Customizing Numbered Lists in Posts + 3 Examples

From the Compose tab of a Blogger post, we can create numbered lists using the "Numbered List" tool.

A numbered list is achieved through the HTML code of a "ordered list". You don't have to worry about adding the HTML, because the editor does it for you by using this tool. If you go to the HTML tab, you'll see that the list you created appears something like this:

   <ol>
<li>The content of the 1st. element</li>
<li>The content of the 2nd. element</li>
<li>The content of the 3rd. element</li>
<li>The content of the 4th. element</li>
    etc...
  </ol>

This tool will automatically number each element of the list taking an "order", hence the name "ordered lists in HTML". In each element a number is successively generated (from 1 onwards), though you can not see this in the HTML code.

Using ordered lists in posts

Creating numbered lists is very suitable for giving any instructions. It is ideal for cooking blogs where the steps in a recipe has to be numbered, or in those blogs that share tutorials... but can be used in any type of blog that need to number something.

By default, when using this tool, the numbered elements will look like:

1. Nulla tincidunt, neque nec laoreet iaculis, tellus libero sagittis nisl, sed commodo lacus nulla ac sapien. Pellentesque vel magna vitae diam hendrerit bibendum tempus at magna. 
2. Nulla pellentesque egestas sagittis. Cras blandit bibendum ante nec placerat. Nulla volutpat diam non quam suscipit et ornare nisi porttitor. Quisque eget elit nulla, et imperdiet nisi. 
3. Vivamus sit amet nibh vel enim aliquam auctor. Phasellus fringilla eros leo, nec varius lacus. Vestibulum id dolor a nisl venenatis varius in nec enim. Pellentesque feugiat arcu ac purus rhoncus dapibus. 
4. Etiam rutrum quam ac est bibendum cursus. In porttitor nunc odio, vel porttitor nisi. Pellentesque velit est, sodales luctus feugiat et, porta quis lacus. Vivamus non mauris urna, non commodo dui. 

However, we can customize the elements on the list with CSS. To achieve this, we will rely on this interesting tutorial from 456 Berea ST, that explains a technique in which using some key properties of CSS, we could customize both the numbers of each element in the list, also the content of each element.

The trick basically involves canceling the default numbering with "list-style: none", and then use automatic numbering properties: "counter-reset" and "counter-increment". Then the property "content" is added to the index of the counter that is created using the previous two properties.

Examples

Here are three examples that I have prepared for those of you who want to customize numbered lists and if you will like one of them, simply copy and paste the CSS code by going to Template > Customize > Advanced > Add CSS. Of course, later, you can customize the background colors, borders, etc..

Style 1.

1. Nulla tincidunt, neque nec laoreet iaculis, tellus libero sagittis nisl, sed commodo lacus nulla ac sapien. Pellentesque vel magna vitae diam hendrerit bibendum tempus at magna. 
2. Nulla pellentesque egestas sagittis. Cras blandit bibendum ante nec placerat. Nulla volutpat diam non quam suscipit et ornare nisi porttitor. Quisque eget elit nulla, et imperdiet nisi. 
3. Vivamus sit amet nibh vel enim aliquam auctor. Phasellus fringilla eros leo, nec varius lacus. Vestibulum id dolor a nisl venenatis varius in nec enim. Pellentesque feugiat arcu ac purus rhoncus dapibus. 
4. Etiam rutrum quam ac est bibendum cursus. In porttitor nunc odio, vel porttitor nisi. Pellentesque velit est, sodales luctus feugiat et, porta quis lacus. Vivamus non mauris urna, non commodo dui. 

.post-outer ol{
 counter-reset:li;
 margin-left:0;
 padding-left:0
}
.post ol li{
 position:relative;    
 margin:0 0 20px 2em !important;
 padding:4px 8px !important;
 list-style:none;
 *list-style: decimal;
}
.post ol li:before{
 content:counter(li);
 counter-increment:li;
 position:absolute;
 top:-8px;
 left:-39px;
 font-family:'Oswald', serif;
 font-size:40px; /* font size*/
 width:34px;
 margin:0 0 10px 0;
 padding:4px !important;
 color:#727272; /* font color */
 text-align:center;
}

Style 2.

1. Nulla tincidunt, neque nec laoreet iaculis, tellus libero sagittis nisl, sed commodo lacus nulla ac sapien. Pellentesque vel magna vitae diam hendrerit bibendum tempus at magna. 
2. Nulla pellentesque egestas sagittis. Cras blandit bibendum ante nec placerat. Nulla volutpat diam non quam suscipit et ornare nisi porttitor. Quisque eget elit nulla, et imperdiet nisi. 
3. Vivamus sit amet nibh vel enim aliquam auctor. Phasellus fringilla eros leo, nec varius lacus. Vestibulum id dolor a nisl venenatis varius in nec enim. Pellentesque feugiat arcu ac purus rhoncus dapibus. 
4. Etiam rutrum quam ac est bibendum cursus. In porttitor nunc odio, vel porttitor nisi. Pellentesque velit est, sodales luctus feugiat et, porta quis lacus. Vivamus non mauris urna, non commodo dui. 

.post-outer ol{
counter-reset:li;
margin-left:0;
padding-left:0
}
.post ol li{ /* the style of each element */
position:relative;
margin:0 0 20px 2em !important;
padding:4px 8px !important;
list-style:none;
*list-style: decimal;
border:1px solid #e2e3e2; /* border color */
background:#f2f2f2; /* background color */
text-indent:10px;
}
.post ol li:before{ /* the numbers' style */
content:counter(li);
counter-increment:li;
position:absolute;
top:-5px;
left:-5px;
font-family:'Oswald', serif;
font-size:14px;
width:12px;
margin:0 0 10px 0;
padding:4px !important;
color:#727272; /* text color */
text-align:left;
background:#e2e2e2; /* background color */
text-indent:2px
}
.post ol li:after{
content:"";
position:absolute;
top:-5px;
left:14px;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-style: solid;
border-width: 5px 0 0 5px;
border-color: transparent transparent transparent #aeaeae; /* triangle color */
}

Style 3.

1. Nulla tincidunt, neque nec laoreet iaculis, tellus libero sagittis nisl, sed commodo lacus nulla ac sapien. Pellentesque vel magna vitae diam hendrerit bibendum tempus at magna. 
2. Nulla pellentesque egestas sagittis. Cras blandit bibendum ante nec placerat. Nulla volutpat diam non quam suscipit et ornare nisi porttitor. Quisque eget elit nulla, et imperdiet nisi. 
3. Vivamus sit amet nibh vel enim aliquam auctor. Phasellus fringilla eros leo, nec varius lacus. Vestibulum id dolor a nisl venenatis varius in nec enim. Pellentesque feugiat arcu ac purus rhoncus dapibus. 
4. Etiam rutrum quam ac est bibendum cursus. In porttitor nunc odio, vel porttitor nisi. Pellentesque velit est, sodales luctus feugiat et, porta quis lacus. Vivamus non mauris urna, non commodo dui. 

