How to Add a Tiny jQuery Circleslider to Blogger

Tiny Circleslider is a small jQuery plugin that generates a circular carousel of images.

There is noting complicated about using this type of carousel, however when it's about customizing it, it's necessary to use a bit of arithmetic. All these details can be found in the author's homepage, so I'll just limit myself to show you the basics.

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Obviously, we need to add the javascript jQuery library in our template:

Step 1. From your Blogger's dashboard, go to Template > press the Edit HTML button

Step 2. Search for the </head> (CTRL + F) tag and just above it, add the following code:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src="http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/jquery.tinycircleslider.min.js"/>

We would lack the CSS styles that we need to add above the </head> tag as well:

<style>
  #rotatescroll { /* is the rectangle container */
    height: 300px;
    position: relative;
    width: 300px;
  }
  #rotatescroll .viewport { /* is the rectangle containing the images */
    height: 300px;
    position: relative;
    margin: 0 auto;
    overflow: hidden;
    width: 300px
  }
  #rotatescroll .overview { /* is the list with the images */
    left: 0;
    list-style: none;
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
  }
  #rotatescroll .overview li { /* each item of the list */
    float: left;
    height: 300px;
    position: relative;
    width: 300px;
  }
  #rotatescroll .overlay { /* the image with the circle overlapping the list */
    background: transparent url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfrITXIwmHJ6vf5_-C9jbTonJ_I0aOUJY9jkjJ29MWpFZ0k-3HuTi9RHyKvLq9_wiDJ9Fr1u2a1rzI9HapFicCyNoL01Mcro-Ww_jP4n4-OGEgmI5nm6zYo-F4wwAuRAh4VpkM0xrPZuZF/s1600/bg-rotatescroll.png) no-repeat 0 0;
    height: 300px;
    left: 0;
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
    width:300px;
  }
  #rotatescroll .thumb { /* the red circle that allows us to navigate */
    background:transparent url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2-Hv0q5WR0UaoUdVUftmPcNO3J5JvKPYmWcVWzAGpSQMeiK9Zbgd5OEpT8ol9bIR2VlBWuUdgdkaixnekv1VMJ1cM7aiMoBCX68qOurhB4nLglCxvE9r0NLrbaJ0KpPOtLC-EnCoojHFr/s1600/bg-thumb.png) no-repeat 0 0;
    cursor: pointer;
    height: 26px;
    left: 137px;
    position: absolute;
    top: -3px;
    width: 26px;
    z-index: 200;
  }
  #rotatescroll .dot { /* the points indicating the position of each image */
    background: transparent url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0D3nXlHHyQ1Z_6obHfnmrzD0rRdinn5WUCOkblaG-776qUnTGfF293W-SIsk-0zsMvbDVeNZil08eQa2sVZIbg0Xm9dI3dy6uPHg_DMSV8cu9GW2qK61h6I45Cun3rpO363EnT9I_2IL/s1600/bg-dot.png) no-repeat 0 0;
    display: none;
    height: 12px;
    left: 155px;
    position: absolute;
    top: 3px;
    width: 12px;
    z-index: 100;
  }
  #rotatescroll .dot span { /* are hidden by default */
    display: none;
  }
</style>

Screenshot

Step 3. Now here's the HTML that has to be added to where we want to display the carousel.
Create a New post and paste on the HTML section, the code below:

<div id="rotatescroll">
  <div class="viewport">
    <ul class="overview">
      <li><img src="imageURL" /></li>
      <li><img src="imageURL" /></li>
      <li><img src="imageURL" /></li>
      <li><img src="imageURL" /></li>
      <li><img src="imageURL" /></li>
    </ul>
  </div>
  <div class="dot"></div>
  <div class="overlay"></div>
  <div class="thumb"></div>
</div>

<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){ $('#rotatescroll').tinycircleslider(); });
$('#rotatescroll').tinycircleslider({ interval: true, snaptodots: true });
</script>

Screenshot

Note: replace the imageURL text with the URL of your images

and here are other options that could be added, separated by commas:

snaptodots - false if you want no dots to be shown when dragging them
hidedots - false if you want to display the internal points (by default is true)
intervaltime - is the time between slides (by default 3500)
radius - defines the size of the circle (by default is 140)

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Turn off the lights with jQuery

For those who enjoy watching videos on the net, this is a very useful script made by Janko with jQuery.

