How to Add a Widget Below First Post in Blogger

This tutorial will show you how to make a gadget/widget to appear just below the first Blogger post.

First, you must understand that the usual gadgets provided by Blogger can be added only in the areas where the design section permits. Still, we can show any element, for example, an AdSense ad, an image, a flash file, a video etc.

So what we will do in this tutorial is to display an item under the first post, this means that it will not be visible below the other entries. This is great when you use any automatic summary, although it is not a requirement.

Well, this is easy to do and we will use the isFirstPost conditional tag for that element to show it under the first entry.

Adding An Element Below First Post

Step 1. First, go to your Blogger Template and click on the Edit HTML button:

Step 2. Check the "Expand Widget Templates" box:

Step 3. And find this line:

<b:include data='post' name='post'/> 

Step 4. Just below it add this code:

<b:if cond='data:post.isFirstPost'>
<div align="center" style="margin-top:0px; margin-bottom:10px;">
Here goes the code of the element you want to show
</div>
</b:if>

Note:

- The bolded text indicates to where you should paste the code of the element (eg. AdSense ad, a widget). 

- In red are the top margins (margin-top) and the bottom margins (margin-bottom), this is in case you want the element to move towards or away from the entries, also you can add any style like a background color, border etc..

Step 5. Preview to make sure everything is okay, then Save your Template.

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How to Customize Blogger's Lightbox

Now, for those of you who have chosen to use the Blogger's Lightbox View to display the images, you have the option to change its style in a whole different way. We'll be able to change the black color of the screen, the border or shadow of the images and the color of the thumbnails background as well. We can customize the Blogger Lightbox entirely on your taste.

Demo

Take a look at the screenshots below:

Before:

After:

After adding our CSS code, the entire look of the modal window will be changed: the background color, the bar showing the thumbnails, the edge of images (border), the text that appears in it, transparency and the close button.

All we have to do is to overwrite the default styles and change them for ours.

How to Change the Blogger's Lightbox Background and Style

Step 1. Go to Template, click on the Edit HTML button (also click on the Proceed button if needed)

Step 2. Search using CTRL + F the following code snippet:

]]></b:skin>

Step 3. Copy and paste the following code just above it:

/* Blogger Lightbox
----------------------------------------------- */

/* Background Color */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_BG_MASK {
background-color: #ffffff !important;
background-image: url(image-url-address) !important;
opacity: 0.8 !important;
filter: alpha(opacity=90) !important;
}

/* Images Border */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_SCALED_IMAGE_IMG {
outline: 0px solid #fff !important;
-webkit-border-radius: 10px;
-moz-border-radius: 10px;
border-radius: 10px;
-webkit-box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #000000;
-moz-box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #000000;
box-shadow: 0px 0px 5px #000000;
}

/* Close Button */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_BTN_CLOSE {
background: url(image-url-address) no-repeat !important;
width: 24px !important;
height: 24px !important;
}

/* Thumbnails Bar Color */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_FILMSTRIP {
background-color: #eaeaea !important;
}

/* Text Color */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_ATTRIBUTION_INFO, .CSS_LIGHTBOX_ATTRIBUTION_LINK {
color: #000 !important;
}

/* Index Info (number of images) */
.CSS_LIGHTBOX_INDEX_INFO {
color: #555555 !important;
}

Note:

- The text in green explains to which part the code belongs (it doesn't need to be modified)

For example, the / * Background Color * / part can change the background color or even the LightBox background color to an image. If you want to do that, then change this line by replacing the red text with the url address of your image:

background-image: url(image-url-address) !important;

- The opacity is just below, if you add a lower value ( 0.8 ) the background will become more transparent.

- To change the icon for close button, you have to replace the text in red from /* Close Button */ with the url of your image. (you can host image at tinypic or upload it into a blogger draft and then Copy the Link Location)

- To change the text color of images, replace the #555555 value from /* Index Info (number of images) */

- The border of the images can be changed as much as we want: you can change the borders' roundedness, shadow, etc... but remember this is CSS3 so older versions of Internet Explorer will not see it.

