Over the past few months, Google-owned Blogger has seen more than its fair share of updates and enhancements. From a whole new look to the Blogger dashboard to inline comment forms and star ratings, it seems that Blogger is giving more attention to the needs of its users.

On Friday, Blogger users were happy to seeadded to the recent list of enhancements: post “reactions”; Google Gadget integration and a whole new look for the regular Blogger dashboard.

Let’s take a look at these new features in detail, along with a few other updates which Blogger users should be aware of.

Those using the experimental features of Blogger in Draft now have access to the new “Reactions” feature. This offers blog publishers the ability to add a “mini-poll” beneath each of their posts with customizable options for readers to vote on the quality and usefulness of the post.

The Reactions feature is offered as an alternative option for readers to leave feedback about a blog post.

You will need to log into Blogger in Draftin order to add this feature to your Blogger blog. Go to the Layout>Page Elements page, and click on the “Edit” link for your Blog Posts widget.

On this pop-up page, you will notice “Reactions” as a new feature which may be added to the posting section of your blog:

You will need to tick this box and save your new settings to be able to use this new feature in your blog. However, depending on the style of template you are using, you’ll also need to perform one of two steps.

You will need to refresh the code for your template by choosing a fresh template or reverting the widget templates to default (from the Edit HTML screen). This is because the existing HTML code for your blog will not yet contain the code required for the “reactions” widget to display beneath your posts.

Once you have chosen a new template or reverted the widget templates to default, you will see the “reactions” enhancement appear beneath your posts.

You will need to add the code for “reactions” to your template manually.

Unlike many of Blogger’s recent updates, this is a simple matter of copying and pasting code.

Go to Layout>Edit HTML in your Blogger dashboard, and check the “expand widget templates” box. Then use your browser’s search function to locate the following line:

Immediately after this line, add the following section of code:

Then preview your template. If you have pasted the code correctly, you should see the new reactions feature appear beneath your posts. Then you can save your template and enjoy your new blog enhancement!

Being owned by Google, it makes sense that Blogger will naturally integrate many of its owner’s services into the system.

For some time, Blogger in Draft users have been able to add Google Gadgets as sidebar widgets with a few simple clicks. Now this feature has been taken out of beta and is available for all through the main Blogger dashboard.

The integration of Google Gadgetsmeans a far greater variety of widgets is now available to add interactive features to our Blogger dashboard through the actual dashboard (rather than having to find the appropriate feature and JavaScript codes elsewhere.

From weather widgets to the most popular entries on Digg and everything between, Blogger users can now choose from literally hundreds of gadgets for use in their blogs, and can even create their own which can be added with ease to Google’s directory of gadgets.

Another feature of Blogger in Draft has also been rolled out for use with the regular Blogger system: the new feature packed dashboard.

The ability to choose which blogs are displayed by default, tabbed navigation for the latest Blogger feeds, and links to Google tools/resources for which you have accounts are all part and parcel of this interactive and intuitive new look.

Blogger has updated the “Flag this blog” link which appears in the Blogger nav-bar on many Blogger powered blogs. Now when you choose to flag an inappropriate blog, you are offered the chance to add information about why you feel the blog in question is inappropriate or contravenes the terms of service.

As the Blogger team have pointed out, flagging a blog does not cause this to be flagged as a spam blog. Instead, flagging a blog brings this to human attention, and further action will be taken if deemed necessary.

Also, there is a new “features” pagewhich explains all of Blogger’s standard features and enhancements. This is great for checking out any of the updates you may have missed.

Through the many recent updates and enhancements for Blogger, many of the most requested features of this platform have already been addressed: the ability to import/exportblogs, an inline comment formand star ratingsare already well-integrated for those using the experimental features of Blogger in Draft. However, there are still some features which could make Blogger a more competitive and much loved blogging platform.

Post summaries is a feature which most Blogger users would certainly love to see added to this platform. It has been available for WordPress users for years, and while Blogger users do have a work-around solution, it does require much editing of the template and extensive editing for each post made. I’d like to think that the Blogger team are at least considering adding this feature in the future, though no-one can say when it may be available for use.

The integration of Google Analytics and Google Reader may also be possibilities for future enhancements. There is already speculation that analytics for Blogger is already in progress, while the adddition of user-defined feeds for the new dashboard seems a natural enhancement.

Blogger rarely leeks any hints about new features which are in progress, though you can be sure I will post about them here at Blogging Tips!

If you have any comments or ideas about Blogger’s new features and enhancements, please feel free to leave your comments below.