Multi-style Labels

I have added Multi-style labels to side bar. My credit go to Ramani at Hackosphere. You will find a couple of neat and flawless hacks for Blogger beta there.
And another two good hacks I've implemented are Converting to 3-column template and adding del.icio.us icon to every post. Cool!

Blogger comment feed tips

New comment feed per post is good especially for the visitors come to the site, by subscribing it they are notified when someone reply to their comments. That's a big blow for the service like coComment! To subscribe, you've got to go individual post entry, at the end of the page you'll see the link as Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom).

But I'm expecting overall comment feed, like Haloscan do, so that I know instantly even comments are from old post from archive which are not so obvious to be noticed. Alternatively Blogger sent e-mail notification. But you have to enable it, to do this go to Dashboard >> Settings >> Comments, and scroll down the page till you see the Comment Notification Address box at the bottom, then type in your address and save the settings. You've done!

Tips [ update ] : Use Gmail with Gtalk or Gmail Notifier so that as soon as someone comment on your blog, you'll get noticed, even more faster.

Technorati Tags: blogger comment tips

Playing with a Blogger Template.

Well, I 've happened upon some good Blogger hacks to tweak your template a bit. Some of them might be old and well known for some of you, but they still are worth to repeat here. All the tricks I'll mention are already tested by myself and I found no problems using it. However, your browser must be Java Script enable to see them working. So if you've installed Firefox extension "NoScript", disable it first. Ok, here we go!

The first one called Peek-a-boo comments from Blogger Help are explained here. This hack is particularly suitable for those who earn just a few comments on their posts, say maximum 3, 4 hits on every 5 posts, like me! Because double clicking the comment link make them appear just below that post which is on main page, without having to go to the post page. So it's not a good idea to use this script for those probloggers who usually get around 25 comments on popular post!

Now you can edit your comments on Blogger's commenting system. Though it's not an official announcement from Blogger. Fast and easy way to do this is visiting to this page. It's copy and past only! Or else you can also add simple code to your template next to this <$BlogCommentDeleteIcon$> code by using A Consuming Experience's third method.



What we bloggers normally do when we are making a new post is to include links from old posts as many as possible, correct? But they should be related to each other, huh? Well you still can cleverly put a link from the previous post in the top of your blog. Check this hack at Blogger templates.

Related Posts:
Cool scripts,
Blogger Comment and TrackBack Trick

Don't let Firefox open PDF file

Opening PDF file can sometime make your browser crash. It is irritating you know, especially when you have been tabbed browsing in Firefox. That is a big file, so why not download it to temp folder and open it with external PDF Reader. And my opinion is PDF file are best viewed in PDF reader.

Instructions;

1. Go to the “Tools -> Options” menu
2. Select the “Downloads” tab
3. Open “View and Edit Actions…”
4. Enter “pdf” in the “Search” box
5. Select “Change Action…”
6. Change the selection from “Use this Plugin” to “Open them with the default application”, which should point to Adobe Acrobat Reader, or here is showing my favorite Foxit Reader
   

Disabling PDF Display in Firefox [XForms Everywhere via lifehacker]

Related post: Foxit Reader (alternative to Adobe Reader)
Technorati Tags: firefox tweak

Blogger Comment and TrackBack Trick

I have redesigned my blog again. I used to use templates from Gecko & Fly. They are free for individual use and I like their design. Because I know nothing about html coding and web design, and especially because I find it always boring to learn from reading books and online tutorials, I used their templates and learn from it at the same time. I've noticed the two web sites this and this also are providing good and free stuffs. Though this time I took the one from blogger itself and modified it a bit.



Another major change is that I switched back the comment box from Haloscan to Blogger. Although Haloscan is giving me a good service and I enjoy having an excellent time with her, I cannot completely run away from my old love. Some strong points about Blogger comment are that enabling Google back link so that I know who is linking my post, with Haloscan somehow I'm not seeing that back link in my post footer. And Blogger comment is compatible with coComment that make easy for my fellow bloggers to keep track of their comments on my posts*. Moreover most of the posts about how to hack and the tips and tricks of comment are based on blogger comment. And I want to try some.

But I've still liked to keep Haloscan's TrackBack system. So I googled to find how to do it and came up with one decent post explaining the process. In fact I just want to be confirmed whether it is possible to do so. Then I browse back to Haloscan auto-install for blogger page again and went through the steps untill I find their code for Blogger template, that is at step 4. Instead of procedding the following steps, I copied them to replace with Blogger comment code as mention in above article. After saving the template and republishing it, I checked the result. It works!

* update: I've jsut noticed Haloscan is also compatible with coComment. What the hell! Technology today is changing in minutes!

