What is the blogger dashboard?

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Originally a board used to stop mud from being dashed inside a vehicle, the word dashboard has evolved to mean a user interface that organizes and presents information in a way that is easy to read. Your Blogger Dashboard is your control panel, your main editing interface to Blogger.
Once you have signed in to Blogger you will arrive at the Dashboard page from which you will have editorial access to all your blogs and your profile as well as Blogger News, Recently Updated Blogs, and Blogs of Note.
Note: Whenever you're navigating around Blogger and you are not already on the Dashboard page, you will see a blue button in the top right side corner of the page that says "Back to Dashboard."

Related Articles:

• My blog is missing from my dashboard.
• How do I post to my blog?
• How do I change my user information?
• How do I cancel my account?

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How do I post to blogger via email?

Monday, November 29, 2010

The Mail-to-Blogger feature turns any email account into a blog-posting application. In Settings | Email you can create a Mail-to-Blogger address which you will use to send posts via email to your blog:


To post to your blog via email, you need to configure your Mail-to-Blogger email address in Settings | Email:

The format of the email address is username.secretword@blogger.com. Note that this email address must be kept secret. Otherwise, anyone who gets it will be able to post as you.
Also be sure to specify whether or not you prefer your email posts to publish automatically. If this option is not checked, then your posts will be saved on your account but will not appear on your blog until you log in to Blogger.com and publish them yourself.
Once you have saved your Settings, you can send email to your blog. The subjects of your email letters will be the titles of your posts, and the body of the emails will be the posts themselves. To include an image in your post, you can attach an image to you your email.
Notes:

• Sometimes email programs append text to the bottom of each sent message; to make sure this cruft doesn't get posted to your blog, put #end at the end of your post.

Related Articles:

• How is HTML handled in Mail-to-Blogger?
• On the Go with Blogger Mobile

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How can I use the Blogger Layouts features?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

The Quick Answer

• On the Layouts tab, you can customize page elements, fonts and colors, HTML, and templates.
• All newly created blogs automatically have Layouts enabled.
• Old blogs with the Template tab can be upgraded from your dashboard.

Are you tired of dealing with HTML and CSS every time you want to change the look of your blog? Well, it turns out that there's an easier way. With the Layouts feature, you can drag-and-drop to move parts of your page around, and choose new fonts and colors with easy mouse clicks. Newly created blogs will work this way automatically, but for blogs without this feature, you'll need to upgrade your template. Here's how.

1. Find the name of your blog on your dashboard, and click the Template link next to it. If this link says Layout instead, then it's already upgraded and you can skip the rest of these steps.

2. On the Template page you should see the standard window of HTML code. Now look in the navigation links for the tab that says Customize Your Design and click it.

3. You'll get a message explaining that Blogger will make a backup of your current template and replace it with an upgraded one. The backup will be made available indefinitely, so you can revert back to it later if you need to. Click the Upgrade Your Template button to continue.

4. Choose one of our default template designs. You'll be able to modify it all you want, once you pick one of these as the starting point. Click Save Template when you've made your choice.

Now you're all set. You'll end up on the new Page Elements tab, where you can start arranging things however you like. If you want to know more about using these new features before you dive in, you can read about them here: Layout Guide and Fonts & Colors. Have fun!

Source: http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44474

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How do I post to my blog in blogger ?

Friday, November 26, 2010

Once you've logged into Blogger you'll see your Dashboard, showing your list of blogs. Click the blue 'New Post' button to create a new post:


Next, you'll see the Create New Post page. Start by giving your post a title (optional), then enter the post itself:

When you're done, click the "Preview" link to make sure it's ready to go:

Once you're satisfied with your post, click the "Publish" button. This will publish your new post:

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How do I switch my template to another provided by Blogger?

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Switching templates in Blogger is easy... too easy:

Go to Layout | Pick New Template:

And pick a new one:

Finally, click the orange "Save Template" button.
Notes:

• Before switching to a new template, it's a good idea to back up your current one (if you've made changes to it). Go to the Layout | Edit HTML tab, and copy and paste the template code to a text file on your computer.

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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Give me a Reason to Start a Blog !

