Thepipbuzz

This weekly blogger tip is complements of Shutterfly:   tips about how to take great photos, of various types, no matter what sort of camera you use. Why? Why take your own pictures, when there are so many free-photo-search tools out there? Well, if you want your blog to be copyright-legal , then you need to either find free-use photos, or make your own. Creating your own post-photos is especially useful to prove that your local blog really is local (like this ) - and taking pictures that I take myself and host pictures in Picasa / Google+ Photos means that my posts always have a thumbnail image . How? Great tips from the pros, here: http://www.shutterfly.com/how-to-take-the-perfect-photo/ The best bit is that this isn't just a glossy, or a snobby "fancy-cameras-only" guide.    There are tips for every combination of  camera type: DSLR Smartphone Point and shoot and photo type: Portraits Selfie Bokeh Macro Action shots Close up Wide angle Food Candi...

This article is about the options for setting the home page for blogs made with Google's Blogger. Blogs don't have a "home page", main page or "landing page" in the same way that regular web-sites do.  Instead, they show the newest post first, since (hopefully!) most readers will be return visitors, coming back to see what's new. But there may be blogs/websites where you want a welcome message or a particular post to appear first whenever someone visits your blog, or where you want to put all your posts in reverse order. This article is about options for giving your Blogger blog a "home page". It lists four options, and gives advantages/disadvantages of each approach, and links to articles with details about implementing each case. If you can think of any more approaches, please leave a comment below. Options for giving your blog a home page include: Static page combined with a custom re-direct - as discovered by Nitecruzr , and now describe...

If you use AdSense to make money on your blog, and have a mobile template enabled (which should, unless the blog is about something that makes no sense on a mobile device),  then it's an extremely good idea to have at least one AdSense ad-unit that was made with Blogger's official AdSense widget rather than by getting the code from AdSense and installing it manually. This is because the a majority of gadgets don't show up on the screen when a visitor using a mobile device (cellphone or tablet) looks at a blog which has a mobile template set up for it - and by default this includes AdSense gadgets.   When a mobile visitor looks at a blog, Blogger does check to see if AdSense is used on it, and if so it shows one or two ad-units to them.  But unfortunately these checks only detect AdSense gadgets, not AdSense code in HTML/Javascript gadgets or added directly to the template.   So the net effect is that unless you have one of the official AdSense gadgets, mobile visit...

An interesting addition to Amazon's terms and conditions for their Associates (announced here ): �If you are a Non-US person participating in the Program, you agree that you will perform all services under the Operating Agreement outside the United States. If, for any reason, you cannot comply with this requirement, you must notify us using this link for an exception.� My guess is that this is something to do with tax-regulations, and is worth a few moments thought (at least) for Bloggers who use Amazon Associates links  to earn money from their blogs.     But it also made me wonder about bloggers who travel a lot:   we possibly shouldn't be doing any work inside a country where we don't have a visa that allows us to work.   I wonder if that includes writing blog posts, or perhaps even drafting but not publishing them or taking pictures for them? 

This article is about how you can work out what Google Account to use to check custom domain renewal details from the reminder emails that Google sends in the month before the domain registration expires. Domain registration warning emails If you have a custom domain that you purchased through Blogger (when that service was available), and you have not transferred that registration to another domain registrar, then every year you will get a series of email messages like this: The message text is: Hello, Your domain name, yourDomain.com, is configured for automatic renewal with registrar REGISTRAR (usually enom or goDaddy) on DATE. Each registration renewal is valid for one year. Google will charge your account after the renewal is complete. To ensure uninterrupted service, please follow these directions to update your payment method if needed. If you don�t want to renew your domain name and continue using Google Apps, you should turn off automatic renewal under the �Domain sett...