eBook(s) in Progress...

My first eBook, The Cheat's Guide to Customizing Blogger Templates, has been far more successful than I could have imagined. According to my hosting stats, this has been downloaded over 15,000 times since it's release (which astounds me!), and I've had loads of wonderful feedback about this.

Now that my "offline" schedule is a little less busy, I've begun writing two new eBooks which will be available for download in the near future.

As before, these eBooks will be focused on the needs of those using Google Blogger to publish their blogs, and will be available for free download through this blog:

Choosing and Using a New Blogger Template

One of the most requested article suggestions for Blogger Buster is -

A step by step tutorial to change your Blogger template without screwing everything up! (via the Skribit widget)

While I have written a few tutorials in regard to this so far, I think a complete guide would span quite a few pages if written as a post.

So instead, I'm going to release this tutorial as a short eBook, with a few added bonuses which you won't find elsewhere.

I hope to have completed finished writing this within a week or two, and will distribute this directly from the site.

"The Blogger Book"

Okay, I admit I haven't conjured up a definitive title for this eBook yet, so any suggestions would be most welcome!

This eBook will be "the biggie": a compilation of useful information, tutorials and insight to help you build a better blog with Blogger.

I hope "the Blogger book" will appeal to Blogger users with all levels of experience, from those just beginning to use Blogger to those who have been blogging for some time! It will be about using Blogger in general (rather than focusing exclusively on one aspect of Blogger), with useful sections and tutorials that you won't find anywhere else online.

As you can imagine, this eBook will take significantly longer to write. So far, I'd guess this will be well over 100 pages long (perhaps closer to 200) and although I will be giving this ebook away for free, most likely this will be offered only to subscribers (as an incentive to subscribe to Blogger Buster).

What do you think about this? Would you still be interested in "the Blogger book" if I offer it only to subscribers?

Your suggestions are warmly welcomed!

If you have any suggestions for the content (or format) of either of these ebooks, I would really like to hear from you! Please feel free to write your comments below, I'd love to know your opinions and will be sure to consider any suggestions you may have.

How to Print your Blogger Posts Effectively

As many of the posts here are tutorials, I thought it would be useful for readers to print off individual blog posts for future reference. Sure, it would be possible for a reader to choose the "print" option from their web browser window, but this would have printed the header, sidebars and other irrelevant sections of the blog, wasting paper and ink and time.

Using a combination of CSS and JavaScript, I've developed a simple yet effective method of printing only the blog post (and comments) from each blog page.

In this post, I'll explain how you can also add effective print functionality to your Blogger posts in just two simple steps.

To get an idea of what this post would appear like when printed, use the "Print Preview" function in your web browser. Whereas the current page appears colorful and includes the header, sidebars and other elements of this template, printed pages from this blog will appear like this instead:

As you can see in this example:

• The header and sidebar sections do not appear


• Text is black printed against a plain white background


• The post spans the width of the printed page


• The post retains images and formatting


• Only the necessary areas will be printed!

How to install effective printing format for your Blogger posts

Although it took me a few attempts to ensure my posts would print in this way, I have created this tutorial to make it simple and fast for you to install in your own blogs.

There are only two steps to add this functionality to your own Blogger template:

1. Add a few lines of CSS code (to make printed pages appear in this way)


2. Add one line of JavaScript beneath your posts (which creates a link for readers to print the post)

There are a few different options for the style of the print link, as I'll explain below.

Add CSS Style Code to your Blogger Template

To add the print styling code to your Blogger template, simply go to Layout>Edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard, and search for the closing tag.

Immedietly before this line, add the following lines of code (copy and paste this directly to your Blogger template):




If you like, you can preview your blog before saving. On this preview page, you'll be able to see the print preview displays only your blog posts (not the sidebar or other unwanted areas).

Finally, save your template.

Add a "Print this post" link

To notify your readers that your posts can be printed effectively, you'll probably want to add a "Print" link beneath each of your Blogger posts.

I've created three different styles for the print link, so you can choose the option which works best for your overall design.

To add the print link, go to the "Edit HTML" page again, and this time ensure that you've ticked the "expand widget templates" box.

Now search for this line:

Immediately after this line, paste one of these three sections of code:

For a simple text link:

Print this post


Print this post


For a button link

For a snazzy link with printer icon

Print this post


Print this post


Once you have added this code, save your template. These links will only be visible on post pages (to enable visitors to print the full post and any comments which appear beneath the post), so visit one of your post pages to see the link in action.

