Most useful widgets for blogs

Long ago, we published a post on using widgets / gadgets on blogs, and it is one of the most popular posts on ITB. To supplement that, we give here some ideas about which widgets go with which types of blogs.

 The following widgets look fine on most types of blogs, if used imaginatively and without cluttering the blog with too many and too gaudy ones: blogroll of blogs / websites that have related content; social media sharing buttons / stats; archives; label list; best content on the blog [e.g. most popular posts]; pages [to be displayed in a menu bar or as a sidebar widget]; profile; search box; contact / subscription form [if in simple design]

 In addition, different types of blogs can benefit from relevant widgets as suggested below:
  • Blogs on political and social happenings [current affairs]: news feed; latest comments; poll
  • Travel blogs: currency converter; distance measurement; map; weather; slideshow; world time; translation 
  • Blogs on photography, history, culture, fashion and beauty: slideshow or random posts [=photos]
  • Food blogs: slideshow / video roll; latest posts [=recipes]; weight converter; health stat calculators [e.g. BMI calculator]
  • Finance and economy: Financial calculators; news feed
  • Literature: lists [e.g. books, authors]

 We are not sure of the usefulness of some of the following widgets the way these are put on many blogs:
  • translation [Unless the widget does a good job of translation, the translation could be a negative.]
  • stat-counter / followers' thumbnail cloud / current visitors [This is mostly a show off; doesn't give much value to the blog. Can be a networking prop if properly used.]
  • latest comments [Unless you value comments so so much!]
  • label cloud [Labels come out better in a list, but cloud can be a good way to project a very few things over numerous others.]
  • calendar [Today's date, OK. Archives in a calendar, OK. But a calendar for dates' sake, not very valuable.]
  • quote / joke of the day [Avoidable unless your theme really needs it, e.g. quotes from the bible on a Christian blog.]
---
A final word: We have been talking about what is desirable on a blog. But there are times when you should listen to your heart more than your brain. If something charms you and you want it to be on your blog, do have it there. Especially if it is a purely personal blog on which you put everything that you like. Don't bother about logic. Just do it!

Comments

Post a Comment

We deeply appreciate comments but do not allow comments with links or spam. If your comment is valuable, we publish it and you naturally get a backlink through your profile. Pl do not comment on the same post more than once.

Popular posts

Indian top blog directory 2023 to be released on June 1

Image
This short, transitional, post is for informing dear bloggers that the 13th edition of The Directory of Best Indian Blogs will come out on 1st June, 2023. The following post tells about the blog selection criteria: submit blog for Indian blog directory If you know of a good blog on India or by an Indian, please help us by sending the blog's URL at this email address: kp.nd.2008@gmail.com 
Read more

Submit guest post to Top Blogs

Image
Updated: January 2022 After rejecting most guest posts only because the creators submit posts without doing homework, we are still open to accepting guest posts. However, please note that we are constrained to decline or reject guest posts if we find them to be of the following nature: routine offer that seems to have been sent to dozens of others generic post that looks copy-pasted or with no deep knowledge or experience of the subject irrelevant post post with inappropriate content post forcing us to accept links that are not too relevant and are obviously commercial We had to remove two posts that we had put on Top Blogs after careful editing and value addition: one was forcing us to insert certain links, and the other had published a similar post on another website (we discovered that later). After that, we have become even more circumspect when we receive stock queries for guest posting.  The present post will help in clarifying what we expect on guest posts. Why a guest post on
Read more

9 Engaging Tips for Brands to Gain Success by Using Instagram

Image
Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media platforms with a vast potential for marketers to grow their business. Since Instagram has more than one billion active users monthly, you need excellent marketing tips to stand out from the crowd. Engagement is the primary tool for your business on Instagram that leads to success. Without the right content suitable for your target audiences, it isn't easy to make your brand popular among broader audiences. The brands involved on Instagram have reached heights with correct marketing strategies suitable for their business. Instagram users aren’t only active, but they also engage themselves with exciting things. Among the active users on the Instagram platform, 59% of users visit this app daily and spend 7 hours per week interacting with their friends and brands and browsing the content. Instagram helps to increase brand awareness by promoting your business and helps to reach your new product to millions of people. The below points
Read more