.post ol{
counter-reset:li;
margin-left:0;
padding-left:0
}
.post ol li{
position:relative;    
margin:0 0 13px 2em !important;
padding:4px 8px !important;
list-style:none;
*list-style:decimal;
}
.post ol li:before{
content:counter(li);
counter-increment:li;
position:absolute;
top:0;
left:-2em;
width:27px;
margin-right:8px;
padding:3px 1px 4px 0 !important;
color:#fff; /* text color */
font-size:16px;
background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixhV5q2GY36FJNsmJCoXIobU2ZuqikKT3HOLisVEbybOGA7f96N8Aka4itYRgfJbKymUDxZ4cqIc45gEA1Q3JNY-llqDpu63DUwNZkCwHaeGUeFHvseze056Z9YsTKsxO3OuMYeS3Hjas/s1600/blue.png) no-repeat left top;
font-weight:bold;
text-align:center
}

In this last example, I decided to use an image for the circle (highlighted in blue) as the background of the number. We can create the circle with CSS, but it will be squared in Internet Explorer 8.

Anyway, here I leave other images of circles with other colors that you can use if you want.

Note: With red are highlighted the values that can be edited in the CSS of these three examples, and added some comments highlighted in /* green */, so that you can know what each thing does.

Compatibility:

This will work in all browsers including IE8 - in the case of Internet Explorer 7, the number' styles will not be seen as it does not support the :before or :after pseudo-elements. However, I have added a line in the CSS that's specific for that browser and will bring up the default numbering of the ordered list.

Hopefully it will be useful for you ;)

More about → Customizing Numbered Lists in Posts + 3 Examples

4 Different Styles For the Popular Posts Widget

Blogger allows us to easily add a "Popular Posts" widget, that we select from its list of gadgets, and we can do that by going to the "Layout" of our Blog.

This gadget, as the name implies, shows which are the most visited blog posts, and you can set it to display the info you want in four possible combinations: (1) only the title of the post, (2) a thumbnail of the image and the post title, (3) post title with a summary, and (4) post title with a thumbnail and a post snippet.

This is an element that you shouldn't miss in your blog because it encourages your visitors to navigate through your content, which can result in higher income if you're monetizing your blog because it would generate an increase in the number of pages visited, and in turn, can attract the users' interest to subscribe to the blog and to read interesting content.

Preliminary steps: Add the gadget, if you haven't done it yet.

1. Select the "Layout" tab and add the "Popular Posts" gadget in that part of your blog you want to appear, such as in your sidebar, by clicking on "Add a Gadget".

2. Configure the widget to show only the post titles. You can do this by clicking on the "image thumbnail" and "snippet" checkboxes, as shown in the following image.

3. After configuring the widget, save the changes by clicking on Save, and then Save arrangement.

How to add the CSS to create the style of the Popular Posts widget

1. Choose a style, then copy the CSS that appears below the image that shows the style.

2. Select the "Template" tab, then click on Customize > Advanced > Add CSS and then paste the CSS style that you like the most.

3. Once you add the CSS, Save changes by clicking on the "Apply to Blog" button.

And that's it! I've already customized the popular posts widget, when it only shows post titles.

Styles

Here is the CSS of each style, just choose the one you like the best and put it on your blog. You can see each of these styles in action in the following demo blog:

http://demo-blog343.blogspot.com

Style 1:

#PopularPosts1 h2{
padding:7px 0 3px 0;
width:100%;
margin:0;
font-size:1.3em;
text-indent:-12px;
font-size:18px;
text-align:center;
color: #000; /* Color of the widget's title */
}
#PopularPosts1 ul{
list-style:none;
counter-reset:li;
padding:8px 0px 1px;
left:-8px;
width:290px;
}
#PopularPosts1 li{
position:relative;
margin:0 0 10px 0;
padding: 3px 2px 0 7px;
left:-5px;
width:285px;
border:1px solid #ccc;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li:before{
content:counter(li);
counter-increment:li;
position:absolute;
display:block;
top:-5px;
left:-5px;
font-size:18px;
width:14px;
margin:0 0 10px 0;
padding:4px 4px 4px 3px;
color:#333;
text-align:left;
background:#E8E8E8;
text-indent:2px;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li:after{
content:"";
position:absolute;
top:-5px;
left:15px;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-top:5px outset transparent;
border-left:5px solid #aeaeae;
}

#PopularPosts1 ul li a{
font-size:17px; /* Font size of the links */
color:#444; /* Color of the links */
font-style: italic;
margin-left:17px;
display:block;
min-height:25px;
text-decoration:none;
padding:0 4px 3px 0;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li:hover{
background:#f9f9f9;
border:1px solid #aaa;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li a:hover{
color:#0174DF;
}

Style 2:

#PopularPosts1 h2{
position:relative;
padding:8px 10px 6px 10px;
width:100%;
margin:0;
font-size:17px;
background: #bada55;
color:#222; /* Color of the widget's title */
text-align:center;
}
#PopularPosts1 h2:before{
position:absolute;
content:"";
top:-6px;
right:-5px;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-bottom:24px outset transparent;
border-top:24px outset transparent;
border-right:24px solid #fff; /* Color of the triangle */
}

#PopularPosts1 h2:after{
position:absolute;
content:"";
top:-7px;
left:-5px;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-bottom:24px outset transparent;
border-top:24px outset transparent;
border-left:24px solid #fff; /* Color of the triangle */
}

#PopularPosts1 ul{
list-style:none;
counter-reset:li;
padding:10px;
left:-8px;
width:100%;
}

#PopularPosts1 li{ /* Styles of each element */
width:100%;
position:relative;
left:0;
margin:0 0 1px 12px;
padding:4px 5px;
}

#PopularPosts1 ul li:before{ /* style of the numbers */
content:counter(li);
counter-increment:li;
position:absolute;
top:2px;
left:-23px;
font-size:35px; /* Font size of the numbers */
width:20px;
color:#666; /* Color of the text */
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li a{
display:block;
position:relative;
left:-30px;
width:100%;
margin:0;
padding: 9px 3px 10px 29px;
font-size:15px; /* Font size of the links */
font-style: italic;
color:#333; /* Color of the links */
text-decoration:none;
transition: all .1s ease-in-out;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li a:hover{
color:#3366ff;
margin-left:3px;
}

Style 3:

#PopularPosts1 h2{
position:relative;
right:-2px;
padding:8px 63px 6px 17px;
width:100%;
margin:0;
font-size:16px;
background:#C00000; /* Background color */
color:#f2f2f2; /* Color of the widget's title */
text-align:left;
text-indent:18px;
}
#PopularPosts1 h2:before{
position:absolute;
content:"";
top:33px;
right:0px;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-bottom:12px outset transparent;
border-left:12px solid #800000;
}
#PopularPosts1 h2:after{
position:absolute;
content:"";
top:-6px;
left:-5px;
width: 0px;
height: 0px;
border-bottom:24px outset transparent;
border-top:24px outset transparent;
border-left:24px solid #fff;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul{
list-style:none;
counter-reset:li;
padding:10px;
left:-8px;
width:100%;
}
#PopularPosts1 li{
width:100%;
position:relative;
left:0;
margin:7px 0 16px 12px;
padding:10px  4px 0 5px;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li:before{
content:counter(li);
counter-increment:li;
position:absolute;
top:-2px;
left:-20px;
font-size:33px;
width:20px;
color:#888888;
}

#PopularPosts1 ul li a{
display:block;
font-size:14px; /* Font size of the links */
color: #666; /* Color of the links */
text-decoration:none;
transition: all .1s ease-in-out;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li a:hover{
color:#3366FF;
margin-left:3px;
}

Style 4:

#PopularPosts1 h2{
padding:8px 10px 3px 0;
width:100%;
margin:0;
font-size:16px;
position:relative;
left:-20px;
display:block;
border-bottom:2px solid #ccc;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul{
list-style:none;
counter-reset:li;
padding:10px;
width:100%;
}
#PopularPosts1 li{ /* Styles of each element */
width:100%;
position:relative;
left:0;
margin:0 0 6px 10px;
padding:4px 5px;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li:before{ /* Style of the numbers */
content:counter(li);
counter-increment:li;
position:absolute;
top:3px;
left:-39px;
font-size:21px;
width:28px;
height:28px;
border-radius: 50%;
color:#777; /* Text color */
border: 2px solid #ddd; /* Rounded border color */
padding:0;
text-indent:9px;
}
#PopularPosts1 ul li a{
display:block;
position:relative;
left:-45px;
width:100%;
margin:0;
min-height:28px;
padding: 5px 3px 3px 39px;
color:#333; /* color of the links */
text-decoration:none;
font-size:14px; /* Font size of the links */
font-style: italic;

}
#PopularPosts1 ul li a:hover{
color:#3366ff;
margin-left:3px;
}

Final Notes

All the CSS is valid. I just have to mention that the numbering is not visible in Internet Explorer 7, since that version of the browser does not support properties that make the numbers appear. For example in the 4th style, the circles look squared in IE8 and earlier versions since, these versions do not support a property that makes them look as circles.

Fonts will be inherited from the template, since they have not been declared in the CSS.

More about → 4 Different Styles For the Popular Posts Widget

Adding a Youtube Video in the Background of a Blogger blog

Some of you might have wondered how to put a video to play in the blog's background, so that instead of having just a color or an image, to have a video. We can do this thanks to the jQuery plugin Tubular that lets you use a YouTube video as a background of a web page.

Although the result can be very original and attractive, I must say it has three drawbacks: they can not be silenced, if the video has ads, they will also appear, and it can slow the loading time of the blog, so if anyone wants to use it, may consider putting it only on special occasions, or on blogs that load very quickly.

Also it can be done in HTML5, the problem with this method is that you need to load the video in 3 different formats (.mp4, .webm and .ovg) along with a picture for browsers that do not support them, so this YouTube option seems more practical to me, despite the drawbacks.

You can see it working on this demo blog

Steps 

1. The first step is to just above the </head> tag, this script:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
/* jQuery tubular plugin
|* by Sean McCambridge
|* http://www.seanmccambridge.com/tubular
|* Copyright 2012
|* licensed under the MIT License
|* Enjoy.
|*
|* Thanks,
|* Sean */

var videoWidth = 853;
var videoRatio = 16/9;
var defaultDiv = 'wrapper-video';

jQuery.fn.tubular = function(videoId,wrapperId) {
wrapperId = (typeof(wrapperId) == undefined) ? 'wrapper-video' : wrapperId;
t = setTimeout("resizePlayer()",1000);

jQuery('html,body').css('height','100%');
jQuery('body').prepend('<div id="yt-container" style="overflow: hidden; position: fixed; z-index: 1;"><div id="ytapiplayer">You need Flash player 8+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.</div></div><div id="video-cover" style="position: fixed; width: 100%; height: 100%; z-index: 2;"></div>');
jQuery('#' + wrapperId).css({position: 'relative', 'z-index': 99});

var ytplayer = 0;
var pageWidth = 0;
var pageHeight = 0;
var videoHeight = videoWidth / videoRatio;
var duration;

var iframe = '<iframe id="myytplayer" width="' + videoWidth + '" height="' + videoHeight + '" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/' + videoId + '?autoplay=1&controls=0&modestbranding=1&showinfo=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&version=3&wmode=transparent&loop=1&playlist=' + videoId + '" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';

jQuery('#ytapiplayer').html(iframe);
jQuery(window).resize(function() {
resizePlayer();
});
return this;
}

function onYouTubePlayerReady(playerId) {
ytplayer = document.getElementById("myytplayer");
ytplayer.setPlaybackQuality('medium');
ytplayer.mute();
}

function resizePlayer() {
var newWidth = jQuery(window).width();
var newHeight = jQuery(window).height();
jQuery('#yt-container, #video-cover').width(newWidth).height(newHeight);
if (newHeight > newWidth / videoRatio) {
newWidth = newHeight * videoRatio;
}
jQuery('#myytplayer').width(newWidth).height(newWidth/videoRatio);
}

//]]>
</script>

And this one too:

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
$().ready(function() {
$('body').tubular('61BLn00AN_w','wrapper-video');
});
//]]>
</script>

2. Then locate the <body> tag (CTRL + F)
Or if you are using a template from Template Designer, find this line:

<body expr:class='&quot;loading&quot; + data:blog.mobileClass'>

3. Under either of these two, add this:

<div id='wrapper-video'>

4. Now search for the </body> tag, and before it put this:

</div>

Save the changes and that's it. In red you must put the ID of Youtube video, the ID are the characters that appear at the end of the URL:

Remember: There is no option to mute, so if you don't want to have sound as in the demo blog, you have to choose a video that has no sound. I also recommend using a video in HD in case you don't want any black parts to show around it.

If you are using jQuery, remove other versions that you have to avoid duplication and have problems.

Author | jQuery Tubular

More about → Adding a Youtube Video in the Background of a Blogger blog

Create a Background Slideshow for Blogger

In the previous post we saw how to make the blog's background fill the screen regardless of the resolution of the monitor. The method that we'll use now with jQuery is a plugin called BackStretch which also has the option of creating a slideshow of pictures as a blog wallpaper without losing the property of adjusting to the width and height of the screen.

What we will do in this entry is just this, try to make the blog's background to have some images that are changing, all with fade effect between each transition.

You can see an example in this demo blog.

To put this slideshow in the blog's background, just go to Template - Edit HTML and before </head> add the following code:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script>
//<![CDATA[
/*
* jQuery Backstretch
* Version 1.2.8
* http://srobbin.com/jquery-plugins/jquery-backstretch/
* Add a dynamically-resized background image to the page
* Copyright (c) 2012 Scott Robbin (srobbin.com)
* Licensed under the MIT license
* https://raw.github.com/srobbin/jquery-backstretch/master/LICENSE.txt
*/
;(function(a){a.backstretch=function(p,b,l){function s(){if(p){var b;0==c.length?c=a("<div />").attr("id","backstretch").css({left:0,top:0,position:m?"fixed":"absolute",overflow:"hidden",zIndex:-999999,margin:0,padding:0,height:"100%",width:"100%"}):c.find("img").addClass("deleteable");b=a("<img />").css({position:"absolute",display:"none",margin:0,padding:0,border:"none",zIndex:-999999,maxWidth:"none"}).bind("load",function(d){var b=a(this),e;b.css({width:"auto",height:"auto"});e=this.width||a(d.target).width();d=this.height||a(d.target).height();n=e/d;q();b.fadeIn(g.speed,function(){c.find(".deleteable").remove();"function"==typeof l&&l()})}).appendTo(c);0==a("body #backstretch").length&&(0===a(window).scrollTop()&&window.scrollTo(0,0),a("body").append(c));c.data("settings",g);b.attr("src",p);a(window).unbind("resize.backstretch").bind("resize.backstretch",function(){"onorientationchange"in window&&window.pageYOffset===0&&window.scrollTo(0,1);q()})}}function q(){try{j={left:0,top:0},rootWidth=h=o.width(),rootHeight=r?window.innerHeight:o.height(),f=h/n,f>=rootHeight?(k=(f-rootHeight)/2,g.centeredY&&(j.top="-"+k+"px")):(f=rootHeight,h=f*n,k=(h-rootWidth)/2,g.centeredX&&(j.left="-"+k+"px")),c.css({width:rootWidth,height:rootHeight}).find("img:not(.deleteable)").css({width:h,height:f}).css(j)}catch(a){}}var t={centeredX:!0,centeredY:!0,speed:0},c=a("#backstretch"),g=c.data("settings")||t;c.data("settings");var o,m,r,n,h,f,k,j;b&&"object"==typeof b&&a.extend(g,b);b&&"function"==typeof b&&(l=b);a(document).ready(function(){var b=window,d=navigator.userAgent,c=navigator.platform,e=d.match(/AppleWebKit\/([0-9]+)/),e=!!e&&e[1],f=d.match(/Fennec\/([0-9]+)/),f=!!f&&f[1],g=d.match(/Opera Mobi\/([0-9]+)/),h=!!g&&g[1],i=d.match(/MSIE ([0-9]+)/),i=!!i&&i[1];o=(m=!((-1<c.indexOf("iPhone")||-1<c.indexOf("iPad")||-1<c.indexOf("iPod"))&&e&&534>e||b.operamini&&"[object OperaMini]"==={}.toString.call(b.operamini)||g&&7458>h||-1<d.indexOf("Android")&&e&&533>e||f&&6>f||"palmGetResource"in window&&e&&534>e||-1<d.indexOf("MeeGo")&&-1<d.indexOf("NokiaBrowser/8.5.0")||i&&6>=i))?a(window):a(document);r=m&&window.innerHeight;s()});return this}})(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>

<script>
//<![CDATA[
var images = [
 "Image URL",
 "Image URL",
 "Image URL",
 "Image URL",
 "Image URL",
  ];

  $(images).each(function(){
 $('<img/>')[0].src = this;
  });
  var index = 0;
$.backstretch(images[index], {speed: 1000});
  var slideshow = setInterval(function() {
  index = (index >= images.length - 1) ? 0 : index + 1;
    $.backstretch(images[index]);
  }, 5000);
//]]>
</script>

Here add the URLs of the images that will be the background of your blog.
If you would like to add more pictures, just add after the var images = [ another line like this:

 "Image URL",

The images will be changing in the order you have added them, if you want these to appear in a random order, then change the second part of the code with this:

<script>
//<![CDATA[
var images=new Array();
images[ 1 ]="Image URL";
images[ 2 ]="Image URL";
images[ 3 ]="Image URL";
images[ 4 ]="Image URL";
images[ 5 ]="Image URL";

  Array.prototype.shuffle = function() {
  var len = this.length;
  var i = len;
  while (i--) {
  var p = parseInt(Math.random()*len);
  var t = this[i];
  this[i] = this[p];
  this[p] = t;
  }
};

  images.shuffle();
  $(images).each(function(){
 $('<img/>')[0].src = this;
  });
  var index = 0;
$.backstretch(images[index], {speed: 1000});
  var slideshow = setInterval(function() {
  index = (index >= images.length - 1) ? 0 : index + 1;
    $.backstretch(images[index]);
  }, 5000);
//]]>
</script>

You can also add more pictures by adding a line like this:

images[ 6 ]="Image URL";

But you will see that in this case there are some consecutive numbers in blue, so if you add another such as 6, then the next one should be 7, etc..

In both cases you can change the duration of each image which is in the 5000 value that is at the end of the script.
The advantage of this slideshow in the blog's background is that images are automatically resized to the size of the monitor, so that, no matter of the resolution, it should look good.

It is worth remembering that if you are using Scriptaculous, you have to make some changes, and if you already use jQuery, should leave only one version.

Author page | Backstretch

More about → Create a Background Slideshow for Blogger

Rounded Corners and Shadows for Images using CSS

Here are some unique border styles that you can apply to blogger images by using the border-radius property and defining either all four corners simultaneously or applying the rounded border only to some of them.

One of the advantages of CSS3 is that we can apply rounded borders without complicating things too much and one of the options would be to use these edges or borders to images in the blog posts, to which we can also add some hover effects such as shading and rounded borders accompanied by transitions.

Note: if you need more info about how to add rounded corners on images, follow these links:
- CSS Basics. How to Apply Rounded Corners On Images #1
- CSS Basics. How to Apply Rounded Corners On Images #2

Below are a few examples of these borders and how the images behave when you hover over them.
If you want to use one of these styles, just copy the code below the image, then go to Template, click on the Edit HTML button and paste that code before ]]></b:skin> (CTRL + F to find it)

.post-body img {
border:0;
padding:0;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
}
.post-body img:hover {
box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px #000; /* Shadow */
border-radius: 50%; /* Rounded border */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
cursor:pointer;
}

.post-body img {
background:#FFF; /* background color around the image */
padding:15px; /* space between border and image */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
}
.post-body img:hover {
box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px #000; /* Shadow */
border-radius: 0% 50%; /* Rounded border */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
cursor:pointer;
}

.post-body img {
background:#FFF; /* the background color around the image */
padding:15px; /* The Space Between Border and Image */
border-radius: 50% 0; /* Rounded border */
box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px #000; /* Shadow */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
}
.post-body img:hover {
border-radius:0; /* This removes the border roundness (value 0) */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
cursor:pointer;
}

.post-body img {
box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px #000; /* Shadow */
border-radius: 50%; /* Rounded border */
border:0;
padding:0;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
}
.post-body img:hover {
box-shadow: 0; /* With this we remove the shadow (value 0) */
border-radius: 0; /* This removes the border roundness (value 0) */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
cursor:pointer;
}

.post-body img {
border-radius: 45% / 20%; /* Rounded border */
box-shadow: 0px 0px 15px #000; /* Shadow */
padding:0;
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
}
.post-body img:hover {
border-radius: 0; /* This removes the roundness of border (value 0) */
-moz-transition: all 1s;
-webkit-transition: all 1s;
-o-transition: all 1s;
cursor:pointer;
}

So these effects will apply to all images uploaded to your Blogger posts. But if you want to apply them only on certain pictures then change .post-body img with .rounded  and .post-body img:hover with .rounded:hover
Then add the rounded class selector in the image's code:

<img class="rounded" src="Image URL"/>

These are just some examples, however, you can modify them anytime by adding or deleting more CSS styles, it depends on everybody's tastes or needs. But as you have seen, we can make the images look way more attractive and this has been done only with CSS ;)

More about → Rounded Corners and Shadows for Images using CSS

How to make the background image of the blog fill the entire screen

A constant question is how to make the background image of the blog always fill the entire screen regardless of the resolution of the monitor. And that is when we put a background image as measured by our monitor forgetting that there are actually monitors of all resolutions, very small and very large. So if we put an image according to our screen, there will be someone with a bigger monitor that surely will not see the whole picture or it will be repeated, and in this case, using very small monitors, the image will be seen incomplete.

Here I will discuss two solutions to this, one using CSS3, and another with jQuery. With either of these two, we'll make the background image of the page to fill the entire screen regardless of the resolution of it.

CSS3

The first option is using CSS3, the advantage with this method is that we do not overload the blog with scripts, we use only the background-size property that is responsible for conducting what we want.
The disadvantage is that this property is supported only by modern browsers, so in the case of Internet Explorer, it will only be seen for version 9 and above, in other browsers there should be no problem.