So what this script does? It will "turn off the lights" so that everything you have on the page will be fading to dark less the video, so there will not be other elements that will distract us while watching a video and we will feel like in the cinema.

You can see an example here by clicking on the link that says "Turn off the lights".
Whenever you want, then you can click on the link again and it will turn the lights back on.

Turn off the lights

To put this effect of "lights" on the blog, go to Template > Edit HTML and before the </head> tag (CTRL + F to find it), paste the script:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
$(document).ready(function(){
$("#darkness").css("height", $(document).height()).hide();
$(".lightSwitcher").click(function(){
$("#darkness").toggle();
if ($("#darkness").is(":hidden"))
$(this).html("Turn off the lights").removeClass("turnedOff");
else
$(this).html("Turn on the lights").addClass("turnedOff");
});
});
//]]>
</script>

Then add before ]]></b:skin> the CSS styles:

/* Turn off the lights
----------------------------------------------- */
#lightsVideo {
position:relative;
z-index:102;
}
#switch {
max-width:640px;
text-align:left;
position:relative;
height:25px;
display:block;
margin: 25px 0 0 60px;
}
.lightSwitcher {
position:absolute;
z-index:101;
background-image:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin6AmG3NS7s_SF7ECSHGU_WiUau1tDAJ7dzc8OkKwMjxufv3BEidSpN5WWNffKOFI0v7xadhEeEoP4Yeg458QGbqO3Wvur6Vew13RPuhuovFhUVmauGSyMBtItTcVEuNX9axVaVMknZRGX/s1600/lights-on.png);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-position:left;
padding: 0 0 0 20px;
outline:none;
text-decoration:none;
}
.lightSwitcher:hover {text-decoration:underline;}
.turnedOff {
color:#ffff00 !important;
background-image:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYBlSSJL5hyphenhyphen5GjjBiNaaXPO106HKNLPvv0i_5mfRoKzR8qFK8dnZmBjBU11PGazHT8sufz7LlosPl-X2tN1e2KuIRh212hv4Dw-TZKtZfy36TXKNstqBVAOzSV4B3tqCbfTyjzXSmu3D0/s1600/lights-off.png);
}
#darkness {
background:#000;
opacity:0.8;
filter:alpha(opacity=80);
position:absolute;
left:0;
top:0;
width:100%;
z-index:100;
}

Click on the arrow to expand the styles

 Then, before the </body> tag, add this:

<div id='darkness'/>

And finally, wherever you put your video, either a post or a HTML/Javascript gadget, use this code:

<center>
<div id="switch"><a class="lightSwitcher" href="javascript:void(0);">Turn off the lights</a></div>
<div id="lightsVideo">
...Here goes the code of the video...
</div>
</center>

Add the code of your video to where is indicated and that's it. Now you can enjoy your videos with the lights off!

Remember that this trick uses jQuery, so if you use Scriptaculous or Mootools you should apply a patch, and if you use another version of jQuery, you must use only one.

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Before/After Photo Effect with jQuery

If you have a design or makeup blog, or if you are using before and after image comparison, this script will surely be very useful for you.

In this tutorial we'll learn how to add the Before/After plugin, a script that works with jQuery and displays two pictures dynamically for comparing them at the same time. By dragging sideways a small bar we can see both images that are being compared.

See this Brittany Murphy pic before and after photoshop:

Implementing this script is simple, we just need jQuery, the Before/After script, and the two images that we are going to compare.