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Top Ten Reasons to Start a Blog immediately !

Why Should We Blog?

Actually Blogging is becoming more and more popular everyday. Should you join the blogosphere? Take a look at this list to help you make your decision about blogging.

1. To Express Your Thoughts and Opinions

You have something to say, and blogs provide a place to say it and be heard.

2. To Market or Promote Something

Blogging is a great way to help market or promote yourself or your business, product or service.

3. To Help People

Many blogs are written to help people who may be going through similar situations that the blogger has experienced. Many parenting and health-related blogs are written for this purpose.

4. To Establish Yourself as an Expert

Blogs are wonderful tools to help bloggers establish themselves as experts in a field or topic. For example, if you're trying to get a job in a specific field or hoping to publish a book on a specific topic, blogging can help legitimize your expertise and expand your online presence and platform.

5. To Connect with People Like You

Blogging brings like-minded people together. Starting a blog can help you find those people and share your opinions and thoughts.

6. To Make a Difference

Many blogs are issue-based meaning the blogger is trying to provide information to sway people's thinking in a certain direction. Many political blogs and social issues blogs are written by bloggers who are trying to make a difference in their own ways.

7. To Stay Active or Knowledgeable in a Field or Topic

Since successful blogging is partially dependent on posting frequency and providing updated, fresh information, it's a perfect way to help a blogger stay abreast of the events in a specific field or topic.

8. To Stay Connected with Friends and Family

The world has shrunk since the Internet has become more accessible. Blogs provide a simple way for family and friends to stay connected from different parts of the world by sharing stories, photos, videos and more.

9. To Make Money

It's important to point out that most bloggers don't make a lot of money blogging, but the potential does exist to generate revenue from your blog with hard work and commitment. There are many bloggers who bring in big bucks. With patience and practice, you can make money through advertising and other income-generating activities on your blog.

10. To Have Fun and Be Creative

Many people start a blog simply for fun. Perhaps a blogger is a fan of a particular actor or loves knitting and wants to share that passion through a blog. One of the most important keys to successful blogging is having a passion about your blog's topic, so you can write prolifically about it. Some of the best and most interesting blogs started out as blogs that were written just for fun and to give the blogger a creative outlet.

Technorati Tags: blogs,blogging,bloggers tips,bloggers,bloggers guide

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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What's the Difference between Wordpress.com vs. Wordpress.org ?

What is Wordpress?

Wordpress is a free software product that is quickly becoming the most popular blogging software on the Internet.

Wordpress.org vs. Wordpress.com:

Wordpress is available in two forms. Wordpress.com is an Open Source software meaning it's free for anyone to use and modify to meet their personal needs (in this case, to create blogs). Since it's free, it does have limitations. Alternatively, Wordpress.org provides the software to create your blog, but Wordpress.org does not host your blog on the Internet for you. You will have to pay a separate hosting provider to obtain a domain name and host your blog online. Using Wordpress.org with a paid hosting service provides maximum flexibility and customization.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Between Wordpress.org and Wordpress.com:

Following are some factors you may want to consider before you decide to start your blog on a paid host with Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com (free):

• Monetization and Advertisements: Wordpress.com does not allow you to include advertisements of any kind.
• Customization: Wordpress.com provides a limited amount of space and customization options (although enough for most beginner bloggers).
• Knowledge: Wordpress.org requires more technical knowledge than Wordpress.com.
• Future Requirements: If your blog becomes popular, switching to Wordpress.org requires moving your blog and obtaining a new domain name and URL address.

What Features Does Wordpress Offer Bloggers?:

Wordpress provides a simple interface to allow even the most technically-challenged people to start blogs. The software includes a variety of features including:

• Custom themes
• Integrated stats tracker
• Spam protection
• Auto-save
• Spell check
• Tagging
• Automatic ping
• Various sidebar widgets
• Multiple authors
• Plug-ins
• Support
• Wordpress.org also allows for advertising, a custom domain, custom email addresses and more

Wordpress Tip from Your About.com Web Logs Guide:

If you have trouble deciding between starting your blog on Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org, you may want to consider starting a practice blog on Wordpress.com first. If you've never started your own blog before, playing with features and testing effects on a practice blog is a great idea. Your practice blog could be on any topic you love simply to learn how to blog and learn the Wordpress software. After a few months, when you feel comfortable with the software, it should be easier to decide if you want to stick with Wordpress.com or switch to Wordpress.org for your 'real' blog.

