Google Analytics & It's Use

I've been in despair for the past several days because Google Analytics says only one person (I think of him or her lovingly as "Old Number One") has visited ' The History of Gin ' .

Google Analytics is a neato tool that can be used with Blogger to count visits to one's Blog. It keeps track of many aspects of each visit, but it boils down to counting visits. Analytics is neato because without it one doesn't know if anyone is visiting and it's FREE.

Some may claim Analytic's only flaw is that it doesn't tell you your Blog visitors' street addresses so you can show up unexpectedly for dinner. But then, some privacy whackos probably would think that's a "Good" thing.

Anyways, like the Ads I've mentioned, Google Analytics gives you some HTML code to embed in your Blog in every page you want it to monitor. I thought the best place to put the code would be in Blogger's basic Template for my Blog. . .That is, under the "Template" tab and "Edit HTML" option when Customizing a Blogger Standard Format Blog. At that point, put the Analytics code among the other HTML code you see where it won't cause any trouble -- just be careful because you're looking at Blogger's fundamental code for your Blog's layout and format. All danger aside though, if you put the Analytics code in this Template, which Blogger uses when composing every page in the Standard Format Blog, then it will be in every page of your Blog, just like Analytics recommends.

AND Just Don't Put It Where I Did.

The thing is, HTML and related web languages have little things called "Comments". . .consisting of stuff (mainly comments) NOT to be executed. . .that are delimited by special combinations of characters (tags), like  < !--  and  -- >  or  / *  and  * /  .

Like quotation marks or parenthesis, these delimiters can span several lines. . .even vast geographical expanses of lines. . .and you Might Not Even Know It (Although some text editors used for viewing HTML code flag sections of code with different colors).

AND I put the Google Analytics code for my Blog in the middle of one of these huge comments, so it's HTML code was not active.

Long story short, that's why no visitors were counted. I don't know how Old Number One managed to get counted on Aug. 5th. . .maybe it was Magic ? ? ?

Bottom line is, do like Google Analytics says (when one finds the place they say it) and put the Analytics code immediately before the < /body> HTML tag near the bottom of the Template for you Blogger Blog. If one doesn't use Blogger, then the Analytics code still can go immediately before the < /body> tag in whatever Blogging tool one is using.


I found the Helpful Link entitled   " How can I confirm that I've entered the tracking code correctly on my pages? "   on the right side of the Analytics page surprisingly Helpful in resolving my little issue.

And remember, Analytics reports data up to the prior day, so Aug. 12th data isn't shown until Aug 13th.

Adding more Ads

I've now signed up for Ad Affiliate Accounts with Amazon and iTunes, in addition to AdSense Ads.

'The History of Gin' now has one Amazon Ad box for Books and another for DVD's. In both cases, I selected the class of products; Books and DVD's, and some general categories within those classes; bestsellers, sci-fi, TV shows, drama, etc..., and Amazon displays several varying suggestions that can be selected in the Ad boxes. I also had to choose the shape and orientation of the Ad boxes, narrow & tall, broad & short, a small square, etc.... Amazon has a good selection of box shapes BUT the shapes have to fit within size limits for New Page Elements permitted by your selected Blogger Standard Format. For instance, elements inserted down the side of my Blog can only be 150 pixels wide. With the Amazon "narrow/tall" boxes, only one width, 120 pixels, fit within the 150 pixel limit, which greatly reduced my selection of Ad boxes. If a box is too big it gets cutoff -- AdSense seems to prevent selecting a box too big.

The Blog also has an Amazon Search Box, which is just a place to type keywords and go to Amazon -- it has a similar AdSense Google Search Box. Apparently, if a search leads to the purchase of something recommended at the Amazon or Google site, one makes a commission.

Finally, there is an iTunes Ad box which stays static (advertising NBC TV box sets in my case) rather than displaying recommendations that change, like the Amazon boxes. The iTunes Ad box really is just something to click that leads to the iTunes site where searches and purchases can be made. The iTunes Ad box selection wasn't as good as Amazon's. The iTunes Ads are administered, by LinkShare for Apple. In addition to Apple, LinkShare offers Affiliate Ad programs with other companies. . .but I haven't pursued this yet.

The AdSense Content boxes are behaving better, advertising things other than COTTON stuff, but still not much of interest to me. Supposedly AdSense works very well for people?

I also have an AdSense referral Ad, but that whole category is way too complicated and hard to set up. I'll have to work with it more.