How to add the Before/After plugin to Blogger

Step 1. Go to Template > Edit HTML and before </head> (CTRL + F to find it) paste the following:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.3/jquery-ui.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/jquery.beforeafter.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(function(){
$(&#39;#beforeafter1&#39;).beforeAfter({showFullLinks : true});
});
</script>

Step 2. Click on the Save template button
Note: if the above script doesn't work for you, add it above the </body> tag. Also please verify if you have added jQuery in your template (if you did so, then remove the line in green)

Step 3. Go to Layout, add a HTML/Javascript gadget and paste this code inside the empty box:

<div id='beforeafter1'>
<div><img alt='before' src='URL of the first image' width='500' height='291'/></div>
<div><img alt='after' src='URL of the second image' width='500' height='291'/></div>
</div>

Add the URL of the first image that is the Before image, and the URL of the second image that is the After image.

It is important that you have specified the width and height of each picture so that they work on all browsers.
If you want to add more images just change the ID of the container, in this case the container is called beforeafter1 so you need to change it to beforeafter2 and so on, although you can choose any name as long as all are different.

And in the first code to paste, add another line like this one in blue:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.3/jquery-ui.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/jquery.beforeafter.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(function(){
$(&#39;#beforeafter1&#39;).beforeAfter({showFullLinks : true});
$(&#39;#beforeafter2&#39;).beforeAfter({showFullLinks : true});
});
</script>

You can add as many before/after images as you like as long as all containers have a different ID and the corresponding lines are added in the script.
Below each photo container are the "Show only Before" and "Show only after" links that when you click on them, the complete pictures will be shown. If you want to hide these links, then just change true to false in the first code and they will not be displayed anymore.

Note: if you see white space around the drag icons, then search for this code in your template:

   <Group description="Images" selector=".main-inner">
     <Variable name="image.background.color" description="Background Color" type="color" default="#ffffff" value="#ffffff"/>

... and change the #ffffff value in red to transparent.

Autor: Catch my fame

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Spacegallery: image gallery/slideshow made with jQuery

There are many types of galleries for images that we find on the net, but we rarely see one showing images so differently like this one.

Those using Mac OS X will surely find a lot of similarity with TimeMachine and those who don't, I'm sure will enjoy this type of effect for viewing images.

I'm talking about Spacegallery, an image gallery done with jQuery in which images are being displayed one after another when you click on them. You can see in the example below.

To use this gallery follow the steps below:

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger Dashboard, click on your blog and then go to Template and click on the Edit HTML button.

Step 2. Search using CTRL + F keys for the </head> tag and before it paste the following:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/SpaceGallery/eye.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/SpaceGallery/utils.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/SpaceGallery/spacegallery.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
(function($){
var initLayout = function() {
var hash = window.location.hash.replace('#', '');
var currentTab = $('ul.navigationTabs a')
.bind('click', showTab)
.filter('a[rel=' + hash + ']');
if (currentTab.size() == 0) {
currentTab = $('ul.navigationTabs a:first');
}
showTab.apply(currentTab.get(0));
$('#myGallery').spacegallery({loadingClass: 'loading'});
};

var showTab = function(e) {
var tabIndex = $('ul.navigationTabs a')
.removeClass('active')
.index(this);
$(this)
.addClass('active')
.blur();
$('div.tab')
.hide()
.eq(tabIndex)
.show();
};

EYE.register(initLayout, 'init');
})(jQuery)
//]]>
</script>

Screenshot

Note: if you have already added jQuery in your template, then delete the line in red.

Step 3. Search for ]]></b:skin> (CTRL + F) and when you found it, click on the arrow next to it:

Paste just above ]]></b:skin> the following CSS style:

#myGallery {
width: 100%;
height: 400px;
}
#myGallery img {
border: 2px solid #52697E;
}
a.loading {
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtCQmRFFH8n4KQhTSjvC04IDb-r2epZ9Q1viZyPxh7gfKuzeNzI8NwBIRMo0-J1N5M9LDFaZfBh3Eb5uHUL7b_I6M0bEo-1NDX-UaGUjW-sLfGXM2JGc7tD0AUKaXwhvpDeDRlYE1tVa7U/s1600/ajax_small.gif) no-repeat center;
}
.spacegallery {
position: relative;
overflow: hidden;
}
.spacegallery img {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
}
.spacegallery a {
position: absolute;
z-index: 1000;
display: block;
top: 0;
left: 0;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
}

Step 4. Click on the Save template button

Step 5. Finally go to Layout > Add a Gadget > HTML/Javascript and copy-paste the code below:

<div class="spacegallery" id="myGallery">
<img src="Image URL"/>
<img src="Image URL"/>
<img src="Image URL"/>
<img src="Image URL"/>
<img src="Image URL"/>
</div>

Note: In case you want to add this slideshow inside a post, then create a new post and paste the code in the HTML section

Replace the Image URL text with the URLs of the images of your gallery, keeping in mind that the last image is the first to be displayed.

And so you can enjoy this simple image gallery on your blog, and although it has no display options or settings, is without a doubt a gallery that will draw the attention of your readers.

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Top three qualities of a successful blogger

Top Qualities To Become a Successful Blogger 

The qualities of a blogger should be attended at all times in order to become someone popular, a blogger should have plenty of ideas for creative writing, along with a truckload of motivation. The results sought will not come overnight, there's no guarantee. What you need first are two things in order realize your dream of running a successful blog: a lot of exclusive content and reader loyalty. In each case, time will be needed to develop the success, this is a process and not a short-term event.

Here are three qualities of a blogger who, as a site administrator will need to provide, if his goal is to manage a successful blog.

Patience

A successful blog is a product of time and effort and as a site administrator, you will need patience. As previously mentioned the results will not arrive rapidly overnight, therefore, it is important to realize this from the start. If you are constantly trying to develop new and creative ideas for writing on your blog and at the same time you are worried if you will see any results, this will only make things more difficult. The building of a blogging platform is a "long term" effort, therefore, you must decide whether to accept the challenge or not. This is the main qualities of a blogger.

Credibility

Much of the traffic of any successful blog is based on publishing unique content and its credibility. In fact, the quality of what is in the site will have a direct impact on what will become viral visitors coming to your platform. If it's worth people will talk about your blog, and if they do, others will come to see what you have. Depends on you to publish useful and accurate information, your readers will do the rest.

Consistency

Maintaining a steady stream of creative writing ideas is vital to be able to constantly update the blog. The frequency of publication to a proper schedule is related to the measure of the amount of time you have available and your level of motivation. However, it is important to establish a sort of consistency so that people can schedule their own visits accordingly. Just remember that the more often you write, the more people will visit, so their loyalty will grow faster and their referrals will be extended.

For becoming a popular blogger is important having a healthy source of creative writing ideas, along with a lot of patience and motivation. Ultimately, it will be reduced to you as the system administrator to provide the three qualities of a blogger we discussed above, who is searching tirelessly his goal of having a successful blog. In the end, your own motivation and patience will be the glue with which all the elements will be put together for your dream to come true.

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Add Keyboard Keys Effect To Your Text in Blogger with CSS

For many of us the design and the template are the most important, making our readers be more interested and coming back to our blog. In this tutorial, I will show you how to create a keyboard keys effect only with CSS. It is not necessary to add an image, so that your blog will load faster.

How to Add Keyboard Keys to Blogger

Step 1: From Blogger Dashboard, go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 2: Look for this line (Ctrl + F)

]]></b:skin>

Screenshot

Click on the arrow to expand the code

Step 3: Just above ]]></b:skin> paste this CSS code:

kbd{
border:1px solid gray;
font-size:1.2em;
box-shadow:1px 0 1px 0 #eee, 0 2px 0 2px #ccc, 0 2px 0 3px #444;
-webkit-border-radius:3px;
-moz-border-radius:3px;
border-radius:3px;
margin:2px 3px;
padding:1px 5px;
}

Step 4: Save the change made.

Now the only thing left to do is adding the tags to the desired text to make it look as it would be inside of the keyboard keys.

For this you need to create a new post, write the text on which you want to apply the style and then switch to HTML - where you have to add before and after it, the following HTML tags:

<kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>F</kbd>

Screenshot

And, it will be visible in your post as:

Ctrl + F

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How to do natural SEO on Blogger

Although many insist that blogs hosted on free servers, such as Blogger, are not ideal for performing a correct positioning of your web site, the truth is that a blog hosted by Blogger can be really well positioned and quickly on the Internet if you are using the right SEO tools.