You can see an example of the print link near the bottom of this post. If you click on this link, you will be prompted to print this entire post (and comments) using your default printer.

Why it may be useful to enable printing for your Blogger posts

If you publish tutorials or lengthy content, your readers may benefit greatly from being able to print and read your posts offline.

Using the methods outlined here, readers can print only the content of your posts, and not the unnecessary distractions of the sidebar, footer and header sections (which saves on paper and printer ink too!).

You may also want to print off your blog posts for your own benefit, such as to back up your posts in print format, or to demonstrate your abilities in a print portfolio.

Unlike other plugins I have come across, this method also allows you to print any comments under your post too. Comments can add a great deal of value to blog posts, and may contain reader insights which are not included in the body of the post itself.

I hope this tutorial has been useful for you! Please feel free to print this off for future reference ;) and as always your comments are most welcomed.

An Interview with Avi Abrams of Dark Roasted Blend

Dark Roasted Blend is probably the most addictive blog I have ever had the pleasure to read. Featuring "weird and wonderful things to complement your daily coffee ritual", this amazing blog is ranked among the top 400 blogs according to Technorati and at number 8 in the most popular Blogger powered blogs.

I've had the pleasure of an email interview with Avi Abrams, the founder and writer of Dark Roasted Blend, to discover more about the site and his experience using Blogger.

I hope you will enjoy reading Avi's answers as much as I did!

Amanda: I love the concept of your blog: "weird and wonderful things to complement your daily coffee ritual". What inspired you to develop this idea?

Avi: The fact that I was spending most of my coffee time hugging computer and the internet, finding great stuff - so I just wanted to share it.

Amanda: As you're probably aware, Dark Roasted Blend is one of the most popular Blogger blogs in the world (and ranks very highly in Technorati!). What factors do you think have contributed to the popularity of Dark Roasted Blend?

Avi: We update every day, we seek out unconventional content (from international sites, not just English-based), we highlight very unusual and rare technology and art - sprinkled with a liberal doze of humor and funny pictures. Plus I have to commend our audience - they are truly the stars of the site, with their knowledgeable comments, suggestions and interests. A lot of growth comes from our RSS subscriptions, which tells me that perhaps DRB is pretty addictive (viewers beware!)

Amanda: Your blog design and set-up are amazing: visually the design perfectly complements the theme, while the links all draw readers further into the archives to read previous posts. Did you design your blog's theme yourself? Also, how long did it take to create this blog design?

Avi: The design is a work in progress, as I constantly try to improve the experience. Generally I designed the site so that people could have a comfortable, almost coffee-shop-like time and stay as long as they like. Our archives remain popular for long time, as we try to keep the quality of posts uniformly high, with content not easily available on other sites. Just recently we changed to flexible layout so that we could display larger images, and there are more design enhancements coming.

Amanda: What are your favorite (or most popular) posts from Dark Roasted Blend?

Avi: This page lists the most popular articles from DRB in 2007.

Our Dangerous Roads Series remains very popular (despite being the oldest).

People also seem to like our "Futurism" section and "Abandoned Places" section.

Amanda: Most of my readers use Blogger to publish their blogs. Could you suggest one really useful tip to help Blogger users improve their blogs?

Avi: Don't ever think that nobody reads your blog, even if the number of readers is low. Keep posting good content, and the right people will eventually see it (even if they come from Google search). I also keep Science Fiction Book Review site and it always has readership, even though I do not spend any time at all to promote it. Generally, write only when you can not keep yourself from writing - something you're passionate about. There will always be people who will share your excitement. Oh... and don't forget to feed your hamsters, if you have any.

Amanda: Thank you Avi for sharing your experiences with us :)

If you've never visited Dark Roasted Blend before, do pop over to take a look. I'm sure you'll agree it's one of the most addictive and interesting sites you'll ever see!

I'd love to know your thoughts about Avi's interview, so please feel free to leave your comments below.

Featured in .Net Magazine

If you're a reader of .Net Magazine (or Practical Web Design as it's known in the US). flick through to page 18 where you'll see Blogger Buster featured as one of this month's "readers sites":

Thank you .Net Magazine!

How to Highlight Author Comments

Highlighting author comments using a different background color, border or different style of text helps readers understand when you have personally posted a response.

So far, "How to Highlight Author Comments" has been the most requested article in my Skribit widget, so in this post I'll explain how you can change comments which you have posted yourself to distinguish these from other comments on your posts.

First things first!

