Thinking of using ClustrMaps but haven’t yet made up your mind? Then run, don’t walk, to these great instructions posted on 14-Sept-2008 by Sue Waters on TheEduBlogger.

Here’s a reduced size image from the set of many helpful instructions and images added by Sue… I don’t want to spoil your fun, so I have only used a reduced image… click on it to see the real deal in Sue’s original posting:

[Update 19-Feb-2008: wow, Edublogs has rolled out a ton of new capabilities, including much richer multiple language support, themes, widgets, etc; ClustrMaps is proud to be part of that rollout, and wishes the best of luck - and a hearty thanks - to the Edublogs.org team! Read their announcement here.]

A much easier method is now available for adding ClustrMaps as a ’sidebar widget’ in your blog. Right now this applies only to Edublogs.org users, although we aim to roll this out much more widely in the very near future. Here’s the main difference, primarily for brand new signups:

Old (regular) way: to get a thumbnail map on your blog previously, you needed to do all this:
1. go to the ClustrMaps Get one! page
2. link from there to the registration page
3. fill in your URL and email
4. submit
5. check your email for your fresh password
6. go to the Admin page
7. sign in with URL and fresh password
8. copy the HTML
9. edit your blog sidebar by dragging a text widget (or similar)
10. paste the HTML you copied at step 8.

Widgeted (new) way… Now, from your Edbuglogs.org login/dashboard “Presentation… widgets…” screen you can just do this:

1. edit your blog sidebar by dragging the ClustrMaps widget [similar to 9 above]
2. open the widget’s options to fill in your email – the URL is already there, and save it

That’s it… the no-brainer simplicity of true widgets… we only ask for the email address so that we can provide personalised user support in case of questions or difficulties, and also to allow a route for people to go in their Admin pages on ClustrMaps.com and edit some of the options if they want (more will be coming soon, like customised look), and to upgrade to ClustrMaps+

This is purely a test area… for specific comments about using the great ClustrMaps “geographical hit counter widget” on EduBlogs, please see either the ClustrMaps How-To page for EduBlogs or read this great introduction and how-to-guide by The Edublogger.

Finally, check out the “Wanna try a new ClustrMaps widget?” (one click drag and drop) discussion on the Edublogs forums.

You are always welcome to visit the ClustrMaps Home Page.