The method is very simple, just go to Template - Edit HTML, locate the background that is within body { and replace it with this:

background: url(Image URL) no-repeat center center fixed;
background-size: cover;

It would look something like this:

body {
background: url(URL of the image) no-repeat center center fixed;
background-size: cover;
margin:0;
color:#000;
font:x-small Georgia Serif;
font-size/* */:/**/small;
font-size: /**/small;
text-align: center;
}

Just put the URL of the image and that's it.

jQuery

With this method we will use jQuery with BackStretch plugin, the advantage is that it works in all browsers, including IE7 and above. The disadvantage is not major if you already use jQuery, because the plugin is actually small.

To use this method in your blog, go to Template - Edit HTML and before </head> paste this script:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
/*
* jQuery Backstretch
* Version 1.2.8
* http://srobbin.com/jquery-plugins/jquery-backstretch/
* Add a dynamically-resized background image to the page
* Copyright (c) 2012 Scott Robbin (srobbin.com)
* Licensed under the MIT license
* https://raw.github.com/srobbin/jquery-backstretch/master/LICENSE.txt
*/
;(function(a){a.backstretch=function(p,b,l){function s(){if(p){var b;0==c.length?c=a("<div />").attr("id","backstretch").css({left:0,top:0,position:m?"fixed":"absolute",overflow:"hidden",zIndex:-999999,margin:0,padding:0,height:"100%",width:"100%"}):c.find("img").addClass("deleteable");b=a("<img />").css({position:"absolute",display:"none",margin:0,padding:0,border:"none",zIndex:-999999,maxWidth:"none"}).bind("load",function(d){var b=a(this),e;b.css({width:"auto",height:"auto"});e=this.width||a(d.target).width();d=this.height||a(d.target).height();n=e/d;q();b.fadeIn(g.speed,function(){c.find(".deleteable").remove();"function"==typeof l&&l()})}).appendTo(c);0==a("body #backstretch").length&&(0===a(window).scrollTop()&&window.scrollTo(0,0),a("body").append(c));c.data("settings",g);b.attr("src",p);a(window).unbind("resize.backstretch").bind("resize.backstretch",function(){"onorientationchange"in window&&window.pageYOffset===0&&window.scrollTo(0,1);q()})}}function q(){try{j={left:0,top:0},rootWidth=h=o.width(),rootHeight=r?window.innerHeight:o.height(),f=h/n,f>=rootHeight?(k=(f-rootHeight)/2,g.centeredY&&(j.top="-"+k+"px")):(f=rootHeight,h=f*n,k=(h-rootWidth)/2,g.centeredX&&(j.left="-"+k+"px")),c.css({width:rootWidth,height:rootHeight}).find("img:not(.deleteable)").css({width:h,height:f}).css(j)}catch(a){}}var t={centeredX:!0,centeredY:!0,speed:0},c=a("#backstretch"),g=c.data("settings")||t;c.data("settings");var o,m,r,n,h,f,k,j;b&&"object"==typeof b&&a.extend(g,b);b&&"function"==typeof b&&(l=b);a(document).ready(function(){var b=window,d=navigator.userAgent,c=navigator.platform,e=d.match(/AppleWebKit\/([0-9]+)/),e=!!e&&e[1],f=d.match(/Fennec\/([0-9]+)/),f=!!f&&f[1],g=d.match(/Opera Mobi\/([0-9]+)/),h=!!g&&g[1],i=d.match(/MSIE ([0-9]+)/),i=!!i&&i[1];o=(m=!((-1<c.indexOf("iPhone")||-1<c.indexOf("iPad")||-1<c.indexOf("iPod"))&&e&&534>e||b.operamini&&"[object OperaMini]"==={}.toString.call(b.operamini)||g&&7458>h||-1<d.indexOf("Android")&&e&&533>e||f&&6>f||"palmGetResource"in window&&e&&534>e||-1<d.indexOf("MeeGo")&&-1<d.indexOf("NokiaBrowser/8.5.0")||i&&6>=i))?a(window):a(document);r=m&&window.innerHeight;s()});return this}})(jQuery);
//]]>
</script>
<script>
$.backstretch("URL of the image");
</script>

Put the URL of the image where indicated and ready.

As you can see both systems are easy to apply, each with its pros and cons, but the result is the same, extending the background image to fit the screen of any monitor regardless of the resolution of it.

Remember that in the case of jQuery method, you should verify that you are not using Mootools or Scriptaculous, if so you will have to implement some changes in the script to make it compatible.
And if you already use jQuery remember having only one version, the last one.

More about → How to make the background image of the blog fill the entire screen

Vertical drop down menu with jQuery

jGlideMenu is a vertical menu that can be dragged and dropped so that the reader can place it anywhere, and in addition, he can browse through the tabs in a very peculiar manner that comes with a sliding effect giving a sexy touch.

One of the advantages is that it can store a large number of links and can be removed anytime if we want.

To understand this menu better and to see it in action, visit this demo blog. There we can drag the menu, navigate through its tabs or close.

To add this vertical menu on your blog, just follow these steps:

1) From your Blogger dashboard, go to Template > Edit HTML and before the </head> tag, add these scripts:

<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.7.1/jquery.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.7.1/jquery-ui.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>
<script src='http://fe-blogger.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/jQuery.jGlideMenu.min.js' type='text/javascript'/>

<script type='text/javascript'>
//<![CDATA[
$(document).ready(function(){
$('#jGlide_001').jGlideMenu({
tileSource : '.jGlide_001_tiles' ,
demoMode : false
}).show();

$('#switch').click(function(){$(this).jGlideMenuToggle();});
});
//]]>
</script>

2) Now paste before ]]></b:skin> these styles:

.jGM_box {
position: absolute; /* Change absolute with fixed if you want it to float */
top: 50px; /* Distance from above */
right: 760px; /* Distance from right */
width: 227px;
height: 317px;
background: #fff; /* Background color */
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border: 1px solid #ccc; /* Border */
overflow: hidden;
}
.jGM_header {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 0;
height: 18px;
width: 227px;
background: #d1d1d1; /* Background color for the up bar */
color: #fff;
text-align: right;
vertical-align: middle;
line-height: 18px;
cursor: move;
}
.jGM_header a {
margin-right: 12px;
text-decoration: none;
color: #000 !important;
cursor: pointer;
}
.jGM_wrapper {
position: absolute;
top: 19px;
left: 0;
width: 2270px;
height: 288px;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
}
.jGM_tile {
position: absolute;
top: 0;
left: 7px;
width: 213px;
height: auto;
overflow: hidden;
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
display: block;
}
.jGM_cats {
width: 100%;
height: 64px;
overflow: hidden;
vertical-align: middle;
text-align: left;
}
.jGM_cats h4 {
font-family: Verdana,Arial,serif;
font-size: 1.8em;
margin: 0;
padding: 2px 0;
line-height: 1.8em;
color: #414141;
font-weight: normal;
}
.jGM_cats p {
font-family: Verdana,tahoma,arial;
font-size: 1em; /* Font size of the description */
margin: 0;
padding: 0;
line-height: 1.2em;
color: #858585; /* Description color */
font-weight: normal;
}
.jGM_pager {
height: 18px;
width: 213px;
line-height: 18px;
margin: 0;
border: 0;
padding: 0;
background: #f6f6f6;
text-align: center;
vertical-align: middle;
}
.jGM_pager a {
text-decoration: none;
font-weight: bold;
text-decoration: none;
display: block;
}
.jGM_pager a:hover { background: #d1d1d1; }
.jGM_pager img { border: 0; margin: 6px 0; }
.jGM_content {
width: 213px;
height: 150px;
margin: 1px 0;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
overflow: hidden;
}
.jGM_content a {
font-family: Tahoma,arial;
text-decoration: none;
color: #333 !important;
height: 18px;
width: 100%;
display: block;
line-height: 18px;
padding: 0 0 0 10px;
background-color: #e6e7e9;
margin: 1px 0;
}
.jGM_content a:hover {
color: #fff !important;
background-color: #4D4E67; /* Bar color on mouseover */
}
.jGM_more {
background-image: url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_lebENDZnVXG3xgZH1It8TU5tHxtaAEoLQgVgrKtddwbS53BE_uDRgnQSHAcfJthiQf13VkDlqcxrCSXMToWnLrknJJn0jHkPPXcFDX_rYDekqsdbng6DcewVt4c0J3vt8d77saGH1ZE/s1600/arrow.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: 203px 50%;
}
.jGM_back {
position: absolute;
top: 255px;
right: 0;
height: 18px;
width: 52px;
background: #d1d1d1;
line-height: 18px;
vertical-align: middle;
text-align: center;
margin: 10px 0 0 0;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
z-index: 99;
}
.jGM_back a {
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
text-decoration: none;
color: #000 !important; /* Color of the "Back" link */
display: block;
}
.jGM_back a:hover {
color: #fff !important; /* Color of the "Back" link on mouseover */
background: #4D4E67;
}
.jGM_reset {
position: absolute;
top: 255px;
right: 62px;
height: 18px;
width: 52px;
background: #d1d1d1;
line-height: 18px;
vertical-align: middle;
text-align: center;
margin: 10px 0 0 0;
padding: 0;
border: 0;
z-index: 99;
}
.jGM_reset a {
height: 100%;
width: 100%;
text-decoration: none;
color: #000 !important; /* Color of the "Home" link */
display: block;
}
.jGM_reset a:hover {
color: #fff !important; /* Color of the "Home" link on mouseover */
background: #4D4E67;
}

