Recent Comments and Recent Posts Gadgets for Blogger

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Recent Comments and Recent Posts Gadgets for Blogger

Posted by Amanda Kennedy
5:56 AM

Since Blogger updated the API for gadgets, I've been hard at work creating new and useful gadgets for Blogger users.

My first two successful gadgets made use of the google.blog function in order to retrieve and parse post and comment feeds for the blog in which they are installed. These gadgets are now available for installation through the Blogger gadget directory and have even been featured on Blogger's official Featured Gadgets blog!

These Recent Posts and Recent Comments are very easy to install: simply follow the links for the gadget you would like to add, and choose how many posts/comments you would like to display:

When you press "Update" you will be presented with an example of how the gadget will appear in your blog, and can then proceed to save your gadget.

Known Bugs

As the API is still rather new, there are a few minor bugs with my gadgets. These are the issues I'm currently aware of, which will be updated with new information once it's available:

Need to press "Update" to ensure preferences are configured

This is an issue with all gadgets which should be resolved quite soon.

Some gadgets don't display in Chrome

Several people have emailed me about this, and to be honest I don't know why this is happening. I'm pretty certain the Blogger team are aware of this issue and hope for a fix soon.

Gadgets may "spill over" in customized templates

The width of gadgets is determined by the width of the sidebar, and sometimes ignores any padding/margins applied to the "widget content" section. I've tried many ways to fix this, but so far my only solution would be to apply margins within the gadget, making it narrower (and unsightly) for those who use regular templates.

Any bugs/other issues?

Please let me know if you have any other problems with my gadgets by leaving your comments below.

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July 21, 2009 at 8:50 AM Denny: @aneesh great widget

@manda.. how to edit the css?
July 21, 2009 at 9:18 AM Aneesh: @Denny thanks for the feedback.. :)
July 21, 2009 at 9:34 AM Guy: Great widgets Amanda. Thanks!
July 21, 2009 at 10:29 AM Aneesh: @Amanda, thanks a lot for posting about my gadget and thanks for mentioning my name.. :)

Hope to see more gadgets from you soon..
July 21, 2009 at 1:55 PM Sylvia: D'oh! I tried it and for some reason it ended above my header (topads-wrapper), though the layout screen showed it at the end of my link footer link area (lowerbar). Relocating it in the layout screen had no effect. When I tried to edit the gadget the popup was entirely blank. I have a custom template so maybe that's an issue. I'm currently using Feedburner javascript to generate a recent posts list so it's not a biggie.
July 21, 2009 at 2:39 PM Anonymous: Hi amanda,

is it possible at all to change the font color? If my background is grey, the fonts cannot be seen
July 21, 2009 at 4:18 PM Kenneth Lemus: Hay guys Zixpk.com is having a contest where we are going to giveaway a custom designed blogger template to you liking designed by Zixpk.com to two lucky winners. Click on the link to see how you could win. http://www.zixpk.com/2009/07/giveaway-custom-blogger-template.html
July 21, 2009 at 11:09 PM chanclas: Dear Amanda,
thanks for your gadgets.
I´have install Recent Comments in two different blogs.
If the background is black color, I cant see the fonts.
Is it possible to make any modifications?
July 22, 2009 at 6:08 AM Daniella: Recent Posts with thumnails is an excellent gadget which needs to be worked on to be bug free:

It works fine with Firefox and Opera but DO NOT work in IE 6 sp3,

why I still have IE 6 : I have it just to test an occasional website on IE.

I always wonder why so many people bother to use buggy and bulky IE browsers anyway.

I hope more and more people move to other browsers.)

For the comments gadget, it doesn't offer anything extra then feedburner.
July 22, 2009 at 6:28 AM Leta: I'm having trouble with the Top Commentators widget (which I *really* want to use!). I put it in and it works. Then after I navigate away from my blog, when I come back it's gone - only the title remains, no names. Any help would be appreciated.
July 22, 2009 at 7:50 AM The Italian Dish: I have tried installing Recent Posts gadget, and I can't get anything to show up. I use Safari. I was so excited about this gadget! I've tried installing several times and tweaking it and clicking update, but I can't get anything to show up. :-(
July 22, 2009 at 8:00 AM Stop Dreaming Start Action: thanks for the gadget
July 22, 2009 at 8:28 AM Aneesh: @Leta probably because the yahoo pipe used for the widget has run out due to heavy usage..

Create another clone of that pipe and use that in your widget..
July 22, 2009 at 12:59 PM Eva Gonçalves: I have been using this gadget and it has been fine until today. It simply does not show anything. If I update it, it just is a blank space.I'm using IE8. Any sugestions?
July 22, 2009 at 7:40 PM KAPUSO ONLINE BLOGSPOT ADMIN: very great widget but yes it is not working in IE
July 22, 2009 at 11:18 PM Yodz: Nice widget, but I can't change the color.
Need help. Thanks!
July 23, 2009 at 2:28 AM I'm From Viet Nam: It's great. Thanks Amanda
July 23, 2009 at 10:52 AM Karl Foxley: It's nice to see people working to improve the Blogger platform with useful widgets.

Great work!
July 23, 2009 at 12:06 PM Rchrd: Amanda, I appreciate the recent posts widget so much! However, how can we change the font? I'm rather fond of Georgia but the font on the widget is Arial (or so I think). Any updates that you can do about it?
August 14, 2009 at 5:02 PM Amanda Kennedy: Testing author comments

Helping you build a better blog!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009