Except for the AdSense content Ads, the necessary Ad code was generated by the Ad company and one inserts the code in a Blogger HTML Page Element. As I said before, AdSense Content Ads also can be inserted as HTML or by using the special AdSense Page Element.

For the Ads where I had input on content, I concentrated on books and DVD's. Since I also make Theme Song recommendations for the different chapters posted in the Blog, I thought an iTunes tie-in would be nice.

I've concentrated on Ad boxes so far, I haven't tried any Text Link Ads yet. They apparently are just words you click on to go to the advertised product.


The biggest problem with Ads is the size limitation imposed by your selected Blogger Standard Format. This problem illustrates why one probably shouldn't depend on Blogger, or at least Blogger's quick blogging tools, in the first place.

But the Blogger Standard Formats CAN be edited by delving directly into the Template HTML code for the format you choose. . .It's easy for someone comfortable with HTML. More on that later...

A Tale of Two Cities - Pt. 2

Learn Why I Have Two Blogs. . . (Continued)


In my prior Post I mentioned, among other things, that something at the end of my prior prior-Post illustrates why I must run two Blogs. Before plunging wildly down a tangent (as often I am wont to do) I began explaining that my Primary Blog (tho a thing of beauty) probably cannot generate the High Traffic it needs to be successful and lucrative. I suspect another Blog that is more Active and (dare I say it) more Interesting might help generate traffic for my " raison d'etre ". . . ' The History of Gin .'

Actually, if I were to enclose this paragraph in  " Colorado 's trade mark ' Heartfelt Honesty Box ' (a bull - free zone) ", I'ld have to tell you folks that a multitude of exactly ONE has beaten a path to ' The History of Gin 's door over the past couple weeks and though there's no way to know if that person is an " adoring fan " or not, it's quite obvious he or she never came back. Now I am a complex man and my intent in Blogging also is complex, but my disappointment is very simple. ...And the reason for this mind-numbingly underwhelming performance is that no one knows my wonderful biographical corner of the world exists.

On the other hand. . .as was evident at the end of my prior prior-Post. . .all I have to do is mention HTML code in this Blog and Google picks it up in an " E.E.'Doc'Smith " INSTANT (if not faster) and delivers references to it by the Billions in search results.

Truely. . .the Universe is indifferent. -- Which by the way is a cornerstone of Existentialism.

And I'm not complaining; I'ld rather an indifferent Universe than one having inscrutable "plans" for me.


So don't think I'm in despair sitting on a dirty linoleum floor drinking cheap Scotch like some people we know. Prior to launching this Secondary Blog I already had taken steps to make ' The History of Gin ' known to all by submitting the Blog to applicable Blog Carnivals (in fact, I believe my belov'ed lone visitor was a scout dispatched by a Carnival). More on Carnivals later...

A Tale of Two Cities - Pt. 1

Learn Why I Have Two Blogs. . .


The tail end of my last Post clearly illustrates why I must run two Blogs. I didn't want two Blogs, but. . .like greatness. . .two Blogs have been forced upon me.

I am a simple man and my intent in Blogging also is simple... I want to share ' The History of Gin ', my wildly popular biography of a young woman in an existential world, with its adoring fans.

Thing is, most people who should know seem to think a key to Blogging success is High Traffic and a key to High Traffic is Frequent Posting and a key to Frequent Posting is to post frequently.

One thing ' The History of Gin ' will not be is posted frequently. Just hearing a mere description of the herculean effort required to create a single chapter exhausts most people to the point of needing a nap. Needless to say, chapters aren't going to roll off the assembly line like black Model T's.

Therefore. . . " wildly popular "  and  " adoring fans "  are more aspiration than reality. Something is needed to lead people to swill at the trough of ' The History of Gin .' And I figure that something is another Blog tied to the original one.

But I don't WANT additional work nor another time-sink. I may already be very busy. You don't know. For all people know, I could be an internationally famous writer, or something, with tons of money and loads of angst to blow through (in that order) before I die. Maybe I "do" lunch on a regular basis. I might have "people." Maybe I'm so important my "people" even have "people." The only people that know for sure is me, and I'ld likely just lie about it.

For that matter, I might not be Human at all. Perhaps this Post is being composed by a Super-Intelligent Space Alien from the comfort of his pod on a cosy planet circling Achenar, the brightest star in the constellation Eridanus and the eighth brightest star in the nighttime sky. This might not even be a Post, but rather a screen for hidden instructions embedded in the text, like a BBC broadcast during World War II. The Alien minions surrounding Earth, bored with decades of getting off from doing weird stuff to people, might be anxious to receive their final instructions to strike.

