How to Add a Tiny jQuery Circleslider to Blogger

Tiny Circleslider is a small jQuery plugin generating a circular carousel of images that we can slide infinitely (circular). When clicking on the red dot, the main picture moves to the left and another set of images will slide out.

There is nothing complicated about using this type of carousel, however when it is about customizing it, we need 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.

To see it in action, please visit the below demo blog and just drag the red dot:

Tiny jQuery Circleslider Demo

Adding the Tiny CircleSlider to a Blogger Blog

In order to make it work, first task is to add the javascript jQuery library in the template:

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger account > select your blog

Step 2. Go to "Template" and hit the "Edit HTML" button:

Step 3. Click anywhere on the code area and search by using the CTRL + F keys for this tag:

</head>

Step 4. Just above the </head> tag, add the following scripts:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script>
//<![CDATA[
/*! Tiny Circleslider - v2.0.8 - 2015-08-08
 * http://www.baijs.com/tinycircleslider
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2015 Maarten Baijs <wieringen@gmail.com>;
 * Licensed under the MIT license */

!function(a){"function"==typeof define&&define.amd?define(["jquery"],a):"object"==typeof exports?module.exports=a(require("jquery")):a(jQuery)}(function(a){function b(b,e){function f(){return k(),w.append(x.first().clone()).css("width",B.width*(x.length+1)),g(),r(0),v.move(v.options.start,v.options.interval),v}function g(){G&&(b[0].ontouchstart=u,b[0].ontouchmove=q,b[0].ontouchend=s),y.bind("mousedown",u);var c=function(b){return b.preventDefault(),b.stopImmediatePropagation(),v.stop(),v.move(a(this).attr("data-slide-index")),!1};G&&b.delegate(".dot","touchstart",c),b.delegate(".dot","mousedown",c)}function h(a){E=setTimeout(function(){v.move(v.slideCurrent+1,!0)},a?50:v.options.intervalTime)}function i(a){return a*(Math.PI/180)}function j(a){return 180*a/Math.PI}function k(){var c=document.createDocumentFragment();z.remove(),x.each(function(b,d){var e=null,f=parseInt(a(d).attr("data-degrees"),10)||360*b/v.slidesTotal,g={top:-Math.cos(i(f))*v.options.radius+A.height/2-D.height/2,left:Math.sin(i(f))*v.options.radius+A.width/2-D.width/2};z.length>0&&(e=z.clone(),e.addClass(a(d).attr("data-classname")).css(g),c.appendChild(e[0])),v.dots.push({angle:f,slide:d,dot:e})}),v.dots.sort(function(a,b){return a.angle-b.angle}),a.each(v.dots,function(b,c){a(c.dot).length>0&&a(c.dot).addClass("dot-"+(b+1)).attr("data-slide-index",b).html("<span>"+(b+1)+"</span>")}),b.append(c),z=b.find(".dot")}function l(a,b){var c,d,e;return a>b?(c=a-b,d=-(b+360-a)):(c=a+360-b,d=-(b-a)),e=c<Math.abs(d)?c:d,[e,d,c]}function m(b){var c=9999,d=9999,e=9999,f=0,g=0,h=0;return a.each(v.dots,function(a,i){var j=l(i.angle,b);Math.abs(j[0])<Math.abs(e)&&(e=j[0],h=a),Math.abs(j[1])<Math.abs(c)&&(c=j[1],f=a),Math.abs(j[2])<Math.abs(d)&&(d=j[2],g=a)}),[[h,f,g],[e,c,d]]}function n(a){return 0>a?360+a%-360:a%360}function o(a,b,c){var d=a,e=!1;Math.abs(a)>Math.abs(b)?(d=-b,e=!0):I?requestAnimationFrame(function(){o(d,b+a)}):F=setTimeout(function(){o(d,b+a,.9*c)},c),v.angleCurrent=n(v.angleCurrent-d),r(v.angleCurrent,e)}function p(a){return{x:H?a.targetTouches[0].pageX:a.pageX||a.clientX,y:H?a.targetTouches[0].pageY:a.pageY||a.clientY}}function q(a){var c=b.offset(),d={left:p(a).x-c.left-A.width/2,top:p(a).y-c.top-A.height/2};return v.angleCurrent=n(j(Math.atan2(d.left,-d.top))),I||r(v.angleCurrent),!1}function r(a,c){closestSlidesAndAngles=m(a),closestSlides=closestSlidesAndAngles[0],closestAngles=closestSlidesAndAngles[1],w.css("left",-(closestSlides[1]*B.width+Math.abs(closestAngles[1])*B.width/(Math.abs(closestAngles[1])+Math.abs(closestAngles[2])))),y.css({top:-Math.cos(i(a))*v.options.radius+(A.height/2-C.height/2),left:Math.sin(i(a))*v.options.radius+(A.width/2-C.width/2)}),c&&b.trigger("move",[x[v.slideCurrent],v.slideCurrent])}function s(b){return a(b.target).hasClass("dot")?!1:(v.dragging=!1,b.preventDefault(),a(document).unbind("mousemove mouseup"),y.unbind("mouseup"),v.options.dotsHide&&z.stop(!0,!0).fadeOut("slow"),v.options.dotsSnap&&v.move(m(v.angleCurrent)[0][0]),void 0)}function t(){v.dragging&&(r(v.angleCurrent),requestAnimationFrame(function(){t()}))}function u(b){return b.preventDefault(),H="touchstart"==b.type,v.dragging=!0,a(b.target).hasClass("dot")?!1:(v.stop(),a(document).mousemove(q),a(document).mouseup(s),y.mouseup(s),v.options.dotsHide&&z.stop(!0,!0).fadeIn("slow"),I&&t(),void 0)}this.options=a.extend({},d,e),this._defaults=d,this._name=c;var v=this,w=(b.find(".viewport"),b.find(".overview")),x=w.children(),y=b.find(".thumb"),z=b.find(".dot"),A=(x.find("a"),{width:b.outerWidth(!0),height:b.outerHeight(!0)}),B={width:x.first().outerWidth(!0),height:x.first().outerHeight(!0)},C={width:y.outerWidth(!0),height:y.outerHeight(!0)},D={width:z.outerWidth(),height:z.outerHeight()},E=null,F=null,G="ontouchstart"in window,H=!1,I="requestAnimationFrame"in window;return this.dots=[],this.slideCurrent=0,this.angleCurrent=0,this.slidesTotal=x.length,this.intervalActive=!1,this.start=function(a){return v.options.interval&&(v.intervalActive=!0,h(a)),v},this.stop=function(){return v.intervalActive=!1,clearTimeout(E),v},this.move=function(a){var b=Math.max(0,isNaN(a)?v.slideCurrent:a);b>=v.slidesTotal&&(b=0);var c=v.dots[b]&&v.dots[b].angle,d=l(c,v.angleCurrent)[0],e=d>0?-2:2;return v.slideCurrent=b,o(e,d,50),v.start(),v},f()}var c="tinycircleslider",d={interval:!1,intervalTime:3500,dotsSnap:!1,dotsHide:!0,radius:140,start:0};a.fn[c]=function(d){return this.each(function(){a.data(this,"plugin_"+c)||a.data(this,"plugin_"+c,new b(a(this),d))})}});
//]]>
</script>

