Template Corruption

PROCEED WITH THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Though it's not very hard to do, it may be like killing flies with a shotgun. Be aware that it may correct or change, not only the "broken" or missing item you're concerned about, but some other things you have forgotten that you changed or added! When the post template is "reset", some items you added in the post area (not content) may disappear and you'll have to do some work to put it back.

This procedure surprised me when it eliminated the coding I'd done that placed one cartoon image near the end of each post and another "divider" image at the very bottom of the post. Also, the image signature (my initials in script) in the "Posted by" will have to be replaced in one of my other blogs. I'm in no hurry.

[The same sort of warning may apply to the link you find below the "Edit Html" box that says "Revert widget templates to default". I have not yet used this button, mostly because I have a lot of gadgets that I've edited and I worry that the revert (like this one) might fix too much! But certainly I have read where some people said it had worked for them.]

Missing Post Template Components

Nitecruzr has already done a good job, I think, on explaining this little fixit, so I've added notes and direct you to his post also called Template Corruption The only significant addition I can make is to show the code line in another way so that you can be certain of what you're intended to delete and then replace in his directions. [More below...] In my own code (for this blog) I located the following: <div id='main-wrap1'><div id='main-wrap2'> <b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'> <b:widget id='HTML9' locked='false' title='' type='HTML'/> <b:widget id='HTML6' locked='false' title='' type='HTML'/> <b:widget id='HTML8' locked='false' title='EMERGENCY STEPS' type='HTML'/> <b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'/> </b:section> </div></div> It is the line of code in red that I removed and later replaced. (See further important details at Chuck's post.) Make sure that you made a note of where in your code you removed the red line of code! If you can't put it back in the right place, you may beat your head against the wall trying to remember (ouch!). If you were really familiar with this blog, you'd notice the Email envelope icon has returned below each post for the first time in ages!

Captioned Photos In A Small Table

PICTURE1 PICTURE2 Caption1 Caption2 Caption1 Caption2 Below in red is the code for the two small tables shown above. The style definition NOBR is invoked to prevent a pile of line breaks on top of the table, which is something I use for every table. There are also some artificial line breaks that had to occur in the long url's; this was done to prevent the table margins from getting wacky! <div class=nobr> <table border=2> <tr> <td>PICTURE1</td> <td>PICTURE2</td></tr> <tr> <td>Caption1</td> <td>Caption2</td></tr> </table> </div> <div class=nobr> <table border=2> <tr> <td><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/ _AVxLoZ0mR_0/R0tYGSDQasI/AAAAAAAAAcI/ fNyWP--ziLI/s1600/twinkiebite.gif" /></td> <td><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/ _AVxLoZ0mR_0/R0tYGSDQasI/AAAAAAAAAcI/ fNyWP--ziLI/s1600/twinkiebite.gif" /></td></tr> <tr> <td align=center>Caption1</td> <td align=center>Caption2</td></tr> </table> </div>

Place Gadget Above The Posts?

It's sometimes possible to create a page element and then slide it across (drag and drop) the blog and drop it above the posts. If that won't stick, you may have to find this line in your "edit html" (template): