Thursday, 20 February 2014

The difference between white hat SEO and black hat SEO

The search engine optimization (SEO) is a good way to promote your blog on Google search results and other search engines. For those who don't understand how SEO works, here you can find several SEO articles that might help you, but we need to be also aware of the good and bad SEO techniques that could have a direct impact on our ranking.

This article will shed some light on the terms known as black hat and white hat SEO and we will get to know what's good and what is not when we optimize our website and its content.

black hat and white hat seo

What is Black Hat SEO?

From the 'SEO dictionary', the term black hat SEO has to do with the abusive techniques that will force the search engines to look at a specific site and rank it. This might work at first, but the algorithms can already see some of these techniques that have become common for a fast result.

Such practices to trick the search engines are, for example, the excessive use of keywords, especially in headings and subheadings; transparent keywords to the user or the so-called hidden text, automatically generated content, pages redirecting automatically to other content and more.

What is White Hat SEO?

The white hat SEO has to do with the good techniques in the 'eyes' of the search engines. These are considered ethical techniques for the ranking, helping thus, the positioning of a website or blog. However, working on the white hat is a process that requires dedication and results may take longer to appear (this is why so many people opt for black hat in order to 'try' something more 'effective') but the results could be much more safe and satisfactory on a long term.

Keep in mind that Google has plenty of tricks up its sleeve to penalize anyone who doesn't act in accordance with the policies and rules of their website - this includes removing your page from any of the positions. Fair enough, after all, why Google would 'reward' somebody with the top spot if the site doesn't provide good content for its users and at the same time, doesn't meet the requirements of the algorithm?

For those who are interested and want to get to the top of Google search results, visit the webmaster guidelines page. There, you can find more information about how to create good content, how the design of your blog/site should be and how to work with your links. Also, you can find mentions about black hat SEO techniques.

Add floating social media sharing buttons below Blogger post titles

It is becoming increasingly important to make our posts appreciated and shared on social networks and one of the best ways to get traffic to our blog or site and boost sharing stats is to add social sharing buttons.

In this tutorial we will see how to add a floating social media sharing bar below the title of Blogger posts, so when a reader scrolls down the page, he will still be able to see the sharing buttons without having to scroll back to the top.

Adding the below jQuery script will make the buttons float in a fixed position as soon as they reach "the top" of the page. By scrolling back, the buttons will return to their initial position.

The social sharing bar includes buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

Social Media Sharing Buttons below Blogger Post Title

Step 1. From the Blogger Dashboard, go to "Template" and click on the "Edit HTML" button:


Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the search box. Once you see the search box, type the </head> tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it.

blogger search box, ctrl + f

Step 3. Just above </head> add this script:
<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
$(function() {
var $movesbuttons = $("#floating-social-buttons"),
$window = $(window),
offset = $movesbuttons.offset();
$window.scroll(function() {
if ($window.scrollTop() > offset.top) {
$movesbuttons.css({'position' : 'fixed', 'width' : '550px', 'top' : '0px'});
} else {
$movesbuttons.css({'position' : 'absolute', 'top' : 'auto'});
}
});
});
//]]>
</script>
Step 4. Now before the ]]></b:skin> tag (press CTRL + F to find it) add the following CSS styles:
#floating-social-buttons {
padding: 6px 0px 12px;
position: absolute;
background: #F6F6F6;
border-bottom: 1px solid #DEDEDE;
width: 550px;
height: 18px;
z-index: 99;
}
.floating-social-buttons {
margin-left: 5px !important;
}
.floating-social-buttons li {
float: left;
margin-left: 5px;
list-style:none;
}
To change the width of the bar, modify the 550px values in red. Note that this value also appears in the script which also needs to be modified.

Step 5. Finally, just below the second <div class='post-header'> (press CTRL + F and hit Enter twice to find the second one) add the following code:
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<div style='padding:5px 0 35px 0;clear:both;'>
<div id='floating-social-buttons'>
<ul class='floating-social-buttons'>

<li><iframe allowTransparency='true' expr:src='&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=&quot; + data:post.url+ &quot;&amp;layout=button_count&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=100&amp;height=25&amp;action=like&amp;font=tahoma&amp;colorscheme=light&quot;' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' style='border:none; overflow:hidden; width:100px; height:25px;'/></li>

<li><a class='twitter-share-button' data-lang='en' href='https://twitter.com/share'>Tweet</a><script src='//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js' type='text/javascript'/></li>

<li><script src='http://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js' type='text/javascript'/><g:plusone expr:href='data:post.url' size='medium'/></li>

<li><a class='pin-it-button' count-layout='horizontal' expr:href='&quot;http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=&quot; + data:post.url + &quot;&amp;media=&quot; + data:post.thumbnailUrl + &quot;&amp;description=&quot; + data:post.snippet' style='margin:0 10px 5px 0;'>Pin It</a> <script src='http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js' type='text/javascript'/></li>

</ul>
</div>
</div>
</b:if>

Customizing the Floating Social Media Sharing buttons

If you want the buttons to appear at the end of the post, paste this code before or after <div class='post-footer'>
If the bar overlaps with the post content, then change 35px to a higher value.

Step 6. Click on the "Save template" button and you're done!

