3><b:if cond='data:post.link'><a expr:href='data:post.link'><data:post.title/></a><b:else/><b:if cond='data:post.url'><b:if cond='data:blog.url != data:post.url'><a expr:href='data:post.url'><data:post.title/></a><b:else/><data:post.title/></b:if><b:else/><data:post.title/></b:if></b:if></h3><p><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'><data:post.snippet/></b:if></b:if></p></div></div></div></li></ul></b:if></b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'><data:post.body/></b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "static_page"'><data:post.body/></b:if>

Step 7. Finally, click on the "Save template" button to save the changes.

Now, we will need to make some small adjustments in order to make the posts date appear correctly:
Go to "Layout" and click on the "Edit" link just below the Blog posts area. When the pop-up window appears, check the date option and choose to display the date in the following order (date/month/year):

Note that you can also hide the posts date by unchecking this option.

Finally, click on the "Save" button and that's it! View your blog and enjoy this Responsive Timeline view with 3D Effect on Blogger posts.

Credit: tympanus.net

Author. Erwin Widianto

Friday, May 2, 2014

Display Blogger Posts in Grid View with Thumbnails

Blog Design blogger posts javascript

Grid View with Thumbnails is a script for self-hosted Blogger blogs which will display blog posts as a thumbnail grid of images in homepage and archive pages. Instead of sending your blog visitors to a page that displays all the posts in full length with a large image which takes up too much space and requires too much scrolling, now we can have a clean page that displays a gallery grid, with thumbnails and post titles, linking back to the source post for that thumbnail.

Let's take a look at how it will look like in this demo blog.

If you have a wallpaper or photo blog that would benefit from displaying a thumbnail grid style layout, look no further. Here's how you can add Grid (gallery) View to Blogger posts.

Adding Grid (Gallery) View to Blogger Posts

Step 1. Log into your Blogger account and go to "Template", then click on the "Edit HTML" button

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the search box

Step 3. Type </head> inside the search box and hit Enter to find it.

Step 4. Just above the </head> tag, add the following script and CSS codes:

<script src='http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.9.1.js'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "static_page"'>
<script type='text/javascript'>//<![CDATA[
function hideLightbox(){for(var a=document.getElementsByTagName("img"),b=0;b<a.length;++b)a[b].onmouseover=function(){var a=this.parentNode.innerHTML;this.parentNode.innerHTML=a,this.onmouseover=null}}$(document).ready(function(){var a=200,b=170,c="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_eP9g1CnUPR4GQccq4LR8liUqvayZuxWKrAnXBlWy7LFah4wOVr2SIncmkN9AS-TzrjA97VBCV97CeDtCUHQ-L7oQocMjjTMK349zgRgA7a4EboHyGeTrle9W6emyqRwTWf1sl7OWhs/w500-c-h330/no-thumb.png",d=1;$(".post-body").each(function(e,f){var f=$(f),g=$(f).find("img").first(),h=f.parent().find("h3 a"),i=h.attr("href"),j=h.text();if($(h).remove(),f.empty(),g.attr("src")){var k=g.attr("height"),l=g.attr("width"),m=$(g).parent();if(f.append(m),d)g.attr({src:g.attr("src").replace(/s\B\d{3,4}/,"w500-h330-c")}),g.removeAttr("width").removeAttr("height");else{g.attr({src:g.attr("src").replace(/s\B\d{3,4}/,"s"+a)}),g.removeAttr("width");var n=(k/l*a).toFixed(0);g.attr("height",n)}}else var g=$("<img>").attr("src",c),m=$("<a>").append(g).appendTo(f);m.attr("href",i).css("clear","none").css("margin-left","0").css("margin-right","0").addClass("postThumbnail");var o=$("<div>").prepend(j).css("opacity","0.9").css("filter","alpha(opacity=0.9)").appendTo(m);o.height();o.css("margin-top","-28px"),f.css("height",b).css("overflow","hidden")}),$("#blog-pager").css("clear","both")}),window.addEventListener?window.addEventListener("load",hideLightbox,void 0):window.attachEvent("onload",hideLightbox);
//]]>
</script>
<style type='text/css'>
.post {
width:31.3%;
float:left;
display:inline-block;
border-bottom: medium none;
margin: 0 1% 2%;
padding-bottom: 0;
}
h2.date-header,.post-footer {
display: none;
}
h3.post-title, .comments h4,.post-header{margin:0;}
.postThumbnail:hover {text-decoration:none;}
a.postThumbnail div {
text-decoration: none;
color: #fff;
padding:0 5px;
height:24px;
font:bold 12px/25px "Trebuchet MS",Trebuchet,Verdana,sans-serif;
text-transform: capitalize;
background: rgb(125,126,125);
background: -moz-linear-gradient(top, rgba(125,126,125,1) 0%, rgba(14,14,14,1) 100%);
background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%,rgba(125,126,125,1)), color-stop(100%,rgba(14,14,14,1)));
background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, rgba(125,126,125,1) 0%,rgba(14,14,14,1) 100%);
background: -o-linear-gradient(top, rgba(125,126,125,1) 0%,rgba(14,14,14,1) 100%);
background: -ms-linear-gradient(top, rgba(125,126,125,1) 0%,rgba(14,14,14,1) 100%);
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(125,126,125,1) 0%,rgba(14,14,14,1) 100%);
filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#7d7e7d',endColorstr='#0e0e0e',GradientType=0 );
}
.postThumbnail{width:100%;}
.postThumbnail:hover div {
display: block;
}
.postThumbnail img {
width:100%;
background-color: transparent;
border: medium none;
padding: 0px;
-webkit-border-radius: 12px;
-moz-border-radius: 12px;
border-radius: 12px;
transition: opacity .25s ease-in-out;
-moz-transition: opacity .25s ease-in-out;
-webkit-transition: opacity .25s ease-in-out;
}
.postThumbnail img:hover {
-ms-filter: "progid: DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=70)";
filter: alpha(opacity=70);
-moz-opacity: 0.7;
-khtml-opacity: 0.7;
opacity: 0.7;
}
</style>
</b:if></b:if>

Note: If there's too much space below the posts, modify the 170 height value.

Step 5. Click on the "Save template" button to save the changes and View your blog. Now you should have a nice grid view on your Blogger posts. Enjoy!

Author. Erwin Widianto

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

How to Share Blogger post automatically to Facebook using IFTTT

Step 1. Sign up for a free IFTTT account

Step 2. Create a new recipe

Step 3. Connect Blogger blog with IFTTT

Step 4. Creating the 'That' trigger

Step 5. Connect Facebook page with IFTTT

Step 6. Choosing the ingredients

Step 7. Finish creating the recipe

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Backdate Blogger Posts

Hide Blog Posts in Blogger Using Code

Method 1: Hide Blogger Post Using the Post's label

Method 2: Hide Blogger Post Using the Post's ID Number

That's it!

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Related Posts Widget Features:

Requirements:

Adding Customizable Related Posts Widget in Blogger

How to Customize the Related Posts Widget for Blogger?

Available Related Posts Styles

Customizing the Related Post Thumbnail Size & Style

Customizing Related Titles & Excerpts

Final words

Friday, September 9, 2016

How it works?

Demo

Adding Load More Posts or Infinite Scrolling to Blogger

Conclusion

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

How to Add a List/Grid View Switcher in Blogger

That's it!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Features

What features can you expect from a grid style post in Blogger?

What are the benefits of grid style?

How to Create Masonry, Grid Style Posts in Blogger

Simple Grid Design

Grid Layout with Post Summary and Thumbnail

Grid Layout with Text Snippet on Hover

Masonry Layout (Pinterest Like Grid)

That's it!

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

How to redirect old URL to new URL in Blogger

Monday, May 12, 2014

How to Add Responsive CSS Timeline View to Blogger Posts

Friday, May 2, 2014

Adding Grid (Gallery) View to Blogger Posts