Author Info Widget For Mulitple Authors On Blogger

blogger-multiple-authors
I'm happy that few people have started writing guest posts on our blog. You may write a post for us too. Check out the guidelines on Join Us page. While I was happy with the guest bloggers on my blog, I had a problem to worry. The initial "About The Author" widget, whose tutorial can be found on this page - "About the Author" box below every blogger post, supports only one author but not multiple authors.

I don't think this would be a concern for Wordpress Users because they will have some plug-in which will do the work for them. Whereas, we blogspot users have to work out the code. And I did find a solution to this problem. In fact, I found two solutions for the same. First one seemed to be foolish while the second one was spot on. 

Let me just explain the first one "A FOOLISH IDEA" - I thought to paste the code for single author  describing about me on all posts which I published. For those posted by other authors, use the same code with their description instead of mine. Just imagine the time it would take to republish my posts, that is more than 100 posts, with the initial code below every post. I googled to find a solution but I never got one. Later, that night I sat down to write up the code. Surprisingly, it worked. So, here goes the code - SECOND SOLUTION.

Follow these simple steps to install "About The Author" widget on your blog for multiple authors. Complete the procedures mentioned on this post - "About the Author" box below every blogger post, before your proceed with following steps.
1. Go to "Design->Edit HTML. Make a backup of your template before modifying the HTML by clicking on the "Download full template" link at the top of the page.
2. Expand your blogger template. Now, search for the following line in your template. Use "CTRL+F" to fasten your search.
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
3. Replace the above code with the following piece of code.
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<b:if cond='data:post.author == "ADMIN NAME"'>
Note: Replace ADMIN NAME with the administrator of the blog. If multiple administrators, then place any one of the administrator's name.
4. Once replaced, come to the end of this block of code. That is, you should find the following lines.
</div>
</b:if>
5. Once found, its time to add the description about the second author. For doing this, place the code  mentioned in this text file - Multiple Author Widget For Blogger, below the lines mentioned in step 4.
6. Replace "GUEST BLOGGER NAME" with the name of your guest blogger. This could be found from the name which gets displayed on the post page. See the following picture for better understanding. 
guest-blogger-name
7. Replace "GUEST BLOGGER DESCRIPTION" with the information about your guest blogger and "GUEST BLOGGER IMAGE" with the image URL of your guest blogger, that is, upload the profile image of your guest blogger to Picasa Web Albums and get the URL of the image posted. Use that URL here. I hope you understood the instructions. If not, just check out the example in this text file - Multiple Author Widget For Blogger Example
8. Save your template. That's it.

The same steps can be repeated for any number of authors. I tried to keep the procedure as simple as possible. If it seems to complex, just hit contact button on top and you can straight away email. We would love to receive your comments about the widget. So, please keep them coming. See you soon with another interesting blogger hack!!!

Why are you going to start Blogging?

blogging
This is a Guest Post written by FirstHosting. If you would like to write for Everything About Blogging, check our guest posting guidelines - Write For Us. Blogging has become a permanent career for many people, especially students these days are going to consider it way of earning for their whole life. Pro-Blogging is simply not that easy.

If you are going to choose blogging as your permanent career, then you really need to be a pro blogger. Don't just consider it as a joke. Dedicate your self to it, it may then be your career, other wise it will just be a waste of time. Today, we are going to discuss why people choose blogging.

WHY BLOGGING???

Every thing needs a plan if you don't have any plan and you are going to start blogging then its simply not possible, first set your goal and work hard to achieve it. You should set your money goals only if your blogging is mean to money, so that you can work accordingly. Because anything without a plan is useless.

PATIENCE

I will say that patience is key to online success, because most people think that they can make money online in days, but indeed online earning is same like offline, you need time to establish your things, and get well known to people and it really takes time, don't just bother your self with quick money online offers, they are just scam. So, be patient and work hard.

WHAT TO BLOG???

There is one more thing, many people just start blogging by choosing a scrap domain, and later they realized that they did really a big mistake, so to avoid this. You should take a breath and decide which topic or niche you are good at, then decide proper domain regarding your niche and then start blogging.

Last but not the least, you must have good command on language so that, you can write well and people will love reading you.

3 Tips To Make Images SEO Friendly On Blogger

I sat down last night to find out why Wordpress blogs have better search engine rankings when compared to the Google's Blogger. The answer which I found was that Wordpress blogs are highly SEO optimized (especially those run on Thesis Theme), meaning that the plugins on WP make it flexible for the user to optimize his/her blog more compatible with the search engine algorithms. Whereas, this is not the case with blogger.
This post basically deals with one simple trick that will make our blogger/blogspot blogs more search engine friendly. I have sufficiently talked about title tags and meta tags in my previous posts. So, I have discussed only about optimizing our images in this post. Follow these simple steps every time you post an image on your blog and I'm sure your blog will rank better than it did before. Moreover, you will drive traffic through your images by doing this.

