Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social Media. Show all posts

Monday, February 10, 2014

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:

add top commentators widget to blogger

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/AVvXsEixwrDwCS_AWKUJ0ZmkSh_fac18GLXmotC_ks64kjLqTBfEihwgH05n2LJkJ7A8OTj3BE97tmmgHZl0AqFuxE6yECXglD3lBpj0FWmBSnplwc38sATkoY_dcWSrChxDJS2vM-_jk_TJ23wB/s1600/avatar_blue_m_96.png" + sizeAvatar;
var urlAnoAvatar = 'https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidTOD6XBFAxhdzaDKMpR3hVltktioKAjFElAURSfl9cwHqwdhVeqcH8sPQM4e8QdRTUe7TJb9AFApeHEpNsbVq0KWWhbDbEmj3ZmXVnvbHNHMaGQ2-tIPUqfMQwIJIA7h7hNhL2TQSbefu/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)

How to embed a youtube playlist on your blogger blog

In this tutorial you will see how to create a YouTube video gallery using jQuery and add the Youtube playlist to your Blogger blog. Inside this gallery/playlist, you can add your favorite youtube videos or any video that you want to share with your visitors. Because of its default dimensions (width of 765px), it is recommended to add it just below the blog header, however, you can edit CSS code to fit anywhere you want to add it.

youtube playlist for blogger

To add this video slider/youtube playlist to your blog, please follow these steps below:



Step 1. From your blogger dashboard, go to Template > Edit HTML and click anywhere inside the code area to open the Blogger search box by pressing the CTRL + F keys.


Step 2. Type or paste the </head> tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it.
Just above this tag, add the following scripts:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.8.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script>
//<![CDATA[
/*hoverscroll v.0.2.4*/
(function($) {
$.fn.hoverscroll = function(params) {
if (!params) { params = {}; }
params = $.extend({}, $.fn.hoverscroll.params, params);
this.each(function() {
var $this = $(this);
if (params.debug) {$.log('[HoverScroll] Trying to create hoverscroll on element ' + this.tagName + '#' + this.id);}
if (params.fixedArrows) {
$this.wrap('<div class="fixed-listcontainer"></div>')
}
else {
$this.wrap('<div class="listcontainer"></div>');
}

$this.addClass('list');
var listctnr = $this.parent();
listctnr.wrap('<div class="ui-widget-content hoverscroll' +
(params.rtl && !params.vertical ? " rtl" : "") + '"></div>');
//listctnr.wrap('<div class="hoverscroll"></div>');

var ctnr = listctnr.parent();

var leftArrow, rightArrow, topArrow, bottomArrow;
if (params.arrows) {
if (!params.vertical) {
if (params.fixedArrows) {
leftArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow left"></div>';
rightArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow right"></div>';

listctnr.before(leftArrow).after(rightArrow);
}
else {
leftArrow = '<div class="arrow left"></div>';
rightArrow = '<div class="arrow right"></div>';

listctnr.append(leftArrow).append(rightArrow);
}
}
else {
if (params.fixedArrows) {
topArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow top"></div>';
bottomArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow bottom"></div>';

listctnr.before(topArrow).after(bottomArrow);
}
else {
topArrow = '<div class="arrow top"></div>';
bottomArrow = '<div class="arrow bottom"></div>';

listctnr.append(topArrow).append(bottomArrow);
}
}
}
ctnr.width(params.width).height(params.height);

if (params.arrows && params.fixedArrows) {
if (params.vertical) {
topArrow = listctnr.prev();
bottomArrow = listctnr.next();

listctnr.width(params.width)
.height(params.height - (topArrow.height() + bottomArrow.height()));
}
else {
leftArrow = listctnr.prev();
rightArrow = listctnr.next();

listctnr.height(params.height)
.width(params.width - (leftArrow.width() + rightArrow.width()));
}
}
else {
listctnr.width(params.width).height(params.height);
}

var size = 0;

if (!params.vertical) {
ctnr.addClass('horizontal');
$this.children().each(function() {
$(this).addClass('item');

if ($(this).outerWidth) {
size += $(this).outerWidth(true);
}
else {
size += $(this).width() + parseInt($(this).css('padding-left')) + parseInt($(this).css('padding-right'))
+ parseInt($(this).css('margin-left')) + parseInt($(this).css('margin-right'));
}
});
$this.width(size);

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed content width : ' + size + 'px');
}
if (ctnr.outerWidth) {
size = ctnr.outerWidth();
}
else {
size = ctnr.width() + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-left')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-right'))
+ parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-left')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-right'));
}

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed container width : ' + size + 'px');
}
}
else {
ctnr.addClass('vertical');
$this.children().each(function() {
$(this).addClass('item')

if ($(this).outerHeight) {
size += $(this).outerHeight(true);
}
else {
size += $(this).height() + parseInt($(this).css('padding-top')) + parseInt($(this).css('padding-bottom'))
+ parseInt($(this).css('margin-bottom')) + parseInt($(this).css('margin-bottom'));
}
});
$this.height(size);

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed content height : ' + size + 'px');
}
if (ctnr.outerHeight) {
size = ctnr.outerHeight();
}
else {
size = ctnr.height() + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-top')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-bottom'))
+ parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-top')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-bottom'));
}

