LinkWithin Widget, Just What I Need

When I decided to add related posts for my blogger blog, I thought it was going to be easy. Searching and picking the right one took most of my time and energy. The long codes, mostly javascript, scared me that I hesitate to include any of them in my template. But the varied feedbacks of those who dare made me scour the Internet for a simple one: LinkWithin, a widget I often see on blogs of different platforms: Wordpress, Blogger and Typepad.

Why Choose LinkWithin

• It is easy to setup. From its homepage you’ll be directed to your blog. The widget appears as gadget which you can drag to your desired area. As for myself, I put it under my post.

• You don’t have to deal with lengthy codes anymore.  When you view the code through, you’ll see that there are only few lines, appearing friendly and giving no hassle.

• Your related posts links are displayed with or without thumbnails depending on the availability of a picture in each post.

• The maximum number of links to be displayed is only five. Some wants more but for me three will suffice. If you decided to make any changes or run into some problem you can contact the admin.

Few Essential Tweaks

It’s most likely that you may want to make a few changes like what I did.

1. Because I do not want to display LinkWithin on each post on the homepage, I looked for a solution; and Pinoywebsurfer has provided a nifty remedy.

I just add the codes in bold font in my LW widget. So quick and easy.
<b:widget id='HTML8' locked='false' title='LinkWithin' type='HTML'>
<b:includable id='main'><b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'><data:content/></b:if></b:includable>
</b:widget>

2. To change the title go to Design --> Page Elements and add <script>linkwithin_text=’Your desired words'</script> above the existing script. Whatever title you choose it replaces the default (You might also like:).

3. I want the related posts to appear other than after each post. I put <div class="linkwithin_div"></div> in my template, and as you can see they are placed beneath the tags. For further customization, add an id with the name of your choice, for example, <div class='linkwithin_div' id='brown'/></div>; then create a css containing the format. Mine looks like this:
  
          #brown a {
                color: #806b18;
          }

It’s just a matter of preference, if you want to edit or not your LW gadget. For me, I’m satisfied with the outcome, and with these quick changes I can encourage the continuity of reading within my blog. If you have some tips that I haven’t mentioned, use the comment form. I love to know more or hear your opinion. Otherwise why not take a look at my related posts, you might find something interesting.