Improved Random Post Link Widget for Blogger

The complete instructions and new code for the random post link have been moved to Experiment Garden. Instructions in this post may be outdated, so please see the new version.

The random post link addon for Blogger has now been updated to better and faster than ever before.

Basically this script creates a text link to a random post on your blog. It displays the random post's title as well as a brief random message to accompany it.

The major changes between this updated version and the current version are:

The addon no longer requires the Archive Widget to be added to your page.
The code is no longer limited to displaying posts from the past three months. It can now give you links to posts from your blog's entire history.

You can see the code in action at the top of the post area here at Inkweaver Review. Just refresh the page a few times to see a variety of random links to posts I've written in the past.

Removing Inkweaver Review Advertisment

You may notice that about one out of every ten random links is not to a blog post but back to Inkweaver Review. I would appreciate it if you left this, as it shows appreciation for the time and effort that I went to to create this script. However, you may not like the effect. There are two options you might want to take.

First, you can make the advertisement appear less often by simply adding more of your own custom messages to the list of random messages.

Find the section of code:

var introArray = new Array(
"Have you read ^?",
"Check out ^.",
"Look at ^.",
"Just for you: ^",
"Please look at ^.",
"Would you like to read ^?",
"You might enjoy reading ^.",
"Do you want to read ^?",
"Please read ^.",
"Random link powered by <a href="http://inkweaver-review.blogspot.com/"></a>"
)

To add another message just copy one of the lines in the middle, and paste it again in the middle. If you want to customize the message, just keep in mine that the caret "^" is where the random link is inserted.

If you want to remove the link back to Inkweaver Review completely, just remove the last message in the list. After you remove this message, be sure to remove the comma at the end of the new last message. If you remove the link back to Inkweaver Review then please add another link somewhere. Perhaps add me to your blogroll, or else write a post about the addon with a link to this page.

Limiting Number of Posts Used

Another customization that you may want to do is limiting the number of posts that the script can choose from. As it is the script will display links to any of your posts up to the 99999th post. You may want to limit it to the last 100-200 posts for several reasons. For one thing your oldest posts might be out of date, or their writing quality might not be as good as your new posts. But another reason why you might want to reduce the number of posts is load time. Loading a list of all the posts you have ever written on the blog can be time intensive for older blogs. So to reduce the number of posts that the script will choose from find the number 99999 in the code that you added to the XML template and change it to a smaller number. For example, the number 100 will limit the results to the last 100 posts that you have written.

I sincerely hope that this Blogger addon can be of help to you. If you encounter any issues please let me know by commenting here, and I will do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.

“Knights & Castles,” by Philip Dixon

“Knights & Castles,” by Philip Dixon is part of “Insiders”, a fabulous educational series for young readers. The Insiders series uses vivid three dimensional computer graphics to depict scenes and historical events. These 3D renderings add amazing life to the informative text.

“Knights & Castles” begins by introducing the concepts of knights and castles. First it shows how knights fit into the medieval social caste system. A complex image shows the interactions and relationships between such medieval figures as the pope, king, bishops, barons, knights, and peasants.

The next major highlight of the book is an amazing two page spread showing the start of a medieval battle. The accompanying notes explain common battle strategies used to defeat the enemy. One thing that I appreciated about Insider's “Knights and Castles” is that it depicts battle and fighting without getting gory or excessively violent.

Page 16 of “Knights & Castles” shows a castle from above and explains what different buildings in medieval castles were used for. One fact that I really appreciated on this page had to do with the way spiral staircases in medieval castles were built to make it easy for a right handed defender to defeat enemies coming up the steps.

For readers who have ever wondered how medieval castles were built, pages 20 and 21 show and amazing construction scene. From initial stone preparation by the masons to the construction of the walls, “Knights & Castles” explains how castles were built.

After these broad scale views of castle life the book starts focusing on life inside the castle. It shows how medieval banquets appeared, and explains the process of becoming a k night. One of my favorite parts of the book shows a medieval field during each of the four seasons. Peasants did different types of work during each time of the year.

The last portions of “Knights & Castles” show different famous castles such as The Tower of London, Krak des Chevaliers, Castel del Monte, Caerphilly, and Mont-Saint-Michel.

I highly recommend Insiders' “Knights & Castles” to all young readers. The accurate details and fascinating images are instructive and fun to read at the same time.

Inkweaver Book Rating:

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“Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out”

“Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out” is a fascinating collection of stories, historical passages, and art about the United States White House. This collection was created by over 108 renowned authors and illustrators under the guidance of the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance.

One of the first things that interested me about “Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out” was the impressive line up of contributing authors and artists, among them Natalie Babbitt, Jean Craighead George, Susan Cooper, Kate DiCamillo, Linda Sue Park, Richard Peck, Brian Selznick, and Jerry Spinelli to name just a few.

With so many different contributers the collection is able to incorporate a vast range of genres, messages, and opinions. Some of the opinions are even in opposition, but this just shows the different aspects of presidents and the different ways that history can be interpreted.

I really liked the way “Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out” takes readers through the entire history of the White House, from its construction during the early 1800's to the modern day presidents who have lived in it recently. Along the way the writers are not afraid to touch on sensitive issues such as the fact that the White House was partly built by slave labor, and the fact that some of the legends about it are outright lies.

But plain historical facts are not interesting without people. “Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out” gives the reader a taste of the joy and grief, the births, the weddings, and the deaths that have occurred at the White House. Its is really fascinating to think about all the events that have surrounded this single building, The White House.

I would definitely recommend “Our White House, Looking In, Looking Out” as a great historical introduction for young readers. It is sure to give its readers a taste for more of the fascinating history that is available concerning the United States White House.

Inkweaver Book Rating:

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