Wordpress.com vs. Wordpress.org: Consider Your Blogging Goals:

Choosing between starting a free blog at Wordpress.com or paying for hosting so you can start a blog at Wordpress.org is a decision that should be based on your long term goals for your blog.

Technorati Tags: wordpress,bloggers,blogging,blog,blogs,blog tutorials,bloggers tips,blog info

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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How do I enable comments on Blogger BlogSpot ?

Monday, October 18, 2010

To enable Comments, go to the Settings | Comments tab:

Then select the Show radio button and click Save Settings:

Once Comments are enabled, several more settings appear:

Who Can Comment?

• Only Registered Users: if not logged in already, visitors will be prompted to log into Blogger before leaving a comment. If they don't have an account, they can create one.
• Anyone: anybody in the whole wide world can leave comments
• Only Members of this Blog: only members of the blog (if it's a Team Blog) can leave comments

Default for Posts

• New Posts Have Comments: by default, all new posts have Comments enabled
• New Posts Do Not Have Comments: by default, Comments are disabled on new posts, but can be enabled on a by-post basis:

  

Comments Timestamp Format

• The date and time that comments are left will be displayed in the format you choose here.

Show Comments in a Popup Window?

• Yes: Clicking the "comments" link for a post will bring up a popup window displaying the previous comments and a form for creating a new one.
• No: Clicking the "comments" link will display the previous comments and the commenting form in the current browser window.

Show Profile Images on Comments?

• Yes: Blogger users with public profile images will have those images displayed next to their comments. (Note: currently, profile images will only display on the posting form, and not on the blog itself.)
• No: No profile images will be displayed.

Comment Notification Address

• New comments will be emailed to the address you list here.

Click Save Settings then republish your blog.
Notes:

• Blogger Comments require the use of certain template tags; If you have a template without these tags, Blogger attempts to automatically inject them into your template when you enable Comments, but there's a chance it won't work perfectly. You can check on this by comparing the default template tag code with the injected code in your template (it should be near the post byline).
• All of blogger default templates already have the correct template tags for comments.
• Comments will always be displayed chronologically.
• The "Post a Comment" form is hosted at blogger.com, even for externally-publishing blogs.
• Comments aren't enabled for older posts (prior to when you turned on comments), and unfortunately there isn't an automated way to do this.

Technorati Tags: blogger help,blogger beginners,blogger tutorials,blogger guide,blogspot,blogging

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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Which Blogging Software do I need to choose ?

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Questions Bloggers need to know before Choosing a Blogging Software!

Before You Choose Your Blogging Software, Ask Yourself These Six Questions

Choosing a blogging software can be confusing because on the surface, the various blogging software products such as Wordpress, Blogger, TypePad, Moveable Type, LiveJournal and more are quite similar. Following are six questions to ask yourself before you select your blogging software to help you make the best choice to be a successful blogger.

1. What Are Your Goals for Your Blog?

Do you want to blog for fun or are you trying to make money or build a popular, highly-trafficked blog? The blogging software you choose is largely dependent upon your goals for your blog. Ask yourself the following questions to determine your goals for your blog:

• How much space will you need to store your blog's images and content?
• Do you want to display ads on your blog?
• Do you want to add forums and other features to your blog?

2. Do You Need to Significantly Customize Your Blog's Design?

Blogging software varies in terms of its ability to allow bloggers to customize the appearance and layout of their blogs with logos, specific fonts, designs and more. It's important that you determine the amount of customization you want and need for your blog before you select your blogging software.

3. Are You or Is Someone You Know Technical?

Different blogging software platforms require varying amounts of technical skill and knowledge. While there are blogging software options that even the most technically-challenged people can navigate and use successfully, many of the blogging software packages that provide advanced customization and features require at least some technical ability.