Now, given the latest updates from Google, the best would be hiring a specialized person, however, if we don't have the resources or we want to learn doing this job alone, we can choose to begin with the natural positioning. Here are some tips to start a SEO work (Search Engine Optimization).

The first thing is to pick a correct domain

We must try having our keyword included in our domain name, of course, this may sacrifice our branding but we can use the redirection.

Create Value Added Content

Not only rewrite articles, or write like it would be something for us. We should write thinking about our target audience, i.e., giving advices, tips, suggestions, guidance on specific topics and, aside, put links, use anchortext and keyfrases.

The topic of the links is important

They should be of quality and is no longer needed to place five or ten links within the text of your website, now, what matters is that the link is in context and is relevant.

Finally, the domain, in value-added content and a right use of the internal and external links, will not be useful if we don't try to update our blog constantly.

How often should you update your blog?

This is not necessary to be done on daily basis, although this may be ideal as in this way we could achieve a greater relevance in search engines, but has to be a constant work. Let's say, two or three times a week would be enough, what should not happen is updating only three times a week and doing nothing next week.

Keep in mind that search engines happen to pass daily on our blog in order to index our content.

I hope that you find these SEO tips useful and if you would like to receive more tutorials by email, subscribe for free to this blog, check out the facebook page or add the RSS feed.

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How to Add a Recent Forum Topics Widget to Blogger

If you are using the Nabble forum in your blog is very likely that this gadget will interest you because, as the title says, it will show the lastest topics that have been published in your forum in a very similar manner to the recent comments gadget which uses the blog's feed.

First you should go to your forum and look at the bottom where it says Feeds, click there, then two links of the Feed will appear (the first being the Topics only Feed and the other one is Topics and replies), choose the one you want.

After this, log in to your Blogger Dashboard, go to Layout, click on Add a Gadget link, choose Feed from the gadgets list and paste the Feed URL you have selected inside the text box.

Click on Continue, and you only have to configure the parameters, then Save changes to see the results.

That's it! Enjoy :)

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Add a forum on your Blogger blog with Nabble

If you have many users on your blog and many comments, perhaps you should consider a forum to finish enriching your blog.

Create a Forum With Nabble

To implement a forum we will use Nabble, in my opinion, the best free option. We go to Nabble page and there, we will create an account (keep in mind that this account will be the moderator of the forum).

And once we have everything set (it also has a wide variety of customizing options), go to Options -> Application -> Change appearance:

There, we can also edit the CSS of the forum and other things...

Now we have to give the structure of a real forum, i.e. organizing it by categories. To do this click on the Options menu, select Application, then click Change application type:

Then choose the Forum category and save your changes.

To finish, we only have to create categories and for this go back to Options, this time select Structure and then choose Create a new sub-forum:

Fill in the details of the category and that's it, you will have your forum running.

The rest are small details, like sort categories (Options > Structure > Manage sub-forums), customize your avatar and your signature (YourNickname > Account Settings), change permissions (Options > Users > Permissions), etc..

Now for integrating the newly created forum to your blog, you must go to Options - Embedding options and copy the javascript code.

Embed the forum in a Blogger page

Go to your Blogger Dashboard and create a new Blank Page

Once there, get in the HTML mode.

Paste here the code that we copied earlier, and if everything went well, we should see our brand new forum for our blog!

I hope this tutorial was helpful to you and you will begin using this great service.

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Top Commentators Widget with Avatars for Blogger

The commentators are a fundamental part of any blog, since they are the ones that give life to the blog, opening and replying to discussions which leads to more activity in the posts.

It is therefore very important to know which are the most active users of your blog, the users who leave more comments, and for this reason, today I present a great method to display a list with the top commentators.

The gadget will look something like this:

This Top Commentators gadget comes with user's avatar and is done with JavaScript.

