Sitewide Dots
Contents
Sitewide Dots
- Top of Header
- Bottom of Header
- Top of Nav Column
- NavBar
- Bottom of Nav Column
- Above H1 Headline
- Below H1 Headline
- Below First Paragraph
- Above Socialize It! Sharing
- Socialize It! Sharing
- Below Socialize It! Sharing
- Top of Extra Column
- Middle of Extra Column
- Bottom of Extra Column
- Above Bottom Nav
- Bottom Navigation
- Below Bottom Nav
- Footer
You'll see up to 18 orange dots on your home page (and every other page). These allow you to add common content to your entire site, with just a few clicks of your mouse.
(Depending on the design you selected, you may see fewer. Templates with two columns will have 15 dots, and one-column templates will have 12 dots.)
As you add blocks to the various dots and add content to those blocks, your pages will begin to "fill up" with text, code and images that are common to every page.
Some of the common content that you might want on every page of your site is...
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One or more AdSense ad units (but be sure to hide these ads on C2 Thank You and comment-form pages, and on FBI! Thank You pages)
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A search box, so visitors can find specific information easily
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Your What's New Box, so that your visitors can see what you've published recently, and subscribe to your RSS feed from any page of your site
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Your Socialize It! button bar, destinations bar, and Face It! Like buttons and Commenting
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Your Newsletter Opt-in Form, so that your visitors can subscribe to your newsletter from any page of your site
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Tracking code (Statcounter -- if you use Google Analytics code, add it with Connected Services)
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Navigation for non-content pages (privacy policy, about, contact, disclaimer, etc.) at the bottom of the page
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A footer with copyright information
It's easy to remove sitewide common content from a particular page. For instance, you added an AdSense ad unit just below the first three paragraphs, but don't want that ad unit on an affiliate product sales page.
Simply click on the red – just to the left of the dot's name (in this case, "Below First Paragraph").
Clicking hides the content in BlockBuilder (and removes it from the published page), and the red minus symbol becomes a red +.
Click on the + if you want to put the sitewide content back on this page.
Below is a discussion about each Sitewide Dot, including what it's best used for.
Top of Header Sitewide Dot
The Top of Header Sitewide Dot is best used for horizontal navigation. Most of the responsive templates in Site Designer use horizontal navigation, and have it already placed when you build new pages in BB2.
To create your horizontal navigation, you'll need to build the Tier 2 pages that you want to link to.
Preview the page to see what the navigation will look like.
Build this page to save your changes. The horizontal navigation appears on every page of your site.
Bottom of Header Sitewide Dot
You may want your horizontal navigation below your header image. Depending on the responsive template you chose, it will already be in this Sitewide Dot in BB2.
To create your horizontal navigation, you'll need to build the Tier 2 pages that you want to link to.
Preview the page to see what the navigation will look like.
Build this page to save your changes. The horizontal navigation appears on page of your site.
Top of Nav Column Sitewide Dot
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Drag a Raw HTML Block to this dot and paste in AdSense or other ad code.
Or drag a What's New Box Block.
Or drag a Newsletter Form Block.
Or drag a Social Block, select Facebook Like, and then select a button created in Face It!. - Add more than one block, if desired.
The Top of Nav Column Sitewide Dot is the place for small ads or your What's New Box or Newsletter Form, anything small that you want on every page.
This dot is also a good location for a Facebook Like button that asks for a site Like (not a page Like). Ensure that the button is the correct type for the width of the column.
See the Face It! Like Buttons help for a discussion on the best places to put your Like buttons.
NavBar Sitewide Dot
Some templates have vertical navigation instead of horizontal navigation. The NavBar Sitewide Dot comes pre-populated with the code that will display your Tier 2 page links, once you begin building those pages.
You'll see a sample NavBar in this position as you build each page. On the live page, your visitors will see the actual NavBar.
If you want to add some short text that introduces the NavBar, place it in the Top of Nav Column Sitewide Dot, discussed just above.