Please note that if you already have another version of jQuery, you will need to remove the line in red.

Step 5. Now, let's add the CSS styles above the same </head> tag:

<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/AVvXsEhBkyXCOa3kMRxJgmOP1Y7dbsteQA8ttMT0muPxAjTZ1cML1iUR3HiLOM0oMquLoC2rwhKke901qoJh74__SfYQbhzrG9oCYIRQ5Ff5YWIMdsyYmgZiHd_XXpQS-UZFfSsNXOhS3IZtpBug/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/AVvXsEgFhlg_guZ-6KXuzYq3PjkjzpZVFDKP_imjkZpKKhzWHsj4IkgvamOYdTFv9LGSFFkVkeV9jBhTATbYF-VKOl8mL9j4dBrIuHdeG1XSqItuwWsq25vxrWCOH08fq002Tniozd1S08BiIMZx/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/AVvXsEhpUwPJLl0ax6KmP_ae23PuQn5Ii_9xFBvwaYL-2MvyVGJMvm5ETpst8l9TQCCKfbrACh2sWlCA3FaxsMFFLCL6wgse7Tz4tjt2q87G8OYgEjgC7DulD456zojOKXv_Xy4u-8mLRap_NEZc/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;
  }
 #rotatescroll .viewport ul.overview li img {
   width: 300px;
   min-height: 300px;
   object-fit: cover;
   padding:0;
   border:0;
 }
</style>

Screenshot

Step 6. Save the changes by clicking the "Save Template" button

And here's the HTML that has to be added to where we want to display the carousel. To add it inside a post, click the "New post" button on the left side of your dashboard and paste the below code in the "HTML" box of your post:

<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({
interval: true,
snaptodots: true
});
});
</script>

Adding HTML inside a Blogger post

Replace the imageURL text with the URL of your images.

Some other options that could be added, separated by commas:

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

To add the Tiny jQuery Circleslider to your sidebar, simply go to "Layout" > click the "Add a Gadget link" > from the popup window, choose "HTML/Javascript" and paste the code inside the empty box.

Read More

Turn off the lights with jQuery

For those who enjoy watching videos on the internet, this is a very useful script made with jQuery by Janko. And what this script does? It will turn off the lights for you, so that everything on the page will be fading to dark, except the video, and everything around the video will be less visible, in a way that nothing will distract you while watching it.

You can test it on the following demo blog - click the link that says "Turn off the lights" and the page will be darkened. To make the page elements visible again, just click the "Turn on the lights" link:

Turn Off the Lights DEMO

How to add the "Turn off the Lights" Feature to Blogger/Blogspot

Step 1. Log into your Blogger account and click on your blog, then go to "Template" and hit the "Edit HTML" button

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and search for the following tag by pressing the CTRL + F keys (hit Enter to find it):

</head>

Step 3. After you found it, paste the below scripts just above it:

<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(){
$("#lightsoff").css("height", $(document).height()).hide();
$(".lightSwitcher").click(function(){
$("#lightsoff").toggle();
if ($("#lightsoff").is(":hidden"))
$(this).html("Turn off the lights").removeClass("turnedOff");
else
$(this).html("Turn on the lights").addClass("turnedOff");
});
});
//]]>
</script>

Note: if you already have one version of jquery in the template, please remove the line in red.

Step 4. Now search for the following tag:

]]></b:skin>

Step 5. Just above ]]></b:skin> add the following CSS code:

/* Turn off the lights
----------------------------------------------- */
#lightsVideo {
position:relative;
z-index:102;
}
#switch {
max-width:640px;
text-align:left;
position:relative;
height:25px;
display:block;
}
.lightSwitcher {
position:absolute;
z-index:101;
background-image:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSH8MmKae-BzmxvzWk_KBdYUyR5d9INAYWZU11QEVMJQrkqFLqy1Iu4Z-ACSEa90A2q62tvup3ADNWx4Rmy0uj7qJO4WHfuG6xfAGK9FGwANt5qpWJHqrNwnGjs6tA7wF8fydlvnF3Fj58/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/AVvXsEjPx2qUrSZVTD-tS9b7D0ofyfYYa74qGfFaxmPWHybSpuM5O-Uck4x9ozu8rNYp_Q3ZRhY-9LpSzUaDOca8cPgolnnvjFJQsQcqwQHHrv-iUys82LPl-uzWjdMbkSekStC36T0k-4ezDDQG/s1600/lights-off.png);
}
#lightsoff {
background:#000;
opacity:0.9;
filter:alpha(opacity=90);
position:absolute;
left:0;
top:0;
width:100%;
z-index:100;
}

Step 6. Finally, find this tag:

</body>

Just above the </body> tag, add this HTML code:

<div id='lightsoff'/>

Step 7. Click the "Save Template" button and that's it!

