Last month I did a post regarding ways to search Active Rain using the built in "Search" option. I also shared how you can use the URL address bar above to search Tags or Keywords.
Now you can have your very own search engine built into your Blog. Have you ever read a post by another member, book-marked it, then tried to find it in that list of the other 3000 posts you've book-marked? :-0 Here's a really cool tool that will allow you and your readers to search your Blog for any topic or keywords. NOT JUST TAGS either. This is great for your fellow AR members and for visitors to your Blog or Site.
It's called BlogBar. NO, this is not a place where Bloggers gather to drink, agreed, the name is a bit deceiving. Sorry!! I know how much some of you like a good bar! LOL!
It's a free search engine widget you can add to your own Blog or Website. I put this on my Blog a few weeks ago to see how it would work and I LOVE IT! It's like having your own "Google Search" on your site. I can find anything I have ever written about anywhere in my Blog and so can you. Search single words, multiple words, or even phrases, and it pulls up every relevant post available on your Blog. You can also use the BlogBar pull down menu to search Google, Technorati, All Your Friends, or ALL of the Internet.
DISCLAIMER: EDITED ON 12/10/07 – Before you continue, you need to know that some members on AR experienced errors after installing the Blogbar on their Active Rain Blogs. There is a 460 stack overflow that is being reported, and no one seems to know why. It works fine on sites outside AR, so continue with caution if considering this for your Active Rain Blog! Read the comments on this post for more details:
Do you need Blogbar on your Website or Blog? I wouldn't post this if I didn't want you to certainly consider it! Try the BlogBar I've added over on the right, (under my photo) and you'll see how powerful it is! This can really help your visitors find what they're looking for while they're visiting you. It will only take a minute to set up, then you and your visitors are ready to search anytime!
INSTRUCTIONS:
Adding the BlogBar Widget is very simple: 1. Just go to BlogBar 2. Select your color and design 3. Choose from one of the eight different languages 4. Enter the domain name of your website or the location of your Blog 5. Then click on the button that says "grab it!" Once the HTML code is generated, just cut and paste the code into your Website or Blog.
For Active Rain, just copy the HTML code from BlogBar (CTRL + C), then go to "My Settings", and paste the HTML code (CTRL + V) anywhere in the "Blog Description" box. Be sure to click on the "update" button, and now it will appear under your photo on the right hand side of your Blog. You're Ready to search!
Here's another cool feature! Imagine you wanted to know what your friends said about the Blogbar Widget, for instance. Just type in “BlogBar” in the Blogbar search box, and select “at my friends” in the drop down menu, Hit “OK”, and that's it!
Blogbar will now search on all Blogs you've linked to in the past: friends, media sources, acquaintances, etc. This is really a powerful tool to help you know what’s going on in YOUR Blogoshpere!
I'd give Blogbar two thumbs up, but I'm not Siskel and Ebert. Try it for yourself, and you decide. If for any reason you don't like it, (which I doubt) at least you know now where it's available and it's FREE! Once you have written 20 or more posts, then I know you and your visitors will see the benefits of having a Blogbar.
Do you want visitors searching your Blog? Well now they can! 🙂
Content Copyright Protected © 2007 – Brad Andersohn 
