The Difference Between Pages and Posts

This article is about the difference between Posts and Pages in Blogger, and suggests an alternative way to back up your page contents that are not included in regular backups.

In Feb 2010, Blogger introduced the Pages feature: this gives you a way to make some of your "postings" special, and to have a link to them from either a menu bar in the header or a link-list in the sidebar (using a gadget that is provided for this, and integrated with the Pages editor).

Some people call them "Static Pages", because one use for them is to contain reference information that doesn't change often and which shouldn't ever be on the top of your blog  (unlike regular posts which are "dynamic" and regularly have now content added to them.).

Google's explanation of Pages is here.

What's special about pages:

Initially, I thought Pages were just special cases of Posts, without a publication date.  That's true, but they have some more features, some of which I didn't expect.   Here is everything I've noticed so far:

1 You edit them through a separate option on the Blogger dashboard

When you go into the Pages option, the list of Pages, isn't quite the same as the list of Posts.

Pages that are already published have a blue background, and a View link in the Edit Pages tab.
Pages that are draft have a grey background and the word "draft" underneath them, and no View link

You can have more than one Page with the same title (even though this looks silly on your blog).
 

2 Pages don't have a date associated with them.

• They aren't listed in your Archive gadget,
• They cannot be accessed using the New Post / Older Post links.
• They aren't included in any RSS feeds from your blog

This means that you need to use either the Blogger-supplied Pages gadget, or another gadget (HTML, link-list, etc) that you set up to include links to your pages.   If you don't, then there is no way that readers will be able to get to your Pages.

3 Only one Page is shown at a time

Because of this, the jump-break feature isn't implemented in the Pages editor, and any jump-break that you manually put into a Page (using the <!-- more --> HTML code) is ignored when the Page is displayed.

4 Pages don't have labels

So they won't be included if you use the Labels gadget

5 Pages aren't included when you export your blog

On the Settings tab, there is a tool for exporting and importing blog contents.   Pages are not included in the file created by the export option.

If you want to take a back-up copy of your pages, you need to move the code for each one individually.

(I think that this was probably an oversight or defect, it wouldn't surprise me if Google quietly fix it sometime soon.
UPDATE:  I've heard a rumour that this has been changed and that pages are now exported, but aren't automatically published when you import from that file.  still to confirm if it's true or not.)

6 Pages cannot be set as your home page

By default, your "home page" shows the Post with the latest Post-date.  There are various ways around this.  And now the best one (see the top of that article) lets you use a Page as your home-page.

7  Pages are not included in RSS feeds

So they are one way to sharing information that you want to stop notifications to your subscribers about.

8 The Amazon product-finder isn't shown on the page-editor.

This was one of my initial observations back in 2010 - since then, the end of Blogger / Amazon integration has removed the product editor from the post-editor totally.

9 The Pages editor is the "new editor" only: you do not have the option to use the old editor for them.

This was another observation back in 2010 - it's since become obsolete because the old editor isn't available any more in the "new" Blogger software (first piloted Sept 2011, became compulsory for all users in Sept 2012).

10   Other missing options.

You cannot set a perma-link, or enclose links in the title of Pages.

11    Pages don't even have to be "post-like"

Initially, "pages" had to be like mini-posts.   But now they can simply be a menu-bar entry link, pointing to some other web-address - and so this gives you access to a clever way of putting posts into pages.

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Related Articles:

Putting Posts into your Pages

The Pages gadget - a menu bar for your blog

Converting Posts into Pages

Displaying a gadget on static pages only

Finding the URLs for your Pages

Blogs, Blogger and bloggers, Posts, Pages and screens:  introducing Blogger

Finding the URL of a Page

You can easily find the URL of the Pages in your Blog, even if you haven't used the Pages gadget supplied by Blogger.

Navigating Pages in Blogger

Previously I've described the so-called "static" pages feature that Blogger introduced. This lets you create up to 10 stand-alone pages.

Blogger intended your visitors to access these pages using the Pages-gadget, which contains a link to the Pages you choose to show in it.

But many people would prefer to make their own navigation gadget / menu-bar, which has inks to a number of different pages, posts and labels in the one gadget.   And to do this, they need to find out the URL of each Page (etc) that they want to include.

Finding the URL of a Page

From the Blogger Dashboard, choose the Posting > Edit Pages tab.

For each Page that is listed, either:

• Right-click on the View button for the page, 
• Choose Copy-link-location (or similar the specific command - depends on your browser)

OR

• Click on the View button, to open the page:  
• Copy the URL from your browser's address bar.

