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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.]
Showing posts with label sidebar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sidebar. Show all posts

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Have Two or More Blogger Profiles

Make Your Own

Placing direct information and a photo into the sidebar to replace the Blogger "About Me" Profile OR because you want more or different info/pictures in your profile! You may desire to put hyperlinks or other items there which you cannot place in the official Profile.

For different reasons, some people even want to be able to have a different Profile on different blogs on the same account. This is a workaround to achieve that goal.

By placing the code for an image and your own personal info directly into the sidebar or page element, AND by suppressing the Blogger Profile, you can work around the problem. You'd have to eliminate the Blogger Profile entirely (mark it as NOT to be shared, either in Edit Profile or in the Profile page element).

[Remember, these profile substitutes will only appear on your blog while the original official Profile will still be what's available to persons where you leave comments on other blogs!]

Also see Profile Visits.

[More below, with screenshot...]



First thing is to find a photo. My Blogger Profile pic is 88x68 pixels, but of course that's only how it shows in the sidebar. The photo size I submitted was 320x240 pixels. I don't currently know how much larger you can go, but I've seen some that were very large in other Profiles. Obviously, what we'll need in the sidebar is one of those pics such as Blogger pics turn out that are shown larger when clicked on.

For the test photo I use further down the page, I started with a medium photo in a photo program where I could copy it and resize the copy. Thus I had a thumbnail and a larger pic, as so many of us are used to.

My thumbnail here is larger (123x92)than the profile photo I actually use, but it fits in the sidebar, and that was my only goal. So I took the two photos and fitted them into the formula as below.

Once the images are hosted online, you can copy the code and place it in the sidebar, probably looking something like this:

<a href="PhotoUrl"> <img src="smallPhotoUrl" />
</a>


Below is the actual code for the fabricated Profile I made up in a practice blog (shown further down the page). The code should be entered in an html/javascript page element in New Blogger or in the sidebar section of the template if you are still using a Classic template.


<center><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_AVxLoZ0mR_0/Rc6Xl8IUJzI/AAAAAAAAALA/
BwKtMwuI4ek/s1600-h/Picture+17.jpg"> <img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtEqSABK9qbnoWe85CNI7_3Tmm2W03LckaXYS5Y25AX-gvh-gxWVfwBjvhSKRKxuyoMnyBrTipOk6t6lfFPbLU-iEIBtgn65v8u6lQGoLgT3QNw9wroOXqamloC-HoMbY1s29V/s1600/picture17-small.jpg"/> </a>
<br/>
<b>Clower McFlowers, <br/>
Chigger, Texas, USA <br/><br/></b></center>

Clower is a mean bastard, but he's our mean bastard! I can put whatever other info I want to include here. Might even insist that my name is Mortimer Snerd. Can't never tell. I was born in Montana. On horseback. In the rain. Yeah, that's it. And I'm a negro, too.

Below is the screen shot.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Table for Horizontal Photos In Post

RonaldSouthern

Haven't done any of those in a while. Tedious.

[Those of you wishing to cut to the chase quickly, start reading the large yellow-highlight area below, which is below the fourth straight red line.]
Below is the code that makes a small table like the one above have photos side by side:

<center><table border=4 width=95%><tr><th align=center>Ronald</th> <th align=center>Southern</th></tr><tr><td><img src=\"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaOEgOjpEK1oRv_I88gykcbl-wVKUiaG4nUQTbzGx7OYC3F7ugr-QGGpk7nkrUl9CmLjxGYJeuuwlbY_sHmShNTEHKfSvwho-qveJ9aXts9OR9qeLwErBJvBpwa4pmQ1LeSFP/s1600/twinkiebite.gif\" /> </td> <td><img src=\"https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzaOEgOjpEK1oRv_I88gykcbl-wVKUiaG4nUQTbzGx7OYC3F7ugr-QGGpk7nkrUl9CmLjxGYJeuuwlbY_sHmShNTEHKfSvwho-qveJ9aXts9OR9qeLwErBJvBpwa4pmQ1LeSFP/s1600/twinkiebite.gif\" /> </td></tr></table> </center>


[More below...]