3) Now go to Layout and paste the structure of the menu inside a HTML/Javascript gadget:

<div class="jGM_box" id="jGlide_001">

<!-- Here all the links of the first level -->
<ul id="tile_001" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the first level">
<li rel="tile_002">Link 1</li>
<li rel="tile_003">Link 2</li>
<li rel="tile_004">Link 3</li>
<li rel="tile_006">Link 4</li>
<li rel="tile_007">Link 5</li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 6</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 7</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 8</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 9</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 10</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 11</a></li>
</ul>

<!-- Here all the links of the second level -->
<ul id="tile_002" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the second level">
<li rel="tile_005">Link 1.1</li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.2</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.3</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.4</a></li>
</ul>

<ul id="tile_003" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the second level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 2.1</a></li>
<li rel="tile_008">Link 2.2</li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 2.3</a></li>
</ul>

<ul id="tile_004" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the second level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 3.1</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 3.2</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 3.3</a></li>
</ul>


<ul id="tile_006" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the second level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 4.1</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 4.2</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 4.3</a></li>
</ul>

<ul id="tile_007" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the second level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 5.1</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 5.2</a></li>
</ul>


<!-- Here all the links of the third level -->
<ul id="tile_005" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the third level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.1.1</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.1.2</a></li>
</ul>


<ul id="tile_008" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the third level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.2.1</a></li>
<li><a href="URL address">Link 1.2.2</a></li>
</ul>

</div>

Add the URLs of the links and the names of the tabs and that's it.
If you want to add more links to the first level, then add another line like this:

<li><a href="URL address">Link 12</a></li>

If you want to add another level to the link, then the line should be like this:

<li rel="tile_0010">Link 5</li>

Then in the area of ​​the second or third level, add a piece like this:

<ul id="tile_0010" class="jGlide_001_tiles" title="Menu" alt="Description of the second level">
<li><a href="URL address">Link 5.1</a></li>
<li><a href="Url address">Link 5.2</a></li>
</ul>

Here you should keep something in mind, if you look closely the link takes the REL attribute which must be the same as the ID we put on the second level, these IDs should not repeat and always be unique.
Yes, it sounds complicated, but once you understand the concept, you'll see that is actually pretty simple.

In the area of ​​the styles, there are the parts that can be customized. If you want the menu to be static, let's say you want to add it in the sidebar, then delete the first code of the script that is in italics. And in the CSS styles, remove this part:

position: absolute; /* Change absolute with fixed if you want it to float */
top: 50px; /* Distance above */
right: 760px; /* Distance to the right */

When there are many links then, there will be showing some arrows, so when you mouseover them, it will show the rest of the links either up or down.

Throughout the menu structure we can change the Menu name and the descriptions as well.

As this menu is made with JQuery, it is recommended to verify to have only one version of it.

More about → Vertical drop down menu with jQuery

How to embed a youtube playlist on your blogger blog

In this post we will see how to create a YouTube video gallery using jQuery. It is an elegant gallery in which we can add 5 videos and for its dimensions, we could put it below the blog header. Actually you can put it anywhere, but it is recommended in that area considering that 765px is the width of the gallery.

To add this video slider to your blog go to Template > Edit HTML and before the </head> tag, add these scripts:

<script>
//<![CDATA[
/*hoverscroll v.0.2.4*/
(function($) {
$.fn.hoverscroll = function(params) {
if (!params) { params = {}; }
params = $.extend({}, $.fn.hoverscroll.params, params);
this.each(function() {
var $this = $(this);
if (params.debug) {$.log('[HoverScroll] Trying to create hoverscroll on element ' + this.tagName + '#' + this.id);}
if (params.fixedArrows) {
$this.wrap('<div class="fixed-listcontainer"></div>')
}
else {
$this.wrap('<div class="listcontainer"></div>');
}

$this.addClass('list');
var listctnr = $this.parent();
listctnr.wrap('<div class="ui-widget-content hoverscroll' +
(params.rtl && !params.vertical ? " rtl" : "") + '"></div>');
//listctnr.wrap('<div class="hoverscroll"></div>');

var ctnr = listctnr.parent();

var leftArrow, rightArrow, topArrow, bottomArrow;
if (params.arrows) {
if (!params.vertical) {
if (params.fixedArrows) {
leftArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow left"></div>';
rightArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow right"></div>';

listctnr.before(leftArrow).after(rightArrow);
}
else {
leftArrow = '<div class="arrow left"></div>';
rightArrow = '<div class="arrow right"></div>';

listctnr.append(leftArrow).append(rightArrow);
}
}
else {
if (params.fixedArrows) {
topArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow top"></div>';
bottomArrow = '<div class="fixed-arrow bottom"></div>';

listctnr.before(topArrow).after(bottomArrow);
}
else {
topArrow = '<div class="arrow top"></div>';
bottomArrow = '<div class="arrow bottom"></div>';

listctnr.append(topArrow).append(bottomArrow);
}
}
}
ctnr.width(params.width).height(params.height);

if (params.arrows && params.fixedArrows) {
if (params.vertical) {
topArrow = listctnr.prev();
bottomArrow = listctnr.next();

listctnr.width(params.width)
.height(params.height - (topArrow.height() + bottomArrow.height()));
}
else {
leftArrow = listctnr.prev();
rightArrow = listctnr.next();

listctnr.height(params.height)
.width(params.width - (leftArrow.width() + rightArrow.width()));
}
}
else {
listctnr.width(params.width).height(params.height);
}

var size = 0;

if (!params.vertical) {
ctnr.addClass('horizontal');
$this.children().each(function() {
$(this).addClass('item');

if ($(this).outerWidth) {
size += $(this).outerWidth(true);
}
else {
size += $(this).width() + parseInt($(this).css('padding-left')) + parseInt($(this).css('padding-right'))
+ parseInt($(this).css('margin-left')) + parseInt($(this).css('margin-right'));
}
});
$this.width(size);

