Using Blogger as a G+ Collections substitute Before I became aware of Google+ Collections, I started [...
Using Blogger as a G+ Collections substitute Before I became aware of Google+ Collections, I started [ http://bit.ly/EarlJArnoldAdvertisingCardCollections ] There, I scanned pages from my great-grandmothers scrapbook posting in reverse order from the last page so that when they appeared in chronological order by date of creation, they would be in the correct page number order.
I then created an index, which is updated frequently. After the pages and their index were complete, I proclaimed I had made a "book" in blog format.
This was a labor-intensive approach to making a Collection on Blogger. I share it here as an example of a technique that you can improve on, if you haven't already. For instance, I've never heard from anyone who went post by post or page by page in order through my Blogger "book." (Poor soul would probably get sidetracked somewhere in there and lose their way.)
When I discovered G+ Collections, I thought it had advantages over Blogger in the mobile format, though I didn't post in as much detail on G+ Collections as I did on Blogger. Mirroring my Blogger experience, I experimented with an index to one of my Collections [ http://bit.ly/NYOWIndex ] and would have expanded on this idea if G+ had continued.
How are you using Blogger as a host for your Collections?
Do you have any pointers for those who are considering moving their G+ Collections to Blogger? Please share your URLs as examples.
I am especially interested in hearing from those who started out with a particular goal for their Collection. How well did Blogger serve your purpose and how do you compare your Blogger experience with your experience on G+ Collections?
P.S. Another question for people who have both G+ Collections and similar Blogger or WordPress blogs: How does participation/engagement compare?
#Blogger
#G+Collections
#Collections
http://bit.ly/EarlJArnoldAdvertisingCardCollections
I then created an index, which is updated frequently. After the pages and their index were complete, I proclaimed I had made a "book" in blog format.
This was a labor-intensive approach to making a Collection on Blogger. I share it here as an example of a technique that you can improve on, if you haven't already. For instance, I've never heard from anyone who went post by post or page by page in order through my Blogger "book." (Poor soul would probably get sidetracked somewhere in there and lose their way.)
When I discovered G+ Collections, I thought it had advantages over Blogger in the mobile format, though I didn't post in as much detail on G+ Collections as I did on Blogger. Mirroring my Blogger experience, I experimented with an index to one of my Collections [ http://bit.ly/NYOWIndex ] and would have expanded on this idea if G+ had continued.
How are you using Blogger as a host for your Collections?
Do you have any pointers for those who are considering moving their G+ Collections to Blogger? Please share your URLs as examples.
I am especially interested in hearing from those who started out with a particular goal for their Collection. How well did Blogger serve your purpose and how do you compare your Blogger experience with your experience on G+ Collections?
P.S. Another question for people who have both G+ Collections and similar Blogger or WordPress blogs: How does participation/engagement compare?
#Blogger
#G+Collections
#Collections
http://bit.ly/EarlJArnoldAdvertisingCardCollections
My main concern is that Blogger, too, is a Google product. Who knows if they're going to pull the plug on it next?
ReplyDeleteSince Blogger is also used as a base for commercial sites, I presume it might continue in tandem with G Suite.
ReplyDeleteI used my G+ Collection for my blog posts which are linked by labels. Label first, Collection second. (Blog URL has meaning IrMbl not so much!)
eefalsebay.blogspot.com - Garden Year
https://plus.google.com/u/1/collection/IrMbI
Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteWhile I've used Blogger on occasion, I've not yet used it to house a collection so I'll be checking out your site. Thanks for this.
Andrew Hatchett I think Diana Studer's two links above are an excellent demonstration of the possibilities. The artistic polish of her Blogger site is outstanding. She has made good use of some of the Blogger options that make for a very professional presentation. I get the same sense of "wanting to see what's around the corner" on her blog that I do in every well-landscaped garden.