Maybe the text of this very sentence, when terminated with an ellipsis, is the Order to subjugate Humanity...

BUT without the ellipsis, it's just words???

Scoff,  Terrians,  if it helps you sleep at night. . .Stranger things have been known to happen.

To Be Continued. . .

Googling Answers

My prior Post showed the answer to a Blogging problem I ran into.

This Post illustrates the key Process I used to find the answer.


In my second Post, I wanted to show some simple sample HTML code but all that appeared was:

( and )

Seeing that, I knew the Browser probably was executing the missing text rather than displaying it. I knew it could be stopped but didn't remember how...

The Answer to Every Question is on the Internet.

This fact is a source of the Internet's boost to Productivity. It may take some searching and pondering, but the solution is there.

The Best Place to Start Finding an Answer is Google

Though it also finds lots of blather, currently Google is the best way for ordinary Joe's to find answers or, at a minimum, the clues to answers. A library stuffed to the gills with books can't compete with Google's speed and ease.


So in my case, I entered the basics of my question "embed html code as text" in Google. A promising result about "Embedding HTML codes. . .embed HTML into text" appeared at the top but it seemed complicated and not what I wanted when I checked it. The other search results on the first two pages Google returned didn't look promising.

I find that if the first page of Google's search results doesn't help, you should revise the search words.

In my case, I figured "embed" might not be a good word, so I searched again with "web page display html code as text" and hit Gold at the top of the first page with "Felgall Internet - Displaying HTML Source Code in Web Pages." The link led to a web page where this gentleman had a translator that converts HTML code to text that can be displayed. I didn't want that in particular. . .I wanted to know what got changed. Fortunately, I didn't have to translate something to find out -- lower on the page he explained what happened and I could see the actual "less than" and "greater than" keyboard symbols where changed to equivalent codes that (I then remembered) the Browser would display rather than execute. If the Browser ignored those key symbols, the other associated text also displayed as text.

Now. . .not every Blogger will want to Post sample HTML code as text. But certainly all serious and successful Bloggers will code HTML and have a question. And EVERYONE will have a question about something.


By the way, googling "display html code as ordinary text" now returns a reference to my prior Post about how I got HTML code to show as text, so now I'm part of the solution, which certainly is better than being eaten by a Shark.

Display HTML Code as Text

Posting Sample HTML Code as Ordinary Text


In a prior Post I showed an illustrative sample of HTML code as ordinary text.

That task isn't as simple as it might seem. When displaying a text of HTML code, a Browser probably will EXECTUE the inserted HTML code. . .and hide it from view. . . rather than just show it as text.

In my case, my Post presented the HTML code for the AdSense Section Targeting tags as follows;

(<!-- google_ad_section_start --> and <!-- google_ad_section_end -->)

These tags consist of the texts;

"google_ad_section_start" and "google_ad_section_end"

enclosed in the standard HTML Comment Delimiters . . .

<!--    and    -->

But the Browser interpretes the combinations of text and delimiters as HTML Comments and only displays the "code-free" elements of the desired text as follows:

( and )

To stop the Browser from reading the inserted (or embedded) HTML text as code, the "less than" and "greater than" keyboard symbols in the HTML Comment Delimiters must be replaced by equivalents (HTML Character Entities) that won't be treated as HTML code by the Browser. . .

Use --    & l t ;    for the "less than" keyboard symbol and
Use --    & g t ;    for the "greater than" keyboard symbol

. . .in HTML code to be displayed as text in a Post (where & is the ampersand keyboard symbol).


By the way, now my problem is displaying "& l t ;" (and "& g t ;") as text characters rather than the keyboard "less than" (and "greater than") symbols to which the Browser converts them. Though I know there's a right way to fix it that I've forgotten, my quick solution was to put blank spaces between the characters & l(or g) t and ;. If you use & l t ; (or & g t ;) -- leave out the spaces I added between the characters.


P.S. I found the solution to the & l t ; problem is the same as the "less than" problem. . .HTML Character Entities. To get the & l t ; to display as the intended text, replace the ampersand keyboard symbol with its HTML Character Entity --   &amp;   -- to get   &lt;

Other HTML Character Entities include   &quot;   and   &nbsp;   for the double quote and blank space keyboard symbols, respectively.

