to Start a Blog

Those new to Blogger often ask about how to change the blog description in a Blogger blog . In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to modify your blog description using the Template Editor to change the color of the font. If you have made changes to the background color of your header you may also want to change the font color of the blog description. If you want to learn how to change the font style or change the look of the text please see my Blogger tutorial on how to change the font size and font style of the blog description . How to Change the Color of the Blog Description Before you start ensure you have blog description enabled on your Blogger blog. This tutorial assumes you have a default Blogger template installed on your blog. If you are using a custom template these instructions may or may not work depending on the coding of your custom Blogger template. Log on to Blogger and navigate to the dashboard of your blog From the left hand menu select "Template" ...

Is your custom Blogger template missing its quick edit pencil at the bottom of your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts)? Don't worry. In this Blogger tutorial I discuss how to show a quick edit pencil icon beneath Blogger posts if it is missing. This is a common Blogger problem among custom Blogger templates but fortunately it only takes a couple of minutes to fix. This Blogger tutorial follows on from my previous Blogspot tutorial about fixing missing Blogger icons. Check out how to show quick edit gadget wrench in Blogger (Blogspot) for help with this issue. In my previous Blogger tutorials I have also discussed how to fix many other common Blogger problems eg how to fix a missing embedded comment form in Blogger . Take a look at all my Blogger tutorials on how to fix common Blogger problems (Blogspot problems) here Fix Missing Quick Edit Pencil Blogger Blogspot The quick edit pencil is a nice Blogger feature that you would not want to be without. A click on this time saving Blogger...

In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to enhance your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) by adding a post divider to your Blogger template. Used effectively post dividers can really jazz up your blog and will lend it that individual feel which most of us are hoping to create. This tweak is very easy and well within the capabilities of any Blogspot blogger. Only a few simple changes to your Blogger template are required and these are in the CSS styling section. By way of example I will use a divider that I downloaded from the internet free by searching for free divider graphics . Here are some sample dividers you can use to get started: URL address: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77uNK_cfFmJp9Zz3IzuROQjenjOhaWAKETv7dl6jRdmkdvx5J20F3WPXrzn5lAX_P-oHusS45kWghGpU3GdS84EthhNcI7lkPHej7wa6fLyMw_Ir6qLqOZYc62FAmYqBVHbsiw83l-F0/s400/ribbon.gif URL address: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9uBBT9LcRUT7k0awmN3iihQDjL7RS0f8ZWrlBtSBerIVuCC...

This is the second article in a series about CSS styling tricks and tips for Blogger written with Blogger beginners and novices in mind but suitable for all bloggers who want to customize their existing Blogger template. While the first article dealt with how to add or remove image borders in Blogger today I show you how to align and justify Blogger posts. Skill Level: Beginner Rating: Easy Time: 1 Minute Many of the questions that my readers ask me are about how to customize various features of their Blogger template (Blogspot template). Over the coming weeks I will be focusing on some simple CSS styling tricks and tips to help you get more out of your Blogger template. Much can be achieved by learning a little about CSS. So before you rush off to download a custom Blogger template consider customizing your existing Blogger template. This tutorial is part of a series of articles that I will publishing over the coming weeks about customizing your Blogger template using CSS styl...

If you are a regular Twitter user and have a bunch of followers you might want to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). In today's tutorial I will show you the easy way to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). It is fairly straightforward to add this Twitter Updates widget to Blogger so please don't be put off if you are a Blogger beginner as you can have this widget up and running in no time. If you are new to Twitter and don't have an account yet you can sign up to Twitter for free How to Add a Twitter Updates Gadget to Blogger There are several methods of adding a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger which I will be discussing over the next few posts. Today I will start with the easiest method by far. This Twitter widget won't slow down your blog loading time particularly but I suggest as with all HTML widgets that you place it near the bottom of your column of gadgets and limit the number of updates shown. This Twitter Updates widget will ...

In this Blogspot tutorial you will learn how to convert your existing Blogger footer (Blogspot footer) into a 3 column footer or a 4 column footer. With more columns in your Blogger footer you will be have the extra room to accommodate more widgets such as Flickr photos and Twitter updates. Also you will be able to put less frequently used widgets such as recents comments, archives, followers, About Me etc at the bottom of your template so that only the most important widgets are loaded first. This tweak involves adding code to the footer section of your existing Blogger template to change it to 3 columns or 4 columns. The tutorial is not beyond the capabilities of Blogger newbies and webmasters with intermediate skills but care needs to be taken when modifying your Blogger template so back up before you start. For best results a Blogger template with a width of around 900px is best. How to Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger Log in to Blogger if not already logged in Navigate to Layo...

