Making sense of the PageList widget

If you are having trouble setting up the PageList widget (also called just Pages) on your blog, you are not alone.

Here's help.

For a long time I recommended the simpler LinkList widget as a better way to list a bunch of links.

But things have changed.

Both widgets list links, and both automatically format as tabs when dragged into the upper position on the Layout page.

Screen shot from Blogger "configure page List" screen. First Google pitfall: It should say "In Layout...."

Except that LinkList won't do that for the responsive blog themes that are Google's newest. If you want a row of links there, rather than a stack, you'll have to use PageList.

So here is a guide to the perplexed.

PageList is "Pages" and where to find it

Add the widget from the Layout page of your dashboard by selecting Pages from the list of widgets that appears when you click "Add a Gadget" (shown in the shaded area at right below).

"Pages" = Pagelist (and "gadget" = widget).

The descriptions make Pages and Link List sound different, don't they? They were, once. But today, both can do exactly the same things.

Configure

Click on Pages, and Blogger will open the new widget for editing:

"Page List" = "Pages"

By the numbers:

1. The title is optional. You probably won't want one for a horizontal navigational bar.
2. The widget comes populated with its first link, to your home page. In the above example, the word "Home" is proposed as the anchor text for the link. That is the word (or words) that will be a clickable hyperlink in the widget. But, you can change that text to whatever you like here.
3. Similarly, you can change the web address that the link will point to.
4. To make those changes, the pencil icon allows you to edit both of those things
5. If you don't want that link at all, or any other that you subsequently create, you can delete it by clicking on the trash can icon.
6. Use "Add a New Item" to add an additional link. This can be a page on your blog, a post, or any page on the web.
7. If you make any changes, click Save at the end.

Anything you save can be changed later.

To make a new link, click "Add a New Item" (6). Enter both anchor text ("Page name") and link address and click save.

Once you've created more than one link, the up and down arrows come into play. Use those to shift links up or down the list. Links will show on your blog in the order specified.

Add enough links and the configuration window will grow a discrete scroll bar on the side. If you do not see something, such as the Add a New item or the Save button, scroll to find it.

A horizontal navigation widget can be very useful to your readers. Make one on the Layout page by dragging the PageLink widget below the header.

To change anything, on the layout page click the "edit" link in the widget. That will take you back to the Configure screen. Add, delete, reorder, change.

Editorial considerations

Blogger may suggest anchor text (such as "Home"). You do not have to use that suggestion.

For a horizontal navigational menu, brevity is the sole of wit. Instead of "My Beer Page," for instance, consider "beer."

Also for a horizontal menu, the fewer items the better. You don't want to overwhelm your readers. A rough rule of thumb is no more than seven items.

That does not apply to the vertical lists you get in the side sidebar. Still, you might consider whether a very long list of links on a topic can be divided into multiple lists. In place of 20 links to different beers, perhaps one set of links to ales and another to lagers.

You can have multiple PageList widgets on your blog. Also, for vertical stacks, LinkList is not a bad option.