There are many blogs where you might have trouble finding information, especially if there are older posts that were really useful to you. If you don't have the date of the post memorized, or the specific post already bookmarked, you're out of luck. Free blogs are a wonderful thing, but websites have one advantage in that you can dedicate an entire page to index material-or you have all kinds of wonderful tabs that help you to navigate the site. Blogs are designed differently; posts and links are always moving around, so you might have trouble finding a post the next time.
Here's my own tip for other bloggers if you're interested, create an "index post." It's a very simple concept really, and easy to do. Here's how I do it in blogger:
1. Create a post that you're going to use for an index. If you don't want that being the first thing people come to on your opening page, you might decide to go back to an older dated post, especially one that is no longer relevant, change the title to "Index" or whatever you wish to title your index and eliminate the content material in that post (make sure it is something you don't care whether you keep or not).
2. Once that "Index post" is created, and the post is published, click on the title of that post. That will give you the exact web address of that particular page. Copy that address. Here's the address for my index of illustrations at "Pen and Ink Details" to give you an example: http://pen-and-ink-details.blogspot.com/2009/03/index-of-illustrations.html
3. Once you've copied the address for your index page, go into the "design" section in the blogger dashboard. Hopefully when you originally designed your blog, you added sidebars, either on the left, right, or bottom that allowed you to add little gadgets to your blog. You want this index to be as visible as possible, so go to one of your sidebars and click "add a gadget." Scroll down to the gadget called: "link list" and click on this item.
4. Creating a "link list.": you can put as many things as you want into this link list, but if you want, you can just have one link, which will be your index page. Be sure you click "save" in the box if you want to keep your link list. Once this gadget is in place, put it in the most noticeable spot you can on the screen, so people will always know where to find it. To move the gadget, just left click on it, and pull the gadget to wherever you want it.
You can set up your link list as you create the gadget, or you can come back and edit the link list later from the "design" page of your blog. Just go into "design", then click "edit" on your link list to get back in.
5. Configuring the "link list": In the editing box for the "link list", you'll need to fill in the proper information for your links. If you want a title for your list, add it. If not, then leave the title blank. Go down and put in the link information for the links you want in this list.
Fill in or leave the title blank. If you want to limit the number of links in this list, fill in a number. Decide how you want the list to be sorted: I use "don't sort" in this instance, so that I can put the "Index" link at the top or wherever it will be easiest to find.
Here's the important part: in the section that says, "New Site URL", paste in the web address for your "Index post." (Remember how you copied that before?) Just be sure there is only one http:// as they provide one in that box for you.
In the "New Site Name" box, you're going to put in the name of your Index Post page. Type in a name that people will easily understand is designed to be an index. BE SURE TO CLICK THE SAVE BUTTON at the bottom right hand side of this box.
Here are a few examples:
On my Pen and Ink details page, it's called "Full Index of Illustrations."
Scroll down and you will find the link on the left side of the page:
http://pen-and-ink-details.blogspot.com/
I have two different link lists on my Music Division Page on the left hand side. You scroll down and find the index there: http://penandinkdetailsmusicdivision.blogspot.com/
[You may also decide to use the "link list" as your index, but I would suggest that this is not as handy. It's just not as compact, and it can clutter up your sidebar. I like putting my index in a post.]
6. Setting up the Index: this is relatively simple. Once your link to your index is set up, go to the "dashboard" and click on "edit posts." Go down to the post you've designated as your index, and click on "edit." Follow these steps for every post you want indexed.
a. In the content box editing window, look for the icon that displays bullet points. Click on it, and for everything you want to index, you can have nice little bullet points to set off each new topic.
b. Type the title of your post, or the subject/topic in your list next to a bullet.
c. Keep this window open, and open a new window that shows your blog, or whatever you want to index.
Click on the title of your blog post, so that it will give you the exact address of that post.
d. Copy the post address. Go back to the editing window and highlight the proper title in your index you want to link to. Click "link" in the content editing window, and it will allow you to put in a URL. Put in that URL that you just copied. (If the title is already a link, clicking on the link button will automatically link right to it.) Now you should have a newly indexed post that will allow people to easily find that particular content on your blog.
Be sure you save the post, or if you are ready to publish it, do so.
Once you've created your index, be sure to keep it updated!
Here are examples of my indexes:
http://pen-and-ink-details.blogspot.com/2009/03/index-of-illustrations.html
http://pen-and-ink-details.blogspot.com/2010/05/pid-music-division-index.html
If I have left out any steps or you think that something could be more clear, tell me at penandinkdetails@gmail.com
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