Would you like to create an animated headlines box for your blog headlines like the one below? It's easy and free to do this using a great tool I found at widgetbox.com. In this mini tutorial, I'll show you how to create one and include it in the sidebar of your blog.
First, you need to find the address for your blog feed. In most blogging platforms, this is usually displayed as a link somewhere in your blog's template (in Blogger templates for example, you'll find this at the bottom of your page). Alternatively you may be able to find the blog feed address in your settings or control panel. Right click the link and copy the shortcut if necessary.
Next, head over to the RSS Scroller page at Widgetbox.com. There are other RSS widgets available, but I've found this particular one to be the best free one available. You need to enter the site feed address (XML or RSS) in the box and will be presented with a preview of your ticker on the right. You can also change the colour of the ticker to suit your blog using hex values. I left the example above in the default colours, but you can change the colours to whatever you want.
Finally hit the "get widget" button to get the code needed for your blog platform. Many blog platforms are already supported and Widgetbox can insert the code into your page automatically (eg: Blogger, Typepad, Facebook). Alternatively, you can choose to simply "Get Widget Code" which will present you with two options: the flash embed or javascript formats. Simply copy and paste the code which works best for you. You can paste it into your blog's sidebar, or in a post (as seen above). If the Javascript code doesn't work well for your blog, try using the embed option instead.
Save your template/post and take a look at your blog's headlines, attractively presented in a free ticker: a great way to keep readers looking through your blog posts at what you've recently written!
Related posts:
Technorati Tags: blog widget widgetbox rss feed ticker atom xml blog+feed headlines animated
.png)
