Using the Linky Tool (for Weekend Update)

Posted by Sophie on January 25, 2013 in Help | 1 comment

At the bottom of the Weekend Update post, you’ll see:

You are next… Click here to enter 

When you click the blue text, this Linky Tools form will appear.
To complete the form:

1. Enter the URL of the specific blog post you want to share as your weekend update.  The URL for my blog is

http://sophiejunction.blogspot.com

But I need to refer to a single blog post, and so the full URL is

http://sophiejunction.blogspot.com/2013/01/to-alburquerque-and-back.html

These can get long and it’s easiest to open your blog and choose the post you want to share, then copy the URL from the address bar of your bowser and then paste it here in the form.

2. The caption will appear under your selected photo.  It can be up to 15 characters.

3. I am requiring everyone to enter their email address because this list is open to everyone who visits the Block Lotto site and wants to share.

4. Select a source for the image that will be used as a thumbnail and indicate if you’d rather decide on where to crop it (to create a square thumbnail) or let the system do it for you.  The cropping choice is at the top.  I chose Let me crop my own image.  As for the source, choose From Web to choose an image from the blog post you entered above.

Next, you’ll see all the images that the Linky Tool has pulled from the URL you supplied for your blog post. It will include EVERYTHING that’s on the page (in my case, my blog header image, my profile photo, various badges and even the little icons for email and edit.

Select the one you want to use.

If you previously chose the “Let me crop my image” option, you’ll next see your selected image, overlaid with a square that you can move around and/or resize. When you have it where you want it, click the button at the bottom.

Then you will see the success! message. You can “Click here” to return to the Weekend Update blog post or follow the links to share on Twitter or FaceBook.