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Related Articles: 



The Difference Between Pages and Posts

Static pages in Blogger

Blogger's static pages are more trouble than they're worth

Putting posts into your pages in Blogger

Finding the URL of a picture in Picasa-web-albums

Copying a post from one blog to another

Adding the Amazon Associates search tool switches on Blogger's new editor

This article explains the effects of using Blogger's Amazon Associates integration on your Blogger editor, and how this can be undone. 

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Sept 2011 Update:  

It now appears that the integration between Blogger and Amazon is history.  

I've left this article here to avoid broken links, but it's no longer relevant.  See building your own Amazon advertisements for update information about putting Amazon ads into your blog.

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What is the issue?

In Dec 2009, Blogger added an Amazon Associates option to the Monetize tab.  I've written about this previously in Amazon Integration is with Amazon.Com.


An issue for some Bloggers is that turning on Amazon Associates Product finder automatically switches them over to the updated editor.

 

New Blogger Editor (compose mode) with the Amazon Product Finder


Some people (like me!) don't have a problem with this and barely noticed the change.

But for people who were using the old editor, it may appear that the Amazon integration has changed or removed a number of functions, including the Post Preview option.   And because the editor-selection is for your Google account, not for individual blogs, the functions are removed from all your blogs, not just one.


What to do about it:

Firstly note that one of the effects of activiating the Amazon Product Finder is turning on the new editor for your entire Google account.

Even if you don't turn on the Amazon Product Finder, you can still use the Monetize / Amazon Associates function to link your blog with Amazon.     You will have to build your links manually (as explained in Changing the Look of Amazon advertisements) - and this may be a good idea anyway, as it gives you more control over how they look, and is essential if you're readers aren't mainly from countries serviced by Amazon.com.

Secondly, if you have already turned on the Amazon Product Finder and want to remove it all its side effects:

1. Under Monetize / Amazon Associates, remove the tick beside " Enable the Amazon Product Finder for the Blogger Editor "
2. Under Settings / Basic, choose the Old Editor
   
   
   
   Settings / Basic option for choosing which Blogger editor to use
   

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Related Articles:



Amazon Integration is with Amazon.Com

Changing the Look of Amazon advertisements

Integration between Blogger and Amazon is history

Setting up AdSense on your Blog

This article is about the issues involved with using AdSense ads on Blogger blogs.  It discusses some things you should do (using the AdSense application), even though Blogger doesn't currently enforce them.

Blogger have made it very easy for you to put AdSense ads onto your Blog: you simply go into the Earnings tab, and go through an apparently simple sign-up process.

But there are a few things that you should be aware of, and they're not all obvious from the information that you are given initially.

There's a two-step sign-up process - and if you are successful, there are things that you a really should to to protect yourself from people who might do things to damage your account.

Read on for more details.

Getting Started

Go into Blogger's Earning's tab, and say where you want the ads to appear

(Initially, just accept the recommended option:  you can choose the ad positions again later, and when you do, you will be able to customise various ad-features, eg colors, as well.)

Either choose an existing account, or apply for a new one by filling out the form they give you.

Each person is only allowed one AdSense account so you must  always use an existing account if you have one.

If you don't already have an AdSense account, think carefully about what Google account it should be associated with.   (I made a mistake initially, and almost set mine up on an account that I want to give away one day - luckily I got help from Google to sort it out, but it could have been a major mistake.

At the bottom of the form, you agree to some terms and conditions, including the AdSense program policies and a summarised list, which currently says that you

• won't click Google ads on your own pages.
• won't put ads on sites that have incentives to click on ads.
• won't put ads on sites involved in distribution of copyrighted materials.
• won't put ads on sites that include pornographic content.
• don't already have an approved AdSense account.

and

• have read the AdSense Program Policies.
• can get cheques made out to the name you've given.

From the Blogger side you may think that this is all that is needed.   But that's not quite true:  Bloggers who apply to AdSense needs to go through the same application and approval process as anyone else, they just have a simpler way than most of providing the necessary information to Google.   And completing that form is just the first step.

Approval Process

Update @ January 2013:

If your blog uses a .blogspot domain, there is now an updated one-step approval process for hosted-publishers.

But if you use a custom domain, the following information about the two-step process still applies.

And I suspect - but have not yet confirmed - that if you switch your blog from blogspot to a custom domain after you have signed up via the one-step process, then you will have to go through the two-step process on the new domain.


Original information:

Google do a two step process, beginning with preliminary checks on the site and the submitted details.   If the application passes through this first stage, Google

• Notify you by email, 
• Give you "account access", and 
• Give you some ad code to place on the submitted site. 

You must put the ad code on your site, as the review process can’t be completed until the ad code is implemented.

