It's time to post another WFMW tip.One of my readers requested that I post instructions on how to create categories within Blogger, as my Works-for-Me Wednesday tip, so here it goes.
1. Visit the script generator here.
2. Enter your blog URL in the first textbox. Leave out the "http://", and very importantly, leave out the "www." as well (this is because www.yourblog.blogspot.com is actually an alias to the actual yourblog.blogspot.com)
3. Next, enter your first category in the next textbox.
4. To add one more category, click on the link "click this to add one more category" and enter it in the textbox that appears. Repeat this step, if necessary, to add more categories.
5. Go to your blog Template and look for the section called sidebar. Then paste the copied code at the place where you want the categories to appear. In my blog, I have a Sidebar title called “Categories.”
6. Save your template and republish your blog.
7. Note that this technique (or hack) actually makes use of Blogger Search to categorize your posts. Thus it is important that you name the categories appropriately so that the search results return the correct posts. The category name should contain keywords that appear in your post. One extremely effective way is to either (1) prefix every post's title with its category name, for example, "Blogging: categories categories...", or (2) ensure that your post contains the category name somewhere. You can also manually add a line at the bottom of your post that says, Tags: and lists your relevant category words for that post.
8. (You may need to republish your entire blog sometimes, to let Blogger index your pages.) If you find that Blogger Search is not searching your blog, check that you have activated the "Site Feed" and "Notify Weblogs.com" features for your blog (under Settings), and that your template does not contain a meta tag to stop the search bots from indexing your blog.
This works for me. Maybe it'll work for you too! If you have any questions, just let me know and I'll try to help! And if you want to see screen prints of each of these instruction steps, visit this website
If you'd like to share something that works for you, please leave me a comment. And be sure to link yourself over at Shannon's, the host of Works-For-Me Wednesday.
My past WFMW entries:alternate use for pot rack
cake decorating tips
unique way to stay connected
cake baking tip
comforts of home while traveling
quenching the thirst of your little one
pie crust made in bulk
hot chocolate kicked up a notch
Labels: Works-For-Me Wednesday
42 Comments:
What a great tip! Thanks for sharing it!
I was just asking my husband how I do this.....I will need to have him read it and help me. Thanks!
I have been wondering how this could be done. My blog is getting rather large.
Now I just need to make time to try it. :)
Thanks!
Wonderful tip, thanks for sharing! Ours is up and also the Carnival of the Vanities which we are hosting today ;).
Thanks so much! I'm a beginner with Blogger, I thought I knew a ton about HTML, I was a whiz on other sites..and boy was I wrong!
Thanks for this!
This is wonderful. Thanks so much!
I've been wanting to add categories but didn't know how. Thanks for getting me started.
Oh, how I admire people who sort their posts! Mine are going to stay in a state of wild disarray, though, unless my husband sorts them for me. Because I am lazy. Great tip, though! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's lovely organized blogs.
Thank you thank you I am printing this out!!
I've tried this before, it does work pretty good. Though I've just switched to the Beta Blogger which allows categorizing, will see how this goes :)
I like the category idea, but I feel like I'm so far into it now that it'd take forever to go back and categorize everything!
Oh man, I wish WFMW would have been Monday. LOL! I just switched to Beta Blogger (and lost my old template) because they support categories. Of course I made the switch and still haven't set them up yet, but I'm anxious to do that! Thanks for the great tip, I'm actually filing it away in case I need it later!
I have a WFMW up with an idea on how to preserve your child's school and/or art work.
YAY! I am going to work on this tonight.
Thank you so much!!!! I heart you! I have wanted catagories all along but I didn't know how. I just did it and it worked great. One thing I learned: It's hard to chose the right keyword for your catagory. I had to change "books" to "book" in order to find all the posts about books, for example. So it might take some more work to get it right. My other problem is I can't figure out how to keep the same font for all the headings in my sidebar. The ones I have tweaked are different from the template default. I try not to let that bother me, but it does.
Thanks, I copied and pasted so I can do this when I get a Chance
I wondered how this was done. Thanks for making it so clear!
I too have been wondering how to do something like this separating of categories. You are so stinkin' smart! Thanks for passing the tips along!
This is all still above my head but I will remember it when I am ready to advance a little further!
I'm so new to the blogging world--I still have to learn how to put in links and upload my pictures. I just bought a book to help me! Thanks for stopping by my blog!
Well the first thing I'm doing is printing this out. I've always wondered how everyone does this. Thank you for saving me endless hours figuring it out by myself.
I've been wondering how to do this - thanks for passing on the info!
Thank you so much for this! I've been wishing I could add categories to my blog, but I didn't know how -- I can't wait to try this out later! :)
This is an excellent tip. I wish I'd known it a few months ago! I think I'm leaving Blogger now for Wordpress.
Thanks for commenting on my WFMW - how to get your kids to buy into 30 Days of Nothing.
Home of Pass the Torch Tuesday
Many kudos in your general direction. I have been wanting to know how to do that (apparently so have lots of others). Thanks for sharing!
How cool! I just sent this page to myself so I can keep and study your instruction. I'm sure it was easy for you, but it'll take me awhile to get it all straight.
Thanks!
I love all your beautiful photos at left.
Although I do not use blogger I think it is awesome that you shared this with your readers!!!
You're the winner today! I've also been wanting to learn how to do this. I can't wait until I have time to play with it.
Me again! I followed your oh-so-easy instructions and now voila! I have categories. Thank you thank you.
Oh my How many times have I wondered how to do this. Youre a life saver or should I say a blog saver! LOL
wow........ I have seriously WONDERED how people do that.. I am going to try it!!!
have a GREAT weekend!
Thanks for this wonderful tip- it would save me a lot of time!!
thanks for the great tip!
You will be so proud! I actually did your suggestion and put the list of categories on my blog. I even put the names of the categories on each of my posts. My daughter was amazed so thought I would share the joy!
Thanks for stopping by the family blog. Don't be a stranger. I'm trying to get back into adoption blogging. I'm in a weird place.
Thanks. I love to get more info on blogging.
As a new Blogger, the more information I can get the better.
Now I just need to find the time to try it. Wish me luck.
Thanks for the tips.
Next I'll figure out how to play with my template (I hope).
Sorry, me again.
I sort of got it working. It didn't seem to like some of my words, so I took them out. It kept telling me nothing could be found, but I know the exact words appear in a few entries more than once. Oh well, it will come.
Thanks again.
thanks OW...Im always excited to learn how to do more things to my template!
very cool - I did it, and it was so seamless, I couldn't even find it in my own sidebar (didn't stick out like a sore thumb)
now off to add those "tags" to my 130 posts.
Wow! Popular WFMW [WINK] I haven't tried adding a tag to the end, but I typed in my category in the text and it didn't come up in the search.
I'll have to go back through these instructions and figure out if I did it right.
I'm nearing 300 posts. If I can get this working, it will be a whole lot easier than going back and adding each post to a category link.
I'm going to try this, thanks!!!
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