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed container height : ' + size + 'px');
}
}
var zone = {
1: {action: 'move', from: 0, to: 0.06 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 16},
2: {action: 'move', from: 0.06 * size, to: 0.15 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 8},
3: {action: 'move', from: 0.15 * size, to: 0.25 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 4},
4: {action: 'move', from: 0.25 * size, to: 0.4 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 2},
5: {action: 'stop', from: 0.4 * size, to: 0.6 * size},
6: {action: 'move', from: 0.6 * size, to: 0.75 * size, direction: 1 , speed: 2},
7: {action: 'move', from: 0.75 * size, to: 0.85 * size, direction: 1 , speed: 4},
8: {action: 'move', from: 0.85 * size, to: 0.94 * size, direction: 1 , speed: 8},
9: {action: 'move', from: 0.94 * size, to: size, direction: 1 , speed: 16}
}

ctnr[0].isChanging = false;
ctnr[0].direction = 0;
ctnr[0].speed = 1;
function checkMouse(x, y) {
x = x - ctnr.offset().left;
y = y - ctnr.offset().top;

var pos;
if (!params.vertical) {pos = x;}
else {pos = y;}

for (i in zone) {
if (pos >= zone[i].from && pos < zone[i].to) {
if (zone[i].action == 'move') {startMoving(zone[i].direction, zone[i].speed);}
else {stopMoving();}
}
}
}

function setArrowOpacity() {
if (!params.arrows || params.fixedArrows) {return;}

var maxScroll;
var scroll;

if (!params.vertical) {
maxScroll = listctnr[0].scrollWidth - listctnr.width();
scroll = listctnr[0].scrollLeft;
}
else {
maxScroll = listctnr[0].scrollHeight - listctnr.height();
scroll = listctnr[0].scrollTop;
}
var limit = params.arrowsOpacity;
var opacity = (scroll / maxScroll) * limit;

if (opacity > limit) { opacity = limit; }
if (isNaN(opacity)) { opacity = 0; }

var done = false;
if (opacity <= 0) {
$('div.arrow.left, div.arrow.top', ctnr).hide();
if(maxScroll > 0) {
$('div.arrow.right, div.arrow.bottom', ctnr).show().css('opacity', limit);
}
done = true;
}
if (opacity >= limit || maxScroll <= 0) {
$('div.arrow.right, div.arrow.bottom', ctnr).hide();
done = true;
}

if (!done) {
$('div.arrow.left, div.arrow.top', ctnr).show().css('opacity', opacity);
$('div.arrow.right, div.arrow.bottom', ctnr).show().css('opacity', (limit - opacity));
}
}

function startMoving(direction, speed) {
if (ctnr[0].direction != direction) {
if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Starting to move. direction: ' + direction + ', speed: ' + speed);
}

stopMoving();
ctnr[0].direction = direction;
ctnr[0].isChanging = true;
move();
}
if (ctnr[0].speed != speed) {
if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Changed speed: ' + speed);
}

ctnr[0].speed = speed;
}
}

function stopMoving() {
if (ctnr[0].isChanging) {
if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Stoped moving');
}

ctnr[0].isChanging = false;
ctnr[0].direction = 0;
ctnr[0].speed = 1;
clearTimeout(ctnr[0].timer);
}
}

function move() {
if (ctnr[0].isChanging == false) {return;}

setArrowOpacity();

var scrollSide;
if (!params.vertical) {scrollSide = 'scrollLeft';}
else {scrollSide = 'scrollTop';}

listctnr[0][scrollSide] += ctnr[0].direction * ctnr[0].speed;
ctnr[0].timer = setTimeout(function() {move();}, 50);
}

if (params.rtl && !params.vertical) {
listctnr[0].scrollLeft = listctnr[0].scrollWidth - listctnr.width();
}

ctnr
.mousemove(function(e) {checkMouse(e.pageX, e.pageY);})
.bind('mouseleave', function() {stopMoving();});

this.startMoving = startMoving;
this.stopMoving = stopMoving;

if (params.arrows && !params.fixedArrows) {
// Initialise arrow opacity
setArrowOpacity();
}
else {
// Hide arrows
$('.arrowleft, .arrowright, .arrowtop, .arrowbottom', ctnr).hide();
}
});

return this;
};

if (!$.fn.offset) {
$.fn.offset = function() {
this.left = this.top = 0;

if (this[0] && this[0].offsetParent) {
var obj = this[0];
do {
this.left += obj.offsetLeft;
this.top += obj.offsetTop;
} while (obj = obj.offsetParent);
}

return this;
}
}

$.fn.hoverscroll.params = {
vertical: false,
width: 400,
height: 50,
arrows: true,
arrowsOpacity: 0.7,
fixedArrows: false,
rtl: false,
debug: false
};
$.log = function() {
try {console.log.apply(console, arguments);}
catch (e) {
try {opera.postError.apply(opera, arguments);}
catch (e) {}
}
};
})(jQuery);

