Related Posts Widget for Blogger with Thumbnails | You might also like

The Advantages of Related Posts Widget

Basically, "related posts" or "you might also like" widget are added in order to reduce the bounce rate. That is, to delay the user on the site. After reading one of your posts, he sees other similar posts and naturally opens them for review, thereby increasing the percentage of the behavioral factor, which is one of the main factors in increasing the rating of a site or blog. Thus, the owner of the resource and his visitor who found the posts that are important to himself is satisfied.

As practice shows, one of the best ways to get the user to penetrate deeper into the content of the site can be with the help of special widgets. One of these gadgets is a widget called "Related Posts" or "You might also like".

Some minuses

From personal experience, I can say that some of them create additional nonexistent links, for example, "Undefined", I think those of you who often delve into the Google Search Console tool could watch links with the words "Undefined" there.

Therefore, it is extremely important that the widget does not create such problematic links, otherwise it can negatively affect the indexing of the site as a whole.

Honestly, I would advise you to abandon this widget also because in most cases it negatively affects the page loading speed of your blog.

As an option, if of course there is such an opportunity, use the Google Adsense "Matched Content" widget. It can be optimized so that it does not affect the download speed, and of course, it does not create non-existent links. However, there is a minus in it since such a thing as Adblock will block its display.

How To Add Related Posts with Thumbnails in Blogger Post 

This article will include two or more different widgets for similar posts. They differ from each other only in that the first heading leaves when you hover over the image to the post. In the second, the title is visible without this effect. DEMO Grid style \ DEMO List (simple) style

If you still have not changed your mind about installing the recommended content widget, then let's get started.

1. Open your Blogger dashboard, go to Theme - Edit HTML open search window holding on keyboard CTRL+F and write in search window </head> press Enter on your keyboard. Now paste before closing tag </head> the following code:

JS<link href="//netdna.bootstrapcdn.com/font-awesome/4.7.0/css/font-awesome.css" rel="stylesheet"/>
<script src='https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.1.0/jquery.min.js'></script>

2. Next step, find closing tag ]]></b:skin> and paste above it CSS code:

CSS
.post-related { display: inline-block; background: #fff; padding: 10px; width:100%; } .post-box .heading { margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: center; margin-top: 10px; position: relative; } .post-box .heading:after { content: "" ; position: absolute; top: 100%; left: 50%; margin-left: -11px; width: 21px; height: 1px; margin-top: 2px; background: #b565a7; } .item-related { width: 31.6%; display: block; float: left; margin-right: 10px; height: 100%; } .item-related:last-child { margin: 0!important; } .item-related .link {display: block; margin: -1px; margin-bottom: 0;} .item-related img {margin-left:0px !important; display: block; opacity: 1; width: 100%; height: 200px; object-fit: cover; } .item-related h3 { font-weight: 400; font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.71429; font-family: Muli; text-transform: uppercase; } img.noops-smly { padding: 0 !important; margin-top: -2px !important; width: 19px; display: inline; }
@media (max-width: 520px)
.item-related {
width: 100%!important;
}

3. Now we need to find tag <data:post.body/> of which there can be two in the template, we need the second one and after it, we post the following code:

HTML<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<script id='related-posts' type='text/javascript'> /*<![CDATA[*/ var relatedTitles = new Array(); var relatedTitlesNum = 0; var relatedUrls = new Array(); var thumburl = new Array(); function related_results_labels_thumbs(json) { for (var i = 0; i < json.feed.entry.length; i++) { var entry = json.feed.entry[i]; relatedTitles[relatedTitlesNum] = entry.title.$t; try {thumburl[relatedTitlesNum]=entry.media$thumbnail.url;} catch (error){ s=entry.content.$t;a=s.indexOf("<img");b=s.indexOf("src=\"",a);c=s.indexOf("\"",b+5);d=s.substr(b+5,c-b-5); if((a!=-1)&&(b!=-1)&&(c!=-1)&&(d!="")) {thumburl[relatedTitlesNum]=d;} else {if(typeof(defaultnoimage) !== 'undefined') thumburl[relatedTitlesNum]=defaultnoimage; else thumburl[relatedTitlesNum]="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_8TuboznPNCQOxeZBq_bkMTmgn5ktnKhEMJlRmilGgiMatFDVelAdS54YfTSwj8SAwZd3ZFwMetPeIFclsSbQCWV3Elm7W4aSe7dwUj6-g46V4vtglnwbqWQm8LEDO29rQ1pwNBevSs/s1600/no_pic_available.jpg";} } if(relatedTitles[relatedTitlesNum].length>35) relatedTitles[relatedTitlesNum]=relatedTitles[relatedTitlesNum].substring(0, 35)+"..."; for (var k = 0; k < entry.link.length; k++) { if (entry.link[k].rel == 'alternate') { relatedUrls[relatedTitlesNum] = entry.link[k].href; relatedTitlesNum++; } } } } function removeRelatedDuplicates_thumbs() { var tmp = new Array(0); var tmp2 = new Array(0); var tmp3 = new Array(0); for(var i = 0; i < relatedUrls.length; i++) { if(!contains_thumbs(tmp, relatedUrls[i])) { tmp.length += 1; tmp[tmp.length - 1] = relatedUrls[i]; tmp2.length += 1; tmp3.length += 1; tmp2[tmp2.length - 1] = relatedTitles[i]; tmp3[tmp3.length - 1] = thumburl[i]; } } relatedTitles = tmp2; relatedUrls = tmp; thumburl=tmp3; } function contains_thumbs(a, e) { for(var j = 0; j < a.length; j++) if (a[j]==e) return true; return false; } function printRelatedLabels_thumbs(current) { for(var i = 0; i < relatedUrls.length; i++) { if((relatedUrls[i]==current)||(!relatedTitles[i])) { relatedUrls.splice(i,1); relatedTitles.splice(i,1); thumburl.splice(i,1); i--; } } var r = Math.floor((relatedTitles.length - 1) * Math.random()); var i = 0; while (i < relatedTitles.length && i < 20 && i<maxresults) { tmb = thumburl[r].replace('s72','s300'); document.write('<div class="item-related"><a href="' + relatedUrls[r] + '" class="link"><img width="150" height="100" src="'+tmb+'"/></a><h3><a href="' + relatedUrls[r] + '">'+relatedTitles[r]+'</a></h3></div>');i++; if (r < relatedTitles.length - 1) { r++; } else { r = 0; } } relatedUrls.splice(0,relatedUrls.length); thumburl.splice(0,thumburl.length); relatedTitles.splice(0,relatedTitles.length); } function removeHtmlTag(strx, chop) { var s = strx.split("<"); for (var i = 0; i < s.length; i++) { if (s[i].indexOf(">") != -1) { s[i] = s[i].substring(s[i].indexOf(">") + 1, s[i].length) } } s = s.join(""); s = s.substring(0, chop - 1); return s } /*]]>*/ </script>
                  <div class='post-related'>
                    <div class='post-box'>
                      <h4 class='heading common-heading'> <i class="fa fa-th-list" aria-hidden="true"></i> Related Posts</h4>
                    </div>
                    <b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
                      <script expr:src='&quot;/feeds/posts/default/-/&quot; + data:label.name + &quot;?alt=json-in-script&amp;callback=related_results_labels_thumbs&amp;max-results=6&quot;' type='text/javascript'/>                             
                    </b:loop> 
                    <script type='text/javascript'>
                      var defaultnoimage=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHi4GyFrVOejskx-ADsdRhd_EcBRwTHPhKranoAid6v9JdeAG5F2OU-tgrIyhbXf2Q8-ZgOU5yz6xYZDsn1kIwdqyOF9GoBr7x0UR-4k8e8s9XsHYN9Ci8YypT_xv_05un0CLlCNTEMZ4/s400/noimage.png&quot;;
                      var maxresults=3; // Number Of Posts
                      removeRelatedDuplicates_thumbs();
                      printRelatedLabels_thumbs(&quot;<data:post.url/>&quot;);
                    </script>
                  </div>    
</b:if>

Save your Theme and check if the "You might also like" widget is displayed in the posts of your blog or not.

The simple version of the Related Posts widget

Now let's try to install a much simple alternative version of the related posts widget.

