10. Adding Functionality to your blog.

So far we've only looked at posting and the look of your blog. However there are a few things you can do to your blog to make them more functional and interactive for your visitors. You'll have noticed that your blog essentially features two main columns: the main one is the column featuring all your blog posts in chronological order, the other is a series of 'Gadgets' that run down the side of your main posts. These Gadgets are always present, no matter what part of the blog you are looking at. When you start your blog you'll automatically have three gadgets on the sidebar: Followers, About Me and Blog Archive.

First, lets learn how to delete a gadget:

1. Clicking on the Customise button will again bring you to the Layout tab. Here You will see your Page Elements. To one side you'll see your gadgets listed.




2. Click on the Edit button on the gadget you want to delete. A pop-up window will appear with the option to Remove the gadget. Click the Remove button.

Now let's add a Gadget:

1. You'll see that in your list of Gadgets there's an option to Add a Gadget. Clicking this will open a long list of different gadgets. Right now I want to show you a couple of specific ones, but in your own time take a look at them all and think about how you might use them to your advantage. Scroll down until you find the gadget called Link List. Click the [+] button on the right to add it to your blog.


2. Clicking the [+] button will open up the Configure Link List pop-up window. Any gadget you add will bring up its own pop-up window, where you'll be able to edit it or add your own content. First give your Link List a title, for example "Useful Links". Then go on to entering a full web address into the New Site URL field. You can do this simply by opening the website you want to link to in another window, selecting its full address from the address bar, copying it and pasting it into this field. In the New Site Title field, enter the title of the site or group you are linking to.


3. If you want to add another link to the list, merely click the Add Link button on the bottom right of the window. Follow the same process for every link you want to feature.

4. Once you're done, click Save. Whenever you want to edit or add links or delete this gadget, you just need to click the Edit button on this gadget in the Layout tab.