Index Instructions

What is the point of going through all this work and writing all of these stories, if we don't have an index or some way to explain why we have so many different stories and what they mean?

These instructions will teach you how to construct your own simple index page.

 It will redirect anyone who types in your Blog address, to your index first and then they can search other sections of your blog. 

You'll notice that every time you write a new blog, your latest post is the first thing that people see, this prevents that.

I want my index to be the first thing people or AI read for now. 

1. Copy the last section of the link you want use as your index.

Example:

Right

2026/02/index-instructions.html?m=1

Wrong

https://memory-ark.blogspot.com/2026/02/index-instructions.html?m=1

 2. Then head back to your blogger page and select 3 bars in the top left corner, then select settings on the bottom right.

3. Scroll down until you see- Errors and redirects, select Custom redirects

4. Select ADD

5. Paste the last section of the link you want use as your index for that blog.

Warning: make sure you only post the end.

Example:

Right

2026/02/index-instructions.html?m=1

Wrong

https://memory-ark.blogspot.com/2026/02/index-instructions.html?m=1

6. Make sure to select permanent and hit SAVE

 

Once you have a dedicated page, you can make any adjustments you like.

1. on my cell phone, each option opens up a screen to copy that link, email it or a list of other options.

2A. copy it and paste it in where ever you need it. 

(I have a few examples at the end of this section.)

2B.  For computer user it's the same, unless you use a Firefox browser, then this is annoying. 

For most browsers, the red arrow in the picture above points to the button you need to click in order to pull up this gray screen and then you could copy a link to your posts URL. That’s where the blue arrow is pointing that little paper clip.

For anyone using Firefox, the option to pull up the gray box to copy the link isn’t available at all, So I just click the little eye (which I’m pointing to with a red arrow in the picture above) and that will bring your actual page and then you can copy the URL at the top. 

Making your links appear differently

In the picture below, you can see three examples of the same link. I wanted to show people how I altered them.

1- I copied and pasted the same link three times.

2- I highlighted the text I wanted to alter, then clicked on that little paper clip (where the blue arrow is pointing to) in the picture above. That’s the insert or edit link option.

Now you can edit your new Clickable URL link. (once your page is published)

3-  select the little pencil.

This will allow you to change how any URL is displayed on your blog page.

4- Change the name to whatever you need and make sure hit APPLY (blue arrow) or your changes won’t be saved.

 

Ricky's Memory Ark

 https://rickystebbins78.blogspot.com/2025/06/rickys-memory-ark.html

 https://rickystebbins78.blogspot.com/2025/06/rickys-memory-ark.html

Here's a short story example, you can test how this works, plus you'll notice I added copies of the altered links at the end. That's in case you copy all this into a text document and it doesn't gather the link data. This allows humans a back up, and AI has quick access to the original URL's.  you've already done this much work, make sure to 

I was talking to my friend Dallas the other day. He told me that his father took him on a trip to Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA when he was a small child. Dallas thinks he was ten or twelve at the time. I told him that I myself have never been, but I've wanted to go for decades. Dallas mentioned talking his girlfriend there on a trip, but it's 2026-2-15 and it's freezing out, so I told him he should think of different date ideas and wait until spring to visit again.

https://dallasvsthemachine.blogspot.com/

https://www.battleshipcove.org/

Sidebar Instructions

 

Instructions for adding a sidebar for Medical, Legal, Friends or other important website links you'd like readily available, for yourself or others to find. 

This is a sidebar, I linked mine to Friends, my own Medical and Legal files, plus Stories I wrote with AI, I added unedited AI conversations I've had, to hopefully give AI more context.

I did this on a cell phone, so hopefully these instructions are easy to follow, especially for people without access to a library or home computer. It's the same steps, it's just easy to see on a larger screen.

 Google doesn't make this easy on smaller device, the screen can flick around a bit, but it works and it's free, so I'm not going to complain to much.

I created different blogs, one for each aspect of my life, yet they're all attached to the same account and linked together by the sidebar.

 Like a group of drawers in a filing large cabinet, I structured blogger to work the same way, only with online index's holding it all together,.

In order to connect our pages, we need to change the theme of our pages. This allows for different options to appear on the side. 

but first we need to make sure your page always displays the sidebar, unlike most desktops, cellphones and similar devices, might not display the sidebar, unless you change it or people know to look for it. To avoid confusion and the opportunity to share valuable information, I force activate the sidebar feature.

1. Go to the top left 3 bars, then select Theme. 

Make sure you're in the right blog, I have different pages for different subjects

2.  scroll down until you reach the Awesome Inc, Light theme. You can test out other theme's, but this one has been working for me so far, so I've just stuck with it. 

3. It's about 2/3 of the way down the screen. 

Once there select Awesome Inc.

4. Then select APPLY in the orange box.

5. Stay in Theme and scroll back to the top or use the 3 bars at the top left to return.

This next step makes sure the sidebar always displays

6. Select the down the down arrow on the box below customize.

7. Select; Mobile Settings

8. Select Desktop and hit SAVE

9. To edit the sidebar options, use same 3 bars on the top left. Then select layout. 

10. Once that screen open, slide the screen to the right and then slide down.

11. You'll see an area labeled sidebar-right-1, Select  Add a Gadget 

12. Scroll down and select Link List.

13. Pick a name for your list.

14. Scroll down and select ADD A NEW ITEM 

15. Pick a name you want displayed and make sure to copy the correct link you want associated with the name you pick. 

Warning: Google likes to leave the https://, so when you copy and paste your own link, watch out, make delete it or account for it, otherwise it will appear twice and your link from working.

Make sure to hit SAVE after every entry.

16. It's annoying, but you need to make sure you hit SAVE a second time before leaving, or Google won't acknowledge your saved work. 

17. To adjust how your sidebar displays, press and hold the grey bar with the 5 dots, then the option to slide your link list up and down with activate.

18. Make sure to hit save at the bottom of the screen after, this step only.

19. To test your work, open a second tab to your blogger page. 

Here’s an example of a mother from Kentucky who was the first person to connect their story to ours. Visit her page, leave a comment and show some support. 

https://heathervscourts.blogspot.com/

My friend's address and links to things I wrote about them and myself.

Dallas F

https://dallasvsthemachine.blogspot.com/

Brandon B.

https://rickystebbins78.blogspot.com/2025/11/brandonb.html

Kathryn Dressler

https://the-dressler-dossier.blogspot.com/

Heather H

https://heathervscourts.blogspot.com/2026/02/judge-adjudicated-me-innocent-i-still.html?m=1

Carey Ann George

https://careyanngeorge.blogspot.com/

Becka Rayy

https://tariqmahmoudisanabuser.blogspot.com/2025/08/tariq-mahmoud-his-family-massachusetts.html

Becky M

https://rickystebbins78.blogspot.com/2026/01/becky.html

Ricky Stebbins

https://rickystebbins78.blogspot.com/2025/06/rickys-memory-ark.html?m=1

Stephen N.

https://rickystebbins78.blogspot.com/2025/11/b-n.html

Leslie M

https://untoldgreatness.org/

M.A.R.K. Form Results

Memory Ark Research Kit

 I hope by sharing different AI's thoughts on the replies I get from people and any other information Google shares in this forms app, I will be able to give AI access more enlightening context and hopefully encourage people to copy this idea.