Once you upload an image using the post editor, click on the HTML mode. You will find a code something like the one shown below. Its now time to optimize this code for better SEO. 
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TNbfFpWlWFI/AAAAAAAAAj4/tzl_ZYIuES4/s1600/CSSEditLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TNbfFpWlWFI/AAAAAAAAAj4/tzl_ZYIuES4/s200/CSSEditLogo.png" width="200" /></a>
1. ADD THE TITLE TAG
CSSEditLogoTitle tags basically display the text when the mouse is hovered over the image. So, how do I add this tag to my image? It is very simple. Just add the following piece of code and insert the text that best describes the post. For example, I want the message "CSS Tutorials" to get displayed when I hover my mouse over the image on the right. To do this, I should modify/add the code as follows.
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TNbfFpWlWFI/AAAAAAAAAj4/tzl_ZYIuES4/s1600/CSSEditLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img title="CSS Tutorials" border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TNbfFpWlWFI/AAAAAAAAAj4/tzl_ZYIuES4/s200/CSSEditLogo.png" width="200" /></a>
2. ADD THE ALT TAG
The alt (alternate) tags are basically those text which appear instead of the image, that is, when the images do not upload faster either due to a slow connection or host problems, these text will be replaced in place of the image. So, it is very vital that every image on your blog has an alt tag. To add this, add the text highlighted in green. For example, my alternate text for the picture above would "CSSEditLogo" and I have highlighted the same in the code below.
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TNbfFpWlWFI/AAAAAAAAAj4/tzl_ZYIuES4/s1600/CSSEditLogo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img title="CSS Tutorials" alt="CSSEditLogo" border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TNbfFpWlWFI/AAAAAAAAAj4/tzl_ZYIuES4/s200/CSSEditLogo.png" width="200" /></a>
3. PROPER IMAGE NAME
The most important factor regarding the SEO would be a proper name to the image. Make sure you include the keywords when you name your image and let it be relevant to the image. It is very important that you avoid spaces because these are generally replaced by %20 and will have no value when it comes to SEO. So, the general idea would be to use '-' or '+' sign for blank spaces.
Example: Instead of CSS Edit Logo, it is better to use CSS+Edit+Logo or CSS-Edit-Logo as your image name. You can completely avoid this confusion by using Yahoo! Smush.it™.
I suggest you to use Yahoo! Smush.it™ before you upload your images to Picasa because it speeds up your blog by decreasing the size of your image. You might read the following article to know more about the various tools to speed up your blog : Speed Up Your Blog - Tips And Tools. It is important to note that even though your image size is reduced, your image quality will still be retained.

I hope these tips would be handy for newbies to optimize their blog SEO. I'm sure if you practice this on a regular basis, your blog will rank much better on Google and various other search engines. So, if you have more tips, please share it with us via comments or you may write a guest post for us. For more details about guest posting, visit the following link -  Write For Us.

On Page And Off Page SEO Factors

on-page-and-off-page-seo-factors
It's been quite sometime since I spoke about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This post deals with the basics about ON PAGE SEO and OFF PAGE SEO FACTORS. I have already discussed about this issue in my earlier posts, but I never distinguished between these two. So, this post will simply let you know, what are ON PAGE SEO and OFF PAGE SEO FACTORS.

ON PAGE SEO FACTORS
The following will should be optimized when it comes to ON PAGE SEO. I have just enlisted few of them. If you feel there is something more important the ones which I listed, then please share them via comments. We would love to hear from you.

1. META TITLE/DESCRIPTION:
This is the most important factor when it comes to SEO. The title tags in your blog must best describe your content. You might consider reading the following article before re-framing/framing your TITLE TAGS - Create An Effective Meta Title Tag For Your Blog. I have just highlighted some of the important points here.
  • It should be clean and precise
  • It should be include all the primary keywords of your blog.
  • It should be neat and relate to the original content.
  • It should incorporate the most used words in your blog.
  • It should not be very lengthy.
2. META KEYWORDS:
Though most of the major search engines do not require this and do not index this, I still prefer having them on your blog. It's because many popular tools still check for the meta keywords on your blog. There is no harm in having one simple piece of statement on your template. Don't give them too much importance. Just have them is what I say.

3. PROPER TITLE TAGS:
Apart from creative effective titles, it is important that they have been optimized as per the search engines. That is, your post titles must appear first. Later, it should be followed by the blog name. Many newbies forget to do this on their blog. So, refer to this article for adding a proper title tag - How to improve your Google PageRank? In fact, you can refer to this article for adding individual meta tags - Add Meta Tags To Each Blogger Posts.

