These days I was searching for problems of bloggers to solve when I noticed that none of Blogger blogs have the comment avatar images on the right side. Only Wordpress blogs have this feature to set the position of the avatar images. I`ve spent two days finding a solution when I decided to customize the entire comments area. I think my comments area is now pretty cool, but it`s difficult to install it. Please read with attention, follow the steps bellow carefully and BACK UP your template!

Here is an image about my comments area, later in this tutorial I will show you how to customize it:

Installing this comment area form
This is pretty difficult, read with attention!

1. Go to your Dashboard, Layout , Edit HTML and check in the Expand Widget Templates checkbox.

2. Find the following code (Ctrl + F and type in comments-block):

<dl expr:class='data:post.avatarIndentClass' id='comments-block'>
<b:loop values='data:post.comments' var='comment'>
<dt expr:class='&quot;comment-author &quot; + data:comment.authorClass' expr:id='data:comment.anchorName'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.favicon'>
<img expr:src='data:comment.favicon' height='16px' style='margin-bottom:-2px;' width='16px'/>
</b:if>
<a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.enabledCommentProfileImages'>
<data:comment.authorAvatarImage/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:comment.authorUrl'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='nofollow'><data:comment.author/></a>
<b:else/>
<data:comment.author/>
</b:if>
<data:commentPostedByMsg/>
</dt>
<dd class='comment-body'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.isDeleted'>
<span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span>
<b:else/>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</b:if>
</dd>
<dd class='comment-footer'>
<span class='comment-timestamp'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.url' title='comment permalink'>
<data:comment.timestamp/>
</a>
<b:include data='comment' name='commentDeleteIcon'/>
</span>
</dd>
</b:loop>
</dl>

3. Replace the above code with the following one:

<div id='comments-block3'> <b:loop values='data:post.comments' var='comment'> <div id='comment-header'> <div expr:class='&quot;comment-author &quot; + data:comment.authorClass' expr:id='data:comment.anchorName'> <div id='comment-profile-image'> <b:if cond='data:blog.enabledCommentProfileImages'> <data:comment.authorAvatarImage/> </b:if> </div> <div id='comment-name-url'> <a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/> <b:if cond='data:comment.authorUrl'> <a class='comments-autor-name' expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='nofollow'><data:comment.author/></a> <b:else/> <a class='comments-autor-name'> <data:comment.author/></a> </b:if><a class='says'>says:</a> </div> <div id='comment-date'> <span class='comment-timestamp'> <a class='comment-permalink'> <data:comment.timestamp/> </a> <b:include data='comment' name='commentDeleteIcon'/> </span> </div> <div id='comment-body'> <b:if cond='data:comment.isDeleted'> <span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span> <b:else/> <p class='comment-body'> <data:comment.body/></p> </b:if> </div> </div> </div> </b:loop> <div align='right' class='js-id-json14358458433' id='comments-form-script-js14876248' style='margin:0 10px 0 0; height:10px;'><a href='http://seo-tips-blogger.blogspot.com' rel='dofollow' style='font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana; font-size:10px; color:#484848; text-decoration:none;'>BY SEO TIPS BLOGGER</a><!--comments-form json14358458433 - don`t edit!--></div> </div>

4. Find the following codes and remove them:

Your code may be a little different , search for the starting tags

#comments-block {

margin:1em 0 1.5em;

line-height:1.6em;

}

#comments-block .comment-author {

margin:.5em 0;

}

#comments-block .comment-body {

margin:.25em 0 0;

}

#comments-block .comment-footer {

margin:-.25em 0 2em;

line-height: 1.4em;

text-transform:uppercase;

letter-spacing:.1em;

}

#comments-block .comment-body p {

margin:0 0 .75em;

}

Customizing the comments area

Find the ]]></b:skin> line and place the following code BEFORE it!

#comments-block3 {

padding:0;

margin:0;

float:left;

overflow:hidden;

}

#comments {

padding:0;

margin:0;

}

#comment-name-url {

width:465px;

float:left;

}

#comment-date {

width:465px;

float:left;

}

#comment-header {

float:left;

border:1px dotted rgb(187, 187, 187);

padding:5px 0 5px 10px;

margin:5px;

background: rgb(238, 238, 238);

}

.avatar-image-container {

background:url(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/coolboycsaba/no-avatar4.jpg);

width:48px;

height:48px;

float:right;

margin:5px 10px 5px 5px;

}

.avatar-image-container img {

border: 1px solid white;

width:48px;

height:48px;

}

a.comments-autor-name {

color:#088A08;

font-weight:bold;

font-size: 12px;

font-style: normal;

font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana;

}

a.says {

color:black;

font-weight:bold;

font-size: 12px;

font-style: normal;

font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana;

}

.says a:hover {

text-decoration: none;

}

a.comment-permalink {

color:#088A08;

font-weight:normal;

font-size: 10px;

font-style: normal;

font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana;

}

1. Change the size of the avatar image

Customize the size of the comments to fit to your template:

First change the size of the avatar images:

.avatar-image-container {

background:url(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/coolboycsaba/no-avatar4.jpg);

width:48px;

height:48px;

float:right;

margin:5px 10px 5px 5px;

}

.avatar-image-container img {

border: 1px solid white;

width:48px;

height:48px;

}

To change the size of the avatar images replace the red marked values to any number of pixels. Use the same at all red marked code lines.