4. Will Your Blog Have Multiple Authors?

Some blogging software platforms are easier to configure with multiple authors than others. Determine your author needs before you choose your blogging software.

5. Do You Need Custom Email Addresses Tied to Your Blog's Domain Name?

If you want to have email addresses customized to match your blog's domain name than your blogging software options are more limited. Even if this is something you may not need in the short term, it's important to think about it now before you choose your blogging software.

6. Do You Have Money to Spend Each Month on Blogging Software and a Blog Host?

Your budget will have a significant impact on the blogging software you choose. While there are many free blogging software platforms available online, those free blogging programs typically offer limited features. Although those limited features are usually adequate for the average blogger, they may not be enough for your blog depending on your long term goals for it.

Note :If you ask me on my opinion about which blog is to go for ! i could tell you my favorite is blogger !

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How to Setup blogger feed settings ?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

How do I change my site feed settings IN BLOGGER ?

To enable or disable the site feed(s) for your blog, first go to the Settings | Site Feed tab.

Here, you'll have one simple option, where you can select how much of your content you want to syndicate. "Full" will put the entire content of each post in your site feed, while "Short" only includes an excerpt from the beginning of each post. The "None" option turns your site feed off entirely.

That one site feed may be enough for you, but if you want some more options, click on the "Advanced Mode" link.

In Advanced Mode you have options for three different types of feeds. The first is for your blog posts, and is the same as the single option in Basic Mode. After that comes the comment feed. This one will contain all comments made on all posts on your blog. Finally, there is the per-post comment feed. With this option, each individual post will have its own site feed, containing only its own comments. Each option has the same "Full," "Short," and "None" setting choices.
Notes:

• Once you've enabled your site feeds, you may want to provide a way for your readers to find them. If the template you're using isn't displaying links to these files, you can add them in using the site feed template tags.
• All site feeds are published in Atom 1.0 format. However, if you add ?alt=rss to the end of any site feed URL, you can get the same feed in RSS 2.0 format.

Technorati Tags: blogger help,blogger beginners,blogger tutorials,blogger guide,blogspot,blogging

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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What are backlinks and how do I use them in blogger?

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Backlinks and trackbacks are the same for blogger !

Backlinks enable you to keep track of other pages on the web that link to your posts. For instance, suppose Alice writes a blog entry that Bob finds interesting. Bob then goes to his own blog and writes a post of his own about it, linking back to Alice's original post. Now Alice's post will automatically show that Bob has linked to it, and it will provide a short snippet of his text and a link to his post. What it all works out to is a way of expanding the comment feature such that related discussions on other sites can be included along with the regular comments on a post.
The backlinks setting can be found under the Settings | Comments tab, and consists of a single, simple option to turn it on or off:
blogger  default templates are already set up with the necessary code for backlinks. However, if you have a custom template, or one of our templates from before this feature was launched, you will need to add the code yourself. Instructions for that are here.
Once everything is set up, you'll see a new link marked "Links to this post" next to the comment link for each post:

If you click that link you'll be taken to the post page, where the backlinks are all listed beneath the comments. Clicking the triangles next to each link will display a snippet of text from the page linking to you, as well as some author and date information.

If you want to turn off backlinks for individual posts, you can do so. The process is the same as that for turning off comments. Just edit the post in question and change the options that appear below the posting form:

Notes:

• For the curious, this feature is based on the link: operator of Blog Search. So sites linking to your blog will need to be indexed by Blog Search and there may be a slight delay before the backlinks appear on your blog.
• The comment notification email setting does not apply to backlinks, so you will not be notified of new links when they appear. This is because these links are looked up on-the-fly each time you view an individual post.
• In lieu of comment notification, you can use Blog Search with a query such as link:your-blog-here.blogspot.com, and then subscribe to the results. That will have a similar effect.

Notice : you may want to Increase Your Blog's Technorati Backlinks very effectively !

Than you need to check this post ! here you go for free :)

Technorati Tags: BACKLINKS,TRACKBACK,seo,Blogger Hacks,Blogger Templates,Blogger tips and tricks,Blogger Tutorial,Google Webmaster,SEO Tips and Tricks

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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Why word verification appearing on my posting form in blogger ?

