Showing the Impact of Your Blog With the DotSpots Reach Widget

April 21, 2010, by Kai Gradert Code, Design 3 Comments
Showing the Impact of Your Blog With the DotSpots Reach Widget Share Buzz It

Update: We have updated the instructions below to reflect our new setup assistant for Bloggers.

With the last release we launched two new features to create dots from a feed and to connect dots into the news. Those features give bloggers the tools to extend the reach of their blog beyond their own domain.

Today we are releasing the DotSpots Reach Widget, which allows bloggers to share the potential reach of their posts. The widget shows on how many sites the blog post can be seen in context.

DotSpots Blog Widget

You can see a live example of the widget on the Pulitzer Center website

Knowing exactly where your blog is relevant and where it can be seen in context is a powerful tool for showing your supporters (donors, grantors, advertisers or investors) how much impact your blog is potentially having.

By allowing them to see the reach at the bottom of the post, and then letting them experience your post as dot in context of thousands of mainstream sites around the web, your site supporters can directly experience the impact that your story can have in the context of other stories.

Setting Up the Widget

  1. Log into your DotSpots account, or create a new account
  2. Click on the Bloggers – Connect your content into the news setup assistant at the top of the screen
  3. The setup assistant will help you with:
    • Adding a RSS feed
    • Auto connecting your blog posts to related news articles
    • Installing the widget for WordPress, Blogger, Typepad as well as other blogging platforms
  4. That’s it!

The widget is fully customizable via CSS, with the default configuration inheriting the styles of your site to blend nicely with the rest of your site.

We will continue to improve this widget, integrate it into our flows and fine-tune the types of data we display. In the meantime, please share your feedback with us and let us know what other features you would like to see in the future.

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Facebook Twitter Update: We have updated the instructions below to reflect our new setup assistant for Bloggers.
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