4. INTERNAL LINKING AND QUALITY CONTENT:
I had always been stressing about quality content in all my posts, be it related to SEO or improving Alexa Rank or Google PageRank. It's very important to have unique and quality content to get indexed by search engines. A good writer/blogger should be able to intelligently link his other posts in his current post. I mentioned intelligently because he should link posts related to the actual content rather than simply linking few of his earlier posts, that is, they must serve some use to the reader.

5. FREE FROM ERRORS:
Another important which most of the websites skip when writing about ON PAGE SEO is that, your HTML should be free from errors. Apart from having quality content, a website with error free coding will perform better on search engines. I personally face this problem and I'm working on it to solve few problems. I will post more about this issue in my upcoming posts. So, it's better you subscribe to my blog.

OFF PAGE SEO FACTORS
Basically, OFF PAGE SEO includes methods that you adopt outside your blog to increase your website ranking or traffic. OFF PAGE SEO primarily attributes to link building and social networking.

1. BUILDING QUALITY LINKS AND COMMENTING:
The first important factor which you must concentrate, when it comes to OFF PAGE OPTIMIZATION, is link building. I suggest you to interact with bloggers related to your niche. The best technique which is followed around the blogosphere to get links from quality websites would be as follows.
  • Prepare a list of blogs where your blog should be listed.
  • Make genuine and relevant comments on the blogs which you have listed.
  • Ensure that your comments are replied by the admin.
  • Interact with the other bloggers - reply to other opinions.
  • Once you feel that your presence has very well been felt by admin, contact him for a link exchange.
This is the best strategy which I feel is followed by many users to get a link from high PR blogs related to thier niche. It is very beautiful to note that even though if the admin has rejected your offer, your comments will still link back to your blog since most of the popular blogs are dofollow blogs. It is very important you search for dofollow blogs before you start the commenting process. You might read the following article to know more about dofollow blogs - How To Make Your Blogger Blog DoFollow?

2. SOCIAL NETWORKS:
I have always stressed about social networks since the start of my website. It's very very important to get yourself (your blog) connected to the world. That's the ultimate aim when it comes to social networking. Some of the good social networking sites to start with include Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, Twitter, BlogCatalog, Facebook, etc... Apart from these networking sites, you should consider participating yourself on various forums. This will certainly show a change in the traffic you receive.

I have enlisted only very few when it comes to OFF PAGE SEO factors. If you feel you have some extra content, just email me or share it as a comment. You may write a guest post too - Write For Us

Make Your Blog More Attractive - Tip 2

Hi friends!!! Many bloggers have started posting their views about various widgets which they wish to have on their blog via email as well as through comments. I'm happy with the response that I got for my previous post namely, Make Your Blog More Attractive - Tip 1. To all those who mailed me and made a comment, I'm working on your widgets. Soon, the steps to install those widgets will be published.
In this post, I will demonstrate on "How to add the special note tag within your blogger posts?". I'm sure you will be pretty confused about what that special note means. Basically, this idea developed from the shoutmeloud theme. Just have a look at the following picture - the " SPECIAL NOTE" tag.
THIS IS THE SPECIAL NOTE TAG
Hope you understood what I meant. This tag will be useful when you want to list your points, add sub headings to your post, etc...  

I don't want to take too much of your time. Let's get to the installation steps. Just follow these simple steps.
1. Login to your dashboard. Navigate to "Layout>>Edit HTML" from your dashboard. Make a back up of your template before you make any changes in the template.
2. Search for the following code in your blog. You may use "CTRL+F" to fasten your search results.
]]></b:skin>
3. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned in step 2 (the one you searched for).
.note{
background:#E3F0F2 url(http://lh4.ggpht.com/_So-xppeH7x0/TP3uIr_A5kI/AAAAAAAAAn0/I17mlOq2axM/s800/note.png) center no-repeat;
margin:0 auto;
width:90%;
display:block;
border:1px solid #6CC;
background-position:7px 50%;
padding:10px 10px 10px 45px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomleft:4px;
-moz-border-radius-bottomright:4px;
-moz-border-radius-topleft:4px;
-moz-border-radius-topright:4px;
-webkit-border-top-left-radius:4px;
-webkit-border-top-right-radius:4px;
-webkit-border-bottom-left-radius:4px;
-webkit-border-bottom-right-radius:4px;
font:bold 15px arial
}
4. Now, place the following tags in between the text which should be highlighted.
<span class="note">
</span>
For example, if you want the text "EXAMPLE" to appear as a special note tag, you need to use the following code. 
<span class="note">
EXAMPLE
</span>
I hope this will help your post more attractive. If you have any doubts in adding this tag to your post, then please leave your comments below. We love to receive your comments. So, keep them coming.