Now change the size of the comments area:

#comment-name-url {

width:465px;

float:left;

}

#comment-date {

width:465px;

float:left;

}

The size of the comments area is depending on the size of the main-wrapper and on the size of the avatar image: e.g:

(main-wrapper)550px - (avatar image)48px - (paddings , margins and borders)37px = 465px

The padding and margins size is in bold because it`s always 37px, calculate the size of your comments area size and use the result as the value of the red marked code lines.

2. Change the colors
To change the background color of the comments change the red code line , to change the color of the border change the blue code line to any color.

#comment-header {
float:left;
border:1px dotted rgb(187, 187, 187);
padding:5px 0 5px 10px;
margin:5px;
background: rgb(238, 238, 238);
}

e.g:

#comment-header {
float:left;
border:1px dotted red;
padding:5px 0 5px 10px;
margin:5px;
background:#FF00FF;

To change the color of the comment author name change the red marked code line , to change the color of the comment posted date change the blue marked code line, to change the color of the says word change the green marked code line.

a.comments-autor-name {

color:#088A08;

font-weight:bold;

font-size: 12px;

font-style: normal;

font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana;

}

a.says {

color:black;

font-weight:bold;

font-size: 12px;

font-style: normal;

font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana;

}

a.comment-permalink {

color:#088A08;

font-weight:normal;

font-size: 10px;

font-style: normal;

font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana;

}

3. Change the border types

Here are the border types to chose from, every comment have a border.

#comment-header {

float:left;

border:1px dotted rgb(187, 187, 187);

padding:5px 0 5px 10px;

margin:5px;

background: rgb(238, 238, 238);

}

Dotted

-this is the default , don`t change the red marked code

Dashed

-to use this type of borders change the value of the red marked word to dashed

Solid

-change the red marked word to solid

4. Change the No-Avatar image:

.avatar-image-container {

background:url(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/coolboycsaba/no-avatar4.jpg);

width:48px;

height:48px;

float:right;

margin:5px 10px 5px 5px;

}

Change the URL (marked with red) with the URL of your image, please change it or download the image and upload it to your own host or photobucket , don`t steal my bandwidth!

Save your template!
Well done! If you have followed all the above steps carefully your comments area is pretty cool and it`s ready to use!
NOTE: Please don`t remove that small link at the end! Thanks my reading our blog!

Related tutorials:

Read more...

Help us to grow our blog! Contribute to our community by interacting with us and by sending us your posts about your SEO experiences or blogger template editing.
Your name with the name of your website/blog will be displayed with a DoFollow link to your website/blog at the end of your article.
You will receive some visitors from this blog. More higher is the quality of your post than more higher will be the number of visitors.

The rules - read them!

Don`t submit duplicated or stolen articles!
Don`t submit the article to other blog ,select: submit only to this blog or if you have submitted allready to another blog please don`t submit it!
Write only about thinks what you know about ,write accurate post.

How to send an article:

Send your post via email to me:

Please send your article to seo_tips_blogger@yahoo.com

Please include:

your name

the name of your website/blog

the address of your website/blog

the title of your post

the content of your post

Thanks for contributing to OUR community!

Related tutorials:

Read more...

A Read more... button is very useful if you have very long articles, because you can select the amount of text from the beginning of the post to display as a teaser. This post is the first part, in this post i will show you how to design your own read more button, because a stylish button is always better then a simple text link.

1. First we need an image to use as background for the button. I will use this image as example:

Please don`t use my image, try to create your own with any image editor program like Photoshop or even with Paint.

2. Now we need to place a code snippet inside of the template code :

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'> <div id='read-more-button'><a class='read-more' expr:href='data:post.url'>Read more...</a></div></b:if>

Place the code right after the following line: <data:post.body/>

This code snippet will place a simple Read more... link after all of your posts.

3. Now we will add some CSS code to customize the button:

#read-more-button {

background-color:white;

background-image:url(http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu178/coolboycsaba/read-more.png);

height:33px;

width:133px;

padding:2px 0 0 0;

background-repeat:no-repeat;

float:right;

}

a.read-more {

color:white;

font-size:18px;

color:white;

font-weight: normal;

margin:0 0 0 18px;

}

This is the code what i have used for my button. The first part of the code is responding for the button ,the second part for the text of the button. The height and width tags from the first part of the code are defining the size of the button, use the size of your image. The padding is the distance from the button and the objects around it. The first number is defining the top margin, the second number the right margin, the third is number the bottom ,and the last number the left margin. The padding is defining the space between the text inside the button, the values are the same as the margin. Place this code right BEFORE this code: ]]></b:skin>

If you don`t understand something just ask!

Save your template and read the second part of the post: How to add a read more button to blogger posts -part 2

Related tutorials:

Read more...