Add the new Facebook Like button to your Blogger blog

At Facebook's F8 conference yesterday, they made many announcements regarding their future and how it will effect the social web moving forward.  One of these announcements was the addition of the Like button on external websites.  Any web user will now be able to "Like" any website that has implemented the widget into their template.  If that user is a registered Facebook user, it will share that activity on their profile, making it public to their friends and affiliates.  This is huge for bloggers and anyone else who uses Facebook for marketing and outreach, as it will make Facebook marketing much more streamlined across the web.

Facebook will let you generate a basic code to use here, but the code does not work for individual pages or blog posts.  To get the most out of your Like button, it takes a few tweaks to the code.

To add the new Like button to your Blogger blog, follow these few easy steps.  You will be set up in 10 minutes time.  Also, for Wordpress users, try this guide.

1. Go to your blogger dashboard and find the blog that you want to add the button to, and click "Settings".
2. Click the "Layout" tab at the top left.
3. Click "Edit HTML" in the sub menu there under the tabs.
4. Check the box that is labeled "Expand Widget Templates".
5. Left click anywhere inside of the text box (where your template code is) and press Ctrl+F to search for the following line of code:  <data:post.body/>
6. On the line directly above it, paste in the following code: 

<iframe allowTransparency='true' frameborder='0' scrolling='no' expr:src='"http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=" + data:post.url + "&layout=button_count&show-faces=False&" + "width=530&height=25&action=like&" + "colorscheme=light"' style='border:none; overflow:hidden; width:530px; height:25px'/>

Preview your template to make sure it's good, and click the "Save Template" button.  And there it is, you've been officially setup.  Thanks to devfuel for the quick guide.  If you have any problems with it, post a comment and I'll be glad to help.  If you found this post helpful, click my Like button below!

A window to the future

So in my previous post, I mentioned that there would be "major changes" on the way for this blog.  In this post, I will outline and expand on those changes a bit.  In the past, I have focused on the Paladin class and the Retribution spec specifically (obviously).  However, in light of my recent change in interest in WoW, I will no longer be focusing on the Ret Pally directly, but will be covering Gaming and Technology in general.  So what does that mean exactly?

• I will be giving my thoughts on all types of games, including PC, console, and handheld platforms.  I will also begin doing unboxing videos, reviews, and previews of major releases  
• I will be doing reviews and video reviews of gadgets, mobile apps, browser extensions, and social media platforms
• I will be doing interviews with tech, gadget, and gaming professionals
• The name of this blog will probably be changing from "Smashie" to something a bit more reflective of my personal life and interests as opposed to my WoW gaming handle.  This will also result in a changing of the banner here and possibly even a complete overhaul of the appearance

So as you can see, there are a lot of changes in the future here.  Some in the near future, some a bit more distant.  But nonetheless, its all exciting!  Well, I'm excited anyway.  I want this blog to eventually become a source of breaking tech and gaming news and updates.  So all you nerds, geeks, techies, and gamers stay tuned.

The future of this blog

Whats up folks.  It has been a little while, hasn't it?  Things have definitely come and gone in the last few months, but I have been surprised to see a steady stream of about 20 people continually checking this blog, even in my absence.  While that is a considerably small number in the blogosphere, it surprises me and has caused me to second-think my decision to abandon this blog.  Why was I going to abandon this blog, and what is there to look forward to?

Well my playtime with Warcraft has gone through some serious changes in the past three months or so.  I've gone from playing 40+ hours a week to playing about 3 or so hours every weekend, at the most.  My time in Azeroth is spent simply posting glyph auctions, running random Wintergrasps, and doing a battleground scattered here and there.  So why the changes in my playtime?  Why the changes in my priorities?  Let me expand on this a bit.

I moved.  I have moved into a new place, which requires some changes in lifestyle.  My new house is a small place, only about 700sq ft.  I'm here on my own, which is quite nice, to be honest.  I really enjoy living by myself.  

I got engaged.  I asked my fiancee to marry me on Christmas eve in '09.  I'm very excited about the quality of life that I'm going to have with a wife that is as amazing as my fiancee is.  This contributes hugely to the amount of playtime that I get with WoW.  But when choosing between the two, the choice is incredibly easy to make.

