When Google Fails to Search

It all started when I decided to write a new blog. As I had done it many times before, setup, widgets and plug-ins of my choice and a suitable template swiftly took their places. Additional code was minimal for Blogger now does many things natively.

Recommended Content Widget

I am beginning to like the Google Friend Connect team. Their latest feature, the recommendations gadget allows members to recommend the content they like, anything from a whole page to a single photo, by simply clicking a button.

Friend Connect Bar and Poll Widget

I have added a Friend Connect bar (bottom of the page) and a poll widget today. I thought about a lot where to place the poll. I have way too many widgets on the sidebar, which is narrow for all intents and purposes anyway, so end of posts seemed like a good position.

Obsessed with CommentLuv

Today, the idea of enabling CommentLuv natively in Blogger has haunted me again. For the impatient, the quickest and painless way of doing it is via JS-Kit commenting system but we do not want that because:

Time to Update Referer Scripts and Plugins

In order to better capture outbound clicks, the referer path for Google search results will change from /search to /url. Google search result pages will link to a gateway URL before delivering a visitor to her final destination.

Related Posts Widget for Blogger

Related posts widget is one of the indispensable tools that every blogspot user must have. It increases reader engagement, provides on-site links visitors may be interested, and overall, despite the extra JavaScript cost it brings, is a valuable weapon in every blogger's arsenal.

A Youtube Widget Test

I am trying to run a "classified" test for the YouTube widget. As I once explained, this blog sometimes serves as a test bed among other things. I am not doing the test because the widget is not working. On the contrary, it works perfectly fine, within the context of its purpose of creation. But when you have other motives and want the widget to work in unusual circumstances, a few checks can be, and are necessary. It will be run and rerun until I am satisfied. Meanwhile, you can just enjoy some videos if you like.

Google Hot Trends Widget

Today I have added Marcel Maatkamp's Google Hot Trends widget. It is only visible in post pages just under the calendar archive. It is the least obstructive one I was able to find.

Blogger Calendar Archive Widget

My experiment to use the sidebar effectively continues. Although it is a bit heavy on the size (a few extra scripts), I have added Phydeaux3's calendar widget to the sidebar. What makes it different from his is the use of two separate archives, one for index and one for post pages.