Google Drive will eventually replace Docs - but not yet for most of us.

If you use Google Docs as a file-hosting option, then the recent announcement of Google Drive probably has you wondering how Docs will be affected: there's a marketing announcement on the Docs Blog, but it has a distinct lack of detail on how it will work.

But this announcement on the to Google Apps blog has more info.  Key points:

• Initial access is "on an opt-in basis via invite at drive.google.com/start"
• It's being released to Google Apps users first: It will be made available to all domains over the next 4-8 weeks.
• But [eventually] Google Drive will become the default andwill replace the documents list as the way to access files and documents.

It is introducing many changes and new features to Google Docs, including:

1. A Google Drive desktop application, available from the Chrome Web Store
2. A mobile application for your iPhone or iPad
3. Sync files between all of your devices with Google Drive for your Mac/PC
4. A different kind of search tool across your own files
5. In Google document, spreadsheet, or presentation editors, you can add a file to a folder by clicking the folder icon
6. Collections are called folders
7. More options on the Settings menu
8. More views on the left navigation: "My Drive", "Shared with me", "Activity"
9. My Drive (instead of home) to organize all of your files, folders and Google Docs.

Note that you will not see any of these changes until Drive is available to you.   In the meantime, Docs continues to work as it has been working.

If you are a domain administrator, notice that Google Docs has been renamed to "Drive and Docs" in the Google Apps control panel, and that there are new settings in this service.

Finding the gadget ID for a widget in your blog

This article shows you how to find the "identifier" for a gadget in your blog.  This isn't useful in itself, but is a set in various other template customizations, including putting a gadget on a single page only.

Removing the attribution gadget from mobile template blogs

This article is about removing the "Powered by Blogger" statement from the bottom of blogs that have a mobile template.

A new advertising option for Blogger: Google Affiliate Network

If you are already an AdSense publisher, then today's announcment about Google Affiliate Network: Introducing Google Affiliate Ads for Blogger may be of interest.

Google Affiliate Network (GAN) is a different type of advertising programme:  instead of getting paid per click, you get paid per purchase (or whatever other key action the advertiser decides).

So far, it's limited to Blogger users who are based in the USA - presumably because this is where most advertisers are.   It's also limited to "select bloggers" - this seems to mean ones whose blog is a good fit with the available advertisers, and the criteria for "a good fit" is as decided by Google.  This is unlike regular use of the Google Advertisers network, where you apply to a particular advertiser based on your own assessment of the fit.

After you have signed up for AdSense (and, I guess been approved!):

IF GAN options are available to you
THEN they will be shown when you are editing a post, in a gadget that appears in the right-hand Post Settings area.   

This means they will only available from the "new", ie post-Sept-2011 blogger interface.

I guess you will be allowed to copy the HTML code for the GAN advertisement from the post editor, and put it into a regular gadget - since you can put regular GAN adverts into your blog in this way.  But this is a detail that should be checked against their terms and conditions:   as with AdSense, the additional requirements for GAN are glossed over when you are accessing it via Blogger, but I expect that they will still apply.

Test HTML rich-text post snippets before publishing them

Adding meta-tags to your blog or to a blog-post

This article describes meta-tags: why and how to add them to your blog.  


It applies to any type of meta-tag except the description-tag:  Blogger introduced special editing tools for them in late March 2012, so they are covered separately.

Comment management policy and moderation principles

This article explains the policies that Blogger-HAT applies in accepting, moderating and responding to comments.