The main obstacle I've faced in writing up this article so far is that different Blogger templates code the comments section differently.

While the easiest method for me to write would have been to say "Find this code and replace it with this", such a method would only be usable by bloggers whose template matches the code.

Instead, my explanation may be a little more complicated than usual, though I hope this explanation will ensure anyone using a Blogger template will understand how to implement the highlighted author comments hack!

Backup your Blogger Template!

Before even attempting to customize your Blogger template, the first thing you should do is back up your template. This ensures you can easily restore your original template if something goes wrong. Also, as most of us cannot see comments unless we are viewing a post page, it would be impossible to see if code changes have adversely affected the comments section.

To make a backup of your Blogger template, simply go to Layout>Edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard, and click on the "Download Full Template" link. This will save your existing template as an XML file which you could use to restore your blog, just in case :)

Finding the Comments Block in your Blogger Template

The first thing we need to do in order to implement this hack is to locate the "comments block" within your Blogger template.

To find the comments section, you will need to tick the "expand widget templates" box as this code is contained within your main "Blog Posts" widget.

As I've already pointed out, the section of code used to display comments varies in different templates, so in order to find this section, you may need to search for some specific tags rather than complete sections of code.

To give you an idea of what you are searching for, here is the complete comments-block code from the Minima template:

If you are using Minima (or a similar template) you should be able to locate this section of code easily. However, some templates use

and
• instead of

  and

  tags, in which case the code you are looking for may look more like the section on this page instead, or could even be wrapped in simple

  tags.

  If you are having trouble locating the comments section in your blog's HTML code, do a CTRL+F (or CMD+F for Mac users) search within your template code for the following template tags:
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  The comments section of your blog's HTML code should contain all three of these template tags. Simply locate these tags and the surrounding code in your template, then work out where this section begins and ends using your discretion.

  Generally speaking, this section will usually begin with

  or

  or
  and end with a matching closing tag.
  Changing the comments code to add author highlighting
  Once you have located your comments section in your blog's HTML code, you will need to highlight this entire section of code and replace it with the following section of code instead:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  • 
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    

    
    
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The simplest way to change your comment code is to follow these steps:
  
  1. Copy the code above to your clipboard
  
  
  2. Highlight the entire section of your comment code in your Blogger template
  
  
  3. Paste the code from your clipboard in place of the existing code by keying CTRL+V (or CMD+V).
  One quick method to check if you have made code errors is to preview your template. If you have accidentally omitted some code, you will receive an error message. In this case, you should press the "clear edits" button and begin again.
  If you don't get an error message, you can then proceed to save your template.
  Adding style for author comments
  At this stage, your own comments will still appear in the same style as other comments. To highlight author comments, we need to add some style code to your blog template.
  This step is much easier than locating and changing the comment section. Simply locate the closing tag in your Blogger template, and immedietly before this, paste the following section of code:
  
  
  .author-comments {

background: #cccccc;

border: 1px solid #333333;

padding: 5px;

}
  
  
  If you prefer, you can change the hex colors (#cccccc and #333333) to match the color scheme of your own template (discover the color codes for your preferred schemes using the web color calculator).
  Then save your template.
  Now when you make a comment on your blog while signed in to your Blogger account, your comments will have a different border and background color to comments posted by your readers.
  Here is the effect of this author comment highlighting hack as seen in one of my test blogs:
  
  I hope this tutorial has helped you discover how to highlight author comments in your own Blogger blogs.
  You may also be interested to read how I added MyBlogLog comment avatars, which is the method I use here to distinguish between my own and readers comments.
  Please let me know your opinions of this post by leaving your comments below.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Add Blogger Comment Count as Feedburner Feedflare

  Posted by SoMeOnE at 4:00 PM

  
  
  

  Until recently, it was not possible to display the number of comments for a post within our Blogger feeds.

  However, via Google System I've learned that Feedburner have now added a new FeedFlare which you can use to display your post comment count in your Feedburner feed.

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  When readers click on the comment count link from your Feedburner feed, this will lead to the comments page for this post, enabling readers to read comments and add one of their own.

  To activate this in your Feedburner feed, simply log in to your Feedburner account and click the link for the blog you wish to display the comment count.

  Next, click on the Optimize tab, and then on the "FeedFlare" link in the sidebar.

  On this page, you should easily spot the checkbox which says "Comments Count (Blogger)". Check the box which will display this FeedFlare in your actual blog feed (as this count should already be displayed in your blog posts).