Step 4. Click on Save Template and you're done!

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Missing for a while

It’s been pretty silent for a long while, isn’t it? So, I'm finally back, after a very long break. Life’s been really busy and hectic in the last time. New home, new job, new projects and a whole new environment.

I apologize everyone for not replying to your messages/comments. Because I have gotten too many spams comments lately, many of the comments are not yet approved, so now all of them are put in moderation. (there are over 2000 comments, wow... there's a lot of hard work to do)

And most important, I want to thank everyone for your support and for keeping this blog alive! Your presence really encourages me to write more and produce more content and I'll try to make more time from now on.

Now, getting back into the swing of blogging, I will post more tutorials from time to time and also, have to share lots of goodies for your blog, so keep an eye out for them :>

Any suggestions for future tutorials are welcome!

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How to Make the Blogger Posts Have a Calendar for the Date in

It's quite common to see calendar style dates next to some WordPress posts but for the Blogger platform it isn't always an very easy task to add this. But who said you can't do it? You need to look no further than this blog. In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create a calendar style date for your Blogger posts.

DEMO

How to create calendar style dates in Blogger

Step 1. Go to Settings > Language and Formatting - Date Header Format and change the date format as you can see in my example below (put day first, then the month and finally the year)
 

Step 2. Then go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 3. Select the "Expand Widget Templates" checkbox

Step 4. And search (CTRL + F) the following line:

<h2 class='date-header'><span><data:post.dateHeader/></span></h2>

Step 5. In case you find it twice, then you should replace it twice with this code:

<div id='Date'>
<script>changeDate(&#39;<data:post.dateHeader/>&#39;);</script>
</div>
<b:else/>
<div id='Date'>
<script>changeDate(&#39;&#39;);</script>
</div>

Step 6. Now search for this tag (CTRL + F to find it)

</head>

Step 7. And paste the code from below just ABOVE the </head> tag:

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
var DateCalendar;
function changeDate(d){
if (d == "") {
d = DateCalendar;
}
var da = d.split(' ');
day = "<strong class='date_day'>"+da[0]+"</strong>";
month = "<strong class='date_month'>"+da[1].slice(0,3)+"</strong>";
year = "<strong class='date_year'>"+da[2]+"</strong>";
document.write(month+day+year);
DateCalendar = d;
}
//]]>
</script>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
<style type='text/css'>
/* Calendar style date
----------------------------------------------- */
#Date {
background: transparent url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR3u8QSTHdZjoJZ2q9zcWeLnooPgYzrkb8g9-iMXzrhuf0XXfQa2dRVajhdJstTSBRwWNspzF2Nsl7YWLz2JxM4Ir0fi8eZA4N112310LzQZjqOYYH8hrogUgXWX_u9fBqB6gB5Uy_7zHx/s1600/calendar07.png) no-repeat;
display: block;
width:60px;
height:60px;
float: left;
margin: 15px 2px 0 -108px;
padding: 0 0 8px 0px;
border: 0;
text-transform: uppercase;
}
.date_month {
display: block;
font-size: 15px;
font-weight:bold;
margin-top:-1px;
text-align:center;
color:#ffffff; /* Month's color */
}
.date_day {
display: block;
font-size: 28px;
font-weight:bold;
margin-top:-8px;
text-align:center;
color:#282828; /* Day's color */
}
.date_year {
display: block;
font-size: 10px;
margin-top:-8px;
text-align:center;
color:#282828; /* Year's color */
}
</style>
</b:if>

Before saving your Template, we can make some changes:

• To change the calendar style, replace the url in blue with yours;
• If the calendar doesn't appear correctly, change -108 with 0;
• With green are marked the areas where you can change the color of the dates

Step 8. Now Preview your Template and if everything is ok, click on the Save button. Enjoy!