Real advertisements don't appear once the initial ad-code is put onto the site.   Instead, temporary "blank ads" are placed that blend in with the background.    And if you log in to your AdSense account at this stage, you'll see a note saying that you are still under review.

After you've placed the review code, Google look at your site again, and decide whether or not to accept you as a publisher.    Then they send you an email, telling you the decision.


Note:  that is what Google say for all AdSense signups (ref:   New Publisher Application Process).   It's possible that it is automated for prospective AdSense publishers who sign up via Blogger.   (And I cannot check it out myself, because I now have an account!)

All going well, your application will be approved and you get an email notifying you of your publisher ID,  and this ID is saved to your Blog as well.

However sometimes it's not quite so straightforward.   Advice from the AdSense help forums is that what is required to get approved varies between countries and even applications:  as time has gone on the requirements have become tougher, because so many people think they can get rich from Adsense by setting up a blog with a single post that they copied from somewhere.  It's always a good idea to have 10+ pages of original content on your blog before applying for an AdSense account - and be aware that for people from some countries, the blog needs to have been running for at least six months.

References:

[1]	Is my site eligible to participate in AdSense? - AdSense Help(Help Articles) www.google.com Query used: eligible

[2]	How can I help make sure my application will be approved ...(Help Articles) www.google.com Query used: make sure approved

You need to have a Privacy Policy

One of the Terms and Conditions that you agree to is that any site where you display AdSense Ads will have a privacy policy.

You didn't need this in place when I applied to AdSense, although I've heard of cases when prospective publishers were to do one before their account is approved.

But you do need to have it when you start having AdSense ads on your blog.

As an example, see the privacy policy for this site, which is found at the very bottom left corner of the page.   You might like to make your policy similar - but you must not just copy it:   you need to think about the privacy issues that apply to your site, and also about the laws that apply in your country (since you may be storing some off-line information too).

Customizing your Ads

Once your AdSense account is approved, you can change to the ad-position options using the Earnings tab.

OR

you can go to the Layout tab, and to add AdSense gadgets to the sidebar, header or footer (depending on what your template allows). 

Also, you control whether ads are shown between posts from the Layout > Blog Posts (edit) tab:  if you do this, you need to be aware of the limits on the number of ads per page.


OR you may want to put ads right into your blog posts, rather than having them on the sidebar etc where many readers will miss them.

All that said, my own preference is to get the ad-code from AdSense, and install it like I would install any other 3rd party HTML code:   this lets me access the latest ad-sizes and have better control over colour-schemes and showing image-only ads.

Next steps:

Blogger makes this whole process very easy, and you don't have to log in to the AdSense application at all. 

However there there are some reasons why Blogger users should get to know the AdSense application, and do some things in it.  These include:

• Securing your AdSense account against malicious use - very important if you have a successful blog
• Using the Ad Review Centre to filter the categories of ads that you show - or you could find that AdSense is causing you to break Blogger's rules about only showing adult content if it's flagged
• Showing image-only AdSense ads
• Setting up color palatte(s) that match or compliment your blog's colour scheme - or else you have very little control over the colours, or waste time choosing colours each time you set up an ad.  

Also, at the moment you need to use it to monitor your income because there are some problems with the data in the Monetize tab.

And once you have an AdSense account, you may like to consider setting up a custom-search-engine for your blog, instead of the standard search-widget, so that you can display your ads instead of Google's ads on the search-results page.

If you need to troubleshoot why your ads are not showing properly, use this Google-provided tool:   https://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1208336

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Related Articles:

Securing your AdSense account against malicious use

Fiiltering the categories of ads that you show

Showing image-only AdSense ads

Putt AdSense ads into your blog posts

How many AdSense ads to show on each screen.

Putting HTML from a 3rd party into your blog

Transferring a blog from one Google account to another

Giving your blog a search-widget

Setting up AdSense on your Blog

Showing image-only AdSense ads in your Blog

Putting Chitika ads onto your Blog

This article is about putting Chitika ads into your site.   It covers the features currently on Chitkia's AdSetup control panel, and how to take the code that is provided and put it into your own blog on blogspot.

Getting started

Before you do anything else, check that you've  considered the issues involved with advertising on your blog, and signed-up with Chitika.

Log on and choose setup:

To get the HTML/Javascript code for an ad-unit from Chitika, log on to the advertisers programme, and choose AdSetup / Chitika Premium from the tabs:

Unlike AdSense, Chitika does not currently store the ads you have generated before, so each time you want the ad-code you need to go through the steps and generate it.

You could just copy the ad-code that you used previously, however it may be best to get it from the official site each time:  if you just keep re-using old format code, you'll never get the advantage of any new features they introduce, and eventually your old code may become unsupported.


