When your blog gets larger, you'll want your readers to be able to find the content easier - sometimes using more detail than can be found in the Archives index.
You can generally use Labels for a more comprehensive index of the blog contents - but both labels, and titles, index the posts based on your vision of the blog. What if you want your readers to view your blog, on their terms?
This is where the Navbar, with its search box, becomes useful.
The Navbar based search is a good choice, for most readers of the blog.
It's a good choice - assuming that you don't block the Navbar, and assuming that your readers like using the Navbar - and that the navbar based blog search is not broken.
You can use search accessories outside the navbar.
But you're not confined to using the Search box on the Navbar - you can make your own search box, and position it where you like.
Setup a new HTML / JavaScript gadget, to get a very simple search box for your blog. Use the "HTML/JavaScript" selection in "Basics".
Just copy the code - a simple 4 lines - to the new gadget.
You can add this gadget, in many places.
Having setup your new gadget, you can position it anywhere on the page. Or, you can have a search box inside a post, as I show above. See "Search This Blog", above - and "Search The Real Blogger Status", at the top of the sidebar?
And, there are still more possibilities.
You can get way more fancy, for instance search multiple blogs at once, using a Google Custom Search box, but for a 5 minute blog upgrade, this is all that you need.
This is very user friendly - your readers will appreciate it. And it's so easy to add.
You can generally use Labels for a more comprehensive index of the blog contents - but both labels, and titles, index the posts based on your vision of the blog. What if you want your readers to view your blog, on their terms?
This is where the Navbar, with its search box, becomes useful.
The Navbar based search is a good choice, for most readers of the blog.
It's a good choice - assuming that you don't block the Navbar, and assuming that your readers like using the Navbar - and that the navbar based blog search is not broken.
You can use search accessories outside the navbar.
But you're not confined to using the Search box on the Navbar - you can make your own search box, and position it where you like.
Setup a new HTML / JavaScript gadget, to get a very simple search box for your blog. Use the "HTML/JavaScript" selection in "Basics".
Just copy the code - a simple 4 lines - to the new gadget.
<form action="/search" method="get"> <input name="q" type="text"/> <input value="Search This Blog" type="submit"/> </form>
You can add this gadget, in many places.
Having setup your new gadget, you can position it anywhere on the page. Or, you can have a search box inside a post, as I show above. See "Search This Blog", above - and "Search The Real Blogger Status", at the top of the sidebar?
And, there are still more possibilities.
You can get way more fancy, for instance search multiple blogs at once, using a Google Custom Search box, but for a 5 minute blog upgrade, this is all that you need.
- Search only the posts, in the one blog.
- Search your blog directly, not from search engine cache. No waiting for search engine updates.
- Search private blogs, with some chance for success.
- Display search results as part of the blog display, with all blog accessories and decorations visible.
This is very user friendly - your readers will appreciate it. And it's so easy to add.
Comments
This feature is plain old JavaScript, which will work fine in a Classic template. You will have to edit the template HTML, but beyond that issue, it's perfectly doable.
I've copied and saved the code. Hope you can direct me to where it goes.
I don't enjoy the disarray of the list in "Add a Gadget", but "HTML/JavaScript" is in the "Basics" list, a bit more than half way down (right now). You'll have to look very carefully.
Thanks,
Jim
With BlogSpot / Google published blogs, there's a standard folder URL structure. This pos, for instance, is "blogging.nitecruzr.net/2008/07/help-your-readers-search-your-blog.html", and it's in folder "/2008/07". The search term "/" directs the search to start at the root, ie at the level above "2008".
If you publish your main page to the root of your blog, with the archives under it ("2009", "2008", etc), I would think that a search of "/" should work. Unless the search only works for dynamically published blogs (BlogSpot / custom domain).
Ames in CT.
You launch your blog on the net with lots of hard work.
From troubleshooting today I've found that:
1) Only posts past a certain date appear in the search (even if you click "show older posts.")
2) It may be related to posts that are back dated to before the blog was created, but I can't find a uniform number of days for that. Though with two test blogs I created today, the magic number seemed to be "7." Posts dated 7 or more days before today don't show up in search results. (- My existing blog with this issue doesn't fit the 7 day pattern.)
3) The above holds true for posts created today, saved, and then back dated to 7 days or more ago, as well as imported posts.
4) If the blog is made private, the search works perfectly. - But the problem returns as soon as it's made public again.
5) On the Edit Posts page, the search box there has the exact same issues if you search with "Published" posts selected, but works perfectly with "All" posts selected. (and if the blog is set to "Private" it works correctly with "Published" too.)
That's all I remember off the top of my head.
Thoughts? It's so darned frustrating :P
That brings up another question.
I clicked on the author's name and it states "dean hasn't shared anything with you.
People are more likely to share with you if you add them to your circles.".
I get this a lot in Picasa where I like to share albums. How do I know what albums/discussions the other person has that would be of interest to me--or they mine, before adding them to my Circle?
The notation "xxxxx hasn't shared anything with you ..." is normal, with Google+. Until you Follow that person - and the other person Follows you back - you may never see what content (if anything) the other person shares.
Following people in Google+ - and deciding who to Follow - is not a linear task. Nor can your friends tell you, reliably, how to choose who to Follow.
I could probably publish a small blog, simply discussing Google+ - and a large number of posts would be about Following people - and being Followed.
All that I can advise you is to Follow whoever looks interesting. As you read your stream - and as you +1, Comment on, and Reshare various posts, Google+ fills up a database about you, who you Follow, and who Follows you - and who +1s, comments, and reshares who. The database is termed "Relevance".
When you, people that you Follow, and people who Follow you, +1, comment, and reshare, each others posts, you get high relevance with each other. Then you use a tool like Circloscope, to analyse who you Follow in terms of relevance - and trim those with low relevance.
It's a fluid process - and you go with the flow.
Love you website!
I think you pretty much have the idea. If you have Google+ questions, you can find answers in the Google+ Help Community.
Thanks for the encouragement!
I'd also like to say a big thank you for all the work you've done to provide us very useful info. I don't comment a lot, but I sure have appreciated your tips.
Jill
www.dousedinpink.com