Technorati Tags: blogger template, blogger hack, haloscan trackback

Better Search in Firefox

Look my little blog is popping up on Google and del.icio.us. Click on them for the larger view.

When we type certain keywords in search engine like Google, we get thousands of links to look up. It's a pain following each link and click a go back button again and again to take a new search because you are not satisfied with that page. Why not search them on that very page, on Google, like most feed readers do, instead of opening links in a new window or tab. If your are using a Firefox browser, half of your problem is solved already. For the another half go and get an extension called BetterSearch. After installing it and restarting your browser, just click the quick preview icon next to the search result. Now your are able to see the desired site, in the same page you are searching. Don't forget that this icon and it's use are only for the search engine. It works on most of the popular search sites. You will find the list in the extension options under Tools menu.

There are some cool features as well, for example, the screenshot (thumbnails) of the link you're likely to see, site info and archive link. And they are flexible enough that you always have an option to enable and disable them at whatever time you feel like.

Cool scripts

Here I'd like to share some more cool scripts resided in my blogger template. Trust me they rock!

Adding Del.icio.us icon for all posts

Just to appear this icon inside my all posts, I had spent days before I found the right way! Put that code into your template, next to the comments and permalink, also know as link to this post, your code must be between <Blogger> and </Blogger> section.

<a href="http://del.icio.us/post?url=<$BlogItemPermalinkURL$>&title=<$BlogItemTitle$>" target="blank" title="Post to del.icio.us"><img src="http://del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif"</a>

It make your readers life more easy to bookmark on delicious.com by clicking on any of your posts they are interested.

Browsing by topics or categories



This is the latest script i put to my template. I've been imaging to display delicious tagrolls to my blog ever since I've noticed that feature. But I found it's one and only draw back that it take too much space to put all the tags I have. I don't like that style so I drop it! Worth waiting though I came across this excellent site which allow me to choose various type of tag display. Here I selected a drop down menu bar for Zero Topic.

Update : It's not working when I test after posting this! Yet I'm not removing it right away, hoping they might fix it soon!
Now settled, no problem using it at all. Posts will be found just below the drop down menu bar after selecting from the list. Check the follow up answer in comment. Thanks Greg.

Adding Pandora to your blog sidebar



I've put this for fun! I like Pandora and it's fabulous songs. I came to know a good deal of fantastic new songs on Pandora. So I thought that it would not be a bad idea letting them in my blog. Some of you guys likely to find them useful. To add them, you have to register yourself here first, then create stations based on artist or song. You need to listen of course to acquire songs. After that bookmark them and generate html code to copy and past to template so that your songs will bee seen on your blog.

Bypassing Compulsory Registration

Are you tired of creating an account every time you visit to free e-books sites or music forums just to download the stuffs you want? That painful registration process can be bypassed easily. Just type the URL of websites that force you to register into bugmenot's get logins box. Then copy and paste one of the usernames and passwords you've been given to that particular site you're browsing.

Technorati Tags: Bugmenot

Share your favourite posts with Google Reader

Since then I've noticed a new feature of Google Reader which allow users to share starred items and labels, I've been thinking of how to make a meal of it for the benefit of Zero Topic. I've been finding ways to put links roll to my blog, some are related to me and some from myself. Now easy, sign in to Google Reader, subscribe to feeds, from which find whatever posts to be included, then label or star them and rearrange them in a certain order after that get a code, copy and paste it to template. Done! Now you can add your reading lists or whatever lists to your blog!

Technorati Tags: Google Reader, links roll

MyBlogLog

Site Meter or Stat Counter whatever you may have, they are fantastic at keeping track of visitors, but one function they don't offer you presently which MyBlogLog.com do is, tracking how many clicks your visitors hit the links you've provided on your blog. I've just finished copying and pasting their code to template and seeing result now. It works well so far, exactly doing it's job just I expected. The are offering 3-day compulsory free trial pro to feel it's full advantage. They said you will be switched to free version after three days. So I have no comment on how cool their free version is for the moment. But it's a worthwhile code to have a go.

Technorati Tags: blogging tools

sharing songs on delicious

When we talk about del.icio.us, we are talking about it is a useful social networking site on which we can post and keep our bookmarks on line and access them from anywhere. In deed, it's not just that, there are several other uses that you may not notice, for example just click on it, you will find various downloadable mp3 and wav songs posted by other users. Or you may want to listen to podcast, then click here.

How to Access Blocked Websites

I've found out an article about how to access blocked websites at labnol.blogspot.com, hope you will find it useful. Below is some extract from it.

What if an innocent website is accidentally blocked by your ISP or your government. There are always legitimate reasons to visit these blocked websites. We have listed a few methods to help you access blocked websites in school, college, office or at home.