So these were the steps for adding the horizontal social buttons bar on Blogger. Using this bar it is also useful as it could help you to get more social traffic for your blog.

Monday, 17 February 2014

Add A CSS Animated Share Button on Blogger

I saw this on Paulund, a highly recommended site with a good collection of snippets, i.e. a collection of different codes that develop small utilities, all of these being applicable to web design.

In this tutorial, we will see how we can add a similar share button on Blogger with a really cool hover effect and 4 social media icons with links to share the current page on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest. However, we can replace these social networks later with any other just by changing the links below.

Demo:


Creating A CSS Animated Share Button

Step 1. From your Blogger dashboard > go to "Template" > click on the "Edit HTML" button.

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and press the Ctrl + F keys to open the blogger search box. Type or paste the ]]></b:skin> tag and hit Enter to find it.

Step 3. Just above ]]></b:skin> add this CSS:
.share_button {
width: 300px;
height: 50px;
margin: 10px auto;
}
.share_button ul {
width: 50%;
height: inherit;
float: left;
list-style: none;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
}
.share_button ul h1 {
margin-top: 9%;
overflow: hidden;
width: 100%;
color: #4889F0;
font-size: 18px;
text-shadow:2px 2px 2px #fff;
}
.share_button ul li {
position: absolute;
height: inherit;
width: 150px;
margin: 0 !important;
padding: 0 !important;
background: #EEEEEE;
-webkit-transition: all 600ms;
-moz-transition: all 600ms;
-o-transition: all 600ms;
-ms-transition: all 600ms;
transition: all 600ms;
text-align: center;
}
.share_button ul li h2 {
display: inline-block;
width: 32%;
height: 40px;
overflow: hidden;
margin-top: 5%;
cursor: pointer;
border: 0 !important;
}
.share_button ul:first-child li:first-child{
text-align: right;
}
.share_button ul:last-child li:first-child{
text-align: left;
}
.share_button ul:first-child li:last-child,
.share_button:hover ul:first-child li:first-child {
-webkit-transform: rotateY(90deg);
-moz-transform: rotateY(90deg);
-o-transform: rotateY(90deg);
-ms-transform: rotateY(90deg);
transform: rotateY(90deg);
}
.share_button ul:last-child li:last-child,
.share_button:hover ul:last-child li:first-child {
-webkit-transform: rotateY(-90deg);
-moz-transform: rotateY(-90deg);
-o-transform: rotateY(-90deg);
-ms-transform: rotateY(-90deg);
transform: rotateY(-90deg);
}
.share_button:hover ul:first-child li:last-child,
.share_button:hover ul:last-child li:last-child {
-webkit-transform: rotateY(0deg);
-moz-transform: rotateY(0deg);
-o-transform: rotateY(0deg);
-ms-transform: rotateY(0deg);
transform: rotateY(0deg);
}
Step 5. Now let's go ahead and insert the HTML button in the template. The most common place would be just after <div class='post-footer'> - find the second <div class='post-footer'> and paste the following code just above it:
<div class='share_button'>

<ul>
<li><h1>
Share t
</h1></li>

<li><h2>
<a expr:href='&quot;http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=&quot; + data:post.canonicalUrl + &quot;&amp;t=&quot; + data:post.title ' title='Share on Facebook'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSNBN2P9Y-w1rJGr5qZkVe5ZOC7nW0H70llnnyMEVbPSPQF45nXKPbjuvj7CmzujHlVOQIrZbkYHOtsRtA-kxhaLfZnQD0qKi3ehFa4QHC6QfyhRS9g7NgwnVFPkv1LHmxZjHvZGDvZ13V/s1600/Facebook.png"/></a></h2>

<h2><a expr:href='&quot;http://twitter.com/home?status=&quot; + data:post.title + &quot; &quot; + data:post.canonicalUrl ' title='Share on Twitter'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZYIKLcx6ntqb3ut9iNKo9g8g6IgCUgXJ_iTHpi59aXU4eTCDiXOZzbOJemBWEMtG-NY_lpKkXbME6Rj46_sAxhJR5R7KI_wXK_kaWqsedTB6sVMBn59RF_Ujj-Gtwj-uAsuzaclecOKO3/s1600/Twitter.png"/></a></h2>
</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><h1>his page</h1></li>

<li>
<h2><a expr:href='&quot;https://plus.google.com/share?url=&quot; + data:post.canonicalUrl ' title='Share on Google Plus'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyT70fCnfCdVfR1Db7fY1r55OvP0C8QofvkCPDk-5y1aByPJqeaHPn2UklHRLE6J_QCHbxz0nmA2LubHDiyJPnCOwa4FjZJ8szbGLisjy0UUt9xie5Owlx2ag4dDmesYsXarqxNpShqCh/s1600/Google-plus.png"/></a></h2>

<h2>
<a href='javascript:void((function(){var%20e=document.createElement(&apos;script&apos;);e.setAttribute(&apos;type&apos;,&apos;text/javascript&apos;);e.setAttribute(&apos;charset&apos;,&apos;UTF-8&apos;);e.setAttribute(&apos;src&apos;,&apos;http://assets.pinterest.com/js/pinmarklet.js?r=&apos;+Math.random()*99999999);document.body.appendChild(e)})());' title='Share on Pinterest'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOygyIvTkZyQIBN8H8xYapuow3dltk5uMZt9-nKW19ma3dU0W30GPsTvmvwkc1wvzp5XCrmfaOpnd2o23JBPPu25yrCxoCu2ejt9h2R4zsNka8HkQLhb_dv15vg2_cUoTgNeMWVIF2dN9d/s1600/Pinterest.png"/></a>
</h2>
</li>
</ul>

</div>
Note: if you want to change the icons, replace the URLs in blue.

