Blogger Gadgets

Your Page Layout

Click on the Layout menu option to see a block representation of how your site looks. Each block represents what Google calls a Gadget. A block is basically a place holder for something that the site will do, and the Gadget tells your site how to do it.

If a Gadget exists in the block, you'll see an Edit link to the right of that. Clicking on Edit will allow you to customize or remove the Gadget.

Some of the blocks have a gray bar down the left side. When you see that, it means that you can click on that bar and drag the block to a new location.  If a block is empty, you can click on Add a Gadget to configure the block to do something.

You don't have to worry about running out of blocks. Once you add a gadget, a block will be created and a new add a gadget link will appear on the layout.

Adding a Gadget

When you click on Add a Gadget, you'll get a list of Gadgets that you can use.  Many of the commonly used Gadgets are in under the Basics option. Click on More Gadgets to see additional Gadgets.

Gadgets created by Google or Blogger will be safe to use. If you select a Gadget created by another source, you should verify that the source is a trusted one before using it.

To add a gadget to a block, simply click on it.  Most of the time this will display a dialog window allowing you to customize the contents of the block.

Common Gadgets

Creating a menu Bar

Select the Pages gadget under the Basics Gadget list to create a menu bar on your site. It will display a list of the pages that you have created and all you need to do is click on the ones that you want to add to your menu.

Email Notification

If you want to allow readers to be notified by email when you update your blog, then add the Follow by Email gadget. It can be found under the Basics Gadget list

Contact Forms

You can make it easy for your readers to contact you by email without displaying your email address by using the Contact Form gadget. This Gadget can be found under the More Gadgets list.

Other Gadgets

Sometimes you just want to write a simple message in the sidebar. The Text gadget is an effective way to do that.