Connecting your blog to its audience is now easier than ever, thanks to a new Blogger widget option which automatically displays a Google+ Community Badge next to your blog.
Announced by the Blogger Google+ page, this update allows you to effortlessly insert a Community badge using only its ID, found at the end of its URL. You don’t have to own or moderate a Community to embed its badge (though those are good places to start) and you can insert as many as you want, so you still don’t have to choose between Star Wars and Star Trek.
To add one to your own blog, just open its Blogger dashboard and hit the “Layout” button. Then, click “Add a gadget” and choose “Google+ Badge” in the popup window. From there, make sure you’ve selected “Community” as the badge type.
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| The widget editor showing what a Community badge will look like on your blog. |
Once you’ve finished making your changes, just hit “Save” and the badge will be live on your site. Each Community badge features its photo, tagline, number of members, and a direct link to the Community, and it automatically stays up to date so you don’t have to worry about inserting a new one every time you make a change.
Finally, click "save arrangement" on the "layout" page, and your new Google+ Communities badge will appear on your blog where you placed it in your layout.
Finally, click "save arrangement" on the "layout" page, and your new Google+ Communities badge will appear on your blog where you placed it in your layout.
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| Example Google+ Communities badge on Blogger |
This is a good update for people who are active in Communities but who didn’t want to fuss around with their blog’s code to promote them.
How have you used Blogger, Google+ Communities, and Badges to connect with people who share your interests? Tell us your stories in the comments!