Step 5. Click on the "Save template" button and we're done! Enjoy ;)

Orbit - jQuery Image Slider Plugin For Blogger

This tutorial will show you how to add another beautiful image slider for Blogger / BlogSpot made with jQuery and, of course, with HTML and CSS. This slider, called Orbit, is a lightweight jQuery plugin that will display multiple images in a limited space using navigation arrows (previous-next buttons). On the upper left of the Orbit slideshow, we have some small bullet icons indicating the current image that we are viewing and, on the upper right side, is the pause option and a timer letting us know when the next image will be displayed.

If you want to see this cool image slider in action, please visit this demo blog:


image slider, slideshow, jquery

Related:
Photo Gallery with Thumbnails using Javascript and CSS
Spacegallery: A jQuery Time Machine-like Slideshow/Image Gallery
Image Slider that Displays Pictures on Mouse Hover using only CSS

The HTML markup is pretty clean, just an element that wraps multiple images where the captions are generated from the span tags of these images.

How to Add the Orbit Image Slider to Blogger

Step 1. From your Blogger Dashboard, go to Template > Edit HTML > click anywhere inside the code area and press the CTRL + F keys to open the blogger search box. Paste or type the below tag inside the search box and hit Enter to find it.
</head>

Step 2. Just above </head> add the following scripts:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<!--[if IE]>
<style type="text/css">
.timer { display: none !important; }
div.caption { background:transparent; filter:progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr=#99000000,endColorstr=#99000000);zoom: 1; }
</style>
<![endif]-->

<script type='text/javascript'>
$(window).load(function() {
$(&#39;#featured&#39;).orbit({
advanceSpeed: 5000,
&#39;bullets&#39;: true,
&#39;timer&#39; : true,
&#39;animation&#39; : &#39;horizontal-slide&#39;
});
});
</script>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
/*
* jQuery Orbit Plugin 1.1
* www.ZURB.com/playground
* Copyright 2010, ZURB
* Free to use under the MIT license.
* http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
*/

(function(e){e.fn.orbit=function(a){a=e.extend({animation:"fade",animationSpeed:800,advanceSpeed:4E3,startClockOnMouseOut:true,startClockOnMouseOutAfter:3E3,directionalNav:true,captions:true,captionAnimationSpeed:800,timer:false,bullets:false},a);return this.each(function(){function m(c){function g(){f.eq(h).css({"z-index":1});s=false}var h=b,k=c;if(h==k)return false;if(!s){s=true;if(c=="next"){b++;if(b==n)b=0}else if(c=="prev"){b--;if(b<0)b=n-1}else{b=c;if(h<b)k="next";else if(h>b)k="prev"}a.bullets&&
x();if(a.animation=="fade"){f.eq(h).css({"z-index":2});f.eq(b).css({opacity:0,"z-index":3}).animate({opacity:1},a.animationSpeed,g);a.captions&&o()}if(a.animation=="horizontal-slide"){f.eq(h).css({"z-index":2});k=="next"&&f.eq(b).css({left:t,"z-index":3}).animate({left:0},a.animationSpeed,g);k=="prev"&&f.eq(b).css({left:-t,"z-index":3}).animate({left:0},a.animationSpeed,g);a.captions&&o()}if(a.animation=="vertical-slide"){f.eq(h).css({"z-index":2});k=="prev"&&f.eq(b).css({top:u,"z-index":3}).animate({top:0},
a.animationSpeed,g);k=="next"&&f.eq(b).css({top:-u,"z-index":3}).animate({top:0},a.animationSpeed,g);a.captions&&o()}}}var b=0,n=0,t,u,s,d=e(this).addClass("orbit"),f=d.find("img, a img");f.each(function(){var c=e(this),g=c.width();c=c.height();d.width(g);t=d.width();d.height(c);u=d.height();n++});f.eq(b).css({"z-index":3});if(a.timer){d.append('<div class="timer"><span class="mask"><span class="rotator"></span></span><span class="pause"></span></div>');var j=e("div.timer"),p;if(j.length!=0){var C=
a.advanceSpeed/180,v=e("div.timer span.rotator"),y=e("div.timer span.mask"),z=e("div.timer span.pause"),l=0,A,w=function(){p=true;z.removeClass("active");A=setInterval(function(){var c="rotate("+l+"deg)";l+=2;v.css({"-webkit-transform":c,"-moz-transform":c,"-o-transform":c});if(l>180){v.addClass("move");y.addClass("move")}if(l>360){v.removeClass("move");y.removeClass("move");l=0;m("next")}},C)},q=function(){p=false;clearInterval(A);z.addClass("active")};w();j.click(function(){p?q():w()});if(a.startClockOnMouseOut){var B;
d.mouseleave(function(){B=setTimeout(function(){p||w()},a.startClockOnMouseOutAfter)});d.mouseenter(function(){clearTimeout(B)})}}}if(a.captions){d.append('<div class="caption"><span class="orbit-caption"></span></div>');var r=d.children("div.caption").children("span").addClass("orbit-caption").show(),o=function(){var c=f.eq(b).attr("rel"),g=e("#"+c).html(),h=r.height()+20;r.attr("id","#"+c).html(g);g?r.parent().stop().animate({bottom:0},a.captionAnimationSpeed):r.parent().stop().animate({bottom:-h},
a.captionAnimationSpeed)};o()}if(a.directionalNav){d.append('<div class="slider-nav"><span class="right">Right</span><span class="left">Left</span></div>');j=d.children("div.slider-nav").children("span.left");var D=d.children("div.slider-nav").children("span.right");j.click(function(){a.timer&&q();m("prev")});D.click(function(){a.timer&&q();m("next")})}if(a.bullets){d.append('<ul class="orbit-bullets"></ul>');var E=e("ul.orbit-bullets");for(i=0;i<n;i++){j=e("<li>"+i+"</li>");e("ul.orbit-bullets").append(j);
j.data("index",i);j.click(function(){a.timer&&q();m(e(this).data("index"))})}var x=function(){E.children("li").removeClass("active").eq(b).addClass("active")};x()}})}})(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>

