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Weekly Review #6
2008-02-10 17:58:00
Well, today is Sunday again so it's time for my weekly review. By now, I expect many of you will be wondering why I've begun to write this regular post, so let me begin by explaining my motivations for this.Weekends can be a busy time for most bloggers. In fact many of the blogs I read on a regular basis refrain from posting on Sundays as fewer people seem to be reading! I like to use this day to reflect on the week's activities, in relation to Blogger in general, and also the activities here at Blogger Buster. I feel this is a lighter read than the tutorials I post here, and something which is easier to digest.Also, as I'm researching, Stumbling and generally browsing the web, I come across some great news, posts and links which I love to share with my readers. Posting these in a weekly article seems to be the best way of telling you all about this, rather than posting haphazardly in a manner I'm sure would be detrimental to the other content posted here.So if you are new to ...
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101 Excellent Blogger XML Templates
2008-02-08 11:10:00
I love designing Blogger templates, and over the past few weeks I've been scouring the web to find the best, and most inspirational Blogger XML template designs. This post is a showcase of the best Blogger template designs available for free download, collected from some of the best sources on the web. With 101 excellent Blogger XML templates in total, you're sure to find something you like in this list! My Top 10 AspireAspire by InfoCreek I love the parchment style of this template, which comes complete with a calendar widget and customized comment count. Ported from the original Wordpress theme, this is a truly exceptional Blogger template! Demo | Download PolaroidPolaroid for Blogger by eBlog Templates This is a much loved theme for Wordpress users, so I was thrilled to see this converted for Blogger by eBlogTemplates! You can change the polaroid picture to feature anything you want, and while some work is required to make all of the features work in this template, it...
More About: Excellent

Optimizing a blog for search engines - Reader's Question
2008-02-06 18:02:00
Last week, I received a heartfelt email from the Chuck Porter who writes "Sarah's Progress in Her Battle with Hemangiomas": a blog about the progress of baby Sarah's condition, which her family hope may also become a resource for other concerned parents researching infant Hemangiomas.Chuck asked: How can I make my site Google Search able for Hemangiomas? With Chuck's permission, I decided to make a case study of how Sarah's Progress could be optimized for search engines. Although this case study is written with particular regard to the keyword "Hemangiomas", you'll find many of the tips detailed here are appropriate for any niche blog. First thoughts about optimizing this blog for search enginesFor any new blog or website, it does take time and effort to be indexed by all major search engines, and have content feature in search results.There is the motto among bloggers that "content is king", meaning that great writing above all else is the key to creating a successful and w...
More About: Search Engines , Question , Blog , Engines

MyBlogLog commment avatars not working? Try this fix
2008-02-06 00:58:00
I just noticed that the MyBlogLog comment avatars weren't working in this blog. It seems that Merlinox (the blogger who invented this hack) has either removed or relocated the script we were using to make the avatars appear in our Blogger blogs. So the avatars just weren't appearing at all.Thankfully, I had saved a copy of the JavaScript file which I've now uploaded to my own host, and not the avatars are working for me again.So if you have installed the MyBlogLog comment avatars hack and your avatars do not display, here is the fix:Find this line in your blog template: <script src=http://www.bloggerbuster.com/feeds/po sts/'http://blog.merlinox.com/MrX/Blog/te st/myBlogAvatar2.js' type='text/javascript'/>And change the line in red to this instead: http://bloggerbuster.com/scripts/myBlogAv atar2.jsThis will link to the script hosted on my server instead, and will ensure your MyBlogLog comment avatars display as normal.Alternatively, you can download the JavaScript to your c...
More About: Avatars , Working

My new contact form
2008-02-05 13:25:00
My previous contact form was causing some awful problems, so after looking around for a better alternative, I discovered Kontactr: a new free contact form service which is easily embedded into a Blogger post page. You can see my new contact form in action on my contact page.I've just been testing my new contact form and it works like a dream! You can create line breaks now without worrying that your message will be sent prematurely, and the message will arrive to me as fast as if it were sent by regular mail. Kontactr is free to use, and there are several customization options to choose from: An HTML based form (which takes the visitor away from your blog when the form is submitted). An Ajax based form, where visitors stay on the same page after the form is submitted (this is the option I chose) A button or text link which creates a great looking overlay with the contact form on the same screen.One thing I love about Kontactr is that you can reply to the person who sent the con...
More About: Contact , Form

