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how to set up a custom domain . While this post is still highly relevant for those publishing to Blogger, there have been many updates to this service in the three years since my post was published. Here is an extract from my forthcoming ebook, Building Websites with Blogger: an updated tutorial to help you learn how to set up custom domains. If you'd prefer not to have the *.blogspot.com extension in the URL for your website, you can choose to use a Custom Domain . When you set up a custom domain, Blogger will continue to host your website, but visitors will be able to visit at your new .com, .org or .net address. When using a custom domain for our site, we can also set up personalized email addresses and other services for free using Google Apps. There are two different methods we can use to set up a custom domain with Blogger: Purchase a domain through Blogger for $10 – through which our domain is automatically configured Use advanced settings to purchase and s...

When attempting to set up their Blogger custom domain, many Blogger users have received the following error message: Another blog is already hosted at this domain Although I have set up many custom domains to use with Blogger , until this weekend I had never experienced this issue for myself (and was unable to offer any definitive solution for those experiencing this problem). My friend was experiencing this very persoalan after setting up her new blog a few days ago. We have been able to find some solutions which I hope may help others who see this error message when attempting to set up their custom domain. Assuming you have already configured the DNS settings for your particular domain provider and have attempted to publish to a custom domain through your Blogger dashboard, here are the steps you should take: 1. Publish back to your Blog*Spot domain In order to make your blog accessible while troubleshooting your custom domain, it is advisable to publish back to your Blog*Spot...

Having spent a little time away from blogging, I recently discovered that properly  setting up custom domains with Blogger has changed a little. I realised that some of my sites were no longer reachable at their "naked" domain (as in bloggerbuster.com , without the www), and that setting up a new custom domain now requires verification. Unfortunately the current instructions on Blogger Help don't quite cover all of the steps required to set up a custom domain, so for those of you who may need help I'll clarify the full process here. About this tutorial This tutorial is for those who want to set up a WWW custom domain rather than a subdomain for their Blogger hosted blog. If you need to set up a subdomain (for example, myblog. mycoolsite.com) the process is different and you should follow the instructions set out on this page. If you have already set up a custom domain but find the naked URL (mycoolsite.com) does not redirect to your website, use this t...

Adding Google Maps integration to your web projects can offer visitors a more interactive experience of your website and assist the understanding of where events or business takes place. In a recent project, I decided to utilize Blogger to create a website for a local business, and found that including Google Maps was of great benefit for visitors to understand where the business is located. However, of the many tutorials on the web which explain how to add Google Map functionality to our websites, I was unable to find clear instructions for how maps can be added to a Blogger powered blog. Luckily I discovered two simple and highly useful techniques for adding Google Maps to blog posts with no editing of the template required. In this post, I'll explain just how easy it is to add interactive Google Maps to your blog posts, which can offer your readers further insight into events, business or other local information which are relative to your site or blog posts. An Overv...

Over at 9Lessons I read a very helpful tutorial to add an "Invite your Facebook Friends" link to a website. I was able to modify this in order to add to a gadget which now appears in the sidebar on all pages of (beneath the Facebook Like box). If you click on this link, a box will appear on the page enabling you to invite chosen friends from your Facebook profile to visit . In this simple tutorial I'll explain how you can add this functionality to your own Blogger powered blog. Create a Bit.ly URL for your blog The first thing you'll need to do is  create a short bit.ly url for your blog . This will enable us to circumvent the requirement for a secure base URL (beginning with https which we can't natively use with Blogger). Make a note of this short bit.ly URL as you will need it when creating your app on Facebook. Create your Facebook App Now you'll need to create a Facebook Application as you'll need an appID to use in your code. V...

While creating a client's website (using Blogger, of course), I decided to try using Google Docs to create a comprehensive contact form. The form was wonderful: with a bit of tweaking, I was able to embed a CSS styled form (rather than use an iframe); validate required fields with jQuery; redirect to a custom "thank you" page, and even have the form submissions emailed directly to the client! Feeling rather happy with the results, I created a similar contact form for the contact page and was in the process of writing up a tutorial when I realized my inbox was rapidly filling up with spam. Which was unfortunately delivered by my Google Docs-based contact form. Sadly, I haven't (yet!) been able to find a Blogger-compatible solution to create a Google-based contact form with spam filtering and emailed submissions, so I've reverted back to my previous contact form . I'm still hopeful that a method to prevent (most) spam submissions is still possible, s...

Showcasing the designs of Blogger template designers has been a regular feature on . Each time I compile a collection of Blogger templates, I am fascinated to see the variety of free designs available. But after seeing some of the free designs available in 2012, this time I'm truly awed . Having discovered (and of course, bookmarked) some truly amazing Blogger template designers, I present more than 30 of my favourite templates for 2012 with full template screenshots and links to the designers' sites. P.S. Don't forget to check out some of the older Blogger template collections ! 1. BoyBurnsBlog A clean minimalist template which is customizable through the Blogger Template Designer. Uses jQuery Masonary for a non-linear appearance. I particularly like how images are resized to fit the entire available space of the columns. This is an original design by Blogger Xpertise (and I hope there's more to follow!) Download 2. Circulos Designed...