A MORE SIMPLISTIC SAMPLE OF A TABLE (followed by its code) is shown below:

PICTUREOR TEXT


<table border=2>
<tr>
<td>PICTURE</td>
<td>OR TEXT</td>
</tr>
</table>


PREVENT LINE BREAKS:

In order for the Table not to cause extra line breaks in Blogger posts, there are two methods:

Method #1: You may need to copy it out like this (no line breaks of your own):

<table border=2><tr><td>PICTURE</td><td>OR TEXT</td></tr></table>

--To create additional row(s), add another set of "table records" such as

<tr><td>picture or text</td></tr>

as needed. Place them after the first table record and before the end tag, </table>.

--Remember that the photos cannot exceed the width of the area where you are placing them or else it will create problems, probably your sidebar being pushed down.



Method #2: This is something I've tried a number of times now. It does seem to be very effective, especially if you're going to use tables often. It is not good, though, for creating a table around a list (numbered or otherwise) because it will remove the page breaks and show the list as if it's a regular paragraph. It'll make the info resemble a traffic jam. This method makes the change in this way, using css:

Table Formatting In CSS


My explanation of the Table Formatting (Method #2) which I learned from the site above is as follows--changing the table in the CSS:

Place the following line of code in your CSS:

.nobr br { display: none }

Then place the DIV tags around your table as below:

<div class=nobr>
<table border=2>
<tr>
<td>PICTURE</td>
<td>OR TEXT</td>
</tr>
</table>
</div>

Saturday, August 04, 2007

Unordered List In Sidebar

You have two options:
  • Unordered List (with bullets)
  • Unordered List (with bullets)
OR
  1. Ordered list (numbered)
  2. Ordered list (numbered)
Newbies using New Blogger template may be better off using the Link List in the Page Elements. It is easier for the lazy Blogger; however, it is more difficult to backup the Link List widget than to just backup the Page Element. You'll also have more control over it later (when you've become more informed) in a Page Element.

Before I forget, there is a third kind of list; when you just start your list items and don't specify either ordered or unordered, you will get plain bullets (or whatever your CSS specifies)

There is an even newer Blog List type of page element if you're trying to create a BlogRoll and you may find it preferable--it does a very different (and nifty) thing for you!

[More below...]


(Page Element and Gadget (or Widget) are different names for the same thing--one is more accessible to you (through the Layout page) and the other, in the template, you can go into more deeply as far as editing it IF you know how!)

So I prefer the ul or ol list, whose html code I can keep backed up in a Notepad file or other plain-text program, in an html/javascript page element.


If you are using a Classic template, you will need a list of this sort for the sidebar. In a Layout template, you'd put the code in a Gadget.

Put this after or at least not inside the other ul lists in the sidebar in the template.

Below is the code for a list of links that you could use HTML to put it in your sidebar via the Classic template or into a Gadget (html/javascript Page Element)in a Layout template.

First one below is an example of a link.

<h2>New Category</h2>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.zandria.us/">Keep Up With Me </a> </li>
<li>list another one! </li>
<li>list another one! </li>
</ul>

If your template uses a particular "class" for it's titles in the sidebar, just imitate (copy) them in order for your new list titles to match the old ones.

For a second list, if needed, do another title and pair of start and end tags and fill in the middle part.

For just one link in the sidebar, use code as below:
<a href="http://rodentia.blogspot.com/The Rat Squeaks</a>


The difference between an unordered list as above and an ordered list which Numbers your list is merely using an ol tag instead of the ul tag!

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Sidebar Labels List In Classic Blogger

In order to put a labels list in by hand in the sidebar of Classic templates:

Click on a label below your post and copy its URL from the address bar once the Permalink has opened. Then you can paste this code into the template sidebar :

name of label

< href="url of label Permalink">name of label</a>

When clicked on by visitors, they'll be provided all relevant posts to scroll through, one after another--but not a concise list of titles.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Change font size in sidebar


In New Blogger
1. go to Dashboard
2. go to Layout
3. click on Fonts and colors
4. click Sidebar Title Font in box at left
5. locate Smaller and Larger at right
6. click one or more times to increase/decrease the size
7. click Save Changes when finished


END.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Low Sidebar

These are my rote instructions when sidebar nosedives happen, which mostly occur in the Internet Explorer browser. I don't know that it happens very much in Firefox, but it can happen there!