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How to Create Drop Caps (Big First Letters) in Blogger/Blogspot

Here's another way you can customize your Blog. In this case, your Posts and Comment's first letter. The effect is a large first letter stretching down three or four lines with the text wrapped around. The drop cap letter can also use a different font and can be a different color to the rest of the text. You often see this style in newspapers, literature, magazines. In this tutorial i will show you how to apply automatically Magazine text style in Blogger Posts and Comments. So let's start adding it!

-> Add Drop Caps For Blogger Posts

-> Add Drop Caps For Blogger Comments

Big First Letter for your Blogger / Blogspot Posts

Step 1.

•  If you are using the old Blogger interface:

Go to Dashboard - Design - Edit HTML - Expand Widget Template (make a backup)

• If you are using the new Blogger interface:

Go to Dashboard - Template - Edit HTML - Proceed - Expand Widget Template (make a backup)

Step 2. Search (CTRL + F) for this piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 3. Just above it, add the following:

.capital:first-letter {
float: left;
display: block;
font-family: Times, serif, Georgia;
font-size: 40px;
color: #000000;
margin:0px 5px 0 0;
padding:0 0 0 10px;
}

Customize:

Color - change the color highlighted in blue with the value of your desired color
Size - to change the letter size, increase/decrease the value highlighted in pink.

Step 4. Now search for this code:

<data:post.body/>

Step 5. Then immediately before and after add the red fragments you see in the example below:

 <div class='capital'><data:post.body/></div>

Step 6. Save your template.

Important! If the above code is not working, add one of following codes from this example:

<p class="capital"><data:post.body/></p>

Or

<span class="capital"><data:post.body/></span>

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger account, then go to Design (Layout) >> Edit HTML >> check the "Expand Widget Templates" box

Step 2. Search (CTRL + F) for this piece of code (if you have already added this code, skip step 2 & 3):

]]></b:skin>

Step 3. Add the following code just above ]]></b:skin>:

.capital:first-letter {
float: left;
display: block;
font-family: Times, serif, Georgia;
font-size: 40px;
color: #000000;
margin:0px 5px 0 0;
padding:0 0 0 10px;
}

Customize:

Color - change the color highlighted in blue with the value of your desired color
Size - to change the letter size, increase/decrease the value highlighted in pink.

Step 4. Then Search for this piece of code:

<data:comment.body/>

Step 5. Add the red codes before and after <data:comment.body/> as you can see in my example below:

<p class="capital"><data:comment.body/></p>

Step 6. Save your Template.

That's it! Now you have a cool drop cap first letter on your blog.
If you have any question, leave a comment below!

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Numbered comments on threaded comments for Blogger/Blogspot

In a past tutorial, I've been talking about how you can add numbered comments to your blogger blog and today we'll learn how we can add numbered comments along with comment bubbles on the threaded comments as well.

What the following CSS trick will do for you:

1. When the general block of comments is initiating (.comments-content) a counter called countcomments activates and starts with an initial value of 1. 
2. Then, each time the code flow goes through a review of any level, either a principal or a reply comment (.comment-thread li), content will bring us in front (:before) of the body of the comment, the number that is the counter at the time.
   
3. Then is incremented in one unit the counter (counter-increment).

See the screenshot:

Isn't that great? Well, i'm pretty sure many of you have been waiting for this cool trick. So let's begin applying it for our threaded comments system.

Steps to add bubble comments count

Step 1: Go to Dashboard - Template - Edit HTML (click on Proceed if needed)

...Expand Widget Templates:

Step 2: Search (CTRL + F) for this piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Step 3: Add the following code just above it:

.comment-thread ol {
counter-reset: countcomments;
}
.comment-thread li:before {
content: counter(countcomments,decimal);
counter-increment: countcomments;
float: right;
z-index: 2;
position:relative;
font-size: 22px;
color: #555555;
padding-left:10px; 
padding-top:3px; 
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifMQyWnUy9Smifo4E7-qvXl_FxeC-4KQCAG_c3JHKp5BFuEyalr4aERVlRheGMwh79taihmEsPpjDBC8nkw0K4yd4UblAv6XobuDVeE5SmPPp_ThT_sFEn7RlVPZHmj-sauUI2lUAFfaCN/s1600/comment+bubble2.png) no-repeat;
margin-top:7px; 
margin-left:10px; 
width: 50px; /*image-width size*/
height: 48px; /*image-height size*/ 
}
.comment-thread ol ol {
counter-reset: contrebasse;
}
.comment-thread li li:before {
content: counter(countcomments,decimal) "." counter(contrebasse,lower-latin);
counter-increment: contrebasse;
float: right;
font-size: 18px;
color: #666666;
}

