Comments Wall Gadget for Sidebar.

Comments in Blogger are made under and on posts. The Main Page has a Comments link under each post for the viewer to click and post his/her comments. There is no facility to put in a general comment on anything under the sun!


The Friend Connect Gadget provided a Comment Wall which you could put in the sidebar for inviting general comments. The Followers gadget is being upgraded to the Friend Connect gadget and hence it is now not possible to add the latter gadget in the usual manner. If you have Custom Domains then only you can add the Friend Connect gadget in the usual manner.


Here is a workaround to add the Comments Wall in the sidebar to a blogspot.com blog......................

1. Install Followers Gadget

If you do not have a Followers gadget in the blog the first step is to install it in the usual manner for adding gadgets to the blog. Login at Blogger.com and click Layout lik for your blog on Dashboard. On Page Elements subtab click Add Gadget link and in popup window click on Followers gadget. New blogs have this gadget by default.

2. Get Site Number for Blog.

The next step is to get the site number for your blog. To get it Login at Blogger.com and click on View Blog link on Dashboard for blog. Blog will open in browser. Go to View---->Page Source from browser menu. In Page Source do a Ctrl+F (Edit--->Find) for 'site' in the Followers gadget. It will appear like this :

......
......
google.friendconnect.container.renderMembersGadget(
{ id: "div-1238464215135",
site: "BIG_NUMBER" },
skin);
</script>

Copy down the 'BIG_NUMBER' in the page source.

COMMENTS WALL CODE

In this step copy the code for the comment wall gadget given below :

<!-- Include the Google Friend Connect javascript library. -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/script/friendconnect.js"></script>
<!-- Define the div tag where the gadget will be inserted. -->
<div id="div-comment-wall" style="width:210px;border:1px solid #cccccc;"></div>
<!-- Render the gadget into a div. -->
<script type="text/javascript">
var skin = {};
skin['BORDER_COLOR'] = '#cccccc';
skin['ENDCAP_BG_COLOR'] = '#e0ecff';
skin['ENDCAP_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['ENDCAP_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
skin['ALTERNATE_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
skin['CONTENT_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
skin['CONTENT_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
skin['CONTENT_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_LINK_COLOR'] = '#7777cc';
skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#666666';
skin['CONTENT_HEADLINE_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['DEFAULT_COMMENT_TEXT'] = '- add your comment here -';
skin['HEADER_TEXT'] = 'Comments';
skin['POSTS_PER_PAGE'] = '5';
google.friendconnect.container.setParentUrl('/' /* location of rpc_relay.html and canvas.html */);
google.friendconnect.container.renderWallGadget(
 { id: 'div-comment-wall',
   site: 'BIG_NUMBER',
   'view-params':{"disableMinMax":"true","scope":"SITE","allowAnonymousPost":"true","features":"video,comment","startMaximized":"true"}
 },
  skin);
</script>

Put the site number from step 2 instead of 'BIG_NUMBER' in the code above. To customize it further change :

div id="div-comment-wall" style="width:210px;border:1px solid #cccccc;"></div>

width(210) in above code and border size(1px) and border color(cccccc). Change the colors by changing the hex numbers at the end of these lines :

skin['BORDER_COLOR'] = '#cccccc';
skin['ENDCAP_BG_COLOR'] = '#e0ecff';
skin['ENDCAP_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['ENDCAP_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
skin['ALTERNATE_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
skin['CONTENT_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
skin['CONTENT_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
skin['CONTENT_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_LINK_COLOR'] = '#7777cc';
skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#666666';
skin['CONTENT_HEADLINE_COLOR'] = '#333333';

You can get hex color numbers here.

To change number of comments shown change '5' (any number from 1 to 15) in this line :

skin['POSTS_PER_PAGE'] = '5';

To prevent spam delete :

"allowAnonymousPost":"true",

Paste Code in HTML Gadget

Lastly copy the modified code and paste in a HTML gadget in sidebar. Login at Blogger.com and click Layout lik for your blog on Dashboard. On Page Elements subtab click Add Gadget link and in popup window click on HTML/Javascript gadget. In contents window paste the modified code and save. Here is what it looks like :

Join The Blog Doctor at Google Friend Connect.