1. Go to Theme - Edit HTML find there  ]]></b:skin> after it paste this CSS code:

CSS<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
<style type='text/css'>
.related-postspace{position:relative;margin:0;padding:20px 0}.related-postspace h4{margin:0 0 15px 0;font-weight:700;font-size:18px;padding:0 0 20px 0;border-bottom:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.05);text-align:center}.related-post-simple-2,.related-post-simple-2 li{list-style:none;margin:0;padding:5px}.related-post-simple-2 li{overflow:hidden;margin:0 auto 10px auto;transition:all .3s}.related-post-simple-2 li:hover .related-post-item-title{color:#e74c3c}.related-post-simple-2 .related-post-item-thumbnail{border-radius: 2px; width: 120px; height: 80px; max-width: none; max-height: none; background-color: transparent; object-fit: cover; border: none; float: left; margin: 2px 15px 0 0; padding: 0; transition: box-shadow 0.3s ease 0s; -webkit-box-shadow: 0 2px 2px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.14), 0 1px 5px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.12), 0 3px 1px -2px rgba(0,0,0,0.2); box-shadow: 0 2px 2px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.14), 0 1px 5px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.12), 0 3px 1px -2px rgba(0,0,0,0.2); }}.related-post-simple-2 .related-post-item-title{color:#222;font-size:16px;font-weight:700}.related-post-simple-2 .related-post-item-title:hover{color:#e74c3c}.related-post-simple-2 .related-post-item-summary{display:block;font-size:13px;margin:5px auto 0 auto;color:#999}.related-post-simple-2 .related-post-item-summary .related-post-item-more{display:none}
@media screen and (max-width:750px){
.related-post-simple-2 li{width:100%;float:none}
.related-post-simple-2,.related-post-simple-2 li{padding:5px 0}
.related-post-simple-2 .related-post-item-summary{display:none}}  
</style>  
</b:if>