If you prefer to use horizontal navigation, remove the NavBar from this Sitewide Dot and add the Navigation Bar Block to the Top of Header Sitewide Dot (discussed above). If you change your mind later, you can always add it back with the Navigation Bar Block.
Bottom of Nav Column Sitewide Dot
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Drag a Raw HTML Block to this dot and paste in AdSense or other ad code.
Or drag a What's New Box Block.
Or drag a Newsletter Form Block.
Or drag a Social Block, select Facebook Like, and then select one of the buttons created in Face It!. - Add more than one block, if desired.
The Bottom of Nav Column Sitewide Dot is the place for small ads or your What's New Box or Newsletter Form, anything small that you want on every page.
This dot is a good location for a Facebook Like button that asks for a site Like (not a page Like). Ensure that the button is the correct type for the width of the column.
See the Face It! Like Buttons help for a discussion on the best places to put your Like buttons.
Above H1 Headline Sitewide Dot
- Drag the Breadcrumb Block to this dot.
The Above H1 Headline Sitewide Dot is a great place for the Breadcrumb Block. When you set a breadcrumb for a page, the breadcrumb trail for that page will appear at that dot location. Until then, nothing will show on the page.
Below H1 Headline Sitewide Dot
- Drag a Raw HTML Block to this dot and paste in the code for a search tool.
The Below H1 Headline Sitewide Dot can be used for a search tool.
Do not put an ad block here as Google will penalize your site for having ads above the fold on mobile devices.
You will not be able to create an AdSense for Search tool until you're accepted into the AdSense program, which will require at least 20 pages of content, so that Google staff can determine if your site is good enough to have ads on it.
If you want to have an ad block near the top of the content, use the next Sitewide Dot (Below First Paragraph) to include it on all of your pages.
Below First Paragraph Sitewide Dot
- Drag a Raw HTML Block to this dot and paste in AdSense or other ad code.
Use the Below First Paragraph Sitewide Dot to add ad code to your pages. Ensure that the first Text Block has at least three paragraphs of text, so that no ad appears above the fold on mobile devices.
It's best to left- or right-align the ad and wrap content around it. To do that, paste the following code into the Raw HTML Block and put your ad code in the middle...
<div class="AdSenseBoxLeft">
Ad code goes here
</div>
If you want the ad on the right, change "AdSenseBoxLeft" to "AdSenseBoxRight."
Above Socialize It! Sharing Sitewide Dot
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Drag a Social Block to this dot, select Facebook Like, and select a button created in Face It!.
Or drag a Social Block and select Facebook Comments.
Or add both. - Or drag a Raw HTML Block to this dot and paste in ad code, if you want an ad here.
The Above Socialize It! Sharing Sitewide Dot is the optimal location for a Facebook Like button that asks for a page Like.
Since your visitors have just been wowed by your content, now is the time to ask them to vote on it and to let their friends know about it.
See the Face It! Like Buttons help for a discussion on the best locations for Like buttons.
Another option for this dot is a Facebook comments box, which you set up with Face It!.
Your visitors are ready to comment on your content, or may have a question after reading something on the page.
This dot is also where you'd place an ad if you want one at the end of your content, when visitors are looking to take action.
You can place the Like button and comments box in this dot. However, don't add the Like button and/or comments and an ad. Having conflicting options could end up splitting the action your visitors take, with the possibility that neither a social action nor AdSense will do well.
Socialize It! Sharing Sitewide Dot
- Drag a Social Block to this dot and select Socialize It! Sharing. Choose which button bar option you want to display.
This is where the horizontal Socialize It! Sharing button bar goes, if you want it on every page of your site.
You need to have set up Socialize It! to have access to this option.
Below Socialize It! Sharing Sitewide Dot
Use the Below Socialize It! Sharing Sitewide Dot for any sitewide content that you want at the bottom of the page, such as an ad block. Remember, however, that placing ads that far down the page can result in lower income due to fewer clicks and lower earnings per click.
Top of Extra Column Sitewide Dot
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Drag a Social Block to this dot, select Facebook Like, and select a button created in Face It!.