Note: You can change the transitions speed between each image by modifying the 5000 value from the line in blue - a higher number will make the pictures stay longer between each transition.

Important! If you have already a version of jQuery in your template, please remove the line in red, otherwise the slideshow might not work.

Step 3. Now it is time to add the CSS. Find (CTRL + F) this tag:
]]></b:skin>
Step 4. Just above ]]></b:skin> add this code:
#featured {height: 1px; width: 1px; overflow: hidden;}
div.orbit {
width: 1px;
height: 1px;
position: relative;
overflow: hidden;
}

div.orbit img {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
}
div.orbit a img {border: none;}

div.timer {
width: 40px;
height: 40px;
overflow: hidden;
position: absolute;
top: 10px;
right:10px;
opacity: .6;
cursor: pointer;
z-index: 1001;
}

span.rotator {
display: block;
width: 40px;
height: 40px;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: -20px;
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDmRQbQmNpr1dKKbcNW1BdpkvNZForsNMR26y1_vyvp0uqZ7ZW0eDnL428O8dkLgHmTvunzPc89sZvt5_zr-hwmzl-xkZb0GQdl-ll3gTPJ0yVI6IVUpFr3GASHZ4hq0JCH6YwJ0jmTTcN/s1600/timer-icon.png);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
z-index: 3;
}

span.mask {
display: block;
width: 20px;
height: 40px;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
right: 0;
z-index: 2;
overflow: hidden;
}

span.rotator.move {left: 0;}
span.mask.move {
width: 40px;
left: 0;
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRGxwOtsihc4PJWZ_QD6pTUIrc7zA_kdbP4bTP5lXZPrdFQY-wj17fmIC7VyxwMJ7t05trJUvPzKIhjBjQnMub0lvlfgZyDB4G7mhP3TW72XSlaGpcXY3HCG8rmpjXrFQYt81b1xxXdQ6b/s1600/timer-right.png);
background-repeat: repeat;
background-position: 0px 0px;
}

span.pause {
display: block;
width: 40px;
height: 40px;
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0px;
background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5qtOUBezBpUkCuYLD9_I48pNoCY7TIMAikAqrgo0P_DvCZ1zPNVLJUpgUElmqaCAjhVA9BbOdDnnVw2dAqr5K9FSi4rZodGQt2lUGxXLgu2Cy15gsMMkE8eJ1dx6pfwtFttjvMKv4jxT7/s1600/pause-icon.png);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
z-index: 4;
opacity: 0;
}

div.timer:hover span.pause,
span.pause.active,
div.timer:hover span.pause.active { opacity: 1; }

div.caption {
background: #000;
background: rgba(0,0,0,.6);
width: 100%;
z-index: 1000;
position: absolute;
bottom:-100px;
color: #fff;
padding: 8px 0;
text-align: center;
}

div.caption span {
padding: 0 10px;
font-size: 14px;
text-shadow: 0px 1px 0px rgba(0,0,0,.8);
margin: 0;
}
.orbit-caption { display: none; }

div.orbit:hover div.slider-nav { display: block; }
div.slider-nav { display: none; }
div.slider-nav span {
width: 33px;
height: 33px;
text-indent: -9999px;
position: absolute;
z-index: 1000;
top: 43%;
cursor: pointer;
}

div.slider-nav span.right {
background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTEUuItCCel1QzPAvqF4WD9XX8ByfHdxniUKZ7gB9D3O9MFQyVcsfMpdOx8ZKQEOA6oVMARcnipxQjqIuv_eDOhWB5iGy7QrLKyN90sj6EfSUyTvJ3_NgI97VeG6ThCS9SiMbVVHr6Um2Y/s1600/arrow-right.png);
right: 10px;
}
div.slider-nav span.left {
background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIjtVCZ1To6TfO8jRWoJ8pJ1slCZ2FVBmxe5MsJZmqZzi3fwpWDP0EgRNDA2A4MGbBnANV3oXp2yzG-2jXD89s3AwxlTr2nhnp7yLtais65USzGMEJMOn-vUryMv4gd-uS5pi0Ffrem3BZ/s1600/arrow-left.png);
left: 10px;
}

