 |
In the universal language of the web, you know how this works without thinking about it. Click a tab, and it comes to the front, bringing its content with it.
A tabbed menu is a tremendously useful convention, and Blogger makes it easy to adapt to your blog. But how? What is best, Link List or Pages (aka Page List)?
Both of these sidebar widgets take their formatting based on where you put them. On the side, they form a list of links. Across the top, they become tabs. Brilliant.
The short version: People still have problems with Pages. It is working OK these days, but some just find it tricky.
Consequently I still recommend Link List for most people. But, there is a catch to Link List you should know about.
Update: My recommendation has changed. For a set of tabs in Google's responsive blog themes, you'll have to use PageList. Find out why.
LinkList is still a solid choice for most uses.
Pages
Pages, the newer of the two gadgets, will automatically include static pages you create, such as an About page or a list of links.You can customize Pages to omit any pages you do not want shown, and you can add a link to any page or post in your blog or on the web—to any link at all.
Of course, links to a page outside your blog will take the viewer there, losing the tabs altogether. But because gadgets are common to every page, all internal links direct to pages that include the tabs.
The problems that people seem to have with Pages lie in adding and subtracting links to and from the gadget.
As far as I can tell, it is working OK these days, just somehow not that easy to figure out.
But if it is too confusing, consider using Link List.
Link List
The Link List is simpler, if more labor-intensive: it will show any links you like, in any order that you like. But you must add them one at a time.Update: LinkList wont make tabbed lists in the responsive blog themes, however.
Also, there is a small edit to make the tabs look their best (below).
From your readers' point of view, these two gadgets are identical. There is nothing one can do that the other cannot.
From your readers' point of view, these two gadgets are identical. There is nothing one can do that the other cannot.
From your point of view, you might suppose that Pages is better, since it will add pages automatically.
However, people report problems with it from time to time. Link List is simpler, and rock solid, and is what I use. For some, however, Pages will be the best choice.
The problem is that without a template tweak, when you select a tab, the tab does not change color to show that it is live. (It should also do this on hover, and no modification is needed for that.)
Click on a tab on this blog (where I have fixed the problem) to see how it should work.
Unfortunately, the new Blogger themes do not render tabs as actual tabs at all. That is one of the things I do not like about the themes. But if you are using them, then Link List's tiny flaw is not an issue for you.
If you using an older theme, this is fixable, but you have to crack the hood and change some of the underlying code. You only need to do this once, however.
If you don't care, that is fine; if you do, use the Pages gadget, or check out this tutorial about how to add that same functionality to LinkList when displayed as tabs.
If you do edit your theme code, please back up your theme first. In any case regular backups are always a good idea.
However, people report problems with it from time to time. Link List is simpler, and rock solid, and is what I use. For some, however, Pages will be the best choice.
Formatting the Link List
Appearances count in a user interface, and on that score there is a small problem with Link List on older themes. Small enough that you may not care.The problem is that without a template tweak, when you select a tab, the tab does not change color to show that it is live. (It should also do this on hover, and no modification is needed for that.)
Click on a tab on this blog (where I have fixed the problem) to see how it should work.
Unfortunately, the new Blogger themes do not render tabs as actual tabs at all. That is one of the things I do not like about the themes. But if you are using them, then Link List's tiny flaw is not an issue for you.
If you using an older theme, this is fixable, but you have to crack the hood and change some of the underlying code. You only need to do this once, however.
If you don't care, that is fine; if you do, use the Pages gadget, or check out this tutorial about how to add that same functionality to LinkList when displayed as tabs.
If you do edit your theme code, please back up your theme first. In any case regular backups are always a good idea.
A linkList won't work so well (actually won't work at all I think) if you have a mobile template enabled for your blog.
ReplyDeleteMary, I never knew that! Thank you!
DeleteThere are some issue with it that I cannot figure out tonight, but I would say that alone makes the Page List superior to the Link List.
Mary blogs about Blogger at Blogger Hints and Tips, one of the blogs I follow, and link to in the sidebar at right.
...So, this one really had me scratching my head. Then I found this blog post, which told me how to make widgets visible on mobile.
DeleteMary, have you ever heard of that blog? & thanks a second time!