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In Blogger, open Layout, choose Add a Gadget where you want the blogroll, and add Blog List if it appears in your gadget picker. Blogger’s documented visual option is an optional favicon—a small site icon—not a guaranteed large thumbnail or logo preview. The same general steps apply to blogs operated in India; check the gadget and its display options in your account and theme.
Add a Blog List gadget
- Sign in to Blogger and select the blog you want to edit.
- Open Layout.
- In the sidebar or other layout area where the blogroll should appear, select Add a Gadget.
- Look for Blog List. If it is available, add it and configure the blogs or links and any display settings currently offered in the editor.
- Save the gadget, then save the layout arrangement.
- Preview the published blog and confirm how the links and icons appear in your theme.
Blogger Help documents the Layout and gadget workflow, but it does not establish that Blog List is available in every account or region. If it is missing in your current picker, use the custom-list option below. Blogger Help: Change the design of your blog.
What “thumbnail” means in Blog List
The Official Blogger Blog describes Blog List as a way to link blogs, web pages, and feeds from a sidebar, “with an optional favicon.” A favicon is a small identifying icon associated with a site; it is not necessarily a large thumbnail, logo card, or page preview. That feature description was published June 5, 2008, so treat its additional options as details to check in the current gadget editor rather than guarantees about every present-day setup. Official Blogger Blog: Show off your favorite blogs with a Blog List.
The same announcement describes feed-enabled links that can display the latest update time, post title, and a snippet, plus sorting by name or update time and the ability to hide some links behind a “show all” link. Check whether these controls appear in your gadget settings before relying on them.
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If you want larger images
If Blog List is unavailable or its favicon is too small, you can build a more visual blogroll with linked images and customize its appearance through HTML or CSS. In Blogger, open Theme to access the theme customization options; Blogger Help notes that HTML/CSS and widget tags can be used for page elements such as pictures and a blogroll. This route gives you more control but requires maintaining the markup and checking that it works with your theme. Google cautions that custom code and third-party widgets are added at the author’s own risk. Blogger Help: Change the design of your blog.
Uploading a favicon in your blog settings changes the identity icon for your own blog; it does not establish that Blog List will show larger thumbnail images for the other sites in your list. Blogger Help: Manage your blog’s settings.
Choose the right Blogger feature
- Blog List: a public list of selected blogs, pages, or feeds—the closest match for a curated blogroll.
- Reading list: for following blogs and reading their latest posts from your Blogger dashboard, rather than displaying a public blogroll.
- Followers gadget: lets visitors follow your blog; it is not a list of other sites you recommend.
Blogger Help: Manage blogs you follow.
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For a separate task—capturing a website screenshot—ScreenshotNeo offers a screenshot API. It is not a Blogger blogroll builder, but its one-call capture can help you make an image to use in a custom list. For a quick test, replace the target URL below with the page you want to capture:
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See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for parameters. ScreenshotNeo can remove cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before a shot; bot checks, blank pages, and failed loads are not billed; an MCP server lets AI agents take screenshots; and 1,000 screenshots per month are free with no card, with paid plans starting at $5 for 3,000. Sign up for the free plan.
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