"My Valentine" - A new Blogger template available for download
2008-02-04 21:11:00
Demo | Download It's been quite a while since I last uploaded a Blogger template for you all, so in the spirit of the season, I have created a feminine Valentine themed template, "My Valentine". You can see a screenshot of this new template to the right. This is an XML based template for layouts blogs, and is fully widget ready.In contrast to some of my previous templates, you do not need to edit the HTML at all to configure the template for your particular blog. There are a couple of optional widgets, most notably the stylized MyBlogLog Recent Readers widget and the Flickr Photostream widget. These are optional widgets, rather than built in to the template. The styling code is already present of you do choose to use them, but if you prefer not to, the template will still work absolutely fine!You can preview the My Valentine template, or go straight to the download page which also includes full instructions for installation, and the code for the optional widgets.Please do let me...
More About: Template

Weekly Review #5
2008-02-03 20:16:00
In the weekly reviews, I offer a round-up of this weeks' news regarding the site, Blogger and also my favorite blogging links.This week, I want to explain about some of the changes to the site, news about upcoming templates, information about background images in Blogger templates and a great selection of articles to help inspire your blog posts! Blogger Buster newsEbook unleashed!Earlier this week, I released my first eBook: the Cheats' Guide to Customizing Blogger Templates. I'm really happy with the response about this eBook so far, and am so glad that I plucked up the courage to actually write this!If you haven't already downloaded this, you should check out the download page where you can read more about this eBook and get a free copy for yourself.I did put a lot of effort into writing this eBook, so I'd be really grateful to all who help me spread the word by telling your blogging friends or bookmarking the eBook on any social sites.Now Blogger Buster has a Twitter fe...
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Your free eBook: The Cheats' Guide to Customizing Blogger templates
2008-01-30 14:50:00
I'm really happy to be able to release my first eBook: The Cheats ' Guide to Customizing Blogger Templates .Based on the original article published here, this eBook will offer you many options and examples to customize your existing Blogger template quickly and easily, whichever style of template you are using.!Read on for more information and to download this free eBook. Features of this eBookThis eBook is much more comprehensive than the original online article, and features: New examples of template customizations An entire chapter about customizing stretch (fluid) templates How to use buttons, banners and images Many useful resources for template customization An optional download folder containing all of the templates and images used in the eBookFormatThe Cheats' Guide to Customizing Blogger Templates eBook is available in PDF format.You can download Adobe Reader using the link below:License The Cheat's Guide to Customizing Blogger Templates eBook is licensed under a Crea...
More About: Free , Ebook

Styling the header and footer sections (Blogger template design series)
2008-01-29 10:31:00
If you've been following the Blogger Template Design series so far, you'll have seen the demonstration template looking something like this. In the series so far, we've created the layout (canvas) for our template, then changed the margins and padding for the main elements. But there is no distinguishing style yet for this template.So in this installment, we'll look at some quick customization options for the blog's header and footer to pretty things up a little bit, and provide a stylistic base for future customizations so we have a better idea of the overall design we want to work towards. I've always considered the blog header and footer to stylistically "frame" the main content of the blog, and feel it's important to pay much attention to these areas when designing a custom template.Broadly speaking, there are two major styles for the header and footer sections of blog templates:Where the width spans only the width of the content, like this: Where the width spans the...
More About: Series , Header