$(function(){
$("#videoslider-tabs a").click(function(){
var container = $("#videoslider-content");
container.html("<img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJvfQKOg1nUhVM7-G0bNoVYekUw0hdW0z4Zac9e6cgyzCeQzxR_5fG-Ct0ZwI79hF_5aPiihLd_1IrWo9ZIAjQZKQ-kaRYI_dMIRn1jAYqJi7uonFBaiVaoWOqbdASNe7UrQHPXSc8rwNP/s1600/loading.png' class='loading-vid' />");
var id = $(this).attr("href").slice(1);
loadvideo(id);
return false;
});
$("#videoslider-tabs").hoverscroll({vertical:true,width:300,height:330,arrows:false});
$("#videoslider-tabs li").hover(function(){$(this).addClass("hover");},function(){$(this).removeClass("hover");});
loadvideo();
});

function loadvideo (hash){if(hash){hash = hash.slice(3);$("#videoslider-content").html(video[hash]);$("#videoslider-tabs li").removeClass("actVid");$("#videoslider-tabs a[href=#vid"+hash+"]").parent().addClass("actVid");}else{$("#videoslider-content").html(video[1]);$("#videoslider-tabs li").removeClass("actVid");$("#videoslider-tabs a[href=#vid1]").parent().addClass("actVid");}}
//]]>
</script>

Step 3. Now let's add the CSS code. Just above the same </head> tag, add this code:
<style>
#videoslider {
background:#F6F6F6; /* Background color */
clear:both;
margin:0 auto;
padding:5px;
width:735px;
border-radius: 5px;
border: 1px solid #C1C1C1;
-moz-background-clip: padding;
-webkit-background-clip: padding-box;
background-clip: padding-box;
}
#videoslider, #videoslider-content, #videoslider-tabs {
height:340px;
}
#videoslider-content {
color:#fff;
float:left;
text-align:center;
width:430px;
z-index:1;
}
.loading-vid {
display:block;
margin:165px auto 0;
}
#videoslider-tabs {
float:right;
width:240px;
margin:0;
}
#videoslider-tabs li {
background-color:#F6F6F6;
border: 1px solid #C1C1C1;
float:left;
height:60px;
padding:5px;
width:240px;
list-style:none;
overflow: hidden;
}
#videoslider-tabs li a {
padding:0 !important;
border:0 !important;
}
#videoslider-tabs li.hover {
background-color:#EBEBEB;
}
#videoslider-tabs li.actVid {
background:#555;
}
#videoslider-tabs li img.thumb-vid {
background-color:#EEEEEE;
float:left;
height:52px;
margin:0 8px 0 0;
padding:5px;
width:52px;
}
#videoslider-tabs li span.vidTit {
display:block;
color:#128EC9; /* Titles color */
font-size:12px; /* Titles font size */
font-weight:bold;
text-decoration:none;
}
#videoslider-tabs li .vidDesc {
display:block;
color:#222222; /* Color of the description */
font-size:11px; /* Font size of the description */
font-weight:bold;
text-decoration:none;
}
#videoslider-tabs a {
text-decoration:none;
}
#videoslider-tabs li.actVid .vidDesc {
color:#fff;
}
#videoslider-tabs li span.vidTit .actVid {
color:#fff; /* Titles color */
}
.ui-widget-content{
float:right;
overflow-y: scroll;
overflow-x: hidden;
}
.tabs-outer {
background-image: none !important;
}
#videoslider-tabs li a:hover {
background: none !important;
}</style>
Step 4. Click on the Save Template button

To make this youtube playlist work we need to add the HTML structure of it:

Step 5. Go to Layout or Pages or anywhere you want to add it and add the following code inside the HTML area (if you want to add it as a widget, paste the code inside a HTML/Javascript gadget by clicking on Add a gadget link within the Layout/Page Elements section):
<script>
var video = [];
video[1] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[2] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[3] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[4] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[5] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_5" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
</script>
<div id="videoslider">
<div id="videoslider-content"></div>
<ul id="videoslider-tabs">
<li><a href="#vid1"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_1/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid2"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_2/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid3"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_3/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid4"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_4/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid5"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_5/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>
</ul>
</div>

Add the IDs of your videos to where it says video_ID_..., titles (Video Name) and a brief description (Description).
To get the ID of a video, open the video on YouTube and look at the address bar - you need only the last characters after "v="


Note that each video ID should be added two times, the ones in red are for the video and the ones in orange are for the tabs thumbnail.

To add more videos, add two lines like the ones in bold above and then change the video[] and #vid... number. If you decided to add it inside a post or page, please make sure that you don't switch back to the Compose tab and publish your post while you're still on the HTML tab, otherwise the #vid location will be replaced with some other odd Blogger URLs.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

New Blogger Setting To Instantly Share Your Posts To Google+


As mentioned in previous posts about Google+ Google are doing all they can to connct Blogger and Google+.In fact in an attempt to promote Google+ and try to rival Facebook they are connecting all their other products with Google+.In August last year Google added the Google+ tab to Blogger and today they have added an update to that tab.The option has always been there to share your posts to Google+ via a pop up once you published the posts.Now however you can choose to save time and have the post automatically shared once you click publish.

To turn on this new blogger option click Google+ from the menu in your blog.If your blog is not already connected to your Google+ profile you will need to connect it first.Then you will see the option to automatically share the post or continue with the current option to share with a prompt as shown below.


As before if you have enabled Google+ comments on your blog Google+ replies will appear on your blog.

That's it, check out more of our posts on Google+.Drop your comments and questions below.

How Facebook’s Graph Search Can Benefit Bloggers


Social media is particularly important for bloggers because it is such a good way to create buzz around a piece of content. While I would never advocate the idea that social media doesn’t matter for other types of businesses, there is no denying that because blogging is all about content and promotion, social is particularly crucial. The new Facebook Graph has finally hit the majority of its 168 million U.S. users, so naturally everyone is scrambling to decide how it can benefit their company and how they can take full advantage of all the new features. If blogging is your company—this article is for you.