In this article you will learn how to place an email this post link or button at the bottom of each post in a Blogger Blogspot blog. You may have noticed that some blogs give readers the option below their posts to email the article to themselves or a friend via a link or button. This affords readers yet another way to have access to your posts and a link for them to find you if they want to call back. This email link should not be confused with the subscribe by email link which once a reader is signed up to will give them regular updates of each post you publish. This email link on the other hand only emails the reader the single post they are interested in. There are several ways to place an email this post link on your Blogger Blogspot blog. Here are three methods known to me. Add Email This Post to Blogger - Method 1 The easiest method. Adds an email button to the end of each post. 1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in 2. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements 3. Within...

Today's article will show you how to add a print button or printer link to your Blogger Blogspot blog. The facility to print a hard copy of a post may be important to some visitors especially if you are like me and publish lengthy posts. Adding a printer button or link will add to your blog's functionality and user friendliness. The reason I am writing this article is in response to a reader who asked me how to print out posts without the sidebar showing up. All the suggested buttons and links print out the post only and not the sidebar, header or footer. This tutorial involves changing the template code but is not difficult as long as you follow these step by step instructions. How to Add a Custom Print Button to Your Blogger Blogspot Blog The following instructions will place a printer button on each individual page of your blog below the post. Only the blog article itself will be printed along with any comments. The sidebar will not be printed. Example of the printer but...

If your intention is to make money from your blog chances are you will want to add an affiliate marketing banner to your Blogger Blogspot header. Doubtless you have seen plenty of websites sporting advertising banners which are creating revenue for the author by way of banner clicks. With a small amount of tweaking to your Blogger template you too will be in a position to boost the revenue earning capacity of your Blogger blog. Add an Affiliate Banner to Blogger Header There are a variety of good places for a banner but the header of a blog is by far the most prominent area. Unfortunately Blogger does not have an easy facility for inserting an advertising banner into your Blogger header. To manage this issue you have two choices: 1. Use a custom template that comes banner ready. (There are a number of templates out there with this feature built-in) 2. Or customize your existing standard Blogger template. This article focuses on choice 2 - how to go about manually editing your te...

There are so many places to position Google Adsense in a Blogger Blogspot blog. This article covers the most common places to add Google Adsense ad units and linked units in a Blogger blog together with links to the various articles which explain in detail how to insert the Google Adsense ad unit into Blogger. Included in this article about Google Adsense placement are articles that cover positioning in the header both above and below the title, in the sidebar, in the footer, between the posts, between the header and the first post, below the post title, in the middle of posts, between the end of an article but before the embedded comment form Format of Google Adsense Ad Unit Google Adsense Ad Units 728x90 Leaderboard 728x90 leaderboard under Blogger header 728x90 leaderboard above Blogger header 160x600 Vertical Wide Banner 160x600 vertical wide banner in sidebar or 120x600 or 120x200 336x280 Large Rectangle 336x280 below post title or 250x250 or 300x250 Google Adsense Linked Units...

Outbrain provides a free and very stylish content recommendations and ratings widget which can be easily added to your Blogger Blogspot blog. In this tutorial I will discuss the benefits of Outbrain and also provide a step by step walkthrough of the process of adding an Outbrain widget to your Blogger blog and your Feedburner FeedFlare if you have burned your blog feed at Feedburner. Benefits of Adding Outbrain to Your Blogger Blog By adding an Outbrain content and ratings widget to your Blogger blog you will encourage visitors to record their reactions to a post they have just read. Along with features likes polls this is another good method of encouraging visitors to interact with your blog. Outbrain also makes it possible to display your most popular posts within the widget. In addition the Outbrain ratings widget may help drive more traffic to your blog when your visitors use the Recommended Posts feature which is embedded in the widget. By the same token it may also mean that the...

Today I will show you how to fix your Blogger template if the embedded comments feature is missing or not working. I decided to write this article because I have noticed that the embed a comment below the post feature is often not working in many Blogger custom templates available for download. This is usually because many of these templates were released prior to Blogger enabling embedded comments. If you have downloaded a custom template that has embed a comment missing then read on as I will show you how to insert the code for embed a comment form into your template. Inserting code into a blog template can be challenging for some but if you follow these instructions it is not beyond even virtual beginners. 1. Login to Blogger if you are not already logged in 2. Navigate to Settings > Comments . Under Comment Form Placement make sure the Embedded below Post radio button is set. Save any changes you make. 3. Navigate to Layout > Edit HTML 4. I strongly recommend you back u...

In this tutorial I will show you how to set a different date from the actual date when posting to your Blogger Blogspot blog and discuss some of the benefits and uses of setting a different date. Benefits of Setting a Different Date Blogger permits a Blogger webmaster to set any publication date for a post they choose. This flexibility means that when you publish your entry it can be published retrospectively, in the here and now or for a future date. There are a variety of reasons for setting a particular publishing date for a post: Set a Retrospective Publication Date Some examples of situations where you may find it useful to set a post to a retrospective date are: In order to keep continuity with a sequence of articles. You might use this feature if you forget to post an article in a sequence or decide afterwards to add an extra article to the sequence. Another application for the retrospective date feature is to create a page such as an About page and attribute a specific dat...