Now, each time you add a video, either in a post or using 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 iFrame code of your video instead of the text in blue and "Save" the gadget or "Publish" your post. Now you can enjoy your videos with the lights off!

Remember that this trick uses jQuery and if you have another version of jQuery, you need to remove it, otherwise it might not work.

Read More

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 most likely be useful for you. In this tutorial, you will see how to add the Before/After plugin, a script that works with jQuery in order to display two pictures dynamically for comparing them at the same time.

To see how it works, click on the demo link from below and drag horizontally the small bar to see both images that are being compared:

Before & After Demo

Implementing this script is really easy. We just need jQuery, the Before/After script, and the two images to compare.

How to add Before/After Effect on Blogger Images

Step 1. Go to "Template" and click on the "Edit HTML" button. Once the template HTMK editor opens up, click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to search for the following tag - hit Enter to find it:

</head>

Step 2. Right before </head> paste the following scripts:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.3/jquery-ui.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
(function(a){a.fn.extend({beforeAfter:function(b){var d={animateIntro:false,introDelay:1000,introDuration:1000,showFullLinks:true,imagePath:"/js/beforeAfter/"};var b=a.extend(d,b);var c=Math.round(Math.random()*100000000);return this.each(function(){var e=b;var h=a(this);var n=a("img:first",h).width();var p=a("img:first",h).height();a(h).width(n).height(p).css({overflow:"hidden",position:"relative",padding:"0"});var m=a("img:first",h).attr("src");var j=a("img:last",h).attr("src");a("img:first",h).attr("id","beforeimage"+c);a("img:last",h).attr("id","afterimage"+c);a("img",h).remove();a("div",h).css("float","left");a(h).prepend('<div id="dragwrapper'+c+'"><div id="drag'+c+'"><img width="8" height="56" alt="handle" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEoBcIolYfkupWq-5hCx85omVDr-1qsmWgp_iik5Qx2kzpc-FyGj8kzd1ToAlVMR91DvOfKSzBJIZ5JkXB1uBMapFXMrpYXA5k4lO4MikDaaE23zMXmp7BbASUkpE5pUvsJ0Ed-yt4VMZ/s1600/handle.png" title="Drag to the left or right to see the Before/After" id="handle'+c+'" /></div></div>');a("#dragwrapper"+c).css({position:"absolute",padding:"0",left:(n/2)-(a("#handle"+c).width()/2)+"px","z-index":"20"}).width(a("#handle"+c).width()).height(p);a("#dragwrapper"+c).css({opacity:0.25});a("div:eq(2)",h).height(p).width(n/2).css({"background-image":"url("+m+")",position:"absolute",overflow:"hidden",left:"0px","z-index":"10"});a("div:eq(3)",h).height(p).width(n).css({"background-image":"url("+j+")",position:"absolute",overflow:"hidden",right:"0px"});a("#drag"+c).width(2).height(p).css({background:"#888",position:"absolute",left:"3px"});a("#beforeimage"+c).css({position:"absolute",top:"0px",left:"0px"});a("#afterimage"+c).css({position:"absolute",top:"0px",right:"0px"});a("#handle"+c).css({"z-index":"100",position:"relative",cursor:"pointer",top:(p/2)-(a("#handle"+c).height()/2)+"px",left:"-3px"});a(h).append('<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD7O6PRup9L3znkswbCCBg8kXXKJ-x9cLpPNOczxcXif1Qs0dJWbZck075wDKiTf-7rsKicPLQXAe1K-cvXjt7dTYbuNU2NEgg5ZbyBgzhF9JUBdMuJb2hRNrgcsqrOOMRESiMvvkYXPVt/s1600/b_a-lt-small.png" width="7" height="15" id="lt-arrow'+c+'"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZhNyUO8elgM8ty6J0-2JX23xFARJQZeKTaKIi_VbBFc55Vbw22cQx3jby8TeLalq-npEz6Yym54LVbN1iD0D6RsJrm1hr69Guz-EPM2topm02_TPHO-zFMoGAzIlZZR1DqQRCGblXVUlm/s1600/b_a-rt-small.png" width="7" height="15" id="rt-arrow'+c+'">');if(e.showFullLinks){a(h).after('<div class="balinks" id="links'+c+'" style="position:relative"><span class="bflinks"><a id="showleft'+c+'" href="javascript:void(0)">Show only before</a></span><span class="bflinks"><a id="showright'+c+'" href="javascript:void(0)">Show only after</a></span></div>');a("#links"+c).width(n);a("#showleft"+c).css({position:"relative",left:"0px"}).click(function(){a("div:eq(2)",h).animate({width:n},200);a("#dragwrapper"+c).animate({left:n-a("#dragwrapper"+c).width()+"px"},200)});a("#showright"+c).css({position:"absolute",right:"0px"}).click(function(){a("div:eq(2)",h).animate({width:0},200);a("#dragwrapper"+c).animate({left:"0px"},200)})}var g=a("#dragwrapper"+c).offset();var k=g.left;var i=a("div:eq(2)",h).width();var f=a("div:eq(3)",h).width();a("#dragwrapper"+c).draggable({handle:a("#handle"+c),containment:h,axis:"x",drag:function(q,o){var s=a(this).offset();var r=s.left-k;a("div:eq(2)",h).width(i+r);a("#lt-arrow"+c).stop().animate({opacity:0},0);a("#rt-arrow"+c).stop().animate({opacity:0},0)}});if(e.animateIntro){a("div:eq(2)",h).width(n);a("#dragwrapper"+c).css("left",n-(a("#dragwrapper"+c).width()/2)+"px");setTimeout(function(){a("#dragwrapper"+c).css({opacity:1}).animate({left:(n/2)-(a("#dragwrapper"+c).width()/2)+"px"},e.introDuration,function(){a("#dragwrapper"+c).animate({opacity:0.25},1000)});a("div:eq(2)",h).width(n).animate({width:n/2+"px"},e.introDuration,function(){l()})},e.introDelay)}else{l()}function l(){a(h).hover(function(){a("#lt-arrow"+c).stop().css({"z-index":"20",position:"absolute",top:p/2-a("#lt-arrow"+c).height()/2+"px",left:parseInt(a("#dragwrapper"+c).css("left"))-10+"px"}).animate({opacity:1,left:parseInt(a("#lt-arrow"+c).css("left"))-6+"px"},200);a("#rt-arrow"+c).stop().css({position:"absolute",top:p/2-a("#lt-arrow"+c).height()/2+"px",left:parseInt(a("#dragwrapper"+c).css("left"))+10+"px"}).animate({opacity:1,left:parseInt(a("#rt-arrow"+c).css("left"))+6+"px"},200);a("#dragwrapper"+c).animate({opacity:1},200)},function(){a("#lt-arrow"+c).animate({opacity:0,left:parseInt(a("#lt-arrow"+c).css("left"))-6+"px"},350);a("#rt-arrow"+c).animate({opacity:0,left:parseInt(a("#rt-arrow"+c).css("left"))+6+"px"},350);a("#dragwrapper"+c).animate({opacity:0.25},350)});a(h).click(function(q){var r=q.pageX-this.offsetLeft;var o=n-r;a("#dragwrapper"+c).stop().animate({left:r-(a("#dragwrapper"+c).width()/2)+"px"},600);a("div:eq(2)",h).stop().animate({width:r+"px"},600);a("#lt-arrow"+c).stop().animate({opacity:0},50);a("#rt-arrow"+c).stop().animate({opacity:0},50)});a(h).one("mousemove",function(){a("#dragwrapper"+c).stop().animate({opacity:1},500)})}})}})})(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(function(){
$(&#39;#beforeafter1&#39;).beforeAfter({showFullLinks : true});
});
</script>

