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AT PRESENT, ALL USES OF "READ MORE" ON THIS BLOG ARE DYSFUNCTIONAL, SO THE FULL POSTS ARE SHOWING FOR NOW!

MFBQ

Most Frequent Blogger Questions



USEFUL BEGINNER'S LIST (30 Posts)


This blog outgrew the original intended 20 Questions & Answers and is now approximately 210 Q&A. I never did figure out which were the 20 most important ones.


I don't know more than I know--sometimes I know even less!
Click to see the incredible list,

All The Things I Don't Know!


If some portion of this blog is unreadable in Firefox, Internet Explorer, or whatever, tell it to go to hell then try another browser!!!

BLOGGER SUPPORT
http://help.blogger.com/?page=contact


BLOGGER PROBLEM REPORT FORM http://help.blogger.com/?page=troubleshooter.cs&problem=&contact_type=bug_with_blogger_beta&Submit=Submit

The Blogger Wishlist feature no longer exists.

Blogger hasn't said why or if it'll ever return.

Tell BLOGGER WISHLIST about a feature you'd like to see in Blogger!


EMERGENCY STEPS

Kick-starting The Blog
1. Refresh (F5) or Ctrl-F5
2. Clear cache (delete temporary Internet files) and cookies in Tools-Internet Options.
3. Add a question mark to the end of your blog's internet address in the address box and see if it will show the latest update. (Can also be done with other people's url's in the address window.)
4. Republish (if in classic Blogger)
5. Reboot
6. Log out and log back in again (may change to an untroubled server)
7. Change or reload the browser (IE, Firefox, others)
8. Try a different computer, or see if you can duplicate the problem or avoid it in a post in another blog (make a test blog, whether in the same account or a second account, that's not public so nobody will see you screwing around!)

---Not necessary to do all of these at once!---

Blogger may make problems for some computers about accepting cookies, especially when you are using the new versions of Internet Explorer or Firefox browsers. Difficulties with accepting scripts may be caused by security systems, antivirus programs, firewalls, and some add-ons. Check all your settings.

You may need to change your browser settings, or to list www.blogger.com and blogger.com as "trusted sites" in your Internet Options-Security so that scripting can occur.

USEFUL BLOGGER HELP FILE

http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=41971&topic=8914

[For Newbies or anyone else who gets lost in the rain in Juarez.]

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Change Font In Posts

In New Blogger:
1. go to Dashboard
2. go to Layout
3. click on Fonts and colors
4. click Text Font in box at left
5. locate list of font styles at right
6. click one.
7. click Save Changes when finished

END.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

How To Upgrade A Migrated Blog

When a blog has been Migrated to the New Blogger servers (all blogs now are), but the template has not been Upgraded, you will not yet have access to the additional features of New Blogger. You can continue to sit on your Classic template if you wish. You do not have to Upgrade, but you can.

Current instruction page from Blogger: http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44474



Original New Blogger Instructions
Customize Design :

To Upgrade, look for the tab beneath "Template" that says "Customize Design" and click on it to select a new template.


My Version Of Instructions
Customize:

1. Click on "Customize" in the Navbar above your blog.
2. You'll see some instructions that terminate with "Learn more about Blogger Layouts customization".
3. The last few words of that line is supposed to be a link that you can click on to proceed. If it doesn't act as a link, use the Refresh button and clear your cache and cookies to correct it!

If you have been used to a customized template, the system will save a copy of your current template. You will be stuck with this new template until you can re-customize it, bit by bit. You CANNOT replace the New template with your Classic template with Copy and Paste. They are incompatible. However, if at length you cannot stand New Blogger, you can REVERT to the Classic template. But you cannot leave the New Blogger servers nor can you refuse to migrate to them when advised to do so. If you are a new blogger, you likely started out in Layout mode and are better off there, though it is possible to change to a Classic template.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Blogger Help-Blogs List

I used to think there were only 3 or 4 such blogs, but it seems to me like there are twenty or more. I'll have to count them on fingers and toes and hope they don't exceed my grasp! Here are the ones that I've heard of, but I won't categorize or put them in any order. I may have included some bad ones or left out some good ones--but I can always revise as I go!

Useful Blogs

  1. The Real Blogger Status

  2. Blogger Tips and Tricks

  3. How Can I Do That?

  4. Some Template Tips & Tricks

  5. Compender

  6. Beta Blogger For Dummies

  7. Hackosphere

  8. The View From Here

  9. phydeaux3

  10. Freshblog

  11. Friedbeef’s Tech

  12. Beautiful Beta

  13. Hoctro's Place

  14. Logical Philosopher

  15. Beta Bloggers Resources


Monday, February 12, 2007

Wishlist

Blogger seems to have cancelled the Wishlist at present.