The Facebook Graph Search Basics

If you haven’t heard about the new Facebook Graph Search you’re not alone. Although it was announced just a few months ago (February to be exact), it has not been made available to the public until now. The way it works is this: You type a question into the Facebook search bar and then Facebook will pull results that directly related to the interests and opinions of your friends. Take the following screenshot example:
facebook graph search benefits to bloggers

As you can see from the screenshot above, I typed in a question about my friends in California. If my friends have ever checked-in to a restaurant or “liked” a particular restaurant in California, they are listed in my search results. This is a great way to find recommendations for different places based upon people that I trust. There are also filters on the right hand side of the search that would allow me to get even more specific results if I desire.


The Benefits of Facebook Graph Search and How Bloggers Can Take Advantage

Suddenly, optimization for Facebook has become even more important than ever before. While the past may have left businesses just trying to rank well using a few keywords, new aspects have now come into play. A few of the benefits of these changes include:
  • Likes Matter. The whole idea behind the new search graph is that a business can no longer just create a business page. The search results are going to depend upon the engagement of that page (number of likes, people checking-in, people commenting, location-based searching, etc.).
    How Bloggers Are Affected: Every time that someone guest posts or comments on your blog, prompt them to “like” your Facebook page. In my personal opinion, this will soon be even more important than asking people to follow you on Twitter.
  • Local Information. The new Graph search takes advantage of the local information that Facebook has. In the past businesses could use this for ad targeting, but now users can use this for their own targeting.
    How Bloggers Are Affected: Make sure that you have everything filled out on your Facebook page in terms of location. If you are strictly a blog that offers advice and no services, this might not be as relevant as a blogger who also offers say, SEO services.
  • Understand Competitors: You can now easily do a search for your competitors in relation to your specific audience. If you type in a search and see that one of your competitor’s shows up, you can see exactly which of your fans/followers have engaged with that company in the past. It will also help give you an idea of just how many people might be seeing that result.
    How Bloggers Are Affected: Bloggers typically work with the competition by offering guest content. As a blogger, this is a great way to find new people who might be interested in reading your blog. After all, if they like the competition, you’ve got a pretty good lead.
  • Individual Connection Importance. If you’re a company with a lot of “likes” from other companies, you might want to re-think your strategy. Facebook users are going to care the most about what their friends have to say, so you’re going to want followers who have a good number of friends.
    How Bloggers Are Affected: This is where bloggers have a leg up. Those who read blogs typically really enjoy social media as individuals.
Are you a blogger that has used Facebook Graph search? What did you do to make the new feature work for you? Do you predict this will be successful and/or make a difference for bloggers? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

5 Reasons Why Authors Should Accept Online Payments


Times have changed since the days of freelance writing in front of a clunky manual typewriter. You know, the ones with the keys that would get tied up in knots every time your typing fingers moved a little too quickly. As you tried to pry them apart, your fingers would wind up a black smudgy mess. And no amount of Ivory soap could wash them clean.
Our modern world has also bid farewell to the days of handing your editor an actual sheet of paper and awaiting your cheque in the mail. Sheets of paper have turned into blog posts, and payments are made online. And, thankfully, you can type as quickly as you want—no soap required.
No matter how firmly you try to hold on to the way you’ve always done business in the past, there are countless benefits to accepting online compensation by accepting payments online. And here is why.
  1. It’s Quick. To borrow an old cliché, online payments are literally "faster than a speeding bullet". You are no longer at the mercy of the postal service to maintain a steady cash flow. Nor will you ever be required to solve the mystery of the missing cheque in the mail. Online payments are fast and traceable.
    Furthermore, online credit card payments are processed instantly, which means that you no longer have to worry about rubber cheques or counterfeit money orders. Once the transaction is approved, the money is yours.
  2. It’s Easy. Let’s face it—everyone loves a shortcut. If you could get a dreaded task done in less than half the time it usually takes, would you not go for it? Of course, you would. And writing and recording a cheque, searching for an authorized signature, getting a paper cut from the envelope, and licking the toxic glue on a pile of stamps are not exactly the highlights of one’s day. A simple click of a keyboard button, however, is a breeze.
  3. It Makes Recordkeeping Simple. Again, no one likes to push paper. Online payments allow you to do away with paper files, mailing invoices, and recording payments. Services like Intuit and PayPal take care of that for you.
    You can spend less time writing invoices and more time composing blog posts—which will increase your output and raise your income substantially. Plus, it keeps all your invoicing in one place, which will alleviate much of your tax time stresses.
  4. You Can Write from Anywhere. Some freelance bloggers write for businesses that reside in countries far, faraway. If you are relying on snail mail for payment, you may celebrate a few birthdays before the cheque arrives. Plus, depositing a foreign cheque can be a complicated and risky endeavour. It can take eons to ensure that the funds have safely cleared.
    Processing deposits in Croatian Kuna and Peruvian Nuevo Sols was starting to have an adverse effect on your friendly neighborhood bank teller. But thanks to online payments, you can take on interesting and lucrative jobs from abroad and still get paid in good old American funds.
  5. It’s the “green” thing to do. If you strive to be an environmentally friendly individual, online payments are the way to go. Not only do they save paper by eliminating the need for cheques and envelopes, but they also contribute to lighter mail loads—which saves fuel and cuts down on air pollution.
    Because most freelance bloggers work from home, it also allows you to avoid trips to the bank and the post office. This not only lowers your fuel consumption, but it also saves you time and money. Plus, you don’t have to suffer the tedium of actually having to get dressed and leave the comfort of your own home.
  6. It’s “Open” 24 Hours a Day. Unlike the postal service or your financial institution, online payment services are always open for business. If your client is a night owl, they can pay your invoice while baying at the moon.
The bottom line is that you need to make life easy for your clients and offering online payment options does exactly that. This will ensure that they enjoy doing business with you and continue to do so in the future.
How has accepting online payments benefited your writing or blogging career?

