Tech Tip: Countdown Blog Widget

For this Tech Tip, you will create a countdown widget and add it to your blog. For an example of what this can look like, take a look at the semester countdown widget in my class blog. (I also have a progress meter too; see the blog post for details about how the progress meter works.)

For this Tech Tip, you can create a countdown widget. That could be a countdown to OU-Texas or the end of the semester or graduation or any upcoming event you want to use. There are also other countdown widget generators; the instructions below are for TickCounter.com, which looked really clean and nice, so I chose that one for myself.

STEP ONE:  Configure Widget. Go to TickCounter.com and select the features you want:

STEP TWO: Grab the code. When the preview looks good, click "embed" and copy the code they give you.

STEP THREE: Create a Blogger Gadget. Now go to your blog and choose Layout from the left-hand menu. Then choose to add an HTML/Javascript widget. Paste in the code you copied in the dialogue box, then click save. 

You can drag-and-drop the box into whatever position you want in the sidebar. Then click save at the top of the page. You should see the countdown in your sidebar now!

Finishing Up. When you're done, write a blog post to let your readers know that you added a countdown widget, and tell us what countdown event you have chosen. To finish up, make sure to include the phrase "Tech Tip: Countdown Widget" in your blog post title and also use "Tech Tip" as the label on the post; then you can do the Declaration.