Email Subscription Box for your Blog

It took me a while, but I finally figured out how to put an email subscription form onto my site so my subscribers can receive my blog posts in their inbox, similar to an e-newsletter.

First, I had to sign up for a free service called FeedBurner to publish my own feeds.

(To sign up for an account at FeedBurner, click on the top right link that says "Register" on the website's homepage and follow the instructions to set up an RSS feed for your blog.)

If you have Google Account, you don't need to create feedburner account since Feedburner is now part of Google. You can just go to http://www.feedburner.google.com/fb/a/myfeeds and login with your Google Account.

Then, after logging into your FeedBurner account:
1.  Click the Publicize tab.
2.  Under Services, select Email Subscriptions
3.  In Subscription Management, fill out the subscriber details.
4.  Then copy (ctrl C) the subscription form code to use as a widget in Blogger.
5.  Next, go to your Blogger Dashboard Layout and select Add a Gadget.
6.  Choose HTML/Java Script and paste (ctrl V) the third-party code (widget) into the field (Give it a title OR NOT).
7.  Save and then go back to Dashboard Layout to drag the new gadget to a preferred spot in your side bar.
8.  Save again and then Preview your updated blog.
9.  The Email subscription will appear in a neat little box, and you can gave it a test run.

Another job well done.

(Image:  Please Read Me by Kmiller799)

What's a Widget?

Okay, so what's a widget?  It took me all afternoon, with many twists and turns, plus a few downloads to my home page that I didn't want or need, to get the answer.  Remember, I'm technologically challenged.  That's why I'm sharing with you now.  To save you the trouble I keep getting into to get a simple answer.

The best definition of widget I came across was at a site called Yola.  But I'm not sending you there, because before I knew it, I ended up with an account that I didn't want or need.  Their definition:  "Widgets are chunks of code that allow you to add content to your site without having to write any code yourself."

Now we're talking.

Another site, About.com:  Web Trends, said:  "A widget can be anything from a voting poll to a weather forecast to a list of current headlines to a crossword puzzle.  You can utilize them in your blog to provide an interactive experience for your readers, or you can place them on your personalized start page to get at information you want to see on a regular basis."

Okay, so now how do you find a widget and put it on your blog?

For that (after downloading a bunch of widgets to my home page that I didn't want or need), I lucked upon a website called Blogger Tips and Tricks, which lead me through the steps in adding a widget called a Visitor Counter to my blog.

I printed and followed the simple instructions and then, after signing up for an account at StatCounter that I did want and need, I got a free invisible Web tracker onto my blog.

Wow!  Me, the type of person Blogging for Dummies was written for.

Blooper tip:  Blogger Tips and Tricks still uses the old terms Layout instead of Design and Add A Page Element instead of Add and Arrange a Page Element, but otherwise the information is still current. 

New problem.  Now that I had StatCounter, I didn't know how to use it.  I went back to Blogger Tips and Tricks, but after the instruction "Click Save and your visitor counter is successfully installed" the post ended.

Oh my.

Coffee break.

After another hour searching the web and scratching my head, I realized that I needed to go back to StatCounter and log in to get the "statistics" on visitors to my blog.  

If you want further practice, here are four more ways to put a widget onto Blogger.

1. Go to How to Add A Widget to Blogger and follow the instructions there.
2. Or:  Find the widget code for a free Library Thing Widget for your blog at Library Thing.  Copy it (Ctrl C), then go to your Blogger Dashboard, then to Design, then Add and Arrange Page Elements, then Add a Gadget, scroll down to HTML/JavaScript, put in the title (StatCounter), past the code into the content field (Ctrl V), and Save.
3. Just for fun, go to The Cutest Blog on the Block and click on Accessories and then Blinkees.  Choose and click on the one you like, copy the code (Ctrl C), go to your Blogger Dashboard and follow the instructions above.  Then all you have to do is view your blog to see the results.
4. Go to Online Social Networking to get 10 types of Widgets for your Blog.

Enjoy!