How to Add the Top Commenters Gadget to Blogger

1. To add this gadget, you have to go to Layout, click on Add a Gadget link.

2. Select the HTML/JavaScript gadget and copy/paste within the empty box the following code:

<style type="text/css">
.top-commentators {
margin: 3px 0;
border-bottom: 1px dotted #ccc;
}
.avatar-top-commentators {
vertical-align:middle;
border-radius: 30px;
}
.top-commentators .commenter-link-name {
padding-left:0;
}
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
var maxTopCommenters = 8;  
var minComments = 1;       
var numDays = 0;           
var excludeMe = true;      
var excludeUsers = ["Anonymous", "someotherusertoexclude"];   
var maxUserNameLength = 42;
//
var txtTopLine = '<b>[#].</b> [image] [user] ([count])';
var txtNoTopCommenters = 'No top commentators at this time.';
var txtAnonymous = '';
//
var sizeAvatar = 33;
var cropAvatar = true;
//
var urlNoAvatar = "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqREIonOJ3QCqC8UDQkfXfDMl4Bur49AtUpvV5pd5o5GBuUvxmSyyqO94Ii1KfKuOX7BMFHt3IssQur-CEHOcrzW2s7YxOuBAHGY9BJcs6pm29-rCET2NgeG5oLeBW1_wVHaNTSU8KyH0C/s1600/avatar_blue_m_96.png" + sizeAvatar;
var urlAnoAvatar = 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqd8bdE92Y7VCrVScea10aCL03z0P4tnTiRjOPL4qJ6YS2q-5tOo48HczMpLXMtG90KuMnURFuhbYIiQthgjnSI-gthHZUS_viJM6sw4-drDgA3g6Ann7B6GSUt1bDu_rRqElp61rcN_n/s1600/avatar1.png' + sizeAvatar;
var urlMyProfile = '';
var urlMyAvatar = '';

if(!Array.indexOf) {
 Array.prototype.indexOf=function(obj) {
  for(var i=0;i<this.length;i++) if(this[i]==obj) return i;
  return -1;
}}
function replaceTopCmtVars(text, item, position)
{
  if(!item || !item.author) return text;
  var author = item.author;

  var authorUri = "";
  if(author.uri && author.uri.$t != "")
    authorUri = author.uri.$t;

  var avaimg = urlAnoAvatar;
  var bloggerprofile = "http://www.blogger.com/profile/";
  if(author.gd$image && author.gd$image.src && authorUri.substr(0,bloggerprofile.length) == bloggerprofile)
    avaimg = author.gd$image.src;
  else {
    var parseurl = document.createElement('a');
    if(authorUri != "") {
      parseurl.href = authorUri;
      avaimg = 'http://www.google.com/s2/favicons?domain=' + parseurl.hostname;
    }
  }
  if(urlMyProfile != "" && authorUri == urlMyProfile && urlMyAvatar != "")
    avaimg = urlMyAvatar;
  if(avaimg == "http://img2.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif" && urlNoAvatar != "")
    avaimg = urlNoAvatar;
  var newsize="s"+sizeAvatar;
  avaimg = avaimg.replace(/\/s\d\d+-c\//, "/"+newsize+"-c/");
  if(cropAvatar) newsize+="-c";
  avaimg = avaimg.replace(/\/s\d\d+(-c){0,1}\//, "/"+newsize+"/");

  var authorName = author.name.$t;
  if(authorName == 'Anonymous' && txtAnonymous != '' && avaimg == urlAnoAvatar)
    authorName = txtAnonymous;
  var imgcode = '<img class="avatar-top-commentators" height="'+sizeAvatar+'" width="'+sizeAvatar+'" title="'+authorName+'" src="'+avaimg+'" />';
  if(authorUri!="") imgcode = '<a href="'+authorUri+'">'+imgcode+'</a>';

  if(maxUserNameLength > 3 && authorName.length > maxUserNameLength)
    authorName = authorName.substr(0, maxUserNameLength-3) + "...";
  var authorcode = authorName;
  if(authorUri!="") authorcode = '<a class="commenter-link-name" href="'+authorUri+'">'+authorcode+'</a>';

  text = text.replace('[user]', authorcode);
  text = text.replace('[image]', imgcode);
  text = text.replace('[#]', position);
  text = text.replace('[count]', item.count);
  return text;
}