Weekly Review #4
2008-01-27 13:21:00
Despite blogging less than usual these past few weeks, I assure you I have been very busy! I've found some great sites to tell you all about, and most importantly the eBook is ready for release and will be publicly available on Tuesday!So without further delay, here's the fourth weekly review for 2008, with news from Blogger Buster, the bloggosphere and interesting links I've discovered this week. Blogger Buster newsThe Cheats' Guide eBookSorry guys, I know this has been a long wait. Thankfully the eBook is now complete, with even more added features and also an accompanying folder with new templates and images used as examples in the eBook.Members of the Blogger Buster MyBlogLog community will be able to have a sneak preview of the Cheats' Guide eBook (for evaluation and feedback) before the public release later this week. So if you'd like to get your hands on the eBook before anyone else, join our community or send me an email and I'll forward on the link.More from the ...
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Reader's Questions: resources to learn basic HTML and CSS
2008-01-26 11:47:00
"For a beginner like me, where should I start or what are the basic knowledge that I should learn first for me to catch up with all your posts…"Here Pak Maeh asks a question which many of you may have wondered at one time or another. While I do try to make my tutorials as easy to understand as possible, it may be helpful for beginners to learn a little about basic HTML and CSS in order to get a better understanding of how Blogger templates work.So in this post, I'll offer some of the best resources I've found which would be useful for learning the basics. Blogger resourcesThe Blogger help section offers some basic advice about working with your Blogger powered blog. Here are some of the most useful pages from the help section: How can I learn some basic HTML? Using CSS in Blogger Templates Page Elements tags for Blogger Layouts Widget tags for Blogger layouts Fonts and Colors tags for LayoutsOther useful resourcesHere are some other resources I have found which offer useful ...
More About: Resources , Questions , Basic , Learn , Html

Adjusting the margins and padding in your blog template (Blogger Template D
2008-01-24 15:49:00
Margins and padding are important aspects of Blog ger design: they add space between and inside each element of your blog, while ensuring your content is well styled and easy to read.In this installment of the Blogger Template Design series, I'll share the method I use to change the margins and padding in Blogger templates to ensure a cohesive layout. This post follows on from the previous installment which explained how to change the overall layout of your blog. Blog margins define the space of each element in relation to each other, while padding defines the space within each element.In its current state, the demonstration blog used to explain the tutorials in this series is visibly coherent despite that we have not yet altered the padding and margins. However, as we begin to alter each element of the blog template (the sidebars, header and main posts column), we will may notice these elements become squashed together, since there is no space defined between or within them.The...
More About: Padding

Weekly Review #3 (and news about the forthcoming ebook!)
2008-01-21 22:00:00
Another week, another review of the bloggosphere for you all.Bur first of all, an apology is due: I've been so busy recently that my review is a little later than scheduled, and my postings have been less frequent than usual. However, I do have some good news for you all regarding the publication of my first ebook! Blogger Buster newsAlthough my on-site activity has been a little low this week, I assure you there are good reasons for this. Firstly, I've been taking my time to prepare the posts for the Blogger Template Design series. And secondly I've been preparing my first e-book for release!Blogger Buster's first ebookThe Blogger Template design series is becoming quite popular, and I decided early on that I would publish each installment as an e-book for easy reference, with a final release of the complete series once the posts are all complete.Now the first e-book of the series, A Cheats' Guide to Blogger Template Design is almost complete. But unlike the original artic...
More About: News , Review , Ebook , Weekly

Google AdSense Update
2008-01-19 11:36:00
Earlier this week, Google announced that they would no longer accept referrals to their AdSense program from publishers outside North America, Latin America and Japan.However, in response to the utter disappointment and responses from publishers, Google have decided to reconsider this decision! Now Google have agreed to pay publishers for targeted referrals, regardless of the publishers location: The changes to referrals promoting AdSense will now depend on where your users are located, regardless of your location as a publisher. You'll earn $100 for every user you refer to AdSense who is located in North America, Latin America or Japan when they generate $100 in AdSense revenue within 180 days and they remove all payment holds. You'll no longer be paid for users you refer who are located elsewhere. These changes will go into effect the last week of January. (From the Google AdSense blog)This does mean that you should target your AdSense referral ads to be displayed only in North...
More About: Adsense , Google Adsense , Update