Step 3. Click the "Save template" button to save your changes.

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

Step 3. To add it as a gadget - go to "Layout" and click on the "Add a gadget" link, then choose "HTML/Javascript" option. 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 should be the "After" image. Also, don't forget to specify the width and height of each picture, so that they work on all browsers (see the part in orange where you need to add the height and width of your images).

If you want to add more images, you will need to change the ID of the container. In my example, the container is called beforeafter1, so you will need to change it to beforeafter2 and so on, although, you can choose any name.

Then, add another line, like the blue one from below, in the first code that you added in step 2:

<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 want, as long as all containers have a different ID and the corresponding lines are added in the script.

Below each image /photo container are the "Show only Before" and "Show only after" links that once clicked, will display the "before" or "after" picture. If you want to hide these links, then just change "true" to "false" in the first code (step 2) 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 to transparent.

Credit: Catch my fame.

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Spacegallery: image gallery/slideshow made with jQuery

There are many types of galleries for images that can be found on the internet, but we rarely find one displaying images so differently like this one. Those using Mac OS X will surely notice a lot of similarity with Time Machine and those who don't, I'm sure will enjoy this type of effect for viewing images.

SpaceGallery is a JQuery based slideshow / image gallery that performs overlaying in a visually appealing manner and provides a smooth fade out effect to images. This 3D image gallery lets you float through your pictures easily by enlarging them with an Apple-like animation.

To see the SpaceGallery slideshow in action, please visit this demo blog and click on the first image:

Demo Blog

How to Add Spacegallery Image Slideshow to Blogger

To implement this gallery is very easy. Just follow the steps below:

Step 1. Log in to your Blogger account and select your blog. Next, go to Template and click the Edit HTML button:

Step 2. Click anywhere on the code area and search by using the CTRL + F keys for this tag

