Skip to main content

Making Star Rating work for modified Blogger.

I was having trouble making the new star ratings feature introduced by Blogger work for my blog. According to blogger team working on long running Blogger in Draft:
If you have customized your blog widget’s template you may not see the Star Ratings. You will need to either reset your blog widget’s template or copy the Star Ratings code from a fresh template.
Not much help.Then I remembered an old solution.

Here is how to make the Star Ratings Work.


Method 1:

The basic template for my blog is Minima, but I guess the method would be same for all the other templates.

In the Dashboard, goto Edit HTML

First and the most important step: Backup your template by clicking Download Full Template. (In case, something goes wrong and you find yourself staring at what your blog looked like three years ago, You can always Upload back the template that you just saved.)

Now, leave the Expand Widget Templates Not Checked (the default)

Use your Browser's search feature (Ctrl+F) to find the following line:

<b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'>

Make a note of this line's location inside the main section.To remember the location, you may note down the simple code in the line above and below this line.

Now, delete this line and save the Template.
You will be asked to Confirm you want to delete the widget.Confirm.

Then go back to the code and put in the same line back in at the same spot inside the main section from where you had first deleted it .

Then Save.

This resets the widget.

Now, follow the normal procedure for activating the star ratings feature of Blogger:
Log into draft.blogger.com Go to Layout and edit your Blog Posts widget.

Here mark the checkbox for "Show Star Ratings" and you are done.

Enjoy.

But, those of you running feedflare by Feedburner would have to re- install the feedflare code to make the flares work.

-0-

Update
:Comments made me come up with another simple method to make Star Ratings work for custom blogger templates.

The method, originally suggested mentioned by the blogger team, is simple: copy the code for Star Ratings.

First tried it out successfully on my other blog about quotes from books having Simple II template.

Here’s how to simply do it:

Method 2: 

In the Dashboard, goto Edit HTML

First and the most important step: Backup your template by clicking Download Full Template.

Now,Click the Expand Widget Templates

Use your Browser's search feature (Ctrl+F) to find the following line:

<div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'/>

Copy the following code for Star Rating just above that line:

<div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'><span class='star-ratings'>
<b:if cond='data:top.showStars'>
<div expr:g:background-color='data:backgroundColor' expr:g:text-color='data:textColor' expr:g:url='data:post.absoluteUrl' g:height='42' g:type='RatingPanel' g:width='180'/>
</b:if>
</span>
</div>

Save.

Now, follow the normal procedure for activating the star ratings feature of Blogger:

Log into draft.blogger.com

Go to Layout and edit your Blog Posts widget.

Here mark the checkbox for "Show Star Ratings" and Save.
(if this method doesn't work, try this step at the beginning and then follow the rest of the steps)
View the blog, you will see the Star rating at work (wait for the complete page to load since this feature loads last of all on the page)

And it is done.

-0-

Method 3:
Update on request: Adding Star Ratings below post title
Search for :

<div class='post-header-line-1'/>

add the following code for Star rating just below it:

 <span class='star-ratings'>
<b:if cond='data:top.showStars'>
<div expr:g:background-color='data:backgroundColor' expr:g:text-color='data:textColor' expr:g:url='data:post.absoluteUrl' g:height='42' g:type='RatingPanel' g:width='180'/>
</b:if>
</span>
</div>


Save, Check and it's Done.

Update: In case that doesn't do it (see comments below) and you get XML error message: The element type "b:includable" must be terminated by the matching end-tag "".

To solve. Remove the last line of code: "</div> from the above mentioned copy code. That should do it.

-0-

Amanda at Bloggerbuster provides the solution for the making inline comment form work for modified blogger templates. That was a help too!

Comments

  1. do u mean that it reset all widget...??

    and i have to reactivate all the widgets i have just have ???

    please do explain...

    here is my blog... which is heavily modded...

    http://hack5.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Using this method only widget named ‘Blog1’ would be reset.
    Here ‘Blog1’ is the widget and it deals with Title of the post, Body of the post and Footer of the post (that normally includes the name of the author).
    I only had to re-install feedfare after resetting, rest of the blog was fine.
    Hope that helps!
    And do take a full back up your template before proceeding.

