You may have noticed a certain slowing of output here lately. There's been a bit of a division of labor, but we're finally ready to take the wraps off Freshblog's secret project! Blogger Hacks goes Wiki!

Freshblog & Friends have established an EditThis! wiki for Blogger Hacks. Our goal is to put Blogger Hacks information out there in a format that is open, accessible, detailed, and clearly organised / categorised in a systematic way (as opposed to my fabulously haphazard list of links.)

The further goal is to make the submission of hacks very straightforward, and the maintenance of a comprehensive collection easy too.

The further-further goal is to provide a collaborative forum for the community of Blogger users who like to modify and extend the possibilities of the service, so that we can offer the highest standards of hackery to the whole community of blogger users, and accept unfiltered input from one another.

Here's the need-to-know info:

1. The wiki URL is http://edithis.info/bloggerhacks/ (Note the dot-info domain.)
   
2. To search the hacks that have been imported into the Wiki already, visit the category page for Hacks and browse the content alphabetically. Alternatively, search in the sidebar.
   
3. To submit a Hack, visit the Submit Hacks page. We're looking for consistent information about each hack, so we're asking you to copy a series of headings from the "create page" page, where you submit your title, and paste them into the new page that you create. Complete the information under each heading as fully as you're able to. To add categories to your page, use double square brackets [[category: hacks]]
   
4. To request a the development of a new Hack, first be fairly sure that it is possible, and be very sure that it isn't in the wiki already. Visit the Request Hacks page, and add a section at the top describing your needs. The hope is that many power-users of the blogger service will see your request, feel your pain, and investigate the possibilities on your behalf.
5. Talk pages are open, so feel free to talk-back, or discuss the hack that you're viewing!

Of course, we don't work for Google, Blogger, or anyone affiliated with Blogger, and these are user-designed modifications to your template that have been collected and linked to solely to make them easier to access. We haven't tested them all, don't guarantee their effectiveness, and are not in a position to restore your blog should the implementation of a hack not work out. This is a "buyer beware" situation. We strongly recommend that you back up your template before implementing any hack, and that you ask for the limited help / support that the wiki community can provide before you go forward with implementation.

That said (should it be in small print?) we're delighted to offer this new resource, and warmly invite you all to contribute your hacks in the interests of blogospheric collaboration. We're looking forward to building an ever more comprehensive hack collection. If we've added your stuff already (and we may have, if it was listed on Freshblog), please feel free to edit the relevant page and amplify the explanation. Please add your new hacks to the Wiki too, & let's create the ultimate resource for Blogger users.

You'll notice that the wiki offers amplifications and explanations, not outright how-to's. The goal is to link to existing content on relevant blogs, and to drive traffic to those places, not to reroute traffic from them. The source posts are the best descriptors of the individual hacks. The wiki contributes by standardising information for comparison, and enabling a user to select which hack will best suit their needs.

Data was imported into the wiki by:

• Ben
  
• Edelebe
• Greg
  
• Harmony
• James
• Julie
• Lisa
  
• USC Trojan (RPM)
  
• Shaheen
  
• Shelley
• Stephen
  

Many thanks to them for their contributions. Special mentions for Greg & Stephen who taught me to speak Wiki, and Julie, who has put in significant editorial time to get the wiki in shape for launch, and to Rob, the EditThis service owner, who fixed a bug last night so that we could roll out today!

If you have thoughts about the design & destiny of the Wiki, leave a comment here or on the talk pages. Otherwise, join the community, and enjoy this open format for Blogger modification!