Share Blogger Post Automatically to Facebook using IFTTT

Share Blogger Post Automatically to Facebook using IFTTT

blogger posts Facebook social media

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.

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'.

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

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.

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:

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

How to Hide Posts from Blogger Homepage

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='&quot;post-&quot; + 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

Customizable Related Posts Widget for Blogger

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.

Related Posts Widget Features:

• 9 attractive styles to match your needs
• Show Title, excerpt & thumbnails
• Display simple related posts with titles / summaries / post date
• Choose whether to display the post thumbnails or not
• Ability to control the thumbnail image size
• Option to choose square or round thumbnails
• Show post text excerpts
• Control the length of the post excerpt / title
• Determine the number of related posts to display

Requirements:

1. The related posts widget recognizes post thumbnails uploaded through Blogger itself (or Picasa Web Albums), other images from Photobucket, Flickr, or other non-Blogger hosts will not be supported.
2. This widget is compatible with the standard desktop Blogger templates except Dynamic Views, which does not accept customization.
3. The script does not work on private blogs, so your blog / site must be open to the public in order to show.

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 &#39;Open Sans&#39;, 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 &#39;Open Sans&#39;, sans-serif;outline: 0;}.related-snippets{margin-top:5px;font:italic 12px &#39;Open Sans&#39;, 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 &#39;Open Sans&#39;, sans-serif;padding:0 20px;}.related-date{margin-top:5px;font:italic 11px &#39;Open Sans&#39;, 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 == &quot;item&quot;'>
<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'>&quot;<data:label.name/>&quot;<b:if cond='data:label.isLast != &quot;true&quot;'>,</b:if></b:loop></b:if>];
var relatedSettings = {
blogURL:&quot;<data:blog.homepageUrl/>&quot;,
relatedHeading:&quot;&lt;h4&gt;&lt;span&gt;Related Posts&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;&quot;,
relatedPosts:4,
relatedStyle:4,
thumbnailSize:&quot;w300-h200-p-nu&quot;,
defaultThumb:&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYphQtNKeMmZooToNMgUY7XpNF7ZMkG4miPDgXDUMajcUOhf94ZQlBkDoB0FEpRr_HBO5KfDdavKV3VXOYXeC-J8oj3tnQ-Ssi95dzLWAEXrSgb7MdEN7zlGBfmYvhmkgtRkMu-WPL1JQ/300-h200-c/no-thumb.png&quot;,
roundThumbs:false,
titleLength:&quot;auto&quot;,
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)+"&hellip;":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)+"&hellip;":"";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: &quot;&lt;h4&gt;&lt;span&gt;Related Posts&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h4&gt;&quot;,

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

1. simple related posts widget that will show post titles only
2. display post titles and snippets
3. display post thumbnails, titles and snippets
4. display related posts thumbnails, titles and post date (shows by default)
5. display related posts thumbnails and titles
6. post titles in front of thumbnails, instead of having them below the thumbnail
7. display thumbnails only
8. small thumbnail with titles on the right and date below
9. 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: &quot;w300-h200-p-nu&quot;,
defaultThumb: &quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDYphQtNKeMmZooToNMgUY7XpNF7ZMkG4miPDgXDUMajcUOhf94ZQlBkDoB0FEpRr_HBO5KfDdavKV3VXOYXeC-J8oj3tnQ-Ssi95dzLWAEXrSgb7MdEN7zlGBfmYvhmkgtRkMu-WPL1JQ/300-h200-c/no-thumb.png&quot;,

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: &quot;auto&quot;,

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

Add Load More Posts or Infinite Scrolling to Blogger

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 != &quot;static_page&quot;'><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
<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 != &quot;static_page&quot;'><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
<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

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

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:

<script type='text/javascript'>
function list_view(){
if(document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post&quot;)) {elementArray = document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post&quot;); while (elementArray.length) {elementArray[0].className = &quot;post-grid-view&quot;;}}
if(document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post-title&quot;)) {elementArray = document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post-title&quot;); while (elementArray.length) {elementArray[0].className = &quot;post-title-grid&quot;;}}
}
function grid_view(){
if(document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post-grid-view&quot;)) {elementArray = document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post-grid-view&quot;); while (elementArray.length) {elementArray[0].className = &quot;post&quot;;}}
if(document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post-title-grid&quot;)) {elementArray = document.getElementsByClassName(&quot;post-title-grid&quot;); while (elementArray.length) {elementArray[0].className = &quot;post-title&quot;;}}
}
</script>
 <script type='text/javascript'>
posts_no_thumb_sum = 100;
posts_thumb_sum = 350;
</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
function removeHtmlTag(strx,chop){
if(strx.indexOf("<")!=-1)
{
var s = strx.split("<");
for(var i=0;i<s.length;i++){
if(s[i].indexOf(">")!=-1){
s[i] = s[i].substring(s[i].indexOf(">")+1,s[i].length);
}
}
strx = s.join("");
}
chop = (chop < strx.length-1) ? chop : strx.length-2;
while(strx.charAt(chop-1)!=' ' && strx.indexOf(' ',chop)!=-1) chop++;
strx = strx.substring(0,chop-1);
return strx+'...';
}
function createSummaryAndThumb(pID, pURL, pTITLE){
var div = document.getElementById(pID);
var imgtag = "";
var img = div.getElementsByTagName("img");
var summ = posts_no_thumb_sum;
if(img.length>=1) {
imgtag = '<span class="posts-thumb" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px;"><a href="'+ pURL +'"><img src="'+img[0].src+'" /></a></span>';
summ = posts_thumb_sum;
}