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks vinayak

    will anything happen to page elemnts??

    sorry for bothering.. since i have done reset ( not his type of reset u mentioned) and gotinto loads of trouble...

    thats why..

    iwould love to see star rating...
    since you said it wouldreset body,footer etc.. i have done mod to show only first freww lines of my article..

    ReplyDelete
  4. Page elements should remain untouched. You must have earlier gotten into trouble for using 'revert widget' feature.

    As for mod to show only first few lines...I am not sure but even that would remain untouched. Even if it changes....once you get the star rating, you can always again implement the mod for showing first few lines.

    There is little to worry if you take the complete back up of your template.

    ReplyDelete
  5. thanks.. will try now and post feedback

    ReplyDelete
  6. it broke my site....

    sorry to report late..

    i did all the things .. including rewriting the deleted lines...

    i lost everything... including the bb\ackground pic for my date...

    anyway i was able to bring back my site... with backed up XML ..

    any idea.. ???

    ReplyDelete
  7. Check the update in the post above. Hope this helps!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi there,

    Congratulations for your blog, its very nice.

    Im facing some trouble using your tip on fixing star rating on costumized blogs. I tried the 2 ways, but none of them worked.

    My blog adress:

    http://ujsceara.blogspot.com/

    Would you pls help me getting it to work on my blog?

    Best regards from Brazil,
    David Aragon.

    ReplyDelete
  9. David,
    Thanks for the comment!
    What was the problem you faced with the second method?
    Maybe you had trouble finding

    div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'

    the line above which you have to put the code.

    If that was the problem then you would have to look for some proper place in the post footer.

    Also, I have made some changes to the second method. Do try it now...hope this works for you.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Excellent stuff - thanks for that, was having a complete mission trying to get the ratings to appear on the blog! Your first method helped me out and it's all working now!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dan,
    Glad to be of help :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Though Blogger in Draft has a number of interesting features, I'm taking my time to incorporate them as I'm not too pleased and for a modified template they are a bit of a pain to incorporate.

    Regarding the new star ratings, I think I will stick with the ratings provided by Outbrain, as they look much better than the Blogger one and two they seem to be working fine for me. May be sometime in the near future.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi, i have manged to get rating feature work with custom XML by your method but the place date & Post title have been interchanged.

    now it looks very odd :|

    please help

    www.gaurishsharma.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Soumyadip,
    yes they are working on a number of interesting features! I think best of them is the simplest of them all: the scheduled post feature.
    Making rest of the features work for modified template is quite a task! The only real reason why I try them out is because I like to play around with my template :)
    And yes Outbrain is the simplest solution. The only down side can be the number of code lines that one has to add to template, also the server being a third party may not appeal to all.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gaurish,
    I think you have now uninstalled the feature as i can't see it on your blog.

    Anyway, I suggest you should try the second method mentioned in the post above in which you only have to add the Star code.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Is it possible to add this feature into the body of a single post, rather than at the bottom of all posts.
    I would love to use it to help readers to my blog give reactions to individual whiskies that are being reviewed (rather than to the blog post itself). But this seems to be an all posts or nothing feature. Am I right?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Chris,
    yes right now it is an all post or nothing feature.
    But for a your blog you take a look at the rating widget provided by outbrain

    ReplyDelete
  18. Do you know anyway to make it appear below the post header,
    I tried modifying the html but it wouldn't work

    ReplyDelete
  19. Sarathganesh,
    check the update in the post above. That should do it.

    ReplyDelete
  20. When I try the first method, i get the following message:
    The widget with id Blog1 is not within a section (actual parent element is: div.) Every widget should be in a section.
    What am i doing wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hylke,
    In the 1st Method mentioned in this post, one has to only delete a line and that resets the widget. And I recommend this method only if everything else fails to work.
    The error that you mention mostly occurs while adding the lines of code (of Method 2 or 3). In case, that's what you meant, the solution is already there in the post.
    I recommend using Method 2 or 3.
    the format should always be something like this:
    <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'>
    [code for Star Rating that always starts with <span class='star-ratings'> and end with </span> ]
    </div>
    Hope that helps!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hello... I love your first method! It restored my stars AND reaction widget...

