OK, so I have been out of touch with Blogger lately even as I just redesigned the template of my Blogger Food Blog. I just discovered today that they have new gadgets! I hope you’re not still on the ‘old’ blogger and don’t know what gadgets are. Gadgets on Blogger are like Widgets on WordPress. They are the various elements you can put in your blog’s design without having to code them manually.  Thank God for that!

Today while I was tinkering with the food blog, I discovered these new gadgets have been added. I hadn’t realized what I’ve been missing! It just reminded me why I love blogger even though I have other blogs on my own domain and WordPress now. If you didn’t know about these new additions like I did, check them out. You just may end up tinkering with your template all weekend

Basic Gadgets:

• Blog List – it’s an expanded version on the blogroll, this gadget shows new updates (like a reader) from your favorite blogs
• Followers – displays a list of followers to your blog. It can display blogger’s profile picture and a list of their blogs
• Slide Show – a slideshow of photos
• Subscription Links – to make it easier for subscribers to subscribe to your content
• Polls – no need to get a third party link anymore, you can poll your readers directly
• List (not List Links) – this is not your blogroll either (that’s called List Links). This is where you can create a list to your books, movies or anything else that interests you
• Newsreel – automatically add current headlines from Google News
• Video Bar – display YouTube videos or Google Videos

Other Gadget Categories: You’ve got to check these out. I can’t believe how many bells and whistles you can add to your blog now! Yep, even games right on your blog.

• News
• Tools
• Communication
• Fun & Games
• Finance
• Sports
• Lifestyle
• Technology

Tie it down, hide it, whatever. Hold on to your Page Rank and hold on tight. Google is on the rampage again and is snaching PRs left and right.

I am so done with this fluctuating PR. My two most popular blogs, where there are no sponsored posts, one has text link ads, and the other only affiliate ads; I just noticed a few minutes ago they are both down to PR 0 from PR 3s. So what’s the reason? I guess Google doesn’t want us to have any kind of links on our blogs, paid or not, eh?

Now I’m no expert on SEO, algorithms, backlinks and whatever else. I am barely getting my websites to run. What little I make from ads, they are a drop compared to other bloggers. So I don’t understand why my blogs were penalized.

BLOG is supposed to be short for Web Log right? According to Wikipedia:

A blog (a contraction of the term “Web log“) is a Web site, usually maintained by an individual,^{[citation needed]} with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic.

Did you read the part about linking to other blogs? So if you have a blog, and Page Rank is supposed to be a rating given to blogs, why then are we getting penalized for doing something that blogs were meant to do in the first place such as linking to other websites or blogs? Maybe I’m not smart enough to get it, but if you ask me, it’s just plain asinine.

OR could it be they are saying it’s OK to link to other websites, just link to the ones we tell you is OK?

Unique Blog Designs, UBD for short, is one year old today and to celebrate, they are running a contest. If you leave a comment and/or blog about the contest, you could win an iPod and the yet to be released UBD Citrus theme! The iPod is great. I’m sure one of my daughters would covet it from me. But that citrus theme, it’s sweet! It would be perfect for my food blog. It’s been needing a makeover for a while.

To have a successful blog, especially if you want to make money, is to have people coming to visit your blog and often. One way to do this is to promote your blog in forums or groups whose main purpose is promotion and marketing. One of those forums is Forum Finder.

Forum Finder is where you can interact with other bloggers, exchange stumbles, diggs, comments, RSS subscriptions, links, and more. Sign up now and you can also have a chance to win $25 simply by placing the Forum Finder badge on your site.