.orbit-bullets {
position: absolute;
z-index: 1000;
list-style: none;
top: 10px;
left: 7px;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
}

.orbit-bullets li {
float: left;
margin-left: 5px;
cursor: pointer;
color: #999;
text-indent: -9999px;
background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Wzta_lJYxIo7U3y_R6QbPWltKwYZGJaWKITeYwfEWEJCRyAaccuh6sBLVWh5ww5tca4R-26rBCWbToFRzzwlx8cuZ531GbdtQzFJkhs8e9DUKyW4l8pY4sjlV4LAj5ZoQ7-EyBenFyWA/s1600/bullets.png);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: 0 0;
width: 7px;
height: 7px;
overflow: hidden;
}
.orbit-bullets li.active { color: #222; background-position: -7px 0; }
Step 5. Click on the "Save template" button to save the changes.

Finally, we will use the HTML code that displays the images. We have the option to add the slider either inside one of our posts/pages, or display it as a gadget on the blog' sidebar or below the header.

If you choose to add it inside one of your posts, switch to the HTML tab and paste the code below inside HTML box of your post.

If you want to add it in the blog sidebar/below the header, go to "Layout", click on the "Add a gadget link" > choose "HTML/JavaScript" from the pop-up window and paste this html inside the box:
<div id='featured'>

<a href='Link URL'><img rel='photo1' src="image URL" style='height: 348px; width: 590px;'/></a>
<span class='orbit-caption' id='photo1'>Ut eleifend tortor aliquet, fringilla nunc non, consectetur magna.</span>

<a href="Link URL"><img rel='photo2' src="image URL" style='height: 348px; width: 590px;'/></a>
<span class='orbit-caption' id='photo2'>This is an example of description with links: <a href='Description Link URL' style='color: #09A7EA;'>Helplogger</a></span>

<a href="Link URL"><img rel='photo3' src="image URL" style='height: 348px; width: 590px;'/></a>
<span class='orbit-caption' id='photo3' style='text-align:center;'>Ut eleifend tortor aliquet, fringilla nunc non, consectetur magna.</span>

<a href='Link URL'><img rel='photo4' src="image URL" style='height: 348px; width: 590px;'/></a>
<span class='orbit-caption' id='photo4'>This is an example of description with links: <a href='Description Link URL' style='color: #09A7EA;'>Helplogger</a></span>

</div>
This code contains the images, links and descriptions for each image. In blue, are the URLs of the links and images that you need to replace with your own. Inside the HTML code of each image, you have the size of each picture that can be changed by modifying the width (590) and height (348) values. To add the description for your pictures, replace the text in red.

If you want to add more pictures, add this HTML before the </div> tag:
<a href='Link URL'><img rel='photo5' src="image URL" style='height: 348px; width: 590px;'/></a>
<span class='orbit-caption' id='photo5'>Ut eleifend tortor aliquet, fringilla nunc non, consectetur magna.</span>
Notice that each image and description has an unique identifier (id) and shouldn't be repeated. For instance, in the description text of the first image, we have the id="photo1" and within the image code is the "rel" attribute with the name of the id, that is rel="photo1".

After you added your images, click the "Save" or "Publish" button and that's it! Now you can enjoy this cool Orbit Image Slider for Blogger.

Saturday, 15 February 2014

jQuery Sliding Panel with Expanding/Collapsing Content for Blogger

Many times when we think about creating a blog, we tend to put many gadgets, although many are not necessary, or perhaps only a few of them. In order to add the gadgets that we want, we need to have enough space. A solution would be to use an expanding/collapsing menu that is hidden and expands when the user clicks on it.

Originally, this plugin called Sliding Login Panel was created so that users could register on the site, but as we know, in Blogger we don't have the option to add user registration, but that doesn't mean we can't take advantage of this plugin and use it to add other elements, such as a menu, search box, social icons, feed subscription etc.


You can find a demo of this panel in this blog - just click on the Open menu link on the top.

Adding the jQuery Expand/Collapse Slider Panel to Blogger

This sliding menu is made with jQuery, so the first thing is to add the script by pasting it just below the <head> tag:

Step 1. From your Blogger dashboard > go to "Template" > click on the "Edit HTML" button:

blogger template

Step 2. Click anywhere inside the code area and search by pressing the CTRL + F keys for the <head> tag

Step 3. Below the <head> tag, add this script:
<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.4.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
$(document).ready(function() {

$(&quot;#open&quot;).click(function(){
$(&quot;div#panel&quot;).slideDown(&quot;slow&quot;);
});

$(&quot;#close&quot;).click(function(){
$(&quot;div#panel&quot;).slideUp(&quot;slow&quot;);
});

$(&quot;#toggle a&quot;).click(function () {
$(&quot;#toggle a&quot;).toggle();
});

