Blogger for Beginners - Free eBook Guide (PDF)

New to Blogger? Need to know the basics of Google's blogging platform to start your first blog?



Blogger for Beginners is a free guide for those new to the Blogger publishing platform. From creating your very first blog through to customising the appearance of your site and publishing feeds, this ebook covers all the basic knowledge you need with detailed instructions and full colour screenshots.



Download Blogger for Beginners (PDF)



Read more »

How to tell if a website is powered by Blogger

Since we can completely customize the appearance of our blogs and use custom domains, it is not always easy to tell if a website is powered by Blogger. Having looked at hundreds of websites while researching for the Blogspot Top 100 list, I've discovered a few methods to discover if a website is built on the Blogger platform.

For those who would like to know if their favourite blogs operate using Blogger, here are some tips to help you find out.

Read more »

Learn the Basics of Blogger and Get Certified - For Free!

If you are just starting out with Blogger, Alison offers a useful free e-course which you may find useful.



The Google Blogger course by Russell Stannard offers video training, an end-of-course assessment and Alison certification:

Upon completion of this course you will be able to create your own blog.
You will know how to add dates, pictures, links, video and embedded
video to your blog. You will understand how to preview and publish your
blog. You will gain a good knowledge of the settings that allow you to
edit your blog.

Once you've passed the module, you can choose to purchase a PDF or parchment certificate, share your achievement with a badge or simply provide a link to verify your certification.



Admittedly this is a basic course in using Blogger, though it would be very useful for those just starting out or as a refresher course for those who have not used Blogger in some time (the video tutorials provide insight into the new interface and template designer).



Be sure to check it out and let us know your opinions of this free course in the comments below.

How to create a contact form for Blogger using Kontactr

Contact forms enable visitors to our sites to send us emails without having to expose our email address to potential spammers.



I've been using Kontactr to embed a contact form in this site for years now, and still believe it is the most ideal solution for those using the Blogger platform. However, it seems my previous tutorial is now out of date!



Recently, Kontactr added CAPTCHA functionality to their forms which makes even more difficult for spammers to abuse the facility. We can also now customize the appearance of the form to match the design of our sites.



Here is a comprehensive tutorial to help Blogger users embed a functional, customizable contact form for their blog using Kontactr.

Read more »

How do I find a blog on Blogspot?

Many blogging services and social networks allow visitors to search for sites and users hosted on their service by keywords or tags.



For example, those visiting Tumblr can search for posts tagged "Blogspot", or visit Wordpress.com to search for posts tagged with Google.



Unfortunately, there is no built-in feature to find posts or blogs which are hosted on Blogger. So in this post I'll explain methods you can use to connect with like-minded people and find interesting blogs to read on Blogspot.





Read more »