else {
imgtag = '<span class="posts-thumb" style="float:left; margin-right: 10px;"><a href="'+ pURL +'" title="'+ pTITLE+'"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwcew9z16VlZms_B_OaMTd7mNK_W8lthIr6yFFtl7aeRf5_b7PTmo68jtuHtWiOOOPshqYNQbnoAXOQJ0YU034wDDWvs2j0cTQwnZhiVBeV9paMSYT2QD7IKHsoHYOEMbEf_rG7rh1knku/s1600/sorry-image-not-available.png" style="margin-top: -30px;" /></a></span>';
summ = posts_thumb_sum;
}

var summary = imgtag + '<a href="'+ pURL +'"><div class="post-summary-text">' + removeHtmlTag(div.innerHTML,summ) + '</div></a>';
div.innerHTML = summary;
}
//]]>
</script>

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= &quot;item&quot;'>
<style>
#list-view-button {font-family: Verdana; text-align:left;cursor:pointer;font-size: 14px;border-bottom: 5px solid #eaeaea;text-decoration: none;}
#list-view-button a{text-decoration: none; color: #666;}
.grid-view-button {background-color:#efefef;color:#666;padding:5px 10px;border-radius: 5px;font-size: 12px;}
.list-view-button {background-color:#efefef;color:#000;padding:5px 10px;border-radius: 5px;font-size: 12px;}
.post-grid-view {width:100%;height:250px;overflow: hidden;float:left;margin:0px 0px 20px !important;position:relative;display: block; -webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; -moz-transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; -o-transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; }
.post-grid-view .posts-thumb {width:40% !important;height:250px !important;float:left;margin:0px;position:relative;border-top: 0px solid transparent !important;overflow: hidden;}
.post-grid-view .post-header {display: none;}
.post-grid-view .post-body img {min-width: 300px !important; min-height: 250px !important;display:block;width:100%!important;height:auto!important;max-width:800px!important;max-height:400px!important;border:none;outline:none;position:relative;margin: 0px;padding:0;}
.post-grid-view .post-summary-text {opacity: 1; background: none; width: 58%;font-size: 120% !important;clear: none !important; display: inline-block !important; padding: 80px 0px !important; color: #666 !important; text-shadow: none !important; float: right !important; text-align: left; position: relative !important; font-family: &#39;Open Sans Condensed&#39;, sans-serif;}
.post-grid-view .post-body {height: 250px;background:#f5f5f5; box-shadow: none !important;}
.post-title-grid a { font-size:170%;color: #777;font-family: &#39;Open Sans Condensed&#39;, sans-serif;}
.post-title-grid { position: absolute; left: 42%; top: 5%; z-index: 1;}
.post-grid-view .post-footer {left: 41%; display:block;position: absolute; bottom: 2%;font-size: 120%; background: transparent !important; border: 0px solid transparent !important;font-family: &#39;Open Sans Condensed&#39;, sans-serif;}
.post-grid-view .post-footer a{color: #128EC9;}
.post-grid-view a.comment-bubble {display: none;}
.main-inner .column-center-inner .section {margin: 0px !important;}
.post { -webkit-transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; -moz-transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; -o-transition:all 0.5s ease 0s; transition:all 0.5s ease 0s;}

#blog-pager {clear:both;}
.post {height:auto;width:32.2%;display:inline-block;text-decoration:none;float:left;margin:0 1% 1% 0%;overflow: hidden;padding:0!important;}
.date-header {display: none;}
h3.post-title a {font-size:90%;font-family: &#39;Open Sans Condensed&#39;, sans-serif;text-transform:uppercase;color:#fff;text-shadow: 1px 1px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);font-weight: bold;}
h3.post-title {text-align: center; position:absolute;top:0;width:100%;overflow:hidden;margin:0px !important;padding-top: 30%; background-color: rgba(50, 126, 213, 0.8);transform: scale(1);opacity: 0;z-index: 10;height: 100%;transition: all 300ms ease-out 0s;}
h3.post-title:hover {opacity: 1;}
.posts-thumb {width:100%!important;height:200px!important;overflow:hidden;clear:both;}
.post-body {border-radius:2px;box-shadow:0 5px 4px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);position:relative;overflow: hidden;}
.post-body a {text-decoration: none;}
.post-body img {display:block;width:100%!important;height:auto!important;max-width:800px!important;max-height:400px!important;min-width:200px!important;min-height:200px!important;border:none;outline:none;position:relative;margin: 0px;padding:0;}
.post-summary-text {display: none;}
a.comment-bubble {color:#fff;text-decoration:none;font-size:100%;width: 100%;text-align: center;position:absolute;top:175px;left: 0px;text-shadow:1px 2px 1px #333;font-family: &#39;Pacifico&#39;, cursive;z-index: 122;}
a.comment-bubble:before { content: &quot;Comments: &quot; 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='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans+Condensed:300' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>
<link href='http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Pacifico' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

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 != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType!= &quot;item&quot;'>
<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 != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
        <div expr:id='&quot;summary&quot; + data:post.id'>
            <data:post.body/>
        </div>
        <script type='text/javascript'>createSummaryAndThumb(&quot;summary<data:post.id/>&quot;,&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;);</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 == &quot;item&quot;'>
    <data:post.body/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;static_page&quot;'>
    <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