});</script>

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
<style>
body#layout #slide-top-panel {display:none !important;}
</style>
</b:if>

Step 4. Now search (CTRL + F) the </head> tag and add the CSS styles just above it:
<style>
.clearfix:after {content: ".";display: block;height: 0;clear: both;visibility: hidden;}
.clearfix {display: inline-block;}
* html .clearfix {height: 1%;}
.clearfix {display: block;}
.clearfix {height: 1%;}
.clearfix {display: block;}

.tab {
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ObQNfxgA6YYWxxnbFcZ3J20ePCrVQ9EXx1MEAapM9aHatsCIcpQrWYqPUZbsaBHBjoZqOW_PDTYyugswJgjnXY-M9DLwt2S_nb8wKBPZn_IU7-5XlvYp34GqnlSGAacAzxYO6LKEj7R2/s1600/sliding-panel-tab-0.png) repeat-x 0 0;
height: 42px;
position: relative;
top: 0;
z-index: 999;
}
.tab ul.login {
display: block;
position: relative;
float: right;
clear: right;
height: 42px;
width: auto;
font-weight: bold;
line-height: 42px;
margin: 0;
right: 150px;
color: white;
font-size: 80%;
text-align: center;
}
.tab ul.login li.left {
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbmEj5KZgHd-PTPufDP0lpUIZaDmo6PdPdxmE5-t-FYfoz4NMt_iCZeSYUQDGUWlsCy6UxXwKVdGm-f58xbtkRJK53ezxXYdkACg4QWMkMy6_p3u-366-_12Z3sVG0yoBkkfaj0CDd43H/s1600/sliding-panel-tab-left.png) no-repeat left 0;
height: 42px;
width: 30px;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
display: block;
float: left;
}
.tab ul.login li.right {
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsjE91fvjYv9VLCUwpThuPREMu0yaRbykh3LRg6-w0LnBAwvAKwXpCRatmW21y44G06ffXG5E5PU9GdDafs6jcFQV8REylj1UU5yo5A-Ez7zHdxhg-McNlOwhhERUoJhRRO3qp1GfqRshh/s1600/sliding-panel-tab-right.png) no-repeat left 0;
height: 42px;
width: 30px;
padding: 0;
margin: 0;
display: block;
float: left;
}
.tab ul.login li {
text-align: left;
padding: 0 6px;
display: block;
float: left;
height: 42px;
background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqzXn95vPjzS76TUKNRO_0CC8g5REPtRy3uZFODhY1pvjMLF9k0lwVWis_VZTWZ3ZUux4sIpd9VPZkKhpXLG55eKySWHiLIkXHlDKPdwEOj1NqELiU-WF6z7rM4zzNPeID8VFFBFVen1Ud/s1600/sliding-panel-tab.png) repeat-x 0 0;
}

.tab ul.login li a {color: #15ADFF;}
.tab ul.login li a:hover {color: #FFFFFF;}
.tab .sep {color:#414141}

.tab a.open, .tab a.close {
height: 20px;
line-height: 20px !important;
padding-left: 30px !important;
cursor: pointer;
display: block;
width: 100px;
position: relative;
top: 11px;
}

.tab a.open {background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhomwvZ8l37cVXQfvq6GQFnx5MkovWSggRQbB1_puFN0jrV1DWFqPK6lPs_4WXvW5WZLgstihf0dD0IKqw5_jpJhRzIm3DLCj6RuIoSoJPy35F0Gs43Vm4m0_e28pKjsEo1jTcUG4Eymk/s1600/button-open.png) no-repeat left 0;}
.tab a.close {background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKjgW82H4vH53_bKDjVyRP6m5JHbkmD1oCaEqbHhuuh-dKAKAkzEZygTN3kuUxNEH6lb35fyar-bGMMqeni_csLz_96t_fYtz7-wtCVYtZRNLqG2mNULV8pTjTNfMs4-F70LMrrBJsP0y/s1600/button-close.png) no-repeat left 0;}
.tab a:hover.open {background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhomwvZ8l37cVXQfvq6GQFnx5MkovWSggRQbB1_puFN0jrV1DWFqPK6lPs_4WXvW5WZLgstihf0dD0IKqw5_jpJhRzIm3DLCj6RuIoSoJPy35F0Gs43Vm4m0_e28pKjsEo1jTcUG4Eymk/s1600/button-open.png) no-repeat left -19px;}
.tab a:hover.close {background: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNKjgW82H4vH53_bKDjVyRP6m5JHbkmD1oCaEqbHhuuh-dKAKAkzEZygTN3kuUxNEH6lb35fyar-bGMMqeni_csLz_96t_fYtz7-wtCVYtZRNLqG2mNULV8pTjTNfMs4-F70LMrrBJsP0y/s1600/button-close.png) no-repeat left -19px;}

