The Whatsit & Widgets & Stuff & Things

I have just returned to civilization after a lovely bout of unplugged-ness, and upon finally sitting down to relax after putting away all perishable goods, my cat bade me “Welcome home!” by walking over to the living room rug, looking me in the eye, and peeing.

o_O

Apparently he was unhappy.

Who knew?

(I, for one, think he’s waaaaay too fat to be unhappy.  If kitty had a motto it would be:  Joy, Thou Art Food!)

So.  This is my life.  I have a (well-deserved) relaxing time, away from everyone and everything…

Only to have someone be pissed about it.  (Literally.)

Oh well.

Anywhoo…

After informing Smotch-tastic that his cat was misbehaving (mister furry pants is always hubby’s kitty when he’s being bad; he’s my kitty when he’s being cute – never the twain shall meet), I wasted quite a lot of time examining my calendar before realizing that today is the last day of June.  Which means…

It’s time for my quarterly review!

🙂

I didn’t write much this quarter, but the whatsit is still applicable (click the link if you want to know) for eval and thread-pulling (speaking of kitties), though this time around there was significant ‘Like’-ing – which I didn’t take into consideration when originally defining the whatsit – and the result was that my “Readers Recommendations” widget (I will cover widgetry later in this post) changed considerably.

{Not that I expect you to care about any of this.  Mostly this is me being a geek and chronicling my findings, but if you are new here (or need to catch up) you might find this review helpful, as it is a sampling of my most recent writings. Otherwise, feel free to skip ahead to the pertinent techno-babble.  Or just click away. You will not hurt my feelings.}

So first, to review:

QUARTERLY REVIEW:  April 1 – June 30, 2015
An Overview of this quarter’s Popular Posts
{Otherwise known as What the hell are you writing about anyway, Feve?}

I posted a brief but hilarious video that pretty much sums up what marital communication is like.

I wrote an editorial-type piece about a woman who rocks.

I celebrated my 11th wedding anniversary and reflected on personal happiness. (Sometimes saying “no” to my spouse makes me happy.  Heh.)

I shared a moment of immense relief…

…and a review of a toy that brings *intense* relief.

😉

The product review is now one of my most-liked posts on this blog.  (Which ties into the the widgeting ~ I’ll get to that in a moment.)  As is this post…  Even though it was not in the top third for views.  (Funny how that works sometimes.)  So I will give it an Honorable Mention.

😀

Aforementioned pertinent techno-babble starts HERE:

‘Kayso, on with the widgetry!

if you are reading this post from the home page (if not, click here for helpful visuals), you will see a whole bunch of gobbeldy-gook in the right-hand margin.  Photos, lists, drop-down menus, etc.  All of that stuff is there courtesy of widgets.  (If you are reading on your mobile, keep your screen in vertical position and scroll to the bottom.  I have my settings adjusted to only show 7 posts at a time, after which you should see the sidebar widgets at the bottom of your phone screen.)

Scroll down the page a bit until you see the list titled “Readers’ Recommendations.”

This is the list that changed this quarter, thanks to all the ‘Like’ minded clicking.

*insert pom-pom dancy cheer here*

GRIN.

This handy-dandy feature can be added to your blog – if you so choose – by completing the following steps:

• From your blog’s Dashboard, mouse over the paintbrush:  Appearance
• Click ‘Widgets’
• Drag and Drop the ‘Top Posts and Pages’ widget to the margin bar
• Choose to display according to ‘Likes’
• Title your list (or don’t) as you please
• Save

Choosing to display based on ‘Likes’ will show a cumulative list of most-liked posts/pages from your blog’s inception.  Choosing to display based on ‘Views’ will show the most-viewed posts and pages on your blog over the past 24 hours.  Each can be helpful in providing readers material to explore without being overwhelming.  The widget is auto-limited to a ten-post list.  You can choose to display as long or short a list as you like, within the pre-set limits.

There are also a variety of other widgets to choose from.  If you see one you want to use, just drag, drop, choose your parameters, and save.  If you don’t like the way it displays on your blog, just drag the widget back into the main widget-list field.  And if you see something in my sidebar that you are curious about, please ask.  I’ll be happy to explain how to utilize your widgets to similar effect.

NOTE:  Blog themes differ in which widgets they support.  Some allow widgets to be displayed in the footer area, or as part of the top menu.  Some don’t show widgets in an eye-pleasing manner.  (Or at all.)  Play around with it a bit.  If you want to utilize the widgets, but do not like the way they display (or the limitations – some themes do not support custom menus, for example), you can easily browse for a new, widget-supporting theme by choosing ‘Themes’ from your Dashboard’s ‘Appearance’ icon (paintbrush).