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed content width : ' + size + 'px');
}
if (ctnr.outerWidth) {
size = ctnr.outerWidth();
}
else {
size = ctnr.width() + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-left')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-right'))
+ parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-left')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-right'));
}

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed container width : ' + size + 'px');
}
}
else {
ctnr.addClass('vertical');
$this.children().each(function() {
$(this).addClass('item')

if ($(this).outerHeight) {
size += $(this).outerHeight(true);
}
else {
size += $(this).height() + parseInt($(this).css('padding-top')) + parseInt($(this).css('padding-bottom'))
+ parseInt($(this).css('margin-bottom')) + parseInt($(this).css('margin-bottom'));
}
});
$this.height(size);

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed content height : ' + size + 'px');
}
if (ctnr.outerHeight) {
size = ctnr.outerHeight();
}
else {
size = ctnr.height() + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-top')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('padding-bottom'))
+ parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-top')) + parseInt(ctnr.css('margin-bottom'));
}

if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Computed container height : ' + size + 'px');
}
}
var zone = {
1: {action: 'move', from: 0, to: 0.06 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 16},
2: {action: 'move', from: 0.06 * size, to: 0.15 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 8},
3: {action: 'move', from: 0.15 * size, to: 0.25 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 4},
4: {action: 'move', from: 0.25 * size, to: 0.4 * size, direction: -1 , speed: 2},
5: {action: 'stop', from: 0.4 * size, to: 0.6 * size},
6: {action: 'move', from: 0.6 * size, to: 0.75 * size, direction: 1 , speed: 2},
7: {action: 'move', from: 0.75 * size, to: 0.85 * size, direction: 1 , speed: 4},
8: {action: 'move', from: 0.85 * size, to: 0.94 * size, direction: 1 , speed: 8},
9: {action: 'move', from: 0.94 * size, to: size, direction: 1 , speed: 16}
}

ctnr[0].isChanging = false;
ctnr[0].direction = 0;
ctnr[0].speed = 1;
function checkMouse(x, y) {
x = x - ctnr.offset().left;
y = y - ctnr.offset().top;

var pos;
if (!params.vertical) {pos = x;}
else {pos = y;}

for (i in zone) {
if (pos >= zone[i].from && pos < zone[i].to) {
if (zone[i].action == 'move') {startMoving(zone[i].direction, zone[i].speed);}
else {stopMoving();}
}
}
}

function setArrowOpacity() {
if (!params.arrows || params.fixedArrows) {return;}

var maxScroll;
var scroll;

if (!params.vertical) {
maxScroll = listctnr[0].scrollWidth - listctnr.width();
scroll = listctnr[0].scrollLeft;
}
else {
maxScroll = listctnr[0].scrollHeight - listctnr.height();
scroll = listctnr[0].scrollTop;
}
var limit = params.arrowsOpacity;
var opacity = (scroll / maxScroll) * limit;

if (opacity > limit) { opacity = limit; }
if (isNaN(opacity)) { opacity = 0; }

var done = false;
if (opacity <= 0) {
$('div.arrow.left, div.arrow.top', ctnr).hide();
if(maxScroll > 0) {
$('div.arrow.right, div.arrow.bottom', ctnr).show().css('opacity', limit);
}
done = true;
}
if (opacity >= limit || maxScroll <= 0) {
$('div.arrow.right, div.arrow.bottom', ctnr).hide();
done = true;
}

if (!done) {
$('div.arrow.left, div.arrow.top', ctnr).show().css('opacity', opacity);
$('div.arrow.right, div.arrow.bottom', ctnr).show().css('opacity', (limit - opacity));
}
}

function startMoving(direction, speed) {
if (ctnr[0].direction != direction) {
if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Starting to move. direction: ' + direction + ', speed: ' + speed);
}

stopMoving();
ctnr[0].direction = direction;
ctnr[0].isChanging = true;
move();
}
if (ctnr[0].speed != speed) {
if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Changed speed: ' + speed);
}

ctnr[0].speed = speed;
}
}

function stopMoving() {
if (ctnr[0].isChanging) {
if (params.debug) {
$.log('[HoverScroll] Stoped moving');
}

ctnr[0].isChanging = false;
ctnr[0].direction = 0;
ctnr[0].speed = 1;
clearTimeout(ctnr[0].timer);
}
}

function move() {
if (ctnr[0].isChanging == false) {return;}

setArrowOpacity();

var scrollSide;
if (!params.vertical) {scrollSide = 'scrollLeft';}
else {scrollSide = 'scrollTop';}

listctnr[0][scrollSide] += ctnr[0].direction * ctnr[0].speed;
ctnr[0].timer = setTimeout(function() {move();}, 50);
}

if (params.rtl && !params.vertical) {
listctnr[0].scrollLeft = listctnr[0].scrollWidth - listctnr.width();
}

ctnr
.mousemove(function(e) {checkMouse(e.pageX, e.pageY);})
.bind('mouseleave', function() {stopMoving();});

this.startMoving = startMoving;
this.stopMoving = stopMoving;

if (params.arrows && !params.fixedArrows) {
// Initialise arrow opacity
setArrowOpacity();
}
else {
// Hide arrows
$('.arrowleft, .arrowright, .arrowtop, .arrowbottom', ctnr).hide();
}
});

return this;
};

if (!$.fn.offset) {
$.fn.offset = function() {
this.left = this.top = 0;

if (this[0] && this[0].offsetParent) {
var obj = this[0];
do {
this.left += obj.offsetLeft;
this.top += obj.offsetTop;
} while (obj = obj.offsetParent);
}

return this;
}
}

$.fn.hoverscroll.params = {
vertical: false,
width: 400,
height: 50,
arrows: true,
arrowsOpacity: 0.7,
fixedArrows: false,
rtl: false,
debug: false
};
$.log = function() {
try {console.log.apply(console, arguments);}
catch (e) {
try {opera.postError.apply(opera, arguments);}
catch (e) {}
}
};
})(jQuery);

$(function(){
$("#videoslider-tabs a").click(function(){
var container = $("#videoslider-content");
container.html("<img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8WvS7nX3jeCGP2EB_Ua6aMee4gsev32TulenPcliPeHirYHD-iv1mqg9bf7LQhLhIyHeQaXQcd6qhOSib506zkAaft1LOddeqwInAN4w81BDKo1QZCR5kILXbs1g3KrQzdtbzVDuN_jC/s1600/loading.png' class='loading-vid' />");
var id = $(this).attr("href").slice(1);
loadvideo(id);
return false;
});
$("#videoslider-tabs").hoverscroll({vertical:true,width:300,height:330,arrows:false});
$("#videoslider-tabs li").hover(function(){$(this).addClass("hover");},function(){$(this).removeClass("hover");});
loadvideo();
});

function loadvideo (hash){if(hash){hash = hash.slice(3);$("#videoslider-content").html(video[hash]);$("#videoslider-tabs li").removeClass("actVid");$("#videoslider-tabs a[href=#vid"+hash+"]").parent().addClass("actVid");}else{$("#videoslider-content").html(video[1]);$("#videoslider-tabs li").removeClass("actVid");$("#videoslider-tabs a[href=#vid1]").parent().addClass("actVid");}}
//]]>
</script>

