tomeubanks.com

    I just discovered how to play with my sidebar widgets.  No, that's not some auto erotic activity.  

    "Sidebars" are the areas on my blog page  on either side of the text.  "Widgets" are the action and file tools listed in the sidebars.    

    Forgive me if you already know this.  I feel like a kid in the sandbox who's discovered a bunch of colorful buckets and shovels hidden under the sand.

    For those of you who are like me, still learning how to read a blog, or you have been reading a blog for a long time and didn't know what some of the boxes and buttons were for on the blogs you've been reading, here's how to navigate my blog using the sidebar widgets. (I love the words, even: navigate...blog...sidebar...widgets.)

    Left Sidebar
    
    Search - You can find blog entries you are interested in.  Options:

•      Basic Search - Use Key Words to search only in titles.
•      Advanced Search - Specify Location (titles, content, all) and a Date Range for the entry search.

    Calendar -  Click on the date to open the entry(ies) for that day.

    Syndicate  - Lists hyperlinks to all RSS and Atom Feeds for my blog.

•  RSS is a Web content syndication format. RSS is an acronym for RDF Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary.  These will be subscriptions to websites using RSS, such as news sites and blogs, that I will add to my blog. Content, or posts, from these Web sites I subscribe to  will display on my website. Subscription content is updated in real-time, that is, when the author submits an updated post, my Web page reflects the update.

    Monthly Archives - Displays archived list of entries by month.
    Category Archives - Displays archived list of entries, organized by Category.
    Recent Entries - List of Recent Entries to my blog.
    Recent Comments - List of Recent Comments to my blog.
    
    Right Sidebar

    Tom's Biography -  Self-explanatory.
    Tom's Favorite Sites - Displays hyperlinks to my favorite blogs.
    Comment Showcase - Displays featured comments I especially like...usually those with a pithy comment or blatant flattery.
    Subscribe - Link to a Subscription Form that enables you to receive blog entries and comments through your e-mail.  (Free!)

    Here are a couple of other definitions that might help, too:

    Categories are groups of entries that I have titled by their general type, such as "Essay," "Rants and Raves," and "On Writing." 
     Tags are sub-groups to Categories to help you navigate to certain types of entries you are interested in reading.

    Wasn't playing in my sandbox fun?