[More below...]


But, on to our problem! Sometimes it's simple, sometimes not.

  1. Your sidebar may be going to the bottom because your server is crazy due to being worked on by Blogger. (This occurs less often than when I began and it would sometimes cause your sidebar not to begin at the top like it's supposed to.)
  2. Wrong code or missing pieces of code sometimes cause this kind of jump or aberration.
  3. It is probable you'll have to get out of Compose mode and enter Html mode in order to see wrong code in the posts.
  4. It is possible you have posted too large a photo. If so, use a photo program to create a smaller version of it or simply eliminate (delete) it as a temporary measure.
  5. It is possible you have too long a link somewhere. (In this regard, I'm referring only to the naked link such as "http:..etc." If you have placed the url in an anchor tag formula so that only the blog title is visible, that is NOT the kind of link meant here because the long part doesn't show or have any effect on the screen!) Change the link and the sidebar might go back to the top of the page.
  6. Also, look for a misstated IMG code. They can cause more trouble than just the image not showing!
  7. Possibly your main column width and sidebar exceed allowable Content width or header width.
  8. Sometimes one of the "floats" in the template will get changed for some reason and be wrong. Investigate. Options are "left", "right", and "none".
  9. If you suspect it may be caused by something in a particular post, you could Save as Draft to remove it temporarily and see if it was the cause. Then you can Publish it again later to put it back in place.
  10. Also, sometimes I've found it to be caused by just getting some wrong or missing code in the template or in a recent post. You might have one tag or symbol too many or too few. If you've deleted some things, maybe you left one little piece of nonsense code behind that's confusing the template.
  11. Once it was caused in a friend's site by a -->, the closing tag for hiding a comment; it had no start tag, was just wrongly there!
  12. Even if you remember something pretty clearly, always be willing to go back and examine codes or settings because Blogger is not completely stable--a glitch can occur!

Play Sherlock Holmes and test some changes without saving them until you use Preview and see that the change works and does no harm. It's hard, but I don't know any easy way. Think about the last 2 or 3 things you did. One oddity of the "low sidebar" is that there is sometimes a "delayed reaction" before the visible bad effect occurs, so that the post, image, or link that's the culprit may SEEM to have been innocent (caused no immediate problem) at first.

To test posts one at a time, use the Permalink feature; if you click on the Post Title, your site will show only that one post. When you keep doing the blog like that, you MAY find a single post that pushes the sidebar down and that post will be the cause of your trouble. In other cases, of course, the trouble is coming from the sidebar and you just have to figure it out.

To hear all this put another way, go to Peter's post about it or Chuck's post.

Recover Your Template

Rote Advice For Recovering From Damaged Template

Is your blog showing as a blank screen or as incomplete? First of all, in Classic take the easy path and Republish. See if it clears up. Then check your template and see if it's truncated. You may not have caused the damage, but it happens! You have probably not lost any posts. Proceed.

If you don't have a safety copy of it, you could select a new or the same template over again and it might straighten out. If the template sidebar wasn't too changed, it might be a small loss to be repaired. Even better might be Googling for a cached version of the blog.

For that purpose, see if you can find a cached copy of your blog in Google or other search engine. If posts are missing, you might copy and paste a still-correct post. You can also go into Source code to copy the parts of the template you may be in danger of losing and yet absolutely need to preserve.

Be sure NOT to get in the View Source and copy any of the posts into your template later; they are not supposed to be there and the template will malfunction!

Selecting a new (or the same) template will not destroy your posts, only your current template (including the sidebar information).

If you are in New Blogger, you can go to the Edit Html box, look at the bottom of it, and locate the lines

Revert to Classic Template.
View Classic Template.


Click on one of the lines. If you don't revert, you can copy and paste the old template and then use parts of it to sort out your current version. Remember that the code parts that were in your Classic template will go instead into some of the Page Elements that you create in New Blogger.

END.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Change Width of Post and Sidebar

Peter Will Tell. I'd get too flustered. I've changed many of them, but it was always Trial and Error. There's a few too many template variations out there for me!