Creating a three column (or a wide, two column) canvas - Blogger template d
2008-01-17 15:50:00
When I begin to design a new Blogger template, the first thing I take into consideration is the overall layout. Creating the perfect layout is crucial to the design process, and should be the first step in designing a custom Blogger template.The most popular layout styles for Blogger blogs are: Three columns, with sidebars to the left and right Three columns with two sidebars to the right A wide two column template, with a wider posts area and a wide sidebar to the rightSo in this installment of the Blogger Template Design series, I will offer basic instructions for how each of these layouts can be constructed. Then in the next installment, I will focus on tweaking these layouts in order to make the canvas complete.For the purpose of this series, I have created a demonstration blog which you can view here. This demonstration blog will be used to demonstrate customizations throughout the series, and will include links back to each chapter of the series for your reference. Things ...
More About: Wide , Column

Essential tools for Blogger template design (Blogger Template Design Series
2008-01-14 21:27:00
When designing Blogger templates, it's useful to have a set of "tools" available before you begin. So in this installment of the Blogger Template Design series, I have compiled a list of tools I use often when designing themes, from imaging programs to relevant websites and resources you may like to use when designing your own templates. A test blogWhen building a completely customized template, I would strongly advise you to do this using a test blog. This way, you can always ensure your regular blog is available, features no mistakes and is always presentable!I always create and test new templates on a test blog, filled with dummy posts and sidebar widgets so I can easily see what needs to be changed, redesigned or altered without affecting my main blogs in any way.I have written a full article about creating and using a test blog which I would advise you to read before you begin to create a custom template. Then once your design is complete, you can move this over to your ma...
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Poll results: Default Blogger Template Usage
2008-01-14 21:08:00
I have the results of the recent poll, where I asked which default Blogger template you have used the most (or are most familiar with):Of all the default Blogger templates, it seems that Minima is the most popular (with 46% of the votes), while the Rounders styles came second with 8% of the total votes. I had expected that Rounders and Minima would be among the most popular styles, though admittedly I was somewhat surprised at the overall popularity of Minima! Also, it seems there are templates which barely anyone uses: Herbert, Jellyfish and Snapshot received no votes at all, while Denim, Scribe and Tekka (among others) received only one vote each. Forty-three votes were cast in all, so I cannot say this is an accurate reflection of the thousands of Blogger members, but these results have certainly helped me make a decision about the continuing Blogger Template design series.The full results are shown in the table below:Thank you to everyone who placed their votes in this poll!
More About: Results , Poll , Usage

Weekly Review #2
2008-01-13 18:31:00
This weekly review will be a little shorter than last week's feature as I've been so busy with other projects and simply haven't had the time to do as much research! Even so, I hope you enjoy these tidbits from the web and bloggosphere. Please feel free to contact me if there's anything you'd like to see included in next week's review. Blogger Buster newsA cheats' guide to customizing Blogger templatesThis installment of the Blogger Template design series seems to have been the most popular post this week. In the next few days, I'll release this as a PDF download with a few extra features which you can print as a reference when you're editing your own templates.Invitation for Readers' QuestionsAs I mentioned in a previous post, another new feature I'm introducing here is the "Readers' Questions", where I'll answer your blogging related questions as a fully detailed post. This week I already have a great question to answer, but I would welcome future suggestions eith...
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More changes in Google PageRank
2008-01-12 11:15:00
Today many people are reporting changes in their PageRank and backlinks from Google . Some are increasing, while others seem to have dropped to a (temporary?) zero.On some data centers, Blogger Buster has dropped to a zero, while on others the site remains at PR4. I'm not too worried about this, and imagine that the update is still in progress.Have you noticed any changes in your PageRank in the past couple of days? I will update this post as soon as I have any more information for you all. In the meantime, you can check out this PageRank tool which checks your blog URL across multiple datacenters to get an idea of these changes are affecting you too. Your domain:   (eg. iwebtool.com)   Powered by iWEBTOOL
More About: Pagerank , Google Pagerank