ReplyDeleteFamiliar Purrson Purrfection is hard to find! I share your misgivings, but I think Blogger might have more "staying power." Its principal competition is Wordpress, which has been showing quite the commercial tendency lately, with paid services, heavy promotional advertising of the platform on cable, etc. Sometimes Google does things better than its competition. All we have to do is to convince Google to keep on doing it!
ReplyDeleteDiana Studer
ReplyDeleteLovely pics! Great way to handle a collection.
Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteJust finished checking Diana Studer's as well.
My 'problem' is my collections have very few images and is more about links to articles and videos on certain subjects by my community members.
Jeff Diver Thank you for your kind words!
ReplyDeleteFamiliar Purrson
ReplyDeleteEven if they do - it is relatively easy to backup Blogger and get a usable file to use elsewhere, something that can't be done with G+.
Andrew Hatchett my blog Page is a list of links to the posts. With one or two photos. Perhaps you can set up a video as an active link instead of an URL - for the Must Have Visuals - tick. Your readers will begin with your current community members - so the links are what they want and expect to find.
ReplyDeleteJeff Diver
ReplyDeleteAs one who absolutely loaths sites (other than YouTube) that automatically play audio I'm not likely to inflict that on others. :)
No real battle with Ask to Join except I don't think it goes far enough - thus the application. Those who just click the ATJ button are ignored completely. If a person can't read and follow directions then I don't want them in my community anyway. :)
Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link- I'll pass it on to my members.
Wow, Jeff, that is impressive! Especially your index post.
ReplyDeleteI think that something that big actually does better on Blogger (or similar platform) than Google+. I'd consider adding tabbed navigation at the top and making one of the tabs be the index, then maybe an about page etc.
Also, can you use labels to reenforce the structure of your content? For instance, it looks like each of your posts corresponds to a single page in one of many catalogs.
You could use labels to group pages by catalog, by publisher, and/or by topic (not clear if all of those are relevant).
Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteUnable to understand what you sought - organising blogger Lebels ?
It will be easy after Google+ takeout and Blogger import (when/better G+stream/collections sit at Blogger Draft/Posts)
Please NO background noise. I have my speakers off in self defence.
ReplyDeleteWon't it also make the site that crucial bit slower to load?
Similar to sites that make you wait for their Bling it On wallpaper or whatever ... waiting ... for it to load.
And you have lost your reader to the next and FASTer site.
Adam Auster Thanks for your encouragement and suggestions!
ReplyDeleteExcellent suggestion regarding tabs. I followed the directions on [ smallbusiness.chron.com - How to Add a Horizontal Navigation Bar to Blogger | Chron.com ] and had some success.
The result appeared in a purple horizontal bar across the top of the index. It was effective, but not pretty and has been removed pending further experimentation.
This technique depends on labels assigned to pages. I have been labeling pages willy-nilly without any thought to a consolidated result. I'm going to rethink my labels. Though they are not even present on each of my 200+ pages, they already are quite the jungle! (Visible on my sidebar if you are patient enough to scroll to it.)
Diana Studer I notice your site [ https://eefalsebay.blogspot.com/ ] has a navigation bar. Once again, it is well integrated with the rest of your site. Did you follow the same basic technique?
Diana Studer I understand why you surf with speakers off. The visual nature of the internet is well-developed. The audio, however, is primitive and, from my observations, carelessly applied.
ReplyDeleteIfinder Ifindi After 70+ years making the attempt, I must say understanding me is a challenge, yet to be overcome! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reassurance that easier migration tools are on the way.
Jeff Diver the navigation bar is part of my template (the tabs go to Pages). I have made minimal changes to what is offered. Thanks to Peggy K for video tutorials and screenshots when the templates were released.
ReplyDeleteI like to use labels as a 'basket to gather similar posts together'. (For example if you search for bulbs, but write posts about daffodils and freesias, a search for Bulbs will find nothing) And to keep my list of labels as short as possible (sixteen). We can always use the search box to find that one post about XYZ.