</head>

Step 3. Just before/above the </head> tag, paste the following scripts:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
/**
 *
 * Spacegallery
 * Author: Stefan Petre www.eyecon.ro
 *
 */
!function(n){var i=window.EYE=function(){var i={init:[]};return{init:function(){n.each(i.init,function(n,i){i.call()})},extend:function(n){for(var i in n)void 0!=n[i]&&(this[i]=n[i])},register:function(n,t){i[t]||(i[t]=[]),i[t].push(n)}}}();n(i.init)}(jQuery);
!function(e){EYE.extend({getPosition:function(e,t){var n=0,r=0,o=e.style,i=!1;if(t&&"none"==jQuery.curCSS(e,"display")){var d=o.visibility,c=o.position;i=!0,o.visibility="hidden",o.display="block",o.position="absolute"}var u=e;if(u.getBoundingClientRect){var l=u.getBoundingClientRect();n=l.left+Math.max(document.documentElement.scrollLeft,document.body.scrollLeft)-2,r=l.top+Math.max(document.documentElement.scrollTop,document.body.scrollTop)-2}else{if(n=u.offsetLeft,r=u.offsetTop,u=u.offsetParent,e!=u)for(;u;)n+=u.offsetLeft,r+=u.offsetTop,u=u.offsetParent;for(jQuery.browser.safari&&"absolute"==jQuery.curCSS(e,"position")&&(n-=document.body.offsetLeft,r-=document.body.offsetTop),u=e.parentNode;u&&"BODY"!=u.tagName.toUpperCase()&&"HTML"!=u.tagName.toUpperCase();)"inline"!=jQuery.curCSS(u,"display")&&(n-=u.scrollLeft,r-=u.scrollTop),u=u.parentNode}return 1==i&&(o.display="none",o.position=c,o.visibility=d),{x:n,y:r}},getSize:function(e){var t=parseInt(jQuery.curCSS(e,"width"),10),n=parseInt(jQuery.curCSS(e,"height"),10),r=0,o=0;if("none"!=jQuery.curCSS(e,"display"))r=e.offsetWidth,o=e.offsetHeight;else{var i=e.style,d=i.visibility,c=i.position;i.visibility="hidden",i.display="block",i.position="absolute",r=e.offsetWidth,o=e.offsetHeight,i.display="none",i.position=c,i.visibility=d}return{w:t,h:n,wb:r,hb:o}},getClient:function(e){var t,n;if(e)n=e.clientWidth,t=e.clientHeight;else{var r=document.documentElement;n=window.innerWidth||self.innerWidth||r&&r.clientWidth||document.body.clientWidth,t=window.innerHeight||self.innerHeight||r&&r.clientHeight||document.body.clientHeight}return{w:n,h:t}},getScroll:function(e){var t=0,n=0,r=0,o=0,i=0,d=0;return e&&"body"!=e.nodeName.toLowerCase()?(t=e.scrollTop,n=e.scrollLeft,r=e.scrollWidth,o=e.scrollHeight):(document.documentElement?(t=document.documentElement.scrollTop,n=document.documentElement.scrollLeft,r=document.documentElement.scrollWidth,o=document.documentElement.scrollHeight):document.body&&(t=document.body.scrollTop,n=document.body.scrollLeft,r=document.body.scrollWidth,o=document.body.scrollHeight),"undefined"!=typeof pageYOffset&&(t=pageYOffset,n=pageXOffset),i=self.innerWidth||document.documentElement.clientWidth||document.body.clientWidth||0,d=self.innerHeight||document.documentElement.clientHeight||document.body.clientHeight||0),{t:t,l:n,w:r,h:o,iw:i,ih:d}},getMargins:function(e,t){var n=jQuery.curCSS(e,"marginTop")||"",r=jQuery.curCSS(e,"marginRight")||"",o=jQuery.curCSS(e,"marginBottom")||"",i=jQuery.curCSS(e,"marginLeft")||"";return t?{t:parseInt(n,10)||0,r:parseInt(r,10)||0,b:parseInt(o,10)||0,l:parseInt(i,10)}:{t:n,r:r,b:o,l:i}},getPadding:function(e,t){var n=jQuery.curCSS(e,"paddingTop")||"",r=jQuery.curCSS(e,"paddingRight")||"",o=jQuery.curCSS(e,"paddingBottom")||"",i=jQuery.curCSS(e,"paddingLeft")||"";return t?{t:parseInt(n,10)||0,r:parseInt(r,10)||0,b:parseInt(o,10)||0,l:parseInt(i,10)}:{t:n,r:r,b:o,l:i}},getBorder:function(e,t){var n=jQuery.curCSS(e,"borderTopWidth")||"",r=jQuery.curCSS(e,"borderRightWidth")||"",o=jQuery.curCSS(e,"borderBottomWidth")||"",i=jQuery.curCSS(e,"borderLeftWidth")||"";return t?{t:parseInt(n,10)||0,r:parseInt(r,10)||0,b:parseInt(o,10)||0,l:parseInt(i,10)||0}:{t:n,r:r,b:o,l:i}},traverseDOM:function(e,t){for(t(e),e=e.firstChild;e;)EYE.traverseDOM(e,t),e=e.nextSibling},getInnerWidth:function(e,t){var n=e.offsetWidth;return t?Math.max(e.scrollWidth,n)-n+e.clientWidth:e.clientWidth},getInnerHeight:function(e,t){var n=e.offsetHeight;return t?Math.max(e.scrollHeight,n)-n+e.clientHeight:e.clientHeight},getExtraWidth:function(t){return e.boxModel?(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"paddingLeft"))||0)+(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"paddingRight"))||0)+(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"borderLeftWidth"))||0)+(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"borderRightWidth"))||0):0},getExtraHeight:function(t){return e.boxModel?(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"paddingTop"))||0)+(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"paddingBottom"))||0)+(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"borderTopWidth"))||0)+(parseInt(e.curCSS(t,"borderBottomWidth"))||0):0},isChildOf:function(t,n,r){if(t==n)return!0;if(!n||!n.nodeType||1!=n.nodeType)return!1;if(t.contains&&!e.browser.safari)return t.contains(n);if(t.compareDocumentPosition)return!!(16&t.compareDocumentPosition(n));for(var o=n.parentNode;o&&o!=r;){if(o==t)return!0;o=o.parentNode}return!1},centerEl:function(t,n){var r=EYE.getScroll(),o=EYE.getSize(t);n&&"vertically"!=n||e(t).css({top:r.t+(Math.min(r.h,r.ih)-o.hb)/2+"px"}),n&&"horizontally"!=n||e(t).css({left:r.l+(Math.min(r.w,r.iw)-o.wb)/2+"px"})}}),e.easing.easeout||(e.easing.easeout=function(e,t,n,r,o){return-r*((t=t/o-1)*t*t*t-1)+n})}(jQuery);
