The Top 5 Built In Blogger Features You Should Be Using

I am always working hard to bring you the best new and fresh tips and tricks, hacks and templates, Traffic and S.E.O. advice.
But as this Blog has grown and built a great readership it has become apparent to me that, while you guys are awesome and even the complete newbies manage to go with the flow and are not afraid to jump into their templates and play with the code, some of the really useful default Blogger features and options are either not known to everyone or are not being used properly.

Over the last year alone Blogger has added some really helpful features.You can keep up to date with upcoming features by taking a look at the official Blogger In Draft blog.

This post is about 5 Great Built In Blogger Extras And Settings You should be using, OK you may have used some of these features but have you taken full advantage of them ?

Lets look at the list and how to get the most from each one.
(Don't be afraid to play around with each one if your unsure)

1. Post Template

Post template is a great time saver.

Is there something you use in all or most of your posts ?

Mabey you use some code or tables, images, text, banners etc..

You can use the post template feature to have them automatically added to your post editor.

What does this mean ?

In every post on this blog i include a message reminding you of the option to subscribe by Email, this is the message i use - regular readers will be familiar with it :

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its quick easy and of course a free service provided by Google just fill in the form below the post.

This message is made up of a Html Table with a grey background, here is the code used for the message :

Remember you can get all these tips sent directly to your email and stay a step ahead.Its quick easy and of course a free service provided by Google just fill in the form below the post.

If i was to write this message in every post it would take a lot of time so i paste the code into the post template area and save.Now every time i start a new post the table is already in the post area i just move it into position.

How To access post template :

In your dashboard click 'Settings'►'Formatting'►Scroll to the bottom of the page you will see the option.

If there is something you use in every post, place it in the area provided and click save.Now every time you start a new post it will be already in the post editor.

2. Comment Form Message

The comment form message is a great way to encourage people to comment on your blog or set some rules for people commenting.

You have the option to add a small message above the comment form.

You can write something simple like 'Share your views' or you can use it like i do for a longer message this is a screen shot of my Comment Form Message, you can scroll to my comment area to see the full message :

Some html is also allowed in the form.

How To Access Comment Form Message :

In your dashboard click 'Settings' ► 'Comments' ► Scroll to the 'Comment Form message' option.
Write your message into the box provided and click save.

3. Post Feed Footer

The Comment Feed Footer should be used by all bloggers.It's a great way to add something extra for your subscribers.

What can you add ?

There is a limit on how many characters you can use but there is enough allowed to add simple things like a banner ad or a short personal message.

Some people use this to offer a free giveaway to there subscribers like an Ebook or a free download.

The message you put in your Blogs Feed footer area and will be placed under every post in the feed pages and will be under every post in the Emails you mail subscribers receive.

At the moment i have a Theme Forest banner but sometimes i add links to free templates or Bookmarking sets etc..You can see it in my feed Click Here
(You might as well subscribe while your there :D)

How to Access Post feed footer :

In your Dashboard Click 'Settings' ► 'Site Feed' ► Scroll to Post Feed Footer section.
Add the message or code you want to be below the posts and click save.

4. Scheduled Post Publishing

Scheduled Post publishing is a must have feature and before it was properly added to blogger it was a pain not having the option.

How does it work ?

There are two ways this can be used posting to a future date and backdating posts.

Back-Dating.

If you add a 'About Me' Or 'Contact Me' Or 'Privacy Policy' page or any page i would call 'Extra Pages' to your blog you don't want it to be on the front home page of your blog or in your recent posts, with scheduled Post publishing you can back-date those posts.

Scheduled Future Posting.

If you write more than one post a day it would be advised to leave a gap between the times you publish the posts.Also there have been studies on the best times to publish posts so you could set your posts to be published at a certain time.

If you were going away for a few days or taking a break you could write 3-4 posts before you go and set them to be published one every day.

How to access scheduled Post Publishing.

When you write a post click 'Post Options' at the bottom of the post editor and you will see tithe 'Post Date And Time' Options as Shown below :

Simply set the time and date accordingly, if you set the date and time for next Tuesday at 9PM then the post will automatically publish Next Tuesday at 9PM.

If you set the date back to January 1st 2009 then the post will be archived as if that was the date it was published.

5. Posts On Homepage And Read More.

I actually think a lot of people do know about both these features, for those who don't or for those who are aware of it but still don't take advantage of it we will cover the posts on main page and read more options here.

Most of the blogs i look at use lots of images and videos in the posts and this is great it really spices up the appearance of a blog.
However images, videos and gadgets slow down the loading time of your blog.

If you have 10 full posts on your blogs homepage it could take a minute or two for the page to load and in the Hyper Fast Internet community people want instant results.Basically they wont hang around for your blog to load.

Your home page should not have more than 4-5 full posts or you should use the 'Read More' Function.If you look at my homepage i have a specialized template that only shows a short summery and re sizes the main image, this way i can display 16 posts on the home page and it will still load quickly.

To see how to use the 'Read More' function Click Here

How to set the amount of posts displayed on your homepage

In your dashboard click 'Settings' ► 'Formatting' and the first option is Show X Posts on homepage.

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There are lots more small features that could make the Blogging experience much easier for you so take some time to browse around your settings, and as always i will keep you updated with the latest news as it happens.

If you need more info or help on any of these features or if there is one you think i left out and would help the readers let us know.