    I then read you can post stars below post title... tried it, not working. I get an error from the editor.

    Error message: Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed. Please make sure all XML elements are closed properly.
    XML error message: The element type "b:includable" must be terminated by the matching end-tag "".

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hey Edgar! To solve that error delete </div> from the last line of 'Copy Code' of Method-3 mentioned in the post.That should fix it.

    (Updating the post with this info too)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Method 3 worked a treat. Ta very much! :)

    ReplyDelete
  25. Method 3 worked for us! Thank you.

    Danny & Roxanne

    http://www.goodfoodmsp.com/

    ReplyDelete
  26. tried method 2,and works.Thanks..

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I always like to hear back :)
However, irrelevant comments and irrelevant links will not be published. Needless to say, same goes for abusive comment and spam. Leaving back links related to the topic is encouraged. I know it can be tempting but try not to leave your email ids, phone nos and CVs in the comment.

Popular posts from this blog

Famous Old Faces of Doordarshan

Some people recall the faces and some people recall the names. Here are images of some of the famous readers and presenters of Doordarshan down the years. If you recognize any of them, leave a comment. [ Update 1 : Most of the faces now have names thanks to helpful comments by olio-gallimaufry ] [ Update 2 : Included image of one of the earliest presenters, Gopal Kaul. Send in generously from personal collection by son, Ashutosh Kaul. Sept, 2010.] [ Major Update 3: Got a tip-off about a documentary about the famous faces of Doordarshan from the makers   of     “The Golden Trail , DD@50 :Special feature on Golden Jubilee of Doordarshan ” from which these caps were taken. I managed to catch the incredible documentary and am adding some more faces/name and part of the docu here. New ones can be found after the image of  Narotam Puri. 30th Oct, 2010]  Pratima Puri. Believed to be the first Doordarshan reader.

Indian Cigarette Vintage Ads

He put a cigarette in his mouth and, as a matter of silent routine, offered one to Gwyn, who said ‘No thanks.”Richard looked at him.”I packed it in.”"You what?”"I stopped. Three days ago. Cold. That’s it. You just make the life choice.” Richard looked up and inhaled needfully. He gazed at his cigarette. He didn’t really want to smoke it. He wanted to eat it. Almost the only thing that he still liked about Gwyn was that he still smoked…Paradoxically, he no longer wanted to give up smoking: what he wanted to do was take up smoking. Not so much to fill the little gaps between cigarettes with cigarettes (there wouldn’t be time, anyway) or to smoke two cigarettes at once. It was more that he felt the desire to smoke a cigarette even when he was smoking a cigarette. The need was and wasn’t being met… While it would always be true and fair to say that Richard felt like a cigarette, it would now be doubly true and fair to say it. He felt like a cigarette. And he felt like a cig

Kishore Kumar, Yodel-ay-ee-oooo Songs, A List

*Updated with corrections pointed out by Bart Plantenga , author of some incredible book on Yodeling including Yodel-Ay-Ee-Oooo: The Secret History of Yodeling Around the World. -0- Kishore Kumar 's brother Anoop Kumar, who we basically know for the line ' O manu tera toh hua ab mera kya hoga ', used to own lots of Austrian music records. And from these records, Kishore Kumar picked up the art of Yodel singing, an art perfected in bathroom and then introduced by him to the world of Hindi film music. According to his biography 'Kishore Kumar: method in madness‎ ' by Derek Bose, "Kishore was a fan of the Swiss singer Tex Norton [* Tex Morton, an Australian cowboy born in New Zealand who sang  in the gene autry / Jimmie Rodgers style ] and the Australian Jimmy Rogers [* Jimmie Rodgers , perhaps the most American and one of the most famous yodelers in the world, famous for his blue yodels ] as well." Although most of these songs by Kishore Kumar are t