Start the generation process:


Press Get Code

Choose the size from the drop down box, and wait a moment for the system to show you a sample ad in that size.

To help you choose, there is also a link which opens a new window showing you the sizes.
Chitika has a very wide range of available sizes (although you may be asked to use a different size in the next step if you want to use the Backfill option - keep reading for more info on this.)

Do remember that your readers will have many different screen sizes and resolutions, and default font sizes:  don't assume that they will all see your blog the same way you do - ie, don't try to be too clever about choosing an ad-size that perfectly matches a block of text, because your readers won't necessarily see if that way.   I'm going to write a longer article about this one day.

Click Continue to Next Step

Choose a Fallback option:
This is what is shown to readers who don't get Chitika ads.

The Chitika screen suggests that it's possible to show AdSense ads as an alternative, by putting the HTML for the alternative into a text file.  I'm currently searching for a way to host text files that can hold the code for and AdSense ad that could be used in this way; so far, Google Docs and Scribd don't work for this purpose, because when the "text file" is opened it shows their pretty header first.   I'm also sceptical about whether the Javascript that's inside an AdSense ad unit counts as "plain HTML" which is what is supposed to be in the text file.   I will update this article if I find a way to make this work, as it could be a very nice feature to have.
Currently, I'm generally using "collapse" for the fallback option (ie users who don't see Chitika ads don't see anything, and no space is used), or occasionally Chitika Backfill (non-targetted ads) when I want readers to be aware of the ad.  (For example, underneath the article summary in my Chitika overview article.)
If you choose Fallback, you will get a warning screen, making extra sure that you understand the consequences - you need to tick the "I understand ..." box before you can continue from this.

Customise the colours and enter a channel:

This step is optional:  an example of the type of ad you get if you don't choose any colour values is shown to the right of this paragraph. I don't know if Chitika chooses colours based on your layout, or (more likely) if it just uses default colours. You can either enter the hex-code, or choose a shade from their colour picker.
If you want your ad colours to blend with your blog colors: Open a new window (or tab), Go to Blogger's Layouts / Fonts and colours tab. Choose the item that you want to match (on the left of the Blogger window), See (on the right of the Blogger window) what the hex code for that item is. Copy and paste the hex code from the Blogger window to the Chitika window

If you want to monitor your ads progress with a channel, you need to enter the channel name here:  the system doesn't show you a list of existing channel names, so you have to remember what values to use (or not use, if you want a separate channel for each ad).

Click Continue to Next.

Put the code into your blog, the same way you would add any other 3rd party code.

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Related Articles: 



Advertising on your Blog - things to consider

Putting HTML from other websites into your blog

Chitika Overview - background information about the Chitika advertising programme.

Extra customisation of Chitika ads

Extra customization of Chitika ads

This article looks at extra customisation you can do to  Chitika advertsements, including making changes to the title colour, border colour, and whether or not a new window opens when a reader clicks on a Chitika ad.

Chitika and ad-code

Previously I explained how to get Chitika ad code and how to put the code into your blog.

Chitika + AdSense: Ad Placement Guide is an e-book from Chitika about placing AdSense and Chitika ads in the same page in complementary ways.

It also has some tips about customisation - including some features that are not currently available from Chitika's control panel.   Although changing ad features is not allowed by Chitika's Terms and Conditions, I am assuming that since Chitika are promoting these features, they are happy that using them doesn't violate the T&Cs.  Therefore I'm explaining them in this article.

You need to consider this issue yourself, and only follow the advice here if you agree, or are willing to take any risks involved.   No liability is accepted etc ....

Changing the code

This is how Chitika ad-code looks (with some explanations in CAPITAL LETTERS, and line-breaks to make it easier to read:):

<!-- TEXT ABOUT HOW TO SEE EXAMPLE ADS -->
<script type="text/javascript"><!--

ch_client = "YOUR ID";

ch_type = "mpu";

ch_width = 550;
ch_height = 250;
ch_color_title = "800040";
ch_color_site_link = "215670";
ch_color_text = "000000";
ch_non_contextual = 4;
ch_vertical ="premium";
ch_font_title = "Verdana";
ch_backfill =1;ch_sid = "THE CHANNEL NAME YOU USED";

SOME MATHS STUFF FOR CALCULATING ....

}
//--></script>
<script  A SCRIPT NAME ...</script>

You can add some extra lines to this, to put a background colour behind your ad, or to put a border around it:

ch_color_bg = "HEX CODE FOR YOUR BACKGROUND COLOUR";

ch_color_border = "HEX CODE FOR YOUR BORDER";

Adding this line says that clicking the ad should open it in a new browser window or tab (depending on the reader's browser settings.

 ch_target = "new";

Any of these lines that you want to add can go in the same section with the "ch_" statements - the order doesn't matter.

