Edublogs Tutorials

PLEASE NOTE:  this post has been revised and is now out of date.  All the complicated instructions below have been replaced with a few simple clicks - thanks James

Please check out ClustrMaps update
Clustrmaps is a great little widget that adds a map to your sidebar with a map of the world. On that map are red dots of varying sizes that indicate the location and number of visitors. When writing for audience, there is nothing more exciting then seeing that people outside your country are looking at your blog and reading your posts.

Just a warning before you start this little map will replace all the things you currently have in your sidebar.

However, you can add them back in quite simply. I shall add a post on customising sidebars later on, so no problems

PHASE I: Copy your ClustrMaps HTML code1.

1. Go to clustrmaps registration to set up your map for your blog
2. Clustrmaps will send you a password - numbers an letters
3. Log in to your ClustrMaps ‘Admin’ page by clicking on the Admin link at the top of any ClustrMaps page, or going directly to: http://www.clustrmaps.com/admin/action.php (use your URL (blog’s website address ie www.—) as your username, and the password you have been sent, or the password you changed it to)
4. On your admin page, you will then see a box containing the relevant HTML code.
5. Click in the box with your mouse and select ALL of that text (you can use the two keyboard keys CTRL+A to select all of it)
6. Now copy that HTML (you can use the two keyboard keys CTRL+C to perform this, or right-click with the mouse and select ‘Copy’); you will then paste it into your web page later on below.

PHASE II: Edublog alterations

1. Now you must log into your edublogs account,using the sequence you would normally use, say, if you were about to change your blog settings or preferences or user profile information.
2. Do this in a separate browser window if possible, or in the same window you are currently using if that is simpler for you.
3. You now need to add in the ‘code’ on your page where the map is going to appear.
4. To do this, follow this specific sequence for this edublogs as specified immediately below:

a) Bring up the ‘dashboard’ (all those Edublogs menu items - you can also click on site admin), and at the top go through the following sequence:

b) click on the following sequence of menus and tabs:

Manage…

Presentation…

Sidebar widgets…

c) drag a box called ‘text 1′ (or ‘text 2′ or ‘text 3′ or ‘text 4′, etc)
from ‘Available widgets’ into the ‘Sidebar’ area… (if you need more text boxes , just scroll down the page a bit and alter the number from 1 to what you need

d) click on the right-hand side (looks like a box with 3 horizontal stripes), which is the ‘configure’ button

e) give it a title such as: Visitors to this site

f) click in the main box, and use the CTRL+V keys to paste what you earlier copied at step 3, or right-click with the mouse and select ‘Paste’

g) close it (click on the [X] in the upper right)

h) click on ‘Save changes’ (right hand side of the screen)

I would also check the titles of the things in my sidebar like

RSS feed

Archives etc

and manually add these back using the drag and drop facility - otherwie they will not show up when you save

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