#slide-top-panel {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
width: 100%;
z-index: 999;
text-align: center;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}
#panel {
width: 100%;
height: 230px;
color: #999999;
background: #272727;
overflow: hidden;
position: relative;
z-index: 3;
display: none;
}
#panel h4 {
font-size: 18px;
color: #F2F2F2;
text-align: center;
padding: 5px 0 10px;
margin: 0;
}
#panel p {
margin: 5px 0;
padding: 0px;
}
#panel a {
text-decoration: none;
color: #15ADFF;
}
#panel a:hover {
color: white;
}
#panel .content {
width: 960px;
margin: 0 auto;
padding-top: 15px;
text-align: left;
font-size: 0.85em;
}
#panel .content .left {
width: 280px;
float: left;
padding: 0 15px;
border-left: 1px solid #333;
}
#panel .content .right {
border-right: 1px solid #333;
}
#panel .content form {
margin: 0 0 10px 0;
}
#panel .content label {
float: left;
padding-top: 8px;
clear: both;
width: 280px;
display: block;
}
#panel .content input.field {
border: 1px #1A1A1A solid;
background: #545454;
border-radius: 10px;
margin-right: 5px;
margin-top: 4px;
width: 200px;
color: white;
height: 18px;
}
#panel .content input:focus.field {
background: #7F7F7F;
}
#panel .content input.button-register {
display: block;
clear: both;
height: 24px;
width: 94px;
color: white;
background: transparent url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTgMLo-c_Ns5kU4zTEeFQVWZl5aHCvIgtV7MXYyUOJnpNtK8MTVc4jF_6Z7WoBdonhH9foWAIuPVH17Px8bLtxpZPgZLVlK_q29N50FA4MTh_VTftn7EyY2xq5xzL2sdFtUhgjkmvcAkN/s1600/button-register.png) no-repeat 0 0;
text-align: center;
cursor: pointer;
border: none;
font-weight: bold;
margin: 10px auto;
}
#sliding-panel {
width: 160px;
float: left;
}
#sliding-panel2 {
width: 160px;
float: right;
}
#sliding-panel ul, #sliding-panel2 ul{
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
list-style-type:none;
margin:0;
padding:0;
}
#sliding-panel ul li a, #sliding-panel2 ul li a {
background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoE3a7jUsDbybUveIIqS2HyU1VgDFwprn6MNZnWrGnh4hqnBRfqBKCRB95n6JF9fV3DcDIaQPitSNGBu_kYkXs7QTV9GFS6f_hkbOtEi-djU_O1Q9_ZO-P59KuRSf7UxFtR3loL3ifxOgP/s1600/star-bullet.png) center left no-repeat;
margin:0;
padding:3px 3px 3px 18px;
}
#sliding-panel li, #sliding-panel2 li {
display: inline;
}
#sliding-panel a, #sliding-panel2 a{
color: #999999;
text-decoration: none;
font-size: 11px;
display: block;
padding: 3px;
width: 160px;
}
#sliding-panel a:link, #sliding-panel a:visited, #sliding-panel2 a:link, #sliding-panel2 a:visited {
color: #999999;
text-decoration: none;
}
#sliding-panel a:hover, #sliding-panel2 a:hover {
color: #FFFFFF;
}

#search-box22{
margin-top: 20px;
}

#search-box22 input[type="text"] {
float: right;
background: 10px 6px #444;
border: 0 none;
font: bold 12px Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif;
color: #777;
width: 160px;
padding: 6px 15px 6px 35px;
-webkit-border-radius: 20px;
-moz-border-radius: 20px;
border-radius: 20px;
text-shadow: 0 2px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
-webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1), 0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) inset;
-moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1), 0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) inset;
box-shadow: 0 1px 0 rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1), 0 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) inset;
-webkit-transition: all 0.7s ease 0s;
-moz-transition: all 0.7s ease 0s;
-o-transition: all 0.7s ease 0s;
transition: all 0.7s ease 0s;
}

#search-box22 input[type="text"]:focus {
width: 190px;
}

.about-author {
width: 100%;
text-transform: none;
margin-top: 15px;
}
.authorbox {
overflow: hidden;
padding: 0;
width: 100%;
}
.authorbox .authorinfo {
}
.authorbox .authorinfo img {
float: left;
margin: 4px 10px 4px 5px;
border-radius: 100%;
width: 20%;
background: #222;
padding: 5px;
}
.authorbox .authorinfo p {
margin: 0;
padding: 0 5px;
text-align: left;
}
.authorinfo p a {
text-decoration:none;
}
.authorbox h3 {
margin: 0;
display: inline-block;
}
h3.boxtitle {
font-size: 14px;
}
</style>
Note:
  • in case you need more space for your widgets, the height of the entire container can be changed by modifying the 230px value from height: 230px;
  • To change the background color, change this color value: #272727
Step 5. And finally, we will place the HTML structure of it. Right after the <body> tag, add this code:
<!-- Start sliding panel -->
<div id='slide-top-panel'>
<div id='panel'>
<div class='content clearfix'>

<!-- first section -->
<div class='left' style='width:240px !important'>

<h4>Welcome to my blog!</h4>
<div class='about-author'>
<div class='authorbox'>
  <div class='authorinfo'>
<img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJE4PINo77YEceoLkwAf4Hzl3X5bF-_8zFsvAnaMBSJ090GTSkpPxdc-X3fe0i6crUKlPoBDUh5kbSVKazV8PmB6xT2amCG9LJUVSCyZdtawFErFJBNKHoNK6KIz-4Bn0gRX3X4sVqxAyi/s1600/profile-pic.png'/>
<h3 class='boxtitle'>Meet the Author</h3>
<p>Ut eleifend tortor aliquet, fringilla nunc non, consectetur magna. Suspendisse potenti.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<p align="right" style="margin-top: 10px;">Looking for something?</p>
<form method="get" action="/search" id="search-box22">
  <input name="q" type="text" size="40" placeholder="Search..." />
</form>

