wayne on October 16, 2008
One of the most common blog gadgets found is the blog list, or as it is also known, the blog roll. The blog list gadget found in the Blogger blog system displays a list of links that point to other blogs or web sites. Most bloggers use this gadget to display a list of blogs that they read, but there are so many uses for this simple control. In this post I will review the blog list gadget as well as list some of the uses you might not have considered for this gadget.
I will be writing more about each gadget that we find worthy of writing about, and you can help direct me. If you want me to write on any particular gadget, or if you have any issues that you want to get my opinion on, I encourage you to leave a comment and let me know.
Add the Blog List
Adding the blog list is simple, and I'm sure most of you already know that to add it, you need to be looking at the Page Elements Layout administration page. Click the 'Add a gadget' link found in the section 
that you want to add the new gadget to your blog. A new window will display, and you will see the Blog List in the list of selectable items. Clicking the blue plus image will start the process of adding this gadget to your blog. On the screen that displays, you can then begin to...
Configure the Blog List
You start off with a blank slate, an empty list. To begin, what are you going to name the gadget? You'll see in the image of my blog roll on the Views on Life blog that I have named it My Blog List. There are many creative ways to name this particular gadget, and the Internet is full of examples to draw upon. Find something you are good with and lets get on to the good stuff.
I've also opted to display an icon next to each entry. However, I am not showing anything else; no title of most recent item, snippet or thumbnail. I decided after previewing the list that I only wanted a simple list of items, nothing more. You might have some different thoughts on that, so play around with the different options, look at what each one does after you save your changes. Simply come back to this screen if you want to make more changes.
If you don't have any idea of what you want the gadget to ultimately look like, don't worry. Once you add a few items into the list, you'll start to get a better idea of how it will end up looking for you.
Add Items to the List
I wanted to touch briefly on some of the nuances of adding items into the blog list gadget. There are three way that you can add items to this list, and they each start off by clicking the 'Add to list' button. You can add them by:
- Adding in the URL to the site you want to add
- Pulling from the list of blogs you are following
- Pulling from Google Reader to populate your blog list
Add by URL
Probably the most common activity you'll have with this gadget after your initial set up is to add a single URL here and there as you find new blogs that you want to keep track of.
Sometimes you will run into an error that looks like the image to the right.
When you do, simply save the entry again. Sometimes Blogger will hiccup and throw off this error erroneously. One method to ensure that this error is not valid is to check the title and snippet options in the list configuration screen. If you see the title and a snippet of text on the post for each entry in your list, then you have added the entry and all is well. If there are issues, try removing the ending slash on the URL you enter. Sometimes not having the ending slash there helps to get the item into the list.
Add from Blogs I'm Following
Since Blogger added the Following functionality, Blogger users are able to connect with other Blogger users much easier than before. As you might imagine, each of the blogs that you are following are found in this list. All you need to do is simply check each one that you want to add and click add.
The next time you open this view, the list will be the same, but without the prior added items.
If you happen to have a really large list and want to all everything, don't start clicking each one. You'll be there forever. Click click click...sigh. See where it says 'Select: all, none"? Yeah, click that and save yourself some time.
Import from Google Reader
If you happen to use Google Reader, you're in luck if you want to pull from your subscriptions there to add into your blog roll. This is probably hands-down the best feature of this gadget.
You will find a list of all the blogs you are subscribed to. Just like the 'add from Following' list above, all you need to do is check each item you want to add into your blog list and click add.
Just like the 'add from following', you can only add what you haven't already.
Renaming and Removing Items
Eventually, you will need to remove an item from the list. Or perhaps when you add one you want to tidy up the name that displays.
You can see in the image to the left of this text that each item has a 'rename' and 'remove' link. Clicking rename will bring up a small dialog that will allow you to change the name and save it. Be careful of the remove link however! There isn't any confirmation behind the link, so once you click it, the item is gone. No 'Are you sure?' or anything like that. It's just gone.
You might also notice that there is a 'Remove' button on the bottom left of the image immediately above. This will remove the entire blog list from your site. All you data in the list will be gone, and you'll have to start all over if you mess this one up.
However, the remove button will confirm that you wanted to remove the gadget, unlike the remove link for each individual item. Less chance for that "Ooops!!! Aw crap..." feeling.
Conclusion
Well this is the first gadget I've written about and I'd like to get some feedback on this. Did you like it? Did it cover the gadget well enough for beginners to gain from it as well as some of the old pros to learn something new? What other gadgets and related topics would you be interested in hearing more about?
Why not take some time to add me to you blog list? Let me know so I can return the favor!
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