Once you have decided to upload a new template for your blogsite, you may want to preserve the widgets of your original template. Here are the simple steps to preserve the widgets of your original template, thereby allowing them to appear on your newly modified blog template.
Step1: Go to the template editor and choose the edit HTML tab:
Step2: Find these codes: </body></html>. These codes are easy to find because they are located at the end of the template file.
Step3: Add this code immediately before the codes stated above: <b:section id='backupwidget' showaddelement='yes'/>. Save your template.
Step4: Go to the Page Elements tab. You will notice that a new blank page element box appears on the bottom-most portion. Drag the widget elements into the new element box as shown below. Save your template.
Step5: Open again the HTML template editor and locate this section: <b:section id='backupwidget' showaddelement='yes'/>. This is the same section that you previously added. Copy this section and include all the codes therein until the closing </html> tag.
Step6: Open the new teplate XML file that you have designed or downloaded from other source. Choose Notepad to edit the file. Now, paste the codes that you have just copied from your older template into the last section of the new template. However, you must first delete these codes: </body></html> in the new template and replace it with the codes that you have copied from the older template as stated in Step5. Save your new template.
Step 7: Now you are done. You can now upload the new template for your blogite. All the widgets that you included from the older template will now appear in the new template. Simply rearrange the widget elements based on your preferences. See this post for instructions on how to properly download and upload a new template: Template Downloads.
2007-11-22
Preserving Widgets
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2007-11-21
Blogger Search Box
HOME||CONTENTSHave you noticed the search box above? It is not part of Google search box. Rather, it is actually an integral part of the Blogger/Blogspot template. Typing a keyword search inside the dialog box will return search results of contents found within this blogsite. <form id="searchthis" action="http://homartemplatepractice.blogspot.com/search" style="display: inline;" method="get">
If you have hidden the navigation bar of your template, it is ideal to include a search box such as found above to help your readers find specific contents within your blogsite. The illustration below shows the location of the default Blogger/Blogspot search box.
To include a Blogger/Blogspot search box in your blogsite, you must first open the Page Elements tab of your template as shown below.
Then add the codes found below to any available location you prefer. However, you first have to change the red-higlighted codes in the shown example to match the specifications of your blogsite. Otherwise, any keyword search on your blogsite would return results found in this site.
2007-11-17
Template Downloads
HOME||CONTENTSAlthough Blogger/Blogspot is very easy to use and it has great flexibility compared to other blog hosting services, it has some disadvantages. One disadvantage of Blogger/Blogspot is its lack of readily available three-column templates and other more professionally-looking templates such as found in Wordpress, for instance. However, this blog host offers lots of freedom, especially for would-be web designers.
Although you might be very creative, it requires some technical skills when it comes to designing Blogger/Blogspot templates. You have to be knowledgeable about HTML and CSS to implement your ideas. On the other hand, if you are the type of person who is too busy and do not have much patience to design your own templates, you may simply download from other sources. There are many blogsites and web sites that offer free templates.
I have listed here some links where you can find free templates for Blogger/Blogspot. However, when it comes to downloading templates, it is not as straightforward as copy-pasting the codes. You must first download the file and save it to your hard desk, then upload it to the template editor of your blogsite.
There are instances wherein the template editor will not parse or you will be asked to delete some widgets. This is especially true if you have too many widgets in your original blog template. Typically, you must simply confirm and save. However, there are instances wherein you may need to manually delete the widgets. Hence, it is wise to first save the original template before trying to replace it with a new one. This should be done to preserve the widgets of your original template.
Here are some of the best links that offer free Blogger/Blogspot templates:
2007-11-16
Hiding the Navigation Bar
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To hide the navigation bar, first find the "credits section" on the template of your blogsite. The credits section contains the name of the template designer. This section resembles the sample below. For the sake of illustration, I have used the credits section of this blogsite's template.
<b:skin><![CDATA[/*
-----------------------------------------------
Blogger Template Style
Name: Minima
Designer: Douglas Bowman
URL: www.stopdesign.com
Date: 26 Feb 2004
Updated by: Blogger Team
Modified by: Homar Murillo
----------------------------------------------- */
The aforementioned section is located on the upper part of your blogsite template. Hence, it is very easyto find. Immediately under it, add this CSS code:
#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}
Now you are done. It is as simple as that. Save your template and view your blog. If you want to restore the navigation bar, simply remove the aforementioned CSS code.