  

  Finally, save your FeedFlare settings for this new feature to take effect (or "activate" your Feedflare is you are not already using this particular feature of Feedburner yet!).

  Using Intense Debate Comments?

  For those who are using Intense Debate as their commenting system, you can also display your comment count using the Intense Debate comments Feedflare.

  Simply log in to Intense Debate and click on the "Add-Ons tab in your dashboard.

  On this page, look to the right-hand side of the screen where you will see the Feedburner Feedflare settings, like this:

  

  Choose the blog for which you would like to display the comment count using the drop-down menu. This will then generate a unique URL in the box beneath.

  Copy the URL from this box to your clipboard, and enter this in your Feedburner FeedFlare page in the box which says "Enter or Paste a FeedFlare Unit URL:

  

  Then click the "Add New Flare" button.

  Finally, save or activate your FeedFlare settings for this new feature to take effect.

  Be patient!

  In either case, the settings may not take effect immediately! It may be a few hours (or perhaps a day) before your new FeedFlare settings will become visible in your blog feed, though by the next feed count update, you should notice your comment count is visible when viewing your blog feed.

  Also, you must ensure that you have activated the comment feeds for your posts in the Settings>Site Feed area of your Blogger dashboard. This is enabled by default, but do check to ensure you haven;t accidentally switched off this setting!

  I hope this will be useful for you in adding your own comment count to your blog feeds. It's also another good reason to redirect your Blogger feeds through Feedburner if you aren't already doing so!

  As always, please feel free to leave your comments and opinions below.

  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  How to Display More then 5 Recent Posts

  Posted by SoMeOnE at 1:42 PM

  
  
  

  My latest post at Blogging Tips explains three different methods you could use to display more than 5 recent posts in your Blogger sidebar.

  A few people have asked how to do this (even more so through Blogging Tips) so if this is something you are interested in learning about, please pop over to read this article in full.

  I really do appreciate suggestions for future posts here at Blogger Buster, and am currently writing up articles which have received the most votes in the Skribit widget in the sidebar.

  Please do vote up any suggestions which you would like to see written about soon, or add anything you think should be included by using the "Suggest a Future Post" link at the top of the widget.

  
  
  

  
  

  The Entrecard Ebook, Multiple Blogs and Get 2000ec for Free!

  Posted by SoMeOnE at 1:00 PM

  
  
  

  I've always been partial to a freebie, so when I heard about Entrecard and the possibility of earning free advertising by using the Entrecard widget, I couldn't wait to see how this would work out.

  A few months down the line, Entrecard has certainly proved itself as one of the most useful free services available to Bloggers. I wondered how Entrecard could make this free service even better, until today an email from the Entrecard team landed in my inbox which brought a great big smile to my face.

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  

  Link more than one blog to your Entrecard account

  To vastly improve the current service, the Entrecard team have today enabled multiple blogs to be administered from one account, or merge two existing accounts together.

  This means you can now add more blogs to your account, or merge two different accounts together in order to manage your blogs in one place.

  You can easily transfer entrecard credits between accounts when merging them, or switch "identity" when dropping cards to allow both of your blogs to receive equal exposure (or not, if you prefer!).

  

  What's more, if you add more than one blog to your Entrecard account before 25th of June, you will be entered into a prize draw where you could win 15,000 Entrecard credits.

  The Free Entrecard eBook

  If you haven;t already tried Entrecard as a means of blog promotion, there has never been a better time to sign up.

  Entrecard have released a free eBook which explains everything you need to know, from discovering how to drop cards and advertise on other blogs to strategic ad placement and "dropping like a pro".

  Even experienced Entrecarders could learn lots more about the service by reading this free download. I've only skimmed the surface so far, but from what I've read already I would strongly recommend this to anyone even remotely interested in using Entrecard or seeking means of free blog promotion.

  Download your free Entrecard eBook and let us know what you think about this.

  2000 Free Entrecard Credits?

  Yes, you did read the title right!

  In order to help spread the word about the Entrecard service, the team are offering 2000 Entrecard credits to anyone who writes about the new developments and eBook in their own blog.

  This really is an inspired marketing tactic, and yes, this incentive did inspire me to write this blog post (as 2000 credits will come in very useful for the blog strategies I'm planning over the next month or so...). I'd hate to keep this information to myself though, so if you're an Entrecard user (or are interested in using this service), do pop over to the EC blog and read what all the fuss is about, as I'm sure 2000 credits will be useful for you too :)