Poll: Which default Blogger template have you used the most?
2008-01-10 22:28:00
If you have a moment to spare, please take part in the poll which appears in my sidebar.Even if you don't currently use a default template, you can still vote to tell me which of these default templates you prefer, or which have used in the past.The results of this poll will be very useful for the ongoing Blogger Template Design series, and will help me get a better understanding of which customizations are most important to you.This poll will only run until Monday, so be sure to get your votes in soon!Thank you to everyone who takes part!
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Comment avatars...?
2007-11-05 00:11:00
I'm in the process of adding MyBlogLog avatars in the comments section. If this works (which I really hope it does), then you'll begin to see avatars beside the author names...Please bear with me if comments act strangely for a while! Providing this works as intended, I will post about this shortly.
More About: Avatars , Comment

How to customize "block quotes" in your posts
2007-11-03 19:55:00
"Block quotes" are sections of text which are generally used to highlight quotes from other sources; they are usually indented from the main body of a blog posts and may also have a slightly different background color.Most Blogger templates define how block quotes should appear in the style section of your template, between the <b:skin> tags. In this blog I have customized the appearance of block quotes by adding a background image and stronger color so these sections are defined more clearly. In this post, I'll give you some examples of how you can customize your own block quotes to achieve a more personalized look. How do I use Block Quotes ?If you are unfamiliar with block quotes, you may be wondering how to use them in your posts. But don't worry, they are very easy to use!If you write your posts with the "rich text editor", you simply need to highlight the section of text you'd like to block-quote, and click on the "blockquote" button which is highlighted in the ima...
More About: Posts

How to display code properly in your blog posts
2007-11-01 20:51:00
HTML and Javascript codes perform different functions for our blog posts, such as changing the appearance of text like this. But when we need to display the actual code used to perform these functions, we can't simply paste this code into a post as it will perform the function, and not display as regular text.As you may have seen in my other posts, I use two different methods to display code as text which can be read, copied and pasted for your own use. These are blockquotes and iframes. In this post I'll explain how you can use these methods to display readable code in your own blog posts. The problem when trying to paste code into your posts is that it will perform the intended function, rather than display as regular text. For example, if I wanted to explain how to make text italic, I could try adding this into my post: <i>This is italic text</i>But if I simply paste this code into a post, the effect will be this: This is italic textThis is because the code is p...
More About: Blog , Display , Code , Posts , Prop

"Popular Posts" widget experiencing server errors (now fixed)
2007-11-01 11:52:00
EDIT: The "popular posts" (Blog Window) widget is now working fine again, and the AffiliateBrand website is also back online!It seems that this was just a temporary glitch in the system, though all services are working perfectly now including the Analytics Wizard statistics, so check your inbox if you've been waiting for your blog stats as you've probably received your daily email a little later than usual.Personally, I'm relieved that the widget is working properly again, and am prepared to suffer a few hiccups for the benefits this widget offers myself and my readers. A popular service such as this is bound to experience difficulties from time to time. Even the mighty Google occasionally slips up, as we experienced when we were unable to upload images (and occasionally when we are unable to load our blogs!).If I do find out what caused this problem and whether it's likely to happen again, I will of course let you all know about this.
More About: Widget , Popular , Server , Errors , Posts

Check your backlinks with this free tool!
2007-10-31 01:39:00
The number of backlinks (blogs and websites which feature a link back to your blog) can be a determining factor of your blog's popularity, and can also affect your Google PageRank. So here is a free tool you can use to discover how many backlinks your blog has, which also includes details of the PageRank from these links. You may be pleasantly surprised... To use this tool, simply enter your full blog URL in the box below and click the "Check " button. The page will then update with listings of all the sites which link to your blog, including an accurate indication of their PageRank. Your domain:   (eg. www.bloggerbuster.com or yourblog.blogspot.com)   Powered by iWEBTOOL If you find this tool useful, please consider subscribing to the Blogger Buster feed to receive updates of new tools, templates and tutorials.
More About: Backlinks , Free , Tool

