It’s as simple as adding your email address and agreeing to ClustrMaps terms & conditions!

About ClustrMaps

ClustrMaps is a free thumbnail hit counter map widget that shows the location of all visitors to your blog. Number of visitors from a location is indicated by the relative size of the dot.

Educators like to display visitor tracking widgets like ClustrMaps on class and student blogs because displaying visitor numbers and their geographical locations helps students appreciate they’re publishing posts for a global audience.

Below’s what a ClustrMaps looks like in a blog sidebar:

Clicking the ClustrMaps thumbnail takes you to the ClustrMaps website where you can examine your visitors information more closely.

Here’s the type of information you’ll see:

Adding a ClustrMaps is as simple as:

1.  Go to Plugins inside your dashboard.

2.  Click Activate below the widget pack.

• Activating the widget pack adds the ClustrMaps widget and other widgets to Appearance > Widgets.

3.  Go to Appearance > Widgets

4.  Click on the desired sidebar to expand (so you can add the widgets)

5.  Drag the ClustrMaps widget from the Available Widgets or Inactive Widgets areas on the left into the Sidebar area on the right

• You drag by clicking on the widget with your left mouse and moving the widget.

6.  The widget will automatically open and you then need to complete the following steps:

1. Add your email address
2. Click on Agree to terms and conditions
3. Click Save Changes.
4. Final step is to click on Save and then Close.

7.  You will receive an email advising of your successful ClustrMaps  registration and your widget will look like this image below in your sidebar

• The correct thumbnail map won’t appear for 24 hours, but the yellow (recent) dots will start appearing on your big world map within a matter of minutes’.

8.  Once you have received your email registration you may wish to log in to your ClustrMaps Admin page and click on ‘Change personal details’ to set a new password and add your Twitter Username (optional) in order to see Tweet Maps superimposed on your large world map.

This involves grabbing the HTML embed code from the ClustrMaps website and adding it to a text widget in your blog sidebar.

NOTE:

• Edublogs Pro and Campus users can use the ClustrMaps widget to add a ClustrMaps to their blog sidebar.
• The ClustrMaps widget is designed to provide a quick and easy way of adding a ClustrMaps to your blog sidebar without having to grab the HTML embed code from the ClustrMaps website.
• It’s as simple as adding your email address and agreeing to ClustrMaps terms & conditions!

About ClustrMaps

ClustrMaps is a popular widget for class and student blogs because it reminds students that they are part of a global audience and demonstrates how connected we all are. Students love seeing the red dots grow as their readers, from around the World, visit their blog.

Creating Your ClustrMaps

1. Go to ClustrMaps.
2. Enter your blog URL (e.g. your blog URL should look similar like this http://theedublogger.edublogs.org/) and email address then click on Make My Map.
3. Copy the HTML code for Option A.

Adding The ClustrMap To Your Blog Sidebar

1. Go to Appearance > Widgets in your Dashboard
2. Click on the desired Sidebar to expand (so you can add the widgets) NOTE: In new blogs sidebars in your dashboard are empty and adding widgets automatically removes the default Edublogs widgets
3. To add a text widget, drag it from the Available Widgets or Inactive Widgets areas on the left into the Sidebar area on the right
4. Drop the widget when you see a dashed line appear – this indicates the widget is in place
5. The widget will automatically open — just add the HTML code from Clustrmaps, click Save and then Close. (If you have trouble with the text widget or it doesn’t open — try changing your theme just in case there is an issue with it).
6. You should now see your ClustrMaps in your blog sidebar and the dots will start appearing after 24 hours.

Tips:

• If you need to grab new HTML embed code for your ClustrMaps just log into your ClustrMaps Admin area using your blog URL and password (sent in the original signup email from ClustrMaps).
• Remember if you are an Edublogs Pro or Campus user you need to follow these instructions to add the ClustrMaps Widget to your blog sidebar.