!function(e){EYE.extend({spacegallery:{defaults:{border:6,perspective:140,minScale:.2,duration:800,loadingClass:null,before:function(){return!1},after:function(){return!1}},animated:!1,positionImages:function(a){EYE.spacegallery.animated=!1,e(a).find("a").removeClass(a.spacegalleryCfg.loadingClass).end().find("img").removeAttr("height").each(function(s){var l=this.spacegallery.origWidth-(this.spacegallery.origWidth-this.spacegallery.origWidth*a.spacegalleryCfg.minScale)*a.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s];e(this).css({top:a.spacegalleryCfg.tops[s]+"px",marginLeft:-parseInt((l+a.spacegalleryCfg.border)/2,10)+"px",opacity:1-a.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s]}).attr("width",parseInt(l)),this.spacegallery.next=a.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s+1],this.spacegallery.nextTop=a.spacegalleryCfg.tops[s+1]-a.spacegalleryCfg.tops[s],this.spacegallery.origTop=a.spacegalleryCfg.tops[s],this.spacegallery.opacity=1-a.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s],this.spacegallery.increment=a.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s]-this.spacegallery.next,this.spacegallery.current=a.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s],this.spacegallery.width=l})},next:function(a){if(EYE.spacegallery.animated===!1){EYE.spacegallery.animated=!0;var s=this.parentNode;s.spacegalleryCfg.before.apply(s),e(s).css("spacegallery",0).animate({spacegallery:100},{easing:"easeOut",duration:s.spacegalleryCfg.duration,complete:function(){e(s).find("img:last").prependTo(s),EYE.spacegallery.positionImages(s),s.spacegalleryCfg.after.apply(s)},step:function(a){e("img",this).each(function(l){var g,r,i;l+1==s.spacegalleryCfg.images?(r=this.spacegallery.origTop+4*this.spacegallery.nextTop*a/100,g=this.spacegallery.width*r/this.spacegallery.origTop,e(this).css({top:r+"px",opacity:.7-a/100,marginLeft:-parseInt((g+s.spacegalleryCfg.border)/2,10)+"px"}).attr("width",g)):(i=this.spacegallery.current-this.spacegallery.increment*a/100,g=this.spacegallery.origWidth-(this.spacegallery.origWidth-this.spacegallery.origWidth*s.spacegalleryCfg.minScale)*i,e(this).css({top:this.spacegallery.origTop+this.spacegallery.nextTop*a/100+"px",opacity:1-i,marginLeft:-parseInt((g+s.spacegalleryCfg.border)/2,10)+"px"}).attr("width",g))})}})}return this.blur(),!1},init:function(a){return a=e.extend({},EYE.spacegallery.defaults,a||{}),this.each(function(){var s=this;if(e(s).is(".spacegallery")){e('<a href="#"></a>').appendTo(this).addClass(a.loadingClass).bind("click",EYE.spacegallery.next),s.spacegalleryCfg=a,s.spacegalleryCfg.images=s.getElementsByTagName("img").length,s.spacegalleryCfg.loaded=0,s.spacegalleryCfg.asin=Math.asin(1),s.spacegalleryCfg.asins={},s.spacegalleryCfg.tops={},s.spacegalleryCfg.increment=parseInt(s.spacegalleryCfg.perspective/s.spacegalleryCfg.images,10);var l=0;e("img",s).each(function(e){var a=new Image,g=this;s.spacegalleryCfg.asins[e]=1-Math.asin((e+1)/s.spacegalleryCfg.images)/s.spacegalleryCfg.asin,l+=s.spacegalleryCfg.increment-s.spacegalleryCfg.increment*s.spacegalleryCfg.asins[e],s.spacegalleryCfg.tops[e]=l,g.spacegallery={},a.src=this.src,a.complete?(s.spacegalleryCfg.loaded++,g.spacegallery.origWidth=a.width,g.spacegallery.origHeight=a.height):a.onload=function(){s.spacegalleryCfg.loaded++,g.spacegallery.origWidth=a.width,g.spacegallery.origHeight=a.height,s.spacegalleryCfg.loaded==s.spacegalleryCfg.images&&EYE.spacegallery.positionImages(s)}}),s.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s.spacegalleryCfg.images]=1.3*s.spacegalleryCfg.asins[s.spacegalleryCfg.images-1],s.spacegalleryCfg.tops[s.spacegalleryCfg.images]=1.3*s.spacegalleryCfg.tops[s.spacegalleryCfg.images-1],s.spacegalleryCfg.loaded==s.spacegalleryCfg.images&&EYE.spacegallery.positionImages(s)}})}}}),e.fn.extend({spacegallery:EYE.spacegallery.init}),e.extend(e.easing,{easeOut:function(e,a,s,l,g){return-l*(a/=g)*(a-2)+s}})}(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>