Then add the styles before ]]></b:skin>

/* Video Gallery for Blogger
----------------------------------------------- */
#videoslider {
background:#000; /* Background color */
clear:both;
margin:0 auto;
padding:5px;
width:765px;
border-radius: 5px;
-moz-background-clip: padding;
-webkit-background-clip: padding-box;
background-clip: padding-box;
}
#videoslider, #videoslider-content, #videoslider-tabs {height:350px;overflow:hidden;}
#videoslider-content {color:#fff;float:left;text-align:center;width:460px;z-index:1;}
.loading-vid {display:block;margin:165px auto 0;}
#videoslider-tabs {float:right;width:300px;margin:0;}
#videoslider-tabs li {background:url(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP-26RqusJ6wUzHFPgCCvP7ShSDzGFrVW8Tzo07cY_E6m7JEldHByC6mj2espO46_UQYmjpLpSSXIrmaOaBSrQ3c6dTrmyrZM71T_g7EnY2MTmoRHKpT16w_9qyAoAAXNZp0vMB3B97uJT/s1600/tab_backgr.jpeg) repeat-x top left;float:left;height:60px;padding:5px;width:290px;list-style:none;}
#videoslider-tabs li a {padding:0 !important;border:0 !important;}
#videoslider-tabs li.hover {background:#333;}
#videoslider-tabs li.actVid {background:#555;}
#videoslider-tabs li img.thumb-vid {background-color:#fff;float:left;height:52px;margin:0 8px 0 0;padding:5px;width:52px;}
#videoslider-tabs li span.vidTit {
display:block;
color:#CD332D; /* Titles color */
font-size:14px; /* Titles font size */
font-weight:bold;
text-decoration:none;
}
#videoslider-tabs li .vidDesc {
display:block;
color:#fff; /* Color of the description */
font-size:12px; /* Font size of the description */
font-weight:bold;
text-decoration:none;
}
#videoslider-tabs a {text-decoration:none;}
#videoslider-tabs li.actVid .vidDesc {color:#fff;}
.ui-widget-content{float:right;}
.tabs-outer {background-image: none !important;}
#videoslider-tabs li a:hover {background: none !important;}

Now in a HTML/Javascript gadget paste the structure of the slider, this is the one you should put under the header:

<script>
var video = [];
video[1] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[2] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_2" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[3] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[4] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
video[5] = '<iframe width="460" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/video_ID_5" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>';
</script>
<div id="videoslider">
<div id="videoslider-content"></div>
<ul id="videoslider-tabs">
<li><a href="#vid1"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_1/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid2"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_2/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid3"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_3/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid4"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_4/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

<li><a href="#vid5"><img src="//i2.ytimg.com/vi/video_ID_5/default.jpg" class="thumb-vid" /><span class="vidTit">Video Name</span><span class="vidDesc">Video Description</span></a></li>

</ul>
</div>

Add the IDs of the videos, their names and their description and that's it. The description should be brief so you wont have space problems.
If you do not know how to get the ID of a video, then open the video on YouTube and look at the address bar... the last characters are the ID you need.

Note that the ID of each video should be added two times, one is for displaying the video and one for the tabs thumbnail.

As this gallery works with jQuery we should make sure to not repeat the version of the script if we already have jQuery.

More about → How to embed a youtube playlist on your blogger blog

Making a gadget visible only to the blog administrator

And the post title says it all. There are gadgets that sometimes we want to be visible only to us and not to our blog readers, perhaps a Survey already ended that we want to keep, a counter, or any gadget that while we customize, we don't want anyone else to see until the final result is ready.

 The procedure is simple, we just have to add two lines to our gadget that we want to hide.

First thing to do is to go to Template > Edit HTML and then search for the gadget's code we want to hide. It will be easier using the CTRL + F keys and locating the name of the gadget/widget.

For example, in a HTML/Javascript gadget, we will see a code like this:

<b:widget id='HTML1' locked='false' title='' type='HTML'>
<b:includable id='main'>
<span class='item-control blog-admin'>
<!-- only display title if it's non-empty -->
<b:if cond='data:title != &quot;&quot;'>
<h2 class='title'><data:title/></h2>
</b:if>
<div class='widget-content'>
<data:content/>
</div>

<b:include name='quickedit'/>
</span>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>

All you have to do is add the parts in red and ready. If you close the session go to your blog you'll not be able to view the gadget that you have hidden, but as soon as you sign in you will see that it is visible to you.

Not all gadgets have the same structure like in my example, but it will be easier to guide you, just place the first code in red just after <b:includable id='main'>

And the second red code just before </b:includable>
Note: to look inside the widget's code, click on the sideways arrow next to the widget's id.

And with that the gadget will be hidden for readers except you.

More about → Making a gadget visible only to the blog administrator

Upload images and get the URL of the image

As each day there are lots of new users joining the world of blogging, is necessary to discuss about some basic topics that bring up some recurring questions such as how we could get the URL of an image?

On the Internet there are many both free as well as paid web hosting where we can host images, but since we use Blogger then there is nothing better than using the same hosting service that Google gives us and that is Picasa.

The fastest way to upload an image is by going to the Blogger post editor. From your Blogger Dashboard, go to your blog, then click on the New post button. And preferably from the Edit HTML tab, click on the image icon.

A pop-up window will open, then click on the Choose files button, browse for your image(s), double click or click on Open and then hit Add selected.

When you have uploaded you will see that in the post editor shows the code of the image.

That code is the URL of the image. You'll see two URLs (Web addresses):

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnPM_0tVXHi0XoASooHDwckpH1YJK3hxj1U3gQWUBtCJazOoOlSEo-YO2Z34our5rzlB0yoeosYeEQ-rIM9DcXXjAA6qSHlST2JjMBJYOno3GyANl9nnPL7TATPusz6S9MQ6kX42pTl0k/s1600/Bliss-Windows-XP.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnPM_0tVXHi0XoASooHDwckpH1YJK3hxj1U3gQWUBtCJazOoOlSEo-YO2Z34our5rzlB0yoeosYeEQ-rIM9DcXXjAA6qSHlST2JjMBJYOno3GyANl9nnPL7TATPusz6S9MQ6kX42pTl0k/s320/Bliss-Windows-XP.png" /></a>

The first is the URL of the image that you need to take. It is not necessary to publish this entry where you uploaded the picture, you could as well not publish it, leave it as a draft or delete it, the image will be saved anyway on PicasaWeb (unless when you removed the draft, you have also selected the image to remove). You could also upload image directly from Picasa. Just login to PicasaWeb, select the album where you want to host the image, and click on Add photos.

Select the image from your computer and upload it.

After we have uploaded, click on OK.

There you will see the thumbnail, along with other photos, if there are more.

If you want to get the URL of the image from Picasa then click on the image to open in full size.
With the right mouse button click on the picture and select option depending on the browser you use...

If using Google Chrome, then select Copy Image URL:

If you are using Mozilla Firefox select Copy Image Location:

If you are using Opera select Copy Image URL:

If you are using Safari select Copy Image Address:

If you are using Internet Explorer (I hope not), first select Properties, a window will open, there you will find the Address section from where you can select the URL of the image and copy it:

Having selected any of these options you'll have in the clipboard the URL of the image. Simple isn't it?

Remember that all images you upload on Blogger are stored in your Picasa account, so if you find an image previously uploaded to your blog, go to your Picasa account, select the album containing the name of your blog and there find the picture you need. The procedure to obtain the URL of the image is the same as explained above.

More about → Upload images and get the URL of the image