Jeff Diver you can add and remove labels from Blogger posts on your blog's Posts page, so at least you don't have to change them one by one.
ReplyDeleteAnd you can style the Pages gadget in your Layout with custom CSS if you want to change the look.
Adam Auster Thanks for your example! I think I'm getting a handle on the situation.
ReplyDeleteJeff Diver Check out this Blogger theme. Like a collection, don't you think?
ReplyDeletetastytreats-blog.blogspot.com - Tasty Treats
(Note: That's a whole blog, but you could do the same thing with label pages.)
Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteI honestly believe that Peggy K has found a way to clone herself. That is the only thing that can explain how she does what she does! ;)
Adam Auster Did you know we hadn't had dinner yet?! Many thanks for yet another good idea!
ReplyDeleteAndrew Hatchett Must be!
ReplyDeleteJeff Diver I actually am not sure I have a tutorial on that. I'll have to check next chance I get.
ReplyDeleteAdam Auster blogging is a bit thru the looking glass. There are things we do for us - my garden year page so I can easily find the links and get the long term view.
ReplyDeleteAnd things we do for our readers. That page does get a few clicks. I make the text flow, with an image or two.
A simple list of links ... I can keep on my side, it is underwhelming for a reader to choose a click. For a reader it needs clear navigation, and hook line and sinker.
Wonder Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteSo impressive & Beautiful design
what the difference between Contents list & Index list ? In "featured post" ?
Google+ badge width "180" overflow sidebar (same in my blog - page speed slow - hence removed)
Thanks
Ifinder Ifindi Thanks!
ReplyDeletePerhaps you are referring to the "labels" on the sidebar? I have begun labeling each of my posts by content subject. Blogger has restrictions on the number I can use, so it is a bit haphazard, with some things left out. It is very much incomplete at this point. The labels grow in size with the number of times they are used in the Collection. (There is a name for this sort of list design, but I forget what it is.)
The Consolidated Index is an embellished alphabetical list of subject links to my posts. This is an index that I created over the last 4 years and am still building. It is designed to be the backbone of the Arnold Collections, which now includes an Appendix and a good deal of "etc."
Sadly, I only recently removed my Google+ badge, as it no longer served any purpose. I'm keeping the sidebar for the time being, though I am moving some of the features to the bottom of the main screen. I gather mobile users have no use for sidebars.
My experience has been that Blogger is a lot more labor-intensive than Google+ Collections used to be.
I appreciate your interest!
Oh! Thank You, now clear Jeff Diver
ReplyDeleteI have moved slow widgets to the bottom of my sidebar. Yes ... they slow down the site. But ... no one but the speed test notices, so long as your home page is set to one (long or a few short) blog post(s). If my reader can see content to read without noticing a wait, that is OK by me.
ReplyDeleteAt the bottom of my sidebar is midnight in darkest Africa - I am probably the only one who knows it is there!
Also Google uses the #Roboto font which is incredibly slow - no idea how to get around that hurdle.
Diana Studer I'm not experience anything slow about your blog, but if you are having a problem with web fonts you can switch to something like Trebuchet. Just about everyone has that installed natively.
ReplyDeleteI suspect though that you are just having a problem with your browser or router. If so, clear the chache and reboot things (computer, then route if needed).
Diana Studer Adam Auster I am learning a lot by reading your comments. Thanks so much for your Blogger tips and observations!
ReplyDeleteAdam Auster my chosen blog fonts are Arial and Georgia (I avoid mm unusual fonts, as we don't know how that will render on the reader's computer)
ReplyDeleteBut the Roboto font lurks somewhere.
Diana Studer Thanks for the link! At some point I will understand what they are talking about. My mobile speed was slow (24) and my desktop speed (74) was average. After all the Google+ dust has settled I'll follow all those "Learn More" links to discover what's going on.
ReplyDelete