Expandable Posts in Blogger

Finally figured out how to do the expandable post in Blogger. Since, it took me so long to do, I am taking full advantage. You only get the rest of the scoop if you click on the Read More link.

Don't know why Blogger doesn't build this functionality in as people really want it. Maybe when you get bought out by Google and the stock hits $400, you get a little lazy.

Blogger throws down a couple of hacks, for the DIY crowd here and here.

Problem is, they both suck. One is inline, which is lame, and the other tosses the "Read More" on every page regardless if there is more to read or not. That just won't cut it. What do they suggest to only show the Read Me when needed?

Modifying this feature is left as an exercise for the reader.

Thanks, jackass. This basically means I need to do a Google search, which is where I was before I read the article.

I found this one by Radical Russ which was good, except to use it, I would need to retrofit all of my old blog entries. So, I took a look at how many posts I have done. Wow, I have over 300 posts! That is some serious blogorrhea. No way I am changing that many posts.

Then I found this one by thurbroeders, which was ok, except you manually needed to set the BlogItemPermalinkUrl, which is doable, but not ideal. Also, not down with looking at the sweat stained shirt of the Marlboro Man.

Finally I came upon the nerdierthanthou method. Using some javascript, it can automatically tell if you have more or not. The only thing that scares me is that he created it over a year ago, and none of his posts for the last couple of months are using it. I wonder if he ran into some unforseen issues with it. Speaking of, I wonder how the javascript works with an RSS feed.

Anyway, that is what I am going with. Should make it easier to browse the front page.

Update: With the new blogger I am using a new technique.