Goodies and Gadgets

Depending on the blogging software or service you are using, you can use what is referred to as a plugin. Plugins, also known as add-ons, are modules of software that add features or services to the main blogging system. They can help you enhance your blogging experience by adding special functions to the original installation. Plugins can make the reader experience smoother or provide detailed information about varying topics, like visitors, comments, and traffic. Checking out the website of your blog software can usually direct you to a master list of goodies that you can download and customize.

Plugins and add-ons can range from practical to downright ridiculous. Practical: you can use some plugins to monitor comment statistics and turn URLs into links automatically in your posts and comments, or you may find a plugin that allows you to pull RSS feeds from other blogs you own or participate in into your blog. Ridiculous: there are plugins that display the birthdays of your readers, list your Netflix rentals... etc.

Third-Party Services

MyBlogLog: This service allows you to build mini-communities. After you register, you can place a badge on your blog that displays the most recent MyBlogLog members who have visited your site. It is a great feature for finding new blogs and for connecting with other bloggers who may be lurking on your blog.

Twitter: "What are you doing?" is the question over at Twitter. Twitter is a service that let you tell people what you are doing every moment of the day. It lets you blog in short burst, from your PC, from your mobile phone, or right from your Instant Messenger. Twitter is completely free and highly addictive. The service provides handy badges for your site with a quick copy and paste, and your every move is there for public consumption.

Amazon Associates: Amazon has an associate program that allows you to earn a little by promoting items it sells on your site. You can use it as a money-generating tool, but you can also use it to display what you bought recently or show the items on your wish list. And you make a couple of bucks from it.

Share Your Musical Tastes with Last.fm

Consider sharing a list of your favourite artists, or hook up with Last.fm and display your favourite tunes or currently playing tracks right on your blog.

Last.fm is a great community for music buffs. With a quick download and installation of the Last.fm software plugin and application, it streams the info from your recently listened tracks from your chosen player to your profile on its website. Last.fm also automatically compiles a customized radio station based on your listening habits, and tallies up your most popular songs so you can see what your own patterns have been. You can link up with friends, find people with similar musical tastes, and find new music through network. After you have built up a bit of information in your profile, you can easily incorporate your playlist or a personalized radio station into your blog with Last.fm's widget code. Last.fm also provides your playlist as an RSS feed.

Pulling Flickr Photos into Your Blog

Pulling photos into your blog from your Flickr account is quite simple. First, you need to have a Flickr account.

Here are the simple steps for adding Flickr to your WordPress blog:

1. Log in to your WordPress blog.
2. Click My Dashboard.
3. Click the Presentation tab.
4. Click the Widgets tab.
5. Click and drag the Flickr widget into your widget list.
6. When the widget is in place, click the icon on the right side of the Flickr widget. A window appears for you to paste your Flickr account's RSS feed.
7. Find your account's RSS feed at the bottom of your Flickr page and paste it in the Flickr RSS URL field on your WordPress Flickr widget.
8. From the drop-down menu, choose the number of photos to display. Then close the widget window.
9. Click Save Change to ensure your settings are saved. Preview your site to make sure that your Flickr photos appear.

If you are using a blogging tool such as Movable Type or Blogger, you can create a code snippet right on Flickr to copy and paste into your sidebar template. Creating and customizing your Flickr code snippet, or Flickr Badge, is a simple procedure. You can choose from a couple of different looks.

Here are the steps to finding the Badge Wizard and applying it to your blog:

1. Log in to your Flickr account.
2. From your Flickr home page, click Upload Photos.
3. On the left side, click the Uploading Tools link.
4. When you are on the Help/Tools page, scroll down the right side until you find the section called Display Flickr Photos on Your Website.
5. Click the Build a Badge link.
6. From here, Flickr takes you through a number of steps to customize your Flickr Badge. Choose from an HTML badge or a Flash-enhanced badge; choose what photos to display from your account, select your colours to make them match your blog, and then click the Preview & Get Code button. When you are finished, Flickr provides you with a snippet of code to copy and paste into your own templates.

Personalize your Sidebar

Your sidebar is the section on your blog containing typically a column or two. Gussying up your sidebar is quick and painless. With just a few clicks and your sidebar is ready. If you are using MovableType or WordPress on your own hosted site, it takes a little more work and a little copy and paste, but it is rather painless. Here are a few ideas to get your creativity flowing:

More about yourself. If you are not sure what to do with your sidebar, start with the basics. Not only will poeple who read your blog want to know more about the kind of person you are, but they will be interested in the things you like as well. Some bloggers opt to include links to sites they frequent, or places they shop. Bloggers sometimes provide information on how to contact them using various methods, links to their RSS feeds, and may be short bios about the poeple they frequently talk about in their blog entries.

Your interest. Get a little creative with your interests. If you are an avid book lover or music junkie, share that with our readers. Display a list of your favourite reads. Compile a list of your most angst-ridden CDs or create a catalog of your CD collection.

Popular widgets. There are bazillion widgets, plugins, and code snippets dedicated to displaying who, what, when, where, how. May be you want to display how many people are on your site at this very moment, show what your rank is in Technorati, or may be tell visitors how many people are subscribed to your RSS feed.

Paparazzi. Photos are popular items to include in your sidebar. Including them as a more permanent installment of your site is quite the trend. Whether they are a part of your overall design or a wdget in your sidebar, they can spice up your site with some visual interest.