Friday, October 1, 2010

Why do I have word verification on my posting form?

Word verification on the posting form is meant to be a spam reduction mechanism for BlogSpot in general. There are two potential causes:

Potential Spam

In this case, word verification is applied to certain potential spam blogs by an automated system. Because this is automated there will necessarily be some false positives, though we're continually working on improving our algorithms to avoid these. If your blog is one of the false positives, we apologize. Having the word verification on your posting form does not prevent you from publishing and does not mean that your blog will be deleted or otherwise punished if it is not actually in violation of our policies.
To avoid further inconveniences when publishing, click the "?" (question mark) icon next to the word verification on your posting form:

That will take you to a page where you can request a review for your blog. We'll have someone look at it, verify that it isn't spam, and then whitelist your blog so it no longer has the word verification requirement.

High Posting Rate

If you make a large number of posts in a single day, you will be required to complete a word verification for each one, independent of whether your blog has been cleared as a potential spam or not. If this happens to you, simply complete the word verification for each post, or wait 24 hours, at which point it will be removed automatically.
This restriction is in place as much to control the load on our servers as to prevent explicit spam. Therefore, there is not a whitelisting review process to exempt individual blogs.
Notes:

• In cases where word verification is required, all posts made via email will be saved as drafts, rather than published.
• This is unrelated to the word verification setting for comments.
• If your word verification is continually reported as incorrect, even though you are entering the correct letters, please try logging out, clearing your browser's cache and Blogger.com cookies, then logging in again to post. Remember to copy and paste your post to a text file first, to keep it safe.

Technorati Tags: blogger help,blogger beginners,blogger tutorials,blogger guide,blogspot,blogging

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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How to setup an FTP (or sFTP) connection to my external web host?

FTP (or sFTP) Setup connection to your own external web host !

Go to Settings | Publishing:

and select a connection method:

Then, enter your settings:








When you're done, save your server details via the Save Settings button at the bottom, and republish your blog.
Notes:

• The default port numbers will be used (:21 for FTP and :22 for SFTP). Specifying an alternate port will not work.
• Do not include http:// or ftp:// in the server address or the path setting.

Technorati Tags: blogger beginners,blogger tutorials,blogger help

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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How do I make a draft post in BLOGGER ?

To make a draft post in BLOGGER !

A draft is a post that is in progress. It will not be shown on your blog and will only be accessible from your dashboard.
To mark a post as draft, simply click the "Save as Draft" button below the post-entry field:

To edit a draft post, locate it in the Posting | Edit Posts tab and click on its "Edit" link.

There are visual indicators that posts are drafts: They have no "View" links like published posts do, and they include the word "draft" to the right of their titles.
Drafts can be published, and published posts can be converted into drafts, simply by clicking the appropriate "Publish" or "Draft" button when editing the post.

Technorati Tags: Blogger tutorials,blogger hepl,blogger beginners

Source: blogger-dashboard.blogspot.com

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Using Fonts and Colors in blogger !

Sunday, September 26, 2010

In the Layout | Fonts and Colors tab, you can easily edit and customize the fonts and colors of your blog without any knowledge of HTML or CSS. (Note: Certain templates allow you to edit more elements of your blog than others.)

How do I edit the colors in my blog?

First choose the element you would like to change the color of:
Then choose the color you would like that element to be. You can either click on the color you want or enter the color hex code:


When you change your blog colors, you can view your changes in the blog preview beneath the color panel. Make sure you save your changes after you have finished selecting the colors for your blog. If you're feeling adventurous you can click "Shuffle blog colors" to randomly shuffle all of the colors already in your blog. If you don't like your changes, you can revert back to your default colors by clicking "Revert to template default."

How do I edit the fonts in my blog?

First choose the element you would like to change the font of:

Then choose the font you would like that element to be by clicking the radio button next to your font of choice. You can also change the font style to bold and/or italic by checking the box next to the style you want and you can make the font size larger or smaller by clicking "larger" or "smaller."

When you change your blog's fonts, you can view your changes in the blog preview at the bottom half of the screen. Make sure you save your changes after you have finished selecting the fonts for your blog.

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