<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>

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

Step 4. Next, search (CTRL + F) for this tag:

]]></b:skin>

Step 5. Above the ]]></b:skin> tag, paste 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/AVvXsEhNyxhFNueeRn1EYA4mEsGJb68od2I0fI6W9Ul5oVDic4MNxRMcmf2Jv76p_CdV6-FSx0Eq7LdQeGvQjaN5mzbEsHjMXqXbItxC3F8Rj2lIkOD-wXPojCGuOYIUOpgnyFS1nCwvdPixwUxM/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 6. Hit the Save template button to save the changes.

Step 7. 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>

Replace the Image URL text with the image addresses that you want to appear on the gallery, considering that the last image is the first to be displayed.

If you want to add this slideshow inside a post, go to your dashboard and create a New Post, then paste the code in the HTML section.

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

Source: eyecon.ro

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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. There's an HTML element meant for marking up keyboard keys named <kbd> which can be styled with CSS, so why not use it to make those elements look the keyboard keys?

Thus, in this tutorial, I am going to show you how to create a keyboard keys effect with CSS. It doesn't require images so your blog will load faster.

How to Add Keyboard Keys to Blogger

Step 1. From Blogger Dashboard, select your blog and go to Template > Edit HTML

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area, press the Ctrl + F keys and search for this piece of code:

]]></b:skin>

Screenshot

Click on the arrow to expand the code

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

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. To save the changes, press the Save change button.

Finally, we need to add the html <kbd> tags to the text on which we want to apply the keyboard keys style.
From your blogger's dashboard, go to create a New Post, write the text on which you want to apply the style and go to the HTML tab. Before and after the text, add the following HTML tags:

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

Screenshot

This will make it to look like this:

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 getting your blog well-ranked, the truth is that a blog hosted by Blogger can be really fast and well positioned 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 you don't have the resources or you want to learn doing this job alone, you can choose to begin with the natural SEO.

Here are some tips to do natural SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Natural SEO Techniques for Blogger

Pick a Good Domain

We must try having our keyword included in the domain name, and even if this may sacrifice our branding, we can use the redirection.

Create Value Added Content

Not only rewrite articles, or write like they would be intended for us. When writing our posts, we should consider our target audience, i.e., giving advices, tips, suggestions or guidance on specific topics and aside, use links, anchor text and key phrases.

The topic of the links is important

They should be of quality and while, it's no longer required to place five or ten links within the text of your website, now what truly matters, is to make the link relevant to the context.

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

How often should you update your blog?

You don't have to do this on daily basis, even if this may be ideal as, this way, we could achieve a greater relevance in search engines. But don't forget about your blog either. 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 on your blog, you will most likely need this gadget as well in order to display the latest topics that have been published on the forum. This works similar to the recent comments gadget as it uses the Blogger blog's feed.

To add the Recent Forum Topics widget to Blogger, follow the steps below:

Adding Recent Forum Topics Widget

Go to your forum and look at the bottom where it says Feeds. Clicking on that link, you will see two Feed links: the first being the Topics only Feed, and the other one is Topics and replies. Pick the one you need.

Now, log into your Blogger Dashboard, go to "Layout" and look for the Sidebar section on the right side.

Click on the "Add a Gadget" link and choose Feed from the gadgets list. Paste the Feed URL that you copied inside the text box.

Click the "Continue" button to configure the parameters and finally, click "Save changes" to see the results.

That's it... now you should be able to see the Recent Forum Topics widget on your Blogger blog. Enjoy!

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Add a forum on your Blogger blog with Nabble

Forum is a platform where visitors can interact with each other and discuss different hot topics. There you can create various topics for getting comments or suggestions on them. If you have good traffic, then you can post questions on daily basis for the potential visitors to answer, thus your forum simultaneously converts itself into a huge frequently asked questions section (FAQ).

Forums are a great way to provide your visitors an open social atmosphere to express their useful ideas and share others ideas as well. So, here are a few easy steps on how to add a forum to your Blogger or blogspot blog using Nabble:

How to Create a Forum on Blogger With Nabble

To add a forum we will use Nabble which is, in my opinion, one of the best free options available online. First, go to the Nabble page to create an account (keep in mind that this account will be the moderator of the forum).

Once we have everything set, go to "Options" -> "Application" -> "Change appearance":

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

Next, create the structure of a real forum so that it is organized 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. So 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 now have your forum up and 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.

For adding 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

Log into your Blogger Dashboard - select your blog, click the "Pages" link on the left sidebar and click to create a "New Page".

Once the page editor has opened, switch to the "HTML" tab next to the "Compose" tab.

Inside the empty box, paste the code that you copied earlier, and if everything went well, you should see the new forum on your Blogger blog.

So this is how you can add a Forum on a Blogger blog using Nabble. Hope this tutorial has been useful 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/AVvXsEgVOQ7IgjiXTKjqIqB-22gpwkrMSmGU7t28dYQKk9FaKAXxK4aAWLllA5J7L0OfydCCkG7iRtDSO36HtQY6sUe7nt8VnfpaOndasHxqKITyhGTTNyVavlCsvex5TS03lSJIBZjE2hJPAhEf/s1600/avatar_blue_m_96.png" + sizeAvatar;
var urlAnoAvatar = 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHFkFIWh5O7qhuKog6c5vzFkr8I9U2NtIOrySt7YAfhvgRP_oQHvx8qUf1clIAqoSXnKTUj5G0__nxHniKc6HXp6KxuxG0DRWzxpXXXeuF2rgzbmDQlp7url6z4JeF-M9kKLwgytISKNjG/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. - To hide your name or some other username, replace the someotherusertoexclude text between the quotes (to add more, add another comma after the text in red, then type the username you want to exclude between the quotes)

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Redirect Blogger 404 Error (Page Not Found) To Homepage

A 404 error page tells you and search engines that a page is not found by displaying a text similar to "Sorry, the page you were looking for in this blog does not exist.". This may happen because you have changed your URLs over time, either removed a few pages when you overhauled your design, or a visitor may have accidentally misspelled an URL nonexistent in your blog, so it automatically redirects to the 404 error page (page not found).

Most likely, this will not make a good impression on the potential users of our blog. So, before the visitor 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, so 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 to return back). In this case, the best method is to use JavaScript about which I will go into more detail below.

Redirect Blogger 404 Error with JavaScript

Go to your Blogger dashboard, select your blog and click the Settings menu item > Search preferences > Custom Page Not Found.

Copy and paste the following code inside the empty box:

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

The text which is going to be displayed can be modified as you want. If you are willing to redirect the 404 error page to another page other than home page, just replace pathname to href and / with the url of your page. Finally, the number 5000 which is the delay expressed in milliseconds, can be changed to other value if this is more convenient.

