Blogger Magic - The Pages Gadget, As A Linkbar

Not every blog owner understands how to install a horizontal linkbar, in a blog. We see the occasional query, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why do I have a linklist, below the blog title?

This blog owner could be making any of several innocent mistakes.

A link bar - or tabs row - is a key component in indexing important blog sections - yet few blog owners understand how it works.

A horizontal linkbar is so easy to make - and yet sometimes, so hard to get right.

A linkbar is simply a linklist, displayed horizontally, with shading.

There is nothing special, about a horizontal linkbar - it's simply a linklist, displayed horizontally, with the right shading. Change the shading, and you get a row of tabs. You can choose - linkbar or tabs, in some templates.

Alternately, add a Pages gadget as a linklist, positioned anywhere convenient.

The magic, with the Pages gadget and custom linkbars, is how they are made to display horizontally. And that is generally just a matter of choosing the right template.

Blogger templates contain code which makes linklists display horizontally.

Standard Blogger templates include a special template section, "crosscol". Within "crosscol", linklists display horizontally. And that's the Pages gadget.

Here's the code for the linkbar, in this blog. There's nothing special, here - except for "id='crosscol'".

<div class='tabs section' id='crosscol'><div class='widget LinkList' id='LinkList4'>
<div class='widget-content'>
<ul>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/'>Home</a></li>
<li><a href='http://buzz.nitecruzr.net/'>The Buzz</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/'>Blogging</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/search/label/About%20Us?max-results=100'>About Us</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/magic'>Magic</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/p/topics.html'>Topics</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/classic'>Dynamic</a></li>
<li><a href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/p/contact-me-improved.html'>Contact</a></li>
<li><a href='http://groups.google.com/group/nitecruzr-dot-net-blogging'>Support Forum</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.ultraguest.com/?id=1138394596&sign=1'>GuestBook</a></li>
<li><a href='http://recipes.nitecruzr.net/'>Kitchen</a></li>
<li><a href='http://musings.nitecruzr.net/'>Musings</a></li>
<li><a href='http://networking.nitecruzr.net/'>Networking</a></li>
<li><a href='http://www.nitecruzr.net/'>N D Net</a></li>
</ul>

The magic is in the "crosscol" section of the template.

I'm not using a standard Pages gadget, just a LinkList, in this blog. The magic is in the template, and the "crosscol" section - and supporting CSS.

If your template is provided outside Blogger, it may or may not have a "crosscol" section. Not all third party template developers observe all standards of Blogger templates.