Monday, February 3, 2014

6 Essential Pinterest Integration Tips for Bloggers



The internet has fallen in love with Pinterest, and what’s not to love? This fast-growing online destination offers a smorgasbord of images to appease the visually-crazed, and is just social enough to make it a great networking tool. Thanks to the combination of these two elements, Pinterest has become an object of interest to bloggers far and wide.

Even if you don’t have a presence on Pinterest, there is a great chance that your audience does. This means you at least need to give it consideration. For those who are ready to go, the following tips will explain how you can effectively integrate Pinterest with your blogging efforts.

1. Add a “Pin It” Button to Your Blog Posts

If you follow trends across the social web at all, you knew it wouldn’t be long before Pinterest came out with a button that connects it to the rest of the world. With the Pin It button, you can provide an easy way for people to share your content on their Pinteret boards. Luckily, adding this button to your post is a simple process.
  • Login to your Pinterest account.
  • Grab the button code from the “Goodies” section.
  • Add the code to the HTML area of your blog post and you’re done!

2. Make Your Posts Pinterst-Friendly

You’ll see a few videos here and there, but the main activity on Pinterest is sharing images. This is why I highly recommend including images in most, if not all of your posts. If you include at least one image, then readers can pin your entire blog post to a board. You definitely want this type of exposure, so when you go to crank out that next post, don’t forget to complement it with a high quality image or two.

3. Use a Pinterest Plugin

If WordPress is your blogging platform of choice, then you may want to consider using a plugin to support your integration efforts. There are quite a few to choose from, with Pinterest Plugin, Pinterest Galleries, and Pinterst Follow Button being some of the most popular options. While there are no official plugins available for Blogger, there are tools you can use to add Pin It and Follow buttons to your blog.

4. Add Boards to Your Blog

Most bloggers focus on getting their blog posts on Pinterest, but you can also reverse this and add boards to your blog. There are a couple of ways to do this. You can use a plugin like Pinterest RSS Widget, or code the functionality into your theme, which of course, requires some programming knowledge. You could also use a service like IFTTT, a tool that automates the process for blogs using Pinterest-inspired themes. Keep in mind that the aforementioned methods are all specific to WordPress.

5. Network with Fellow Pinners

Pinterest may not be the conventional social network, but it falls in the same category as the rest of them nonetheless. You can juice this site for its rich networking capabilities by connecting with other users. Comment on their pins. Like them. Repin them. This is the same approach you want to take when marketing on any social network. Spread the love, steer clear of the spammy advertising tactics, and rubbing shoulders with the Pinterest faithful could send some nice traffic to your blog.

6. Track Your Efforts

So you’ve made the move to integrate Pinterest with your blogging efforts. How’s everything going? Hopefully you have a good tracking system that will allow you to find out. When combing over your reports, you mainly want to find out who is coming in from Pinterest, and what they are doing once they reach your blog. Whether it’s JetPack for WordPress or the Blogger-friendly Google Analytics, there are several tools that can provide these insights.

Market in the Moment

How long will the Pinterest craze last? It’s hard to say. A site that is popular one year could be on its way out the door the next. What’s important for now is understanding that the hype behind this thing is very real. Consumers are all in and some of the brands that hopped on the bandwagon early are seeing good results. If you start working on integrating Pinterest with your blog now, you will be in line to see some gains regardless of what happens in the future.
How are you mixing Pinterest with your efforts? Anything that might work for the rest of us?
Share the knowledge in a comment?

Friday, November 29, 2013

Add Floating Social Media Sharing Buttons To Blogger

The Floating Social Media Sharing is a very popular widget on all the top blogs and this is one of the ways to increase the number of times your posts get shared on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

This floating social bar has the following options: Facebook Like, StumbleUpon, Twitter Share, Digg This, Google+ and each of them comes with a live counter. You can add more sharing buttons or social bookmarking icons later if you want.

Blogger, WordPress, Facebook, Share

How to add the scrolling social bookmarking bar


Step 1. Log in to your Blogger Dashboard, select your blog and go to Layout 

Step 2. Click on Add A Gadget link

Step 3. From the pop-up window, scroll down and select HTML/Javascript 

Step 4. Copy the code below and paste it inside the empty box.

Step 5. Save the gadget.