Or drag a Newsletter Form Block.
Or drag a What's New Box Block.
Or drag a Raw HTML Block and paste in ad code. - Or combine two or more of them.
The Top of Extra Column Sitewide Dot is an excellent location for a Facebook Like button for a site Like. Ensure that the button is the correct type for the width of the column.
See the Face It! Like Buttons help for a discussion on the best locations for Like buttons.
Other possibilities are your Newsletter Form and/or a What's New Box (if you didn't place either in the Nav Column), and/or ad code.
Middle of Extra Column Sitewide Dot
- Drag one or more Headline Blocks, Text Blocks and Raw HTML Blocks to create a mini-site navigation on every page.
- Or drag a Raw HTML Block and paste in ad code.
Use the Middle of Extra Column Sitewide Dot for mini-site navigation (e.g., to your site's most important sections).
Add Text and Image blocks (even Headline Blocks) to create the links to each section/page.
Other options are an ad, and your Newsletter Form, if you didn't add them to your Top of Extra Column Sitewide Dot.
Bottom of Extra Column Sitewide Dot
- Drag a Social Block to this dot, select Facebook Like, and select a button created in Face It! (width less than 180px).
The Bottom of Extra Column Sitewide Dot is a good location for a Facebook Like button for a site Like. Ensure that the button is the correct type for the width of the column.
However, if you placed one in the Top of Extra Column Sitewide Dot, don't add one here (place it in the Nav Column instead).
See the Face It! Like Buttons help for a discussion on the best locations for Like buttons.
Above Bottom Nav Sitewide Dot
Anything that you'd like to have on every page, but is not that important to the visitor's experience on your page, you can place in the Above Bottom Nav Sitewide Dot.
It's best not to put ads here, as few visitors will click on an ad this far down the page.
Bottom Navigation Sitewide Dot
The Bottom Navigation Sitewide Dot is best used for horizontal navigation, linking to non-content pages of your site (About Me, Contact, Privacy Policy, etc.).
To create your horizontal navigation, you'll need to build the pages that you want to link to. Once they're all built, use a Text Block to add the link text. Then add a link to the text for each page.
Preview the page to see what the navigation will look like.
Build this page to save your changes. The new horizontal navigation will now appear at the bottom of every existing page and every new page of your site.
If you don't want to have horizontal navigation at the bottom of your pages, leave the Bottom Navigation Sitewide Dot empty.
Below Bottom Nav Sitewide Dot
- Drag a Text Block to this dot and enter the text and links you want on every page.
The Below Bottom Nav Sitewide Dot gives you the opportunity to place sitewide content that may be required on your pages, but that you don't want to focus your visitor's attention on.
An affiliate income disclosure is one of those. If you sell affiliate products, you need to have an affiliate disclosure (and perhaps a link to a disclosure page) on your pages.
This is a location where you can add it to satisfy government requirements, while at the same time making it less important than the rest of the content on the page.
If you prefer to only put the disclosure on pages where you sell affiliate products, turn your disclosure into a Reusable Block instead, and add it to just those sales pages.
A disclaimer (e.g., for medical, legal or financial advice) is another option.
Footer Sitewide Dot
- Drag Text and/or Raw HTML blocks to this dot to create a custom footer.
Build the footer here in this dot, by dragging over a Text Block and, if necessary, a Raw HTML Block.
Note
If you add navigation links to your Bottom Navigation Sitewide Dot (discussed above), don't also add navigation links to the Footer. Use it just for your copyright information.
Tip
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To display a © symbol, copy the symbol here and paste it into your Footer's Text Block.
A Permanent Shortcut
After your first year, on January 1 of the next year, copy this code and paste it into a Raw HTML Block in the Footer dot...
Copyright © [Year you started your site]–<script>document.write((new Date()).getFullYear());</script>
Change [Year you started your site] to the year your site began.
Here's an example of how it will look...
Copyright © 2018–
Each year going forward, the new year will replace the year just ended.