Blogger, forgive us!

Here's a great unsung feature of Blogger: Undo.

If only it applied all the time.

A sidebar-widget beastiary: 6 gadgets and what do do with them

Smart bloggers populate their blogs with widgets to connect readers with older blog posts (and with related content on the web).

Three sidebar areas take widgets: Top, side, footer.

Here's a quick appraisal of a half dozen powerful widgets you should know.

Blogger, Google+ pages, and the frontiers of science

The R&D Division here at Too Clever, ever pushing the envelope, has used a Google+ page of a regular Blogger blog to create a second blog.

To be precise:

• a Google+ page identity (not a personal profile)
• that was created for a regular Blogger blog
• in turn created, and now administers, a second blog.

Here is the proof that, when it comes to Blogger, a Google+ page can do everything your blogging account can. Including being anonymous.

Grow your followers: It's social

A reader recently asked,

I have just recently started my blog.... How do you expand your followers?

Claiming your blog's Google+ page

A Google+ page for your blog can be a (nearly) freestanding identity. It is your blog's own Google account.

If you want your blog to have a presence on Google+ but don't want it linked to a personal profile with your name on it, that page is made for you.

Assuming you know that you want one and why, here's how to set one up.

Give your blog its own Google+ identity

You can give your creation a Google+ identity of its own

I will cut to the chase: Your blog can have its own page on Google+ that, for all intents and purposes, is a Google account without your name.

Google+'s "first and last name required" policy is a challenge if you blog anonymously or with an institutional or business or group identity.

If so, Google+ pages are designed for you.

The silent-partner gambit

It's your move

On its face, Google+ breaks privacy with its requirement that your G+ account bear your actual name.

But you can preserve your blog's anonymity if you like, Google+ notwithstanding.

Not everyone blogs anonymously. But can we agree that there's nothing wrong in using anonymity to manage your online identity?

The case for Google+ comments

The greatest problem with switching to Google+ comments on your blog?

They are restricted to people with G+ accounts. That locks out a lot of people.

Nonetheless, for some it's worth the sacrifice. Google+ comments promise some compelling benefits. Every blogger should weigh them carefully.

Have your Blogger identity and Google+ too!

You can have it both ways.

Do you have privacy concerns about linking your blog to a Google+ account?

You can promote your blog on Google+ using a separate account not linked to your blog.

But associating your blog with a G+ account unlocks more options. And you can still keep the account hidden on your blog and stay as anonymous to your readers as you like.

Anonymous blogging on Google+

Google+ can send you readers whether you plus or not.

But odds are that's not going to happen often unless someone actively promotes your blog. So you might wonder if it is a good idea to join Google+ to get readers and blog traffic and search reputation.

Google+ profiles bear owners' real names. For some bloggers that makes G+ a nonstarter.

However, your G+ account does not need to be the same as your blogging account (though it can be). You can set things up so that there is no link to your Google+ identity from your blog.

Nonplussed: How Google+ affects every blog

Even if you are not on Google+, someone who is can share your blog to his or her G+ circles.

These shares arrive as personal recommendations from the sharer, usually with his or her photo, a link and, if there is one, an image from your blog. Usually the sharer will add a few thoughts about why your blog post is worth reading.

That's great word-of-mouth publicity that can bring you attention and new readers.

Your secret blogging identity

Photo courtesy of Jessica

On the internet, as the New Yorker cartoon famously noted, no one knows you are a dog.

Anonymity, and pseudonymity, have been features (or bugs) of online life since the internet's inception.

Google is moving away from that model towards one where a single account, under your real name, manages Blogger and all of your Google services. Update: Google has dropped this idea.

There are some very good arguments for that approach. No more anonymous internet trolling, at least on Google+, and some clever new ways to promote and publicize your online projects (such as your blog) with you as the hub.

But for many of us, managing our online identity is nuanced and compartmentalized by design. Adopting the new model means surrendering our freedom to be creative.

Make a custom Profile widget

Profile widget, stripped-down edition

Blogger provides an excellent ID widget for your sidebar.

It pulls your photo and, if you want, other information from your Blogger (or Google+) profile page.

The widget is connected to the profile page, so if you change the page information the widget revises
automatically.

If you add an author or three, the title changes, automatically, to "Contributors" and the content becomes a clickable list of all authors, each linked to its profile.