My issues with the Blogger Nav-Bar
2007-10-31 00:28:00
Although many Blogger 's prefer to hide the nav-bar, I have kept mine in place for two main reasons: I blog about Blogger, and the nav-bar is a clear indication that my blogs are powered by Blogger. I find it very useful to have the "New post", "Customize" and "Dashboard" links available when editing my blogs.Today I did a little experiment with the nav-bar, and now I'm seriously wondering whether this feature should be installed on any blog at all... The Blogger nav-bar gives readers the option to view random blogs by clicking on the "next blog" link. In theory, this would be a great way to read the blogs of others, perhaps to discover a blogging treasure you may not otherwise have seen. So as a little experiment, I decided to flick through a few random blogs in this manner and greet some of the other bloggers I encountered.However, I was rather disappointed (and somewhat shocked) to find that over half of the blogs I encountered were "adult" themed blogs. By this, I'm sure y...
More About: Issues , Issue

Another spooky template for Halloween
2007-10-29 18:52:00
Here's another "spooky" Blogger template for you to download: "Lament", which is inspired by the infamous puzzle box of the Hellraiser series...This one wasn't strictly designed as a "seasonal" template, as I prefer to create templates which could be used year round. Instead, Lament features an elegant, yet sinister theme, and also includes many of the new features I've been working on lately, such as the calendar widget and footer columns. The "Lament" template features: Web 2.0 style layout, with divided sidebar column and three footer columns for extra content Customized header background Favicon to match theme "Post-options" and "Related posts" on post pages Stylized calendar widgetYou can take a look at the Lament Temp late demonstration blog to see this template in action.Please do take a look at the post pages to see how the post footer sections work too.You can download this template here and also in the templates section, where I have also provided the HTML for this ...
More About: Halloween , Spooky , Allo

PageRank for Blogger Buster (Finally!)
2007-10-29 11:35:00
It seems that Google have finally updated PageRank, and I'm so happy to say that Blogger Buster now has a PageRank of 4! After my frustrations of having a zero rank for so many months this is such good news for me, and even more than I could have hoped for considering my site is still rather young. Unfortunately though, it seems my happiness isn't shared by everyone. Last week, Blog Bloke reported strange goings-on with Google's PageRank system when his blog's ranking suddenly plummeted, then started to gradually increase. By the looks of things, a few of the major bloggers have noticed a drastic change in their PageRank, as can be read in Andy Beard's take on this.As always, the secret to PageRank success is a closely guarded secret, so no-one really knows why certain sites have been "penalized" while others have gained from this recent change.Rumors report that Google are updating the PageRank system, punishing those who use paid links, spam and generally bad content. But...
More About: Pagerank , Finally , Ager

Remove "nofollow" tags from your template to spread some link love
2007-10-28 13:26:00
If you take a look at the source code for your blog, you'll probably see several references of the rel='nofollow' tag. This tag was originally created to prevent search engines from indexing links in order to reduce spam. However, this simply doesn't seem to work, even as a deterrent to would be spammers. Spam still exists, and if anything the problem of spam is worse than ever.But the most annoying thing about the "nofollow" tag is this: it prevents legitimate, and helpful links from being indexed by three of the top search engines: Google, Yahoo and MSN. Rather than deter spammers, it's more of a deterrent to commenter's and those who would otherwise link back to your blog.There is something we can do about this: remove the "nofollow" tags! Why I have removed "nofollow" from my blogAfter much consideration, I have now removed all instances of rel="nofollow" from my blog template. This means that your backlinks, and links in your comments will now be indexed by the three...
More About: Love , Link , Tags , Template , Spread

"Halloween themed template" available
2007-10-27 18:12:00
As it's Halloween just around the corner, I quickly whipped up a seasonal template for you to enjoy. The "Halloween Skulls" template (featured on the right) is the first of two spooky themed templates, which is available for download now. Read on for more information and to download this new template. The "Halloween Skulls" template features: Three column design Sinister header and background image Icons beside sidebar titles Skull post dividers Three columns in the post footer for extra content space (widget ready) AddThis bookmarks at the end of each post, styled to match the theme of the template This was quite a rushed template (as someone kindly reminded me that I ought to create a seasonal template), but I do have another in the pipeline which is based on Lemarchand's box (from the Hellraiser series of films) which will be a more colorful template if this is what you prefer.You can preview this template in action on the "Halloween Skulls" demonstration blog.Please use th...
More About: Template , Temp , Allo