If you long for the return of Previous Posts, or the links from your profile's "favorites" to the profiles of others with similar interests, or if you know of other features which have now disappeared from (or were never in) the current version of Blogger, you can contact Blogger for that purpose at:

The Wishlist

http://help.blogger.com/?page=wishlist

They may not answer you, but at least you'll have given them your two cents worth!

As of 8/07/07 FAVORITES: Blogger has returned the use of the links to other "favorite" subjects across the blog world. Some of you were always bitching about it, and maybe Blogger heard you. But they never said it was coming back!



END.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Edit The Template

How to edit or add to the template
Old Blogger;
1. From the Dashboard, click on Template.

New Blogger:
1. From the Dashboard, click on Layout.
OR
1. From the Navbar, click on Customize.

2. Then click on Edit HTML to edit the template.

Now you have to know what you're doing. If you are in New Blogger, you may wish to place the code in a page element instead.


END.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Remove Content From Google Index

Request removal of content from Google's index:

Request Site


http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35301

Warning: It does not appear that Blogger is very active in helping anyone with this, despite having this help site. The truth may be that you might as well talk to a lawyer and have him talk to Blogger if it comes to that. Blogger will not promptly save your donkey.

END.

Report Spam To Google

Don't be timid. If you THINK it's spam, report it to Google at

Google Spam Report

http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/spamreport?hl=en

END.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Where To Place A Graphic For The Header

New Blogger method, easier for most
1. In Dashboard go to Layout.
2. Click Header in the Layout.
3. Have the url of the image you want to use handy.
4. Type or paste or Browse for the url into one of the two Image boxes,
5. Either an image on your computer or one already hosted on the Web.
6. You can choose to add the photo Behind the Title and Description or
7. You can Replace the Title and Description with the photo.
8. Be sure to Save Changes.


I can't emphasize how much easier the method above is!
Below is the old (Classic) method

This method still useable and ultimately more flexible (but you may be well satisfied with the first method above):

The code you'd look for to put a graphic into the header seems to come from a variety of locations in your template. It might go in the #header or #header-wrapper. The method I usually use is to locate a background url that already exists like these:

#header {
margin: 0 2%;
background-color: $headerBgColor; background:url("
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_AVxLoZ0mR_0/Rb_W1nLeYQI/AAAAAAAAAIg/
qCR5JYhLf6o/s1600/dgblues.jpg") no-repeat bottom 10px;
color: $headerTextColor;
padding: 0;
font: $headerFont;
position: relative;
}

or

#wrap2
{background:url("xxxhttp://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AVxLoZ0mR_0/
RcNxJHiGO3I/AAAAAAAAAKA/5GfVtiwhGRE/s1600/jg2.jpg")
no-repeat center top; }

If this doesn't make anything more clear, ask again. I won't mind. But I don't know everything!

------------------------------------

It also worked for me to place an extra html/javascript page element above the header, with code like below:


<a href="http://jgblues.blogspot.com/"><img top
src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AVxLoZ0mR_0/RcNxJHiGO3I/AAAAAAAAAKA/
5GfVtiwhGRE/s1600/jg2.jpg" no-repeat center/></a>

but first you'll have to go into the header widget in the template and change it so that the extra header is allowed, like this:

1. Go to Template.
2. Click on Edit Html
3. Click on Expand widget templates.
4. Locate the header widget.
5. It might look like this:
<b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1'>
6. Change the maxwidgets number to 2 or more.
7. If there's a showaddelement='no', change it to say 'yes'.
8. I don't advise removing the old header entirely unless you can otherwise preserve the title for the search engines, but if you mean to try, I understand that you'll have to change locked='yes' to 'no'.
9. Save your new template.

Some have remarked that they have no header at all, and I don't know what that's about. In new blogger, you might find a section like this, which reflects the fact above that I have the mentioned html/javascript page element added to that header.

<b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='4'><b:widget id='HTML6' locked='false' title='' type='HTML'/><b:widget id='Header1' locked='true' title='JUDY GARLAND BLUES (Header)' type='Header'/></b:section>

Various statements of fact and warnings on this subject may be missing or careless at present, so beware.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Changing Templates In New Blogger

You have to change, but you don't have to change!

At some point soon, most of you who have held back will be forced to make the change to New Blogger. When you get there (are Migrated), you may not have to change your template immediately or even for a long while.

Those of you with a heavily customized template can (sorta) keep it!

However, you can't quite keep your own--not if you upgrade! Sadly, if the time comes when you have to or want to change to a new template so that you can utilize the full range of new features in New Blogger, then you may as well realize going in that the template choices are few. You may find them all dull and boring.

Cheer up if you're dumping an attractive customized template! It will take work, but just choose one and let the system Upgrade your template. Later, as time goes by and you learn how things work in the new set-up, you can begin to make the changes in your new template so that it will resemble your old one.

Keep a copy of your old template for reference. You will be able to Copy and Paste portions of it into the new template, as well as restore the additions you made to your old css code that are not in your new template.