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Related Articles:

Advertising on your Blog - things to consider

Chitika Overview - background information about the Chitika advertising programme.

Putting Chitika ads into your Blog

Putting 3rd party HTML into your blog

Setting up your custom domain

This article is about domain administration.  It's one of a series about steps you need to take after you've bought a custom domain from Google.

Bloggers and domain-administration:

Purchasing a custom domain from Blogger is pretty easy.

But doing so means that you need to take a little more responsibility for the way your blog relates to the rest of the internet - and this is especially important if you may want to use the URL for something other than your blog in the future.

This isn't hard, and there is lots of support available on the Blogger-Help-Forums if you get stuck - just remember to tell the helpers there what has happened, and the web-address of your blog and your custom-domain.

Your domain-administration invitation:

After you have purchased a custom domain (eg www.YOUR-DOMAIN-NAME.com) through Google (who use either the GoDaddy or eNom domain registrars), the Google account that did the purchase receives two emails.   One has an invoice, the other has some vital details, including:

• How to get in to the Domain Manager, and 
• How to get your you Google Apps domain.

Even if you feel nervous about managing our own domain, it is very important to set up at least one administrator account, and make sure that you will receive any emails that are sent to that account in future.


What's the minimum you need to do:

If you have purchased a custom domain for your blog through Blogger, you need to do three things:

1. Keep the email(s) telling you how to access the Domain Manager very carefully.  You may need this information in the future, if you change the way you want to use the domain, or for troubleshooting.
   
2. UPDATE AS AT JUNE 2013:   I've kept the text below, because it's likely that it will be correct again in future.   But for now the procedure listed in the rest of this bullet point doesn't work.   Instead, follow the routine listed here:   https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!searchin/apps/blogger/apps/msNceT1dEEQ/9j4Y_ZiLCFQJ
   Go into the Google Apps domain tool (the email in step 1 has a ink to use), and set up at least one account with administrator rights,  and make sure that you remember the password for it.   (This isn't an account that you'll be using very often).
3. Go to Domain Settings > General and specify a secondary email for the administrator account  (just in case you ever do forget the password)UPDATE:  now, you do this during the domain purchase, so it's not necessary here.
4. Unless you plan to use Google Apps email for the domain-administrator account often, then log in to Google-apps-mail for the admin account and set the forwarding address to an address that you do check regularly.   This is necessary because Google and the registrar (GoDaddy or eNom) may send important technical messages to the administrator account.
   
   Note:  Google Apps email looks a bit like Gmail, but it's not the same thing (today, anyway ;-)    You need to go to www.google.com/apps (for business), and then sign-in by entering your domain name (the one your purchased) and choosing "go to email".

During the domain set-up process, you may be asked if you want to activate in Google Sites.   Unless you want to manage the domain in Google Sites (unlikely, since you're reading this article about Blogger), the answer is NO.


What else can you do:

As well as the domain-management essentials, there are a number of optional features that you may want to use - either when you first set up your custom domain, or perhaps a lot later when you want to use it in a more sophisitcated way.   The following notes are a very general taste of what's available - see Google Apps itself for the full range of options.

User accounts and services:
If you have purchased a custom domain for your blog through Blogger, you can create up to 10 email addresses for free (more if you're using a paid version of Google Apps).

You can choose which other Google-apps services are available for these accounts (choose from Gmail, Google Calendar,  Docs, Sites, Talk - and many many others).  By default, these are all ON, but you may have reasons for wanting to disable them.

Groups
These are collections of  users, which you can set up here.  Each group has its own email address.

Auto-renewal
You are given the option to automatically renew your URL every year while you were creating the account:  if you've changed your main, you can change the option selected in the Domain Administration too.

Look and feel
Under Domain Settings > Appearance, you can set Google Apps to use your logo when your domain-users are accessing other services (Gmail, Calendar, Sites etc) on your domain.   I don't do this if a domain is just for my own use, but it can be helpful to remind people exactly which gmail (etc) they're using.

Security
Under Advanced tools > Authentication, you can require verification (via a code sent to the user's mobile phone) when someone logs in from a new or unrecognised computer.


... and many more:
There are an ever-growing list of options under the domain manager.   Some of them won't be relevant to people who are using a custom domain just for a one-person blog, but some of them could be handy.

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Related Articles: 

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Automatically renewing your Custom Domain

Linking Blogs and Websites.

Using a custom domain for something other than your blogger blog

Using a "foreign" custom domain for your blog