2. Now find <data:post.body/> and after it add:

HTML<div class='related-postspace' id='dtostrelated-post'/>
         <div class='clear'/>
            <script type='text/javascript'>
               var labelArray = [<b:if cond='data:post.labels'><b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
                         &quot;<data:label.name/>&quot;<b:if cond='data:label.isLast != &quot;true&quot;'>,</b:if>
                     </b:loop></b:if>];
               var relatedPostConfig = {
                     homePage: &quot;<data:blog.homepageUrl/>&quot;,
                     widgetTitle: &quot;&lt;h4&gt;Related Posts&lt;/h4&gt;&quot;,
                     numPosts: 5,
                     summaryLength: 160,
                     titleLength: &quot;auto&quot;,
                     thumbnailSizew: 120,
                     thumbnailSizeh: 80,
                     noImage: &quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7nv7P6lLgCP5CE02EqdYcbXn4vz4aAAZmkwdNzUizi6ajH1afEm3dQsFR3vKj-kLa7se7kNibQZfs94CA9dcFkZSwUNAOrniF_2expwsai1I27uUK0IdHKPr0XTHgt1AngVGjjwddjII/s1600/noimage1.png&quot;,
                     containerId: &quot;dtostrelated-post&quot;,
                     newTabLink: false,
                     moreText: &quot;Read More&quot;,
                     widgetStyle: 2,
                     callBack: function() {}
               };
            </script>
            <script type='text/javascript'>
               //<![CDATA[
               /*! Related Post Widget */
               var randomRelatedIndex,showRelatedPost;(function(n,m,k){var d={widgetTitle:"<h4>Recommended</h4>",widgetStyle:1,homePage:"https://blogger.com",numPosts:7,summaryLength:370,titleLength:"auto",thumbnailSizew:150,thumbnailSizeh:100,noImage:"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAIAAACQd1PeAAAAA3NCSVQICAjb4U/gAAAADElEQVQImWOor68HAAL+AX7vOF2TAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC",containerId:"related-post",newTabLink:false,moreText:"Baca Selengkapnya",callBack:function(){}};for(var f in relatedPostConfig){d[f]=(relatedPostConfig[f]=="undefined")?d[f]:relatedPostConfig[f]}var j=function(a){var b=m.createElement("script");b.type="text/javascript";b.src=a;k.appendChild(b)},o=function(b,a){return Math.floor(Math.random()*(a-b+1))+b},l=function(a){var p=a.length,c,b;if(p===0){return false}while(--p){c=Math.floor(Math.random()*(p+1));b=a[p];a[p]=a[c];a[c]=b}return a},e=(typeof labelArray=="object"&&labelArray.length>0)?"/-/"+l(labelArray)[0]:"",h=function(b){var c=b.feed.openSearch$totalResults.$t-d.numPosts,a=o(1,(c>0?c:1));j(d.homePage.replace(/\/$/,"")+"/feeds/posts/summary"+e+"?alt=json-in-script&orderby=updated&start-index="+a+"&max-results="+d.numPosts+"&callback=showRelatedPost")},g=function(z){var s=document.getElementById(d.containerId),x=l(z.feed.entry),A=d.widgetStyle,c=d.widgetTitle+'<ul class="related-post-simple-'+A+'">',b=d.newTabLink?' target="_blank"':"",y='<span style="display:block;clear:both;"></span>',v,t,w,r,u;if(!s){return}for(var q=0;q<d.numPosts;q++){if(q==x.length){break}t=x[q].title.$t;w=(d.titleLength!=="auto"&&d.titleLength<t.length)?t.substring(0,d.titleLength)+"&hellip;":t;r=("media$thumbnail" in x[q]&&d.thumbnailSizew!==false)?x[q].media$thumbnail.url.replace('s72', 's200'):d.noImage;u=("summary" in x[q]&&d.summaryLength>0)?x[q].summary.$t.replace(/<br ?\/?>/g," ").replace(/<.*?>/g,"").replace(/[<>]/g,"").substring(0,d.summaryLength)+"&hellip;":"";for(var p=0,a=x[q].link.length;p<a;p++){v=(x[q].link[p].rel=="alternate")?x[q].link[p].href:"#"}if(A==2){c+='<li><img alt="" class="related-post-item-thumbnail" src="'+r+'" width="'+d.thumbnailSizew+'" height="'+d.thumbnailSizeh+'"><a class="related-post-item-title" title="'+t+'" href="'+v+'"'+b+">"+w+'</a><span class="related-post-item-summary"><span class="related-post-item-summary-text">'+u+'</span> <a href="'+v+'" class="related-post-item-more"'+b+">"+d.moreText+"</a></span>"+y+"</li>"}else{if(A==3||A==4){c+='<li class="related-post-item" tabindex="0"><a class="related-post-item-title" href="'+v+'"'+b+'><img alt="" class="related-post-item-thumbnail" src="'+r+'" width="'+d.thumbnailSizew+'" height="'+d.thumbnailSizeh+'"></a><div class="related-post-item-tooltip"><a class="related-post-item-title" title="'+t+'" href="'+v+'"'+b+">"+w+"</a></div>"+y+"</li>"}else{if(A==5){c+='<li class="related-post-item" tabindex="0"><a class="related-post-item-wrapper" href="'+v+'" title="'+t+'"'+b+'><img alt="" class="related-post-item-thumbnail" src="'+r+'" width="'+d.thumbnailSizew+'" height="'+d.thumbnailSizeh+'"><span class="related-post-item-tooltip">'+w+"</span></a>"+y+"</li>"}else{if(A==6){c+='<li><a class="related-post-item-title" title="'+t+'" href="'+v+'"'+b+">"+w+'</a><div class="related-post-item-tooltip"><img alt="" class="related-post-item-thumbnail" src="'+r+'" width="'+d.thumbnailSizew+'" height="'+d.thumbnailSizeh+'"><span class="related-post-item-summary"><span class="related-post-item-summary-text">'+u+"</span></span>"+y+"</div></li>"}else{c+='<li><a title="'+t+'" href="'+v+'"'+b+">"+w+"</a></li>"}}}}}s.innerHTML=c+="</ul>"+y;d.callBack()};randomRelatedIndex=h;showRelatedPost=g;j(d.homePage.replace(/\/$/,"")+"/feeds/posts/summary"+e+"?alt=json-in-script&orderby=updated&max-results=0&callback=randomRelatedIndex")})(window,document,document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0]);
               //]]>
            </script>

Now save new settings and check the result.

Video instruction

If you have some questions use the comment form.