The code to copy-paste (updated!):
<style type="text/css">
#social-buttons {
position:fixed;
bottom:15%
margin-left:-721px;
float:left;
border-radius:5px;
-moz-border-radius:5px;
-webkit-border-radius:5px;
background-color:#fff;
padding:0 0 2px 0;
z-index:10;
}
#social-buttons .button-share {
float:left;
clear:both;
margin:5px 5px 0 2px;
}
</style>
<div id='social-buttons' title="Get this from helplogger.blogspot.com">
<div class='button-share' id='like' style='margin-left:7px;'>
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script>(function(d, s, id) {
  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
  js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1";
  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script>
<div class="fb-like" data-send="false" data-layout="box_count" data-width="40" data-show-faces="false"></div>
</div>
<br /><div class='sbutton' style="margin-left: 2px;" ><a class='twitter-share-button' data-count='vertical' data-via='Helplogger' expr:data-counturl='data:blog.url' href='http://twitter.com/share' rel='nofollow'>Tweet</a><script src='http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js'; type='text/javascript'></script>
<br />
<div class='button-share' style="margin-left: 3px;" id='su'>
<script src="http://www.stumbleupon.com/hostedbadge.php?s=5"></script>
</div>
<div class='button-share' id='digg' style='margin-left:3px;width:48px'>
<script src='http://widgets.digg.com/buttons.js' type='text/javascript'></script>
<a class="DiggThisButton DiggMedium"></a>
</div>
<div class='button-share' style='margin-left:3px;' id='gplusone'>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>
<g:plusone size="tall"></g:plusone>
</div>
<div style="clear: both;font-size: 9px;text-align:center;">Get <a style="color: #3399BB;" href="http://helplogger.blogspot.com/">widget</a></div></div></div>
Customization:
  • Vertical alignment - Change the 15% value of bottom. The code positions the social bar relative to the bottom of your browser window. To fix the distance even when window is resized, specify the value in px (pixels) instead of %.
  • Horizontal alignment - Change the -721px value from margin-left. Negative value pushes the button to the left of the main blog column, positive value pushes it to the right. Increase or decrease the value based on your needs.
  • Twitter setting - Replace Helplogger with your Twitter username
  • Replacing and removing buttons - You can replace existing buttons with your own. Each button is represented by this code:
<div class='sbutton'> BUTTON CODE HERE </div>
Enjoy!!! :)

Saturday, June 1, 2013

How to create a Facebook Fan Page for your Blog

 
What is a Facebook Page?

Sometimes referred to as a "Fan Page," a Facebook page is a single page where you can share & talk about any particular subject you want: a celebrity, a blog or whatever your heart desires. Think of it as a one-page meeting place, with information, links, a message forum box, RSS and anything else you want.
Want to promote your blog? Then Facebook is one of the best choices when it comes about Social Networking Sites. To see how a Facebook Fan Page looks like, please visit my Facebook Fan Page.

Create a Facebook Fan Page for your blog.


Step 1. Go to the Create Fan Page Link on Facebook and select Brand or Product

facebook popular, facebook friends

Search for "Website" in the drop down list and provide the Page name (e.g., name of your blog) in the next box. Check the "I agree to Facebook Pages Terms" box, then click on the "Get Started" button.


Step 2. You will be transferred to the next page - here you can "Upload an Image" for your Fan Page or Skip to upload it later. Browse for your image clicking on the "Upload from computer" link:


Step 3. Enter your site/blog description and the url address. These informations will appear on your Facebook page. After you have finished, click "Save info".


Step 4. Now you are transferred to your new Facebook Fan Page. To "Manage" your information, click on the "Manage" Button at top right corner of the page.

Get a Shorter Facebook Fan Page URL

Your Fan Page URL will look something like:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Helplogger/120574614736021

Now, if you have minimum 25 fans, you the possibility to shorten your facebook URL, to look something like this: http://www.facebook.com/helplogger

For this, go to http://www.facebook.com/username/ and click on set a username for your pages.


There you can select the username for your fan page. Be careful when you choose your Facebook Fan Page Username because you can't change it back afterwards.

Use RSS Graffiti Application to share your most recent blog posts

If you want to automatically add your blog posts to Facebook, then use the RSS Graffiti Application.
Steps:

1. go to http://apps.facebook.com/rssgraffiti/ and authorize RSS Graffiti: click on the "Click here to authorize RSS Graffiti" button.
2. once authorized, you will see a list of your fan pages on the left: click on the Fan Page Name
3. authorize RSS Graffiti to access your fan page: click on "Click to authorize" button.
4. Click on the Add Feed Button, and enter your feed url.

For example, if your blog is http://yourblog.blogspot.com, then your feed URL will be http://yourblog.blogspot.com/rss.xml

Click the link which says "click here to fetch and preview" and see if its grabbing your blog feed. (if it's not grabbing your feed, then check if you have enabled the blog feeds. If your blog is not hosted on blogger, then your feed url will be different.)
5. After you have added your blog feed, go to the Filter Tab and click on the Change link next to the "Cut-off date/time". Choose the latest posts of your blog from the drop down and click on the Save button.

You don't need to worry if your posts don't appear immediately on your Facebook Fan Page Wall, there might be some delay in the wall getting updated, as RSS Graffiti checks the feed for new entries at regular time intervals.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Adding a Youtube Video in the Background of a Blogger blog

Some of you might have wondered how to put a video to play in the blog's background, so that instead of having just a color or an image, to have a video. We can do this thanks to the jQuery plugin Tubular that lets you use a YouTube video as a background of a web page.