Next thing to do is to 'Save changes' and do a little test to check if the code works well. You can verify the 404 error page functionality by adding a random text at the end of your blog address - after pressing Enter, you should see the error page 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 idea 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 helping us to track the number of visits and page views on our blog, which also uses several filters to check exactly from where the 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 click on it, then go to Template > click the Edit HTML button and 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. Within about 24 hours, we shall see the first statistics of our blog in Google Analytics, otherwise check the following:

- Double check that the code has no spaces or characters.
- Doesn't have errors in the configuration
- There are no poor implementation of the filters.
- The Flash plugin is working or javascript is enabled.
- You will have minor issues if you are receiving visits from China (this conflict is not yet solved, according to Google).

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How to Increase Alexa Ranking of your Blog

The Alexa Rank in its time may have been pretty important for the SEO, however, these days is already losing its importance due to the changes in the algorithm that Google applies from time to time.

The company displays information about visitors of a website, which in turn, classifies this in a ranking, generating estimated statistics about visitor traffic and links pointing to the website. In a few words, the Alexa Rank does not directly affect SEO, but rather serves as a reference for measuring the traffic type, popularity by country and other metrics.

If you would like to enrich or have a good Alexa Rank of your website, here some ways to do it, with short-term results.

5 Ways to Increase the Alexa Rank

Daily Content: Try to publish at least 2 articles per day and within a month you may start to see some changes in the Alexa ranking.

Install Alexa Rank widgets: Besides notifying about the results of your Alexa ranking, they will also provide an estimate of how many backlinks your website has. There are three types of widgets: button with ranking and links, the other one with the ranking only, and finally, a graph with daily records of visits. Traffic Widgets

Alexa Toolbar: From experience, I would recommend installing the Alexa Toolbar, because once we access the website, Alexa will count this visit and thus, we may get better results in the ranking. Besides this, the toolbar will also provide you more information about the backlinks of a web site, popular pages, reviews, and more.

Request a review: To calculate the Alexa ranking of a website, not only the amount of daily and monthly visits will make a site popular, but the number of reviews or opinions made with stars will also play a role in the ranking. Ask your readers to do a review or purchase Alexa opinions about your website.

Number of backlinks: As I said before, the number of visits and reviews about a website used to calculate the Alexa rank, and the total number of quality backlinks, may increase the likelihood of achieving a higher ranking for your website.

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On-Page SEO Tips for Blogger

We know that SEO Off Page refers to the search engine optimization techniques that can be done outside of your website, such as link wheels, reviews, social bookmarking, social media (references and followers), sidebar links, among other techniques. However, without a proper on-page seo optimization, all would sum up to a non-optimized webpage without quality, which will not reach the traffic expected to have. This is mostly because search engines (especially Google) pay much attention to the alt and title tags (for images), meta tags, internal links, robots and so on, in order to display the content of your web page to the user who made a specific query in the search.

To never fall in this depression of search engine optimization, you can choose a good and reliable blog platform like Blogger. If you are working only on Blogger, here are some on-page optimization tips that might help you to become successful in the blogging world and increase the daily traffic to your blog.

Basic On-Page SEO Tips For Blogger

Optimization of the robots.txt file: besides alerting Google search engine, this file also helps us to prevent certain pages being indexed by Google in order to protect our blog against duplicate content issues.

Title optimization: In the default blogger template, post titles are not optimized properly for the search engines. To solve this, we need to touch some code in the design and optimize both page and post titles.

Image optimization: Whether your blog is about pictures or images as general topics, by simply adding a keyword related to articles, compressing the image and putting the title="" and alt="' tags, we would be optimizing SEO On-Page a little bit more.

Internal links: Internal links within posts on our blog will not only increase page views but will also help us to be well ranked in search engines.

Blog's loading time: When you start with a blog either new or old, it's important to offer a user experience filled with a fast loading time. Search engines give higher priority to a faster blog than to a slow or saturated one.

Using Google Webmaster Tools: After making sure that your blog is 100% SEO, this amazing Google tool will provide you support with both fast indexing and broken links, HTML improvements, page errors and many other specific suggestions for your website.

Got any other ideas or thoughts about natural and positive techniques to improve the On Page SEO on a web page?

Express them in a comment!

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Adding a Meta Description to Blogger

An important part of a good SEO is the implementation of meta tags, which are commonly located in the header of our website, that are being, in the same time, invisible to users visiting the site. Well, to be more succinct, these tags have only one purpose: to include information about the page such as author name, date, key word, description, title, among others.

However, here we will only mention one, which is the meta description in Blogger. This description will appear as a fragment in the search results and as a description when sharing on Google+, Facebook and other social networks. A clear and precise description increases the chances of getting more clicks or visits.
As we will work only on the Blogger platform, here I will leave a little guide to easily add a meta description.

Meta Description in Blogger

The first thing we will do is going to our Blogger dashboard and from there, go to Settings > Search preferences > Meta Tags > Description and click on Edit.

Then check the box "Yes" to enable search description. Finally, click the "Save Changes" button.

Adding Meta Description To individual Posts

Now we will focus on adding the meta description to individual pages. Simply edit the page or post, look for the Search Description setting, and there we enter the text and save by clicking the Done button.

And that's it. However it is best to test if it works and we will do so with the MetaChecker online tool, where we only have to introduce the url of a post or page, click Analyze and then it will show the results, including a complete analysis of keywords, on-page seo , meta tags, URLs, current server status and a rating bar that goes from Horror to Excellent.

If none of the meta descriptions appear (rarely fails), we can do the process manually, but it requires us to touch a bit of code. In this case, go to Template > Edit HTML and insert before <b:skin><![CDATA[ the following code:

<b:if cond='data:blog.metaDescription != &quot;&quot;'>
  <meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='description'/>
</b:if>

Of course, we will use again the previously mentioned tool to ensure that the description is placed correctly and if all goes well, our blog would be ready to face a good SEO.

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