Google Friend Connect the new social network from Google is out. To join The Blog Doctor Community via Friend Connect, please click the Join This Site button in the Members gadget in the middle column at the top :



The advantages of Google Friend Connect are.........

Advantages of Google Friend Connect

1. Increase Blog Traffic.

2. Interact with others who are interested in the same subject.

3. Make Posts on the Wall.

4. Make more friends.

5. Invite friends from other networks like Orkut.

6. No need to create new account. Use your Google, Yahoo!, AOL, or other OpenID account.

7. Each site you have will have it's own separate community.

8. Add social gadgets to your site to enable more interaction between members.

9. Add the Wall gadget to allow visitors to post comments on your site.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN COMMUNITY

1. Go to Google Friend Connect.

2. Login with your Google account.

3. Click the "Setup a New Site Button".

4. Under Overview tab click Continue.

5. Type in Site Name and Site Address and click Continue again.

6. If your site is not hosted by Blogger add the two files to it as shown.

7. If your site is on Blogspot.com then click Continue.

8. Click "Test to Finalize Setup".

9. Add a Members Gadget once your site is confirmed. Click the link to Add a Members Gadget.

10. Click Generate Code in Step 3 after customizing gadget.

11. Copy the code and paste in a Html gadget in your blog.

12. Once the new site is setup click on Social Gadgets link under your site name on the Friend Connect site. Click on Wall Gadget. Then customize it and click Geerate Code button. Copy and paste code in a Html gadget. Now members can make posts or comments within the gadget. See picture below :



You can moderate posts before they appear so as to prevent spam.

Enjoy!

Add Your Blog To Facebook.

Facebook is a social networking website. Previously it was used by students of Universities to network. The name of the site derives from paper facebooks showing members of the campus community that US colleges and preparatory schools give to incoming students, faculty, and staff.


This year they launched the Facebook platform allowing developers to create little applications which you can add to your profile. Since it has now become one of the top most visited sites adding your blog to your profile will give it more exposure.


There are several ways you can add your blog to your Facebook profile...........


Firstly you will have to create an account if you do not have one. Anyone can join Facebook. After registering with a valid email address you can join the networks you are interested in to connect with people of similar interests. You can customize your profile to show only what you want and keep the rest private.

PUT BLOG IN PROFILE

Flog your blog on Facebook. To do this go here. Add your blog Feed URLs and set how much of your blog posts you want to display. Save the settings and now your blog posts will be seen by everyone looking at your profile on Facebook.

PUT BLOG LINK IN PROFILE

New applications are being developed everyday. To promote your blog and search for new applications type in the word 'blog' in the search box above the 'Applications' link in the sidebar. Click on the application you want and then click 'Add Application' to set the settings and add it to your profile. There are applications to add a screenshot of your blog as well.

PROMOTE YOUR PROFILE

Put a Facebook badge on your blog to promote your profile. Visitors to your blog can click on it to visit your profile and check out your networks and interests. To do this click on the 'Create a Profile badge' link in the bottom frame of your Facebook profile. You can design your own badge or use any of the templates to show off your photos or your contact information. After customizing your badge copy the code given and paste it in a Html page element in the sidebar.

MAKE YOUR OWN FACEBOOK APPLICATION

Facebook also allows you to create your own applications and distribute them. The startup costs for developers are extremely low, and the potential is high.


To start add the developer application to your Facebook account. Then download the client library of your choice, open your favorite development environment, and you're ready to go.


After you've added the Developer Application and downloaded a client library, use these resources to learn more about building a Facebook application.

• Platform Documentation
• Anatomy of a Facebook App
• Code Samples
• Step-by-step Guide to Creating an Application