Although the result can be very original and attractive, I must say it has three drawbacks: they can not be silenced, if the video has ads, they will also appear, and it can slow the loading time of the blog, so if anyone wants to use it, may consider putting it only on special occasions, or on blogs that load very quickly.
Also it can be done in HTML5, the problem with this method is that you need to load the video in 3 different formats (.mp4, .webm and .ovg) along with a picture for browsers that do not support them, so this YouTube option seems more practical to me, despite the drawbacks.

blogger gadgets, blogger tricks, blogger widgets

You can see it working on this demo blog

Steps 

1. The first step is to just above the </head> tag, this script:
<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
/* jQuery tubular plugin
|* by Sean McCambridge
|* http://www.seanmccambridge.com/tubular
|* Copyright 2012
|* licensed under the MIT License
|* Enjoy.
|*
|* Thanks,
|* Sean */

var videoWidth = 853;
var videoRatio = 16/9;
var defaultDiv = 'wrapper-video';

jQuery.fn.tubular = function(videoId,wrapperId) {
wrapperId = (typeof(wrapperId) == undefined) ? 'wrapper-video' : wrapperId;
t = setTimeout("resizePlayer()",1000);

jQuery('html,body').css('height','100%');
jQuery('body').prepend('<div id="yt-container" style="overflow: hidden; position: fixed; z-index: 1;"><div id="ytapiplayer">You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.</div></div><div id="video-cover" style="position: fixed; width: 100%; height: 100%; z-index: 2;"></div>');
jQuery('#' + wrapperId).css({position: 'relative', 'z-index': 99});

var ytplayer = 0;
var pageWidth = 0;
var pageHeight = 0;
var videoHeight = videoWidth / videoRatio;
var duration;

var iframe = '<iframe id="myytplayer" width="' + videoWidth + '" height="' + videoHeight + '" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/' + videoId + '?autoplay=1&controls=0&modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&version=3&wmode=transparent&loop=1&playlist=' + videoId + '" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';

jQuery('#ytapiplayer').html(iframe);
jQuery(window).resize(function() {
resizePlayer();
});
return this;
}

function onYouTubePlayerReady(playerId) {
ytplayer = document.getElementById("myytplayer");
ytplayer.setPlaybackQuality('medium');
ytplayer.mute();
}

function resizePlayer() {
var newWidth = jQuery(window).width();
var newHeight = jQuery(window).height();
jQuery('#yt-container, #video-cover').width(newWidth).height(newHeight);
if (newHeight > newWidth / videoRatio) {
newWidth = newHeight * videoRatio;
}
jQuery('#myytplayer').width(newWidth).height(newWidth/videoRatio);
}

//]]>
</script>
And this one too:
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
$().ready(function() {
$('body').tubular('61BLn00AN_w','wrapper-video');
});
//]]>
</script>
2. Then locate the <body> tag (CTRL + F)
Or if you are using a template from Template Designer, find this line:
<body expr:class='&quot;loading&quot; + data:blog.mobileClass'>
3. Under either of these two, add this:
<div id='wrapper-video'>
4. Now search for the </body> tag, and before it put this:
</div>
Save the changes and that's it. In red you must put the ID of Youtube video, the ID are the characters that appear at the end of the URL:


Remember: There is no option to mute, so if you don't want to have sound as in the demo blog, you have to choose a video that has no sound. I also recommend using a video in HD in case you don't want any black parts to show around it.

If you are using jQuery, remove other versions that you have to avoid duplication and have problems.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Use Social Media Sites for Higher Ranks in Google

So, SEO has been changed since a long time. Google has been implementing changes in their search engine algorithm and now because of those changes, the SEO strategy has actually changed. The search engines now expect to see some social media activities of your website in the social media sites as well – which means social participation of your business. Google actually makes the things clear – the more your social participation is seen, the more your website would be seen on their search results.

Social Media For Ranking
Social Media Sites Improves Ranking

The recent updates including the one in the Penguin world has brought such changes in the search engine policy. You are going to be ranked favorably provided that you are the authority of your business. They observe your interaction with your customers and it can be easily done over the social network; probably that’s the reason behind measuring this change in the searching policy. If you can manage to do the socialization in the right way, you will get higher ranking. Now, how do you do that? It’s easy if you know exactly where to click. You have to know what your consumers actually want from your business. Share lucrative posts on social media about it – be it a service, or product. If you can make them interested – they will share without you telling them to do so. The more shared, reposted, re-tweeted that post gets; the more exposure and rank you earn in Google.
And where are you supposed to do that? In the social media, the ones that get the most hits and here are six of them.

1# LinkedIn

No matter what social network you use for socializing, the most priority should be given on completing your profile first. When you fully complete your LinkedIn professional page and your personal page with profile picture and all the details, you get the advantages of being in touch with the professional people in your workspace orbit. Also, Google prefers results from LinkedIn.

2# YouTube

Google’s own this media sharing site and is a great tool for promoting your business for almost free. You can put video promotional about your product or service and get the attention of your consumers. Videos up to 10 minutes are completely free so it won’t cost a single penny for many businesses. And if done properly, video marketing makes your business more attractive to the consumers.

3# Facebook

There is forever running debates on the cyberspace about how Facebook will or will not lose interest to its users in the future. As we can’t see the unforeseen future so we don’t have any comments on that but Facebook clearly is the most popular social network these days. Proper use of this tool will surely get you the most consumers worldwide.

4# Twitter

It has become ‘embedded’ in many souls all around the world. Twitter has clearly showed how a 140 lines tweet can severely impact people’s lives. I don’t there’s much to say – just use this tool properly.

