Blog Widgets

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Travel-specific blog hosts may feature built-in maps, a message board for people to contact you, and an album to share your photos. The inclusion of these useful tools are typically at the expense of design freedom. If you choose a general blog host like Blogger for greater design freedom as I have, you can easily turn it into a travel blog by adding widgets.

Widgets are bunches of code like Javascript or Flash that can be embedded in any page that supports script code. You've probably come across them already without realizing it. They can be anything from a chat box, some information about the current weather, animated photo collections, or a countdown clock. Many blog host sites have their own optional widgets or are compatible with widget developers.

Trip Tracking With Maps

It can be a challenge finding just the right travel map widget for a blog. Here are some:
  • TravBuddy: Nice maps, but no travel tracker. It highlights the whole country you've visited. If you use the site for your blogging, however, it will come with a great tracker.
  • Trippermap: This is fantastic if you have a Flickr account. It incorporates your photos from Flickr into each place and is very customizable. The free version is limited to 50 places, doesn't plot your trip, and limits the number of photos per place.
  • MAPme: A simple to use map that allows you to tag places like hotels and tourist sights. Not free.
  • Blogabond: Not a bad trip tracker once you get used to it, but the map doesn't resize well. There are better ones out there!
  • TripTracker: A travel blog place that is centered on mapping but also has photo capabilities. They feature attractive customizable widgets but you have to sign up just to check out what it can do.

Photo Sharing

Depending on your blog host, you will be able to embed or link photos into your entries from an external site. If you can't choose only a few photos to display per post, it can be cumbersome and time consuming to format so many. A good option is a slide show widget; these are attractive, use up much less space than a dozen photos in one long column, and are customisable. If you are with Photobucket or Flickr, investigate their offerings.

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