My interests have changed.  While I get a deep enjoyment out of gaming, I no longer can play Warcraft in 18 hour sessions like I could a year ago.  I still love gaming in general, though.  I play a lot of Tekken6 and I like kicking back and enjoying a good single player console game like Assassin's Creed II or God of War.  I also have begun playing a browser game, evony, with a coworker of mine which has become a nice change of pace.  My love and appreciation for gaming has definitely grown, but my passion for WoW has fallen.  While I still enjoy the game, but I don't get the satisfaction from it that I used to.

And that brings me to the million dollar question...what does that mean for this blog?  Well, I'm excited to fill everyone in on that.  There will be some major changes coming, from the aesthetics to the content.  The focus of this blog will no longer be exclusive to the Paladin class, or even Warcraft in general.  I will begin covering a wider variety of games, as well as other hobbies and interests that I have outside of the world of gaming.  I will be expanding on this with a well written blog post that will layout exactly what I will be providing as content, and what you can look forward to as a reader.

I know that after three months of inactivity, I am asking a lot for you to sit tight and wait for the changes to come, but please bear with me.  This blog has a bright future ahead of it, and I would love for you all to be a part of it!

Update

I just thought I would take a minute and tell everyone where I have been over the past 2 months and what I have been up to.  There are quite a few things that have contributed to my absence from the blogging scene and the WoW community in general, so I thought it would be interesting for you guys and for myself as well to write them out in a bullet or list format.  So here goes:

Work.  Work has been crazy over the past two months.  My coworker has been out on medical leave so I have been doing both of our jobs at once, as well as picking up the usual slack from first shift.  Yeah, I have a bad case of shiftism...so what.

Tekken 6.  When I get burned out on WoW, it always helps me to play some console games for a while.  I love how the pace is so different.  There are no serious demands on your time with console games like there is with WoW, so it just makes for a nice break...without jonesing for some video games.

Holidays (family).  Man I can't believe that this year has flown by so quickly.  I still remember buying Valentines presents for my Girlfriend, and now i'm scrambling to get Christmas gifts already.  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, personally.  I love the fact that I get to eat incredible amounts of food and not have to feel guilty about it, because I know almost everyone else in America is doing the same lol.  I also love being able to do some catching up with family members over coffee and football.

Music.  So I've found a real obsession with Pandora.com.  Man I love that site.  I use all 40 of my free hours every month, and at that point, I just switch to playlist.com and listen to random playlists from random people.

Football.  So it's no secret that I love college football.  Sure my team is out for the season with the worst record under Mark Richt's nine year coaching career at UGA, but thats alright.  Next year is already looking to be more promising.  The SEC is still the strongest division in NCAA football, which always makes me smile.

Friends and Girlfriend.  Anyone who has ever raided or PvP'd on a serious scale knows that it definitely has some serious demands on your time, which in turn has some serious consequences.  When I'm playing WoW on a serious level, I lose touch with my friends, I spend less time with my girlfriend, and to be honest, I just feel like a complete loser.  I always have the image of "that which has no life" in the back of my mind...and I really don't want to be like that guy lol.

Well, theres my last two months in a nutshell.  How have you guys been?  I've been reading blogs when I get a few minutes online to do so.  I hope everyone's holidays were as great as mine.  I've started a poll to find out what everyone's favorite holiday is, so please take a second and vote.  And if you have an extra 47 seconds, let me know in a comment why it's your favorite!

edit: Oh, and one more thing.  Personally, I love Christmas music.  I made a Christmas playlist for this season, so feel free to give it a listen!  

Featured Blog 1.0

SO I promised last week that I would be featuring one of my favorite blogs, and now that its Wednesday, I figure I should probably deliver on that promise.  I also promised a PvE version of my Ret spec guide.  I plan on delivering on that one this week as well.  But anyway, on with the blogging godliness.

My first featured blog is WTFspaghetti.

Who is WTFspaghetti?
WTFspaghetti is run by three people.  P, thedoctor, and Potts.  Each of these writers have been playing WoW since its release in 2004 and are all admittedly WoW addicts.  All three have very unique personalities and it really shows through their writing.

What is WTFspaghetti?
WTFspaghetti is (obviously) a blog devoted to WoW.  Not really pertaining to a single class, but to many WoW related topics such as raiding, guilds, pvp, patch updates, seasonal events, and much more.

Why WTFspaghetti?
The guys over at WTFspaghetti do an exceptional job of delivering information that is useful and informational while keeping a very high level of entertainment.  I don't think I have ever visited the blog without lawling before I left.  From lolcat pictures to ebonics, they never fail to deliver on entertainment.  I would definitely recommend you stop by and give them a read.