Using Labels to categorize your Blogger Posts

This article explains how to exercise Labels to categorise the Posts inward your Blog, in addition to how you lot tin give notice larn around some of the limitations inward Blogger's categorising tools.

Why categorise your Posts

watermelon salad recipe tin give notice live on labelled / tagged equally  fruit, salad, dessert in addition to pink
Grouping your blog's contents makes it easier for people who convey reached your spider web log via Search to uncovering other posts that they may live on interested inward - provided you lot add together tools to your spider web log that permit them navigate using labels.

It's essential if you lot desire to larn inward hold back similar you lot convey put your Posts into Pages.

And it helps you lot to uncovering posts yourself.


Blogger's tools for working amongst categories

The alone tool that Blogger provides for categorising or grouping Posts is Labels.

In short, Labels are tags that you lot apply to posts.

Each shipping tin give notice convey equally many Labels equally you lot desire (there is an upper bound of 5000 labels-per-blog, but most people don't larn close it).

And you lot tin give notice exercise labels for dissimilar purposes.  For example, a shipping titled "Photographing Long-haired Black Cats" could convey 3 dissimilar labels
  • Cats - the the fauna it's about
  • Photography - for the functional category
  • Jane Smith - for the author
The Labels gadget lets readers pick out which groups of posts to see:  when a visitor clicks an exceptional on the labels gadget, they are shown a listing of posts that convey the selected label applied to them.

You tin give notice add together the Labels gadget equally many times equally you lot like, selecting which specific label values to demo each time.   In the event above, you lot mightiness add together it 3 times, 1 time for ainmals (showing Cats, Dogs in addition to Rabbits), 1 time for component (showing feeding, preparation in addition to photography), in addition to 1 time for writer (showing Jane Smith in addition to Joe Bloggs).

There are 3 steps that you lot postulate to follow to brand effective exercise of Labels inward Blogger.


How to add together Labels to your blog

Step 1:    Label your Posts

For each post, add together 1 or to a greater extent than labels.  You tin give notice add together labels either:
  • In the post-editor, inward the Labels department at the correct side of the post-editor o
  • From the Posts tab, tick the posts you lot desire to pose the labels on, in addition to and hence exercise the driblet downward arrow from the travel on icon that looks similar a little luggage-tag:   pick out the label or "New label ...").

Step 2:    Add the labels gadget

Add the Labels gadget to your spider web log - the same agency you lot would add whatever other gadget .   You tin give notice add together it equally many times equally you lot need, choosing which labels to demo each time.
 
Warning:  If you lot pick out to demo alone a for certain alternative of Labels inward a gadget, in addition to hence this is all that it volition show fifty-fifty if you lot add together novel labels to your posts afterwards on.  However if you lot don't restrain which labels are shown, in addition to hence novel ones are automatically shown inward the gadget if they are associated amongst published posts.

Drag-and-drop the labels gadget to wherever you lot desire it:  some people pose it simply underneath their header, to brand readers intend they've looking at a to a greater extent than traditional web-page.

Step 3:   Add Labels navigation

Another agency for your readers access labels is from the display inward the shipping header or footer of the listing of labels assigned to each post.

This is turned on past times default inward most themes:  you lot tin give notice alter the setting in addition to movement it around using post-templete settings constitute nether  Layout > Blog Posts (edit).




What your visitors see


H5N1 List of Posts:

If a visitor to your spider web log clicks on an exceptional inward the labels gadget or inward the labels-list that is demo for apost, in addition to hence the "labels-view screen" is used to demo them the posts that convey the selected label.

This concealment is similar the primary screen: is alone shows a for certain issue of posts in addition to visitors postulate to exercise the newer-posts in addition to older-posts links to movement dorsum through the list.

Like the primary screen, if you lot convey used jump-breaks inward your posts, in addition to hence the listing alone shows the showtime component of each post.  If you lot haven't used jump-breaks, in addition to hence the whole posts are shown.



H5N1 summary message:

Unlike the primary screen, inward most themes in that place is a message at the travel on of the page saying:
"Showing newest posts amongst label WHAT-EVER-YOU-CHOSE. Show older posts"

Or if in that place are no published posts amongst the selected Label, the message is slightly different.  Some people alter their theme to customise or take this message:  Chuck inward The Real Blogger Status has written an fantabulous description of  how to practise this.


What Labels aren't - but appear to be

Many people intend that Labels are a agency of truly putting Posts into pages.  However the Posts aren't truly moved around.  The labels-screen is simply a agency of viewing a smaller-than-usual grouping of Posts, in addition to tin give notice make it hold back similar you lot convey pose your posts into sub-pages.


Making multi-level categories

Currently, Blogger alone supports 1 score of grouping.  The alone agency you lot tin give notice brand sub-groups of Labels is to add together ii categories to each shipping - 1 for the "major" category, in addition to 1 for the "minor" category

For event you lot mightiness exercise labels similar these
Major category:  Minor categories:
Recipes: Sweet, Savory, Wheat-free
Party-games: ice-breaker, run-around, silent, outdoor
Music: lively, soft & gentle, traditional, instrumental
Each shipping would postulate to convey at to the lowest degree 1 label from the major category, in addition to 1 from the tike categories.

If you lot practise this, you lot postulate to live on clever almost adding ii levels of gadget, amongst alone a selected grouping of labels shown inward each gadget.   You mightiness fifty-fifty postulate to edit your theme, to alone demo for certain gadgets inward for certain situations.



Related Articles

Posts, Pages in addition to Navigation

Setting what goes on the Home Page

Editing your blog's theme:  advantages in addition to disadvantages

Making it hold back similar you lot convey pose your posts into pages.

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