You have created a full website and you want to add a new post but not to replace the front page, or you want to draw attention to a previous post that is no longer clearly visible to visitors. How to create it and how to add it?
There are several easy solutions on blogger, all with their advantages in terms of aesthetics, layout and visibility.
Create a new post
If you haven't already, first create the post and its content. Sign into the dashboard and select the large pencil symbol visible in most menus. Add the text and a title and any photos, and then at the point of publishing it (preview first to be sure it looks good) select the Schedule option in the right hand menu and select Set date and time - choosing any date earlier than the current front page of your website. This will ensure that your new post will not replace the front page. Also (this is optional but is an opportunity to make it more searchable) choose a four or five word permalink (words separated by hyphens) to describe the article using the most essential key words. Add these to the custom
permalink section.
Then press
publish in the top menu. Next find the url of the post you want to link to. Go to the list of
posts in the main menu. Select
view for the post you have just created
(or the previous post you want to highlight), and copy its url (Uniform Resource Locator, meaning its unique internet address) from the bar at the top of your screen. (Alternatively you can find the url by right clicking your mouse and selecting the
view page info option and then highlighting and copying the
Address line). You now need to add this url to somewhere on your website.
Where to link the url?
To existing pages or postsYou can simply add the url to text of an existing visible pages or post as an ordinary link. Don't forget to signpost clearly what it is readers will find if they click that link.
Add it to the pages tabbed at the top of your websiteYou might want this new post to be a key tab at the top of your website. To add it to these page tabs go to the
page menu and select
new page. Of the two options select
web address - this will give the option of adding the url and a new short page title that will become the new tab. Add you url and name and press save.
Add it to a gadget added to the sidebar or footerOr you could add this url link to one or more of a range of gadgets available from the
layout menu gadgets list.
Visit the
layout page and click add gadget. The best is a
link list gadget to which your new page/post can be added as a labeled option together with a good title (follow the instructions in the gadget) Alternatively for better visibility and to attract attention to it, use an
image gadget
. Again select this gadget and follow the instructions. Make sure the picture you use is the right size to fit the sidebar where it is to be placed.
The width of your picture should be a little narrower (10 pxels or so) than the width of your sidebar. Use a photo image package like gimp (free) or snagit or photo editor
if you need to edit your photo size. You can use the
shrink to fit option before publishing the image which works fine if the image is close in size, but it takes a little longer to upload and can look messy. Before publishing the image make sure to add the url of your new page.
Once created these gadgets can be moved to any location in the sidebars by dragging and saving.
Use the pre-formatted Popular Posts gadget Posts will be added automatically to the
popular posts gadget which can also be added to your sidebar or footer
using the add gadget menu. They will appear on your website if the post in question gets enough traffic to make the list. This can also carry a snippet of info about the post and a small picture from it - making it more visible and attractive to visitors.
The gadget helpfully alllows you to choose how many post appear, and whether as just titles, or a snippet (first sentence or so) and an image.
Done.