</div>

<!-- second section -->
<div class='left' style='width:320px !important'>
<h4>Categories</h4>

<div id='sliding-panel'>
<ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 3</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 4</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 5</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 6</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 7</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

<div id='sliding-panel2'>
<ul>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 1</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 2</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 3</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 4</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 5</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 6</a></li>
<li><a href='Link URL'>Category 7</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>

<!-- third section -->
<div class='left right' align="center">

<h4>Subscribe to this blog!</h4>
<p style="padding:0px 30px;">Receive the latest posts by email. Just enter your email below if you want to subscribe!</p>

<form action='http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=Feed-Name' method='post' target='_blank'>
<input class='field' name='email' type='text/' value=''/>
<input name='uri' type='hidden' value='Feed-Name'/>
<input name='lang' type='hidden' value='en_EN'/>
<input class='button-register' type='submit' value='Subscribe'/></form>

<div align='center' style="clear: both;">
<a href='http://www.facebook.com/username'><img title="Follow on Facebook" src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilQAgV0sNqrnqlp2Z80lkOq3lNdu-05_NfQ62_-0Y6kUE92Dkck0yJNGi7gE7p-GXtp-wDLencC6zMtJW-jrmKz-nUdyCXRTthkFsNvRKrvOMFjudA7iLqcck-kDC1rtmzQvwTNyGOHjYc/s1600/Facebook.png' style='padding:5px;' width='32'/></a>
<a href='http://blog-address.blogspot.com/atom.xml'><img title="RSS Feed" src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVGl7UkYCB694wLfLOst0W76ks6Xbe4Yc3pS03qyhbeqau124NFa3dCwQuo8lfF5zKDd1DLeKPmKSVs6wzsetYVozl_UHO4kwCK79HCdy8N3kxASf9PKdBrrBOMsnq_DSNIQ4P3fRKmyJc/s1600/RSS.png' style='padding:5px;' width='32'/></a>
<a href='https://plus.google.com/username'><img title="Follow on Google" src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmbezovyk0PLnDJDuAa2pV37cIBIl74qyCgcFiZRktAEruH_EINwg5ao9Hnk9kdtR3Gmq_5GSPk9HKz2vdAcxfp2uWZBmraHZ6BHf936Mc5CjeNENaLSJU71cleMD5WK0HMePCxMSbAQ93/s1600/Google-plus.png' style='padding:5px;' width='32'/></a>
<a href='http://twitter.com/username'><img title="Follow on Twitter" src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeVm03EaRz81VYlRT1wPQ9shQ6DoEArrJO5DIot-Mu7jvT-bdZmshrCeIytEsIHoku3TRD9oWs2HXUgjHNP5Mnk4W_DfXH6ZcqWAH5cy9yCltYdodGjfKruCFULPAfi5PVRhIMVcXMyeZR/s1600/Twitter.png' style='padding:5px;' width='32'/></a>
</div>

</div>
</div>
</div>

<div class='tab'>
<ul class='login'>
<li class='left'/>
<li>Hello guest!</li>
<li class='sep'>|</li>
<li id='toggle'>
<a class='open' href='#' id='open'>Open menu</a>
<a class='close' href='#' id='close' style='display: none;'>Close menu</a>
</li>
<li class='right'/>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Note: if you can't find the <body> tag, then try to find this one:
<body expr:class='&quot;loading&quot; + data:blog.mobileClass'>
Here we have added the content in the sliding panel which will be hidden and will show on mouse click. In green are the names of each section so it is easier to recognize them.

Note:
  • In the first section, you can change the welcome message, "Meet the author" title and add your description by replacing the text in bold. To add your own picture, replace this URL:
  • https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJE4PINo77YEceoLkwAf4Hzl3X5bF-_8zFsvAnaMBSJ090GTSkpPxdc-X3fe0i6crUKlPoBDUh5kbSVKazV8PmB6xT2amCG9LJUVSCyZdtawFErFJBNKHoNK6KIz-4Bn0gRX3X4sVqxAyi/s1600/profile-pic.png
  • In the second section you have the categories - there add the URLs of your links by replacing the addresses in blue and replace Category 1, 2, 3... with the titles that you want to appear for the links.
  • In the third section is the email subscription - just replace the text in blue with the name of your blog's feed. Please note that you must have this email subscription option enabled in your Feedburner account.
  • As for the social icons below, change the URLs in blue with your Facebook and Twitte and add the URL of your blog's RSS feed address.
Basically, these are the main sections that can be customized, but we can remove some of them and paste something else instead.

Step 6. Save the template and that's it! Note that this menu works with jQuery, so if you are already using Scriptaculous, Prototype or Mootools, then it will not work.

Hope you'll enjoy this elegant menu with sliding effect, which will look way better if we remove the Blogger navbar.