5# Pinterest

As people can pin and re-pin their interests to this social network, make sure your posts get enough pin to make the other consumers interested. That’s how you engage your potential customers.
So now given that the social networks to higher your ranking, get to work. The more you make the correct use, the more you earn higher ranking in Google and don’t forget to check previous post on this blog written by Varun to know how social media sites plays best role to increase referral traffic to blog.

[INFOGRAPHIC] 9 Ways To Make Your Blog Successful Using Pinterest


Marketing the blog in the right way have great leverage on blogging success. It’s the best practice to promote our content, product or any service to the targeted audience or buyers. But how to market the blog? How to get the potential readers or viewers to our business website or simply say to our blog?
Here at BloggerTipsTricks, we already have discussed about the various ways to drive eager new readers to a blog either it’s using social media sites or by using any promotional strategies. If you are not regular with our updates or haven’t read our promotional strategies yet, then I must recommend you to go through following guides.

9 Ways For Brands To Be Successful on Pinterest

Pinterest is not only a place for pinning the images. It’s much more that. It’s now evolving as an Online Marketing Tool. It’s emerging with a very fast speed and if you left behind, then you’ll lose a serious market – a market of potential readers or customers.
In this infographic, you’ll learn how Pinterest can be a great online marketing tool for your brand, blog or website.
9-Ways-Brand-Success-Infographic
Infographic Credit: visual.ly

Final Words!

At last, I just wanna say that if you are not using Pinterest to promote your blog, then start using it. It’s really great and you can get huge traffic from it.
Read: 7 Smart Tips To Drive Traffic From Pinterest To Your Blog
How’s that infographic? Really informative Right? If you wish to share this informative infographic with your readers then you can use below code to embed it into your blog posts. Thanks! :)

Now it’s your turn.
What are your views about the points shared in this infographic?
Are you seriously using Pinterest as an Online Marketing Tool?
Please share your views and be a part of our discussion. Thanks! :)

Saturday, May 11, 2013

How to add Facebook Like/Fan Box to Blogger


In one of my previous tutorials, I have shared a simple Recent Comments widget having the ability to display the lastest comments published on the blog posts, however the main disadvantage of it was that it didn't have the option of showing the users' avatars, so for those who need something more, I would recommend adding this stylish Recent comments widget with round avatars and comment excerpts. Besides having the option of displaying the avatars of commenters, we can also change the default image for the anonymous avatar.

So let's begin adding it...



How to add recent comments widget with avatars


Step 1. Go to Blogger Dashboard, select your blog and go to Layout, then click the Add a Gadget link.

avatars, recent comments blogger, blogger widgets

Step 2. When the popup window appears, scroll down and choose HTML/Javascript


Step 3. Copy and paste the following code inside the empty box:
<style type="text/css">
ul.helploggercomments{list-style: none;margin: 0;padding: 0;}
.helploggercomments li {background: none !important;margin: 0 0 6px !important;padding: 0 0 6px 0 !important;display: block;clear: both;overflow: hidden;list-style: none;word-break:break-all;}
.helploggercomments li .avatarImage {padding: 3px;
background: #fefefe;-webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 1px #ccc;-moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 1px #ccc;box-shadow: 0 1px 1px #ccc;float: left;margin: 0 6px 0 0;position: relative;overflow: hidden;}
.avatarRound {-webkit-border-radius: 100px;-moz-border-radius: 100px;border-radius: 100px;}
.helploggercomments li img {padding: 0px;position: relative;overflow: hidden;display: block;}
.helploggercomments li span {margin-top: 4px;color: #666;display: block;font-size: 12px;font-style: italic;line-height: 1.4;}
</style>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
    // Recent Comments Settings
    var
 numComments  = 5,
 showAvatar  = true,
 avatarSize  = 60,
 roundAvatar = true,
 characters  = 40,
 showMorelink = false,
 moreLinktext = "More »",
 defaultAvatar  = "https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0qWeXjar_d5l9NzIjzih54QCtq_ATiLfuL9kKbKxQlZJSUCHT-u-FKmEtoMN4IDvQkOwXzkowjt4-nPBcbW3CJqlsijwzeGFaj9Lau3TIDxdYHUBXPs8lmdTut9Ha70_Zg_4ET2T3Zn3/s1600/default-avatar.jpg",
 hideCredits = true;
//]]>
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://helplogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/helplogger/[helplogger.blogspot.com]recent-comments.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://helplogger.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=json&callback=helploggercomments&max-results=5"></script>
Note

- replace http://helplogger.blogspot.com/ with the name of your blog.
- by default, there will be displayed a number 5 comments - replace the "5" values in red in order to show more comments
- to change the anonymous avatar, replace the following address with the url of your image:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0qWeXjar_d5l9NzIjzih54QCtq_ATiLfuL9kKbKxQlZJSUCHT-u-FKmEtoMN4IDvQkOwXzkowjt4-nPBcbW3CJqlsijwzeGFaj9Lau3TIDxdYHUBXPs8lmdTut9Ha70_Zg_4ET2T3Zn3/s1600/default-avatar.jpg
- to change the size of the avatar, replace 60 value in green.

Step 4. After you've made the changes, click Save... and we're done!

Once a reader finds a recent comments widget in your blog's sidebar, he comes to know that you blog is pretty active and that encourages him to post comments on your blog. In this way you can gather some active user base to comment on your blog posts.