var topcommenters = {};
var ndxbase = 1;
function showTopCommenters(json) {
  var one_day=1000*60*60*24;
  var today = new Date();

  if(urlMyProfile == "") {
    var elements = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
    var expr = /(^| )profile-link( |$)/;
    for(var i=0 ; i<elements.length ; i++)
      if(expr.test(elements[i].className)) {
        urlMyProfile = elements[i].href;
        break;
      }
  }

  if(json && json.feed && json.feed.entry && json.feed.entry.length) for(var i = 0 ; i < json.feed.entry.length ; i++ ) {
    var entry = json.feed.entry[i];
    if(numDays > 0) {
      var datePart = entry.published.$t.match(/\d+/g);
      var cmtDate = new Date(datePart[0],datePart[1]-1,datePart[2],datePart[3],datePart[4],datePart[5]);
     
      var days = Math.ceil((today.getTime()-cmtDate.getTime())/(one_day));
      if(days > numDays) break;
    }
    var authorUri = "";
    if(entry.author[0].uri && entry.author[0].uri.$t != "")
      authorUri = entry.author[0].uri.$t;

    if(excludeMe && authorUri != "" && authorUri == urlMyProfile)
      continue;
    var authorName = entry.author[0].name.$t;
    if(excludeUsers.indexOf(authorName) != -1)
      continue;

    var hash=entry.author[0].name.$t + "-" + authorUri;
    if(topcommenters[hash])
      topcommenters[hash].count++;
    else {
      var commenter = new Object();
      commenter.author = entry.author[0];
      commenter.count = 1;
      topcommenters[hash] = commenter;
    }
  }
  if(json && json.feed && json.feed.entry && json.feed.entry.length && json.feed.entry.length == 200) {
    ndxbase += 200;
    document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="http://'+window.location.hostname+'/feeds/comments/default?redirect=false&max-results=200&start-index='+ndxbase+'&alt=json-in-script&callback=showTopCommenters"></'+'script>');
    return;
  }

  // convert object to array of tuples
  var tuplear = [];
  for(var key in topcommenters) tuplear.push([key, topcommenters[key]]);

  tuplear.sort(function(a, b) {
    if(b[1].count-a[1].count)
        return b[1].count-a[1].count;
    return (a[1].author.name.$t.toLowerCase() < b[1].author.name.$t.toLowerCase()) ? -1 : 1;
  });

  var realcount = 0;
  for(var i = 0; i < maxTopCommenters && i < tuplear.length ; i++) {
    var item = tuplear[i][1];
    if(item.count < minComments)
        break;
    document.write('<di'+'v class="top-commentators">');
    document.write(replaceTopCmtVars(txtTopLine, item, realcount+1));
    document.write('</d'+'iv>');
    realcount++;
  }
  if(!realcount)
    document.write(txtNoTopCommenters);
}
document.write('<script type="text/javascript" src="http://'+window.location.hostname+'/feeds/comments/default?redirect=false&max-results=200&alt=json-in-script&callback=showTopCommenters"></'+'script>');
</script>

3. Now you just have to save changes and you're done!

Configuration

- To modify the number of users displayed in the gadget, look for var maxTopCommenters = 8; and change 8 with any number you want.
- To change the avatar size of the commenters, look for var sizeAvatar = 33; and change number 33 with the number of pixels you want.

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Redirect Blogger 404 Error (Page Not Found) To Homepage

Whenever, by mistake, we or a user misspells an URL inexistent in our blog, it automatically redirects to the 404 error page (page not found). A message like this would appear:

"Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist."

And probably this will not make a good impression on the greatest potential users of our blog. Before the user clicks the back button or close the window/browser's tab, thus leaving our site forever, we may want to redirect 404 error in Blogger to a page, where are chances that the visitor will continue reading our blog.

One of the most used methods is the "meta refresh" but the problem with this method is that it breaks navigation (doesn't allow returning back). In this case, the best method is by using Javascript which will be shown below.

Redirect Blogger 404 Error with Javascript

First of all, go to your Blogger dashboard and then to Settings > Search preferences > Custom Page Not Found.