AND In HTML, Browsers usually ignore any series of blank spaces after the first, so if you want to        space        things        out        with blank spaces, you will have to use one or more of the blank space HTML Character Entity --   &nbsp;

Plus DON'T forget the semicolon at the end of these HTML Character Entities.

The Pilgrim's Progress...

("...from This World, to That Which Is to Come: Delivered under the Similitude of a DREAM")

One of the first things I experimented with in my Blog was to add Ads.

Of course Blogger has direct ties to Google's AdSense so that's the first place to start. PLUS everyone seems to say AdSense delivers results. First sign up for an AdSense account, a task easily done thru the Google account created by joining Blogger. Once signed-up, clicking on My Account at the Blogger Dashboard shows AdSense as one of My Services that can be accessed with a click. From there, clicking the AdSense Setup tab will show the three types of AdSense advertisements of immediate interest to me:

AdSense for Content,
AdSense for Search and
Referrals.


AdSense for Content (which are display ads targeted by Google to a Blog's particular content) was the first thing I tried because such ads can be inserted in a Blog quickly as an added Page Element.

(Adding AdSense Page Element: . . .Although it might be confusing and I'm not sure it's necessary, I'll try a short explanation --- The Add a Page Element is found under the Template tab on the Blogger page where you customize your Blog. . .That is, the page with the Posting, Settings and Template tabs. You get to THAT Blogger page -- when SIGNED INTO your Blogger account -- by either selecting the Customize link displayed on your Blog or selecting the Posts, Settings or Layout link displayed for your Blog in Dashboard. Click on Add a Page Element and a list of New Page Elements, including one for AdSense appears. Clicking on ADD TO BLOG opens a window for customizing the AdSense Ad. Once created, the AdSense page element can be moved around the Blog to your heart's content. Getting to this point shouldn't be a problem for anyone somewhat familiar with Blogger.)

One either can add AdSense for Content Ads quickly as a Page Element or have AdSense generate the HTML code for the Ad and then YOU place it in the Blog as an HTML New Element.

Anyways. Thing is the AdSense Ads I added and moved around my Blog were embarrassingly STUPID. One doesn't select the Ad content. . .Google decides what to advertise based on its analysis of the Blog content. If you don't yet have much content, there isn't much to analyze. For the first several days, my Ads were about COTTON??? The AdSense analysis must have been confused by frequent use of the word "Gin." It was so dopey I removed the Ads.

I concentrated instead on the other two types of AdSense Ads and other advertisers' (like Amazon and iTunes) Affiliate programs. For these Ads, the AdSense or the advertiser's site generates the required HTML code and YOU have to place it in the Blog as an HTML New Element. More on that later...


Finally, I found AdSense has Section Targeting, which highlights specific text areas in a Blog for emphasis during the AdSense content analysis. The targeted text areas must be delimited with special HTML tags (<!--google_ad_section_start--> and <!--google_ad_section_end-->) by YOU editing the HTML code directly (Not Recommended For Novices). When I finally reinserted the AdSense for Content elements I used such tags to highlight paragraph or sentence-sized areas in the first chapter of 'The History of Gin' that featured more ad-worthy words, such as video game, Princeton, etc.... Eventually my Section Targeting seemed to lead to fewer advertisements for COTTON stuff.

I also saw the Ad content improved as I posted more. On adding Chap. 2 - 'Ginger in Wombderland', advertisements related to pregnancy popped up. But I'm not so sure I want the occasionally Strange content of the chapters to determine the Ad content like that. . .I probably will be doing lots of Section Targeting.

Adventures in Paradise

Several days ago I published the first chapter of ' The History of Gin ' here in Blogger.

The response to Ginger Mullins' tale is overwhelming. Rest assured. . .there is much more to the incredible history of this young woman.

But the Blog's format is flawed. Ginger's story, which is inspired by true events, will come across best as a serial flow of chapters uninterrupted by other material. But that sorta squeezes me out. . .I have stuff to say, but nowheres to Blog in my own Blog -- just like in "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" (by the way, I'm not Harlan Ellison and don't think I'ld want to be).

My Blog needs two parallel lines of Posts that are tied closely together for mutual support and collective defense but I currently don't see how to do that gracefully within the standard Blogger formats. Probably there is an easy way to do what I want -- first, Blogger's "quick start" standard formats likely have to be replaced by a versatile Blog publishing tool.

As a fix, I'll run 2 standard Blogger Blogs under one account and try to cross-link them together somewhat so they help each other. One Blog will be dominated by adventures in Blogging (like this) and other stuff, and the other will be a pristine narrative of ' The History of Gin .'