Note:

• for no bubble icon, remove the code in red (including the blue code)
• to change the comment bubble, replace the code in blue with the URL address of your own icon. If you're not sure what icon you should use, you can find some cool icons in my previous posts (see these tutorials here and here)
• to change the position of comments count, increase/decrease the values (3 & 10) from padding-top and padding-left
• to change the position of comments bubble/icon, change the values (10 & 7) from margin-left and margin-top

Step 4: Now Save the Template and you're done!

If you enjoy reading this blog, please share and subscribe. For any questions, leave a comment below.

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How to add “Email Subscription Form” to Blogger Blogspot

When you are providing useful information in your blog, then many times some readers will need to get the latest updates from your blog. For that purpose, you need an Email Subscription Form in your blog, so that the interested visitors can easily get the latest updates.


To add email or Feed Subscription Form to your blogger blog (blogspot) is very easy.
Just follow the next steps:

1. Log in to Blogger, then go to Layout > click on "Add a Gadget" link:

 2. From the pop-up window, scroll down and click on the "HTML/JavaScript" gadget:

 3. Paste the following code inside the empty box:

<style>
.hl-email{
background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDei9kDL-ni0Q1dN3IumZ4x_r51jvTrdmc3wPMDHtLAWBtsMgeP3RvamIhJel6r2oBwt-NG3XE8-fu8nLKTO9zFBGxtEwVZzNH1qhvLavZ9kIlwOBMcnuyfbUJkRxhsUzl-ESn3L5UNpk/s1600/mail.png) no-repeat 0px 12px ;
width:300px;
padding:10px 0 0 55px;
float:left;
font-size:1.4em;
font-weight:bold;
margin:0 0 10px 0;
color:#686B6C;
}
.hl-emailsubmit{
background:#9B9895;
cursor:pointer;
color:#fff;
border:none;
padding:3px;
text-shadow:0 -1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.25);
-moz-border-radius:6px;
-webkit-border-radius:6px;
border-radius:6px;
font:12px sans-serif;
}
.hl-emailsubmit:hover{
background:#E98313;
}
.textarea{
padding:2px;
margin:6px 2px 6px 2px;
background:#f9f9f9;
border:1px solid #ccc;
resize:none;
box-shadow:inset 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
-moz-box-shadow:inset 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);
-webkit-box-shadow:inset 1px 1px 1px rgba(0,0,0,0.1); font-size:13px;
width:130px;
color:#666;}
</style>
<div class="hl-email">
Subscribe via Email <form action="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify" id="feedform" method="post" target="popupwindow" onsubmit="window.open('http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helplogger', 'popupwindow', 'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520');return true">
<input gtbfieldid="3" class="textarea" name="email" onblur="if (this.value == &quot;&quot;) {this.value = &quot;Enter email address here&quot;;}" onfocus="if (this.value == &quot;Enter email address here&quot;) {this.value = &quot;&quot;;}" value="Enter email address here" type="text" />
<input type="hidden" value="helplogger" name="uri"/><input type="hidden" name="loc" value="en_US"/>
<input class="hl-emailsubmit" value="Submit" type="submit" />
</form>
</div>

Settings 

• Replace the url address in green to change the email icon
• Increase/Decrease the 130 width value for a wider text area
• Replace http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helplogger with your Feedburner Email Feed link. You can get it by visiting your feedburner account then navigate to Publicize and then to Email Subscriptions.
• Replace helplogger with your feed title. It appears at the end of your feed link. In my case it is http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=helplogger

4. Now Save your widget and check your blog. Enjoy!

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