Copy and paste the following code:

Sorry, the page you're looking for in this blog does not exist.
You will be redirected to homepage shortly.
<script type = "text/javascript">
BSPNF_redirect = setTimeout(function() {
location.pathname= "/"
}, 5000);
</script>

The message which is going to be displayed can be edited as you want. If you are willing to redirect your blog 404 error page to another page other than your home page, just replace pathname to href and / with the url of your page. And finally, the number 5000 is the delay expressed in milliseconds. You can edit any value if this is more convenient.

Next thing to do is to save all changes made in this section and do a little test to check if the code works well. You can enter a nonexistent URL on your blog, and see if the 404 error page added previously appears, followed by a redirection after 5 seconds. That's it!

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4 Alternatives to Google AdWords

Many think that Google AdWords is the only tool dedicated and available to perform a study such as a keyword search, but it isn't so, today I refute this little lie by collecting some alternatives that, although are not equal to Google AdWords, at least encourage us to make good keyword analysis for the SEO of our website.

Going back a bit, for those unfamiliar with the main features and tools of Google AdWords, we can find a very simple interface yet complete in every sense.

• AdWords appearance has changed, however there is a chance of returning to the old design.
• Allows you to place a phrase or keyword, a web site and use the categories.
• For a better keywords search, you can apply filters such as location, language and add custom fields (competition, local or global monthly searches, CPC, Ad share, etc.).
• Displays keyword ideas in columns with the amount of local and global monthly searches and approximate CPC.
• You can download keyword ideas, search results in a format to open with Excel.

Having recalled and refreshed the memory a little with the characteristics of AdWords, now it is time to learn about other options both free and paid.

Google AdWords Alternatives

Bing Webmaster Tools: Bing may not be the tool that we had first thought of, however it wants to provide the best conditions for studying keywords.

After we register, to access the tool, go to Diagnostics & Tools and click on the second option on the list: Keyword Research.

SEMRush: Other freemium alternative that displays a very complete report of a particular keyword or website. However, it has limitations and if you opt for a PRO recurring plan you need to pay a monthly membership from $69.95 per month.

Ubersuggest: This nice and simple online tool searches keywords suggestion as well as potential titles for an article. Personally, I recommend it 100%.

Keyword Eye: If you are looking to perform a keyword research on a particular region, Keyword Eye will be your help. It also has the option of requesting the display of search volume or AdWords competition and a full report of anchor text, keywords and domain.

At first it offers a free plan with limitations and to enjoy all other benefits we have to pay $9.99 per month.

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How to Add Google Analytics to Blogger

Google Analytics is a platform created with the purpose of providing us a tracking of the number of visits and page views on our blog that also uses several filters to check exactly from where visitors are coming via standard or custom reports.

Google Analytics is the leading free tool that has a good relationship with the internet marketing and offers suggestions and improvements or benefits for our website.

As Analytics is part of the variety of Google tools like Blogger, many bloggers still don't know if it is possible to add the tracking code in Blogger. Implementing analytics in Blogger is very quick and easy, so you don't need to be experts or web developers, here's a small guide for placing the Google Analytics tracking ID on our blog.

Implementing Google Analytics on Blogger

1. Do you have a Google Analytics account? Then it's perfect. If you don't have one, please Register.
2. Within the account, we'll go to Admin and in the Property column, click the menu, then click Create new property, where we enter the information from the website.

3. Click on "Get Tracking ID" and it will provide a box with a code, select and copy the code (CTRL + C).

4. Now let's go to our Blogger account.
5. Look for your blog and in the Template > Edit HTML, paste the code previously generated in Analytics before the </head> tag (CTRL + F in order to find it).

And this would be the entire procedure. And within about 24 hours, we shall see the first statistics of our blog in Google Analytics, otherwise do the following:

- Double check that the code has no spaces or characters.
- Errors in the configuration.
- Poor implementation of the filters.
- The Flash plugin is not working or javascript is disabled.
- Will have minor issues if you are receiving visits from China (this conflict is not yet solved, according to Google).

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