Make Your Blog More Attractive - Tip 1

Many bloggers, both newbies and experienced ones, keep asking me about the "Read More and Add Your Comment" buttons, special "Note" tag which I include in my recent posts, about the Tags and Author Name which are included below every post title and so on. I plan to publish articles in the upcoming weeks solving these issues and other issues faced by the bloggers as well. It's better that you subscribe to my blog so that, you don't miss any valuable tip that would make your blog more attractive.
make blog more attractive
In this post, I will demonstrate on "How to add the Read More and Add Your Comment buttons" to the home page of your blog. Though blogger has enabled the "Read More" feature with "Insert jump break" icon, to add the CSS stylized icons, you need to follow the instructions mentioned  in this post. Still not clear about what I'm blabbering, then have a look at the previews below - on IE, on Firefox. 
Read More Button On IE
On Internet Explorer
Read More Button on FireFox
On Mozilla FireFox






Note: Rounded corners are visible only on the latest browsers and it's not supported by IE.  However, the hack will work on IE. It will be visible as straight edges. Check out the screen shots to find the difference between the straight corners and rounded corners.

Fine. Let's install this hack on our blogs. Just follow the instructions mentioned below.
1. Login to your dashboard. Navigate to "Layout>>Edit HTML" from your dashboard. Make a back up of your template before you make any changes in the template.
2. Search for the following code in your blog. You may use "CTRL+F" to fasten your search results.
]]></b:skin>
3. Paste the following piece of code just above the line mentioned in step 2 (the one you searched for).
.rmlink a {
       color:#ffffff;
       text-decoration: none;
       float:right;
       font-family:Arial;
       padding:3px 4px 3px 4px;
       font-size: 12px;
       font-weight: bold;
       text-align: center; 
       background: #444343;
       padding-left:10px;
       padding-right:10px;
       -moz-border-radius: 5px;
       -webkit-border-radius: 5px;
}
.rmlink a:hover {
       color:#ffffff;
       text-decoration: none;
       background: #7b7b7b;
       -moz-border-radius: 5px;
       -webkit-border-radius: 5px;
}
4. Save your template temporarily. Next, expand your template checking the box on the top right corner of HTML area, that is, ensure you have a tick mark on the box.
5. Once the template is expanded, search for the following code in your template.
<data:post.body/>
6. Just download this text file - Read More Hack. Replace the above mentioned code with code present in the text file. That is, just copy the entire content in the text file and paste it instead of the code mentioned in step 5.
7. Save your template. That's it!!! Every time you make a post, just use the default "Jump Break" tag and this hack will work.

If you face any problems installing this script, you can always contact me via email or leave a comment below. You can also request for solutions regarding the problems you face when installing other widgets on your blog or request for the scripts which attracted you the most on my blog, say like the subscription box, the search bar, etc... Your problems will be addressed in the upcoming posts on my blog. So, what you waiting for??? Leave a comment and get your problem solved!!!

UPDATED CODE
Few people asked me to include the number of comments along with "Add Your Comment" and "Read More" button. The updated version would look as shown in the picture below.
So, for those who wish to have the new version of code. Just follow the same steps which are mentioned above expect step 6. Instead of the file - Read More Hack, download the following file -  Updated Read More Hack Code and replace the code as mentioned.

Create An Effective Meta Title For Your Blog

Meta-Tag
Hi friends!!! New Year Greetings from "Everything About Blogging". I wish everyone a very Happy And Prosperous New Year - 2011. Let this year bring success and happiness in all your works. Fine. Now, Let's get into business. We know that Meta Titles/Tags are one of the important factors that contribute to the SEO of a site. This post will basically explain you, how to optimize the Meta Tags so that you make the most out of it.

Meta Tags/Titles are short descriptions about our blog/website. These are the first factors which search engines and visitors look into. So, it is very important you make these tags more effective. To know more about meta tags, you might consider reading the following articles. 

Here are the secrets to create an effective meta tag.
  • Your Meta Title should be clear and precise. Make sure you include all the primary keywords in your tag.
  • Your Meta Title should incorporate the most used words in your blog and relate to the actual content of your blog. Since you use the most used words in your tag, it fetches a better ranking when compared to other blogs in your niche.
  • The length of your Meta Title should not exceed more than 60 characters including blank spaces.
  • Above all, the most effective title tag need not be grammatically correct. It should convey what your blog actually contains and should incorporate the primary keywords of your blog.
Since a meta tag is the first factor that most of the search engine algorithms look into, it is advisable to take great care while creating it. Your suggestions for improving the meta title are welcome. So, post your ideas on improving the meta tags via comments. If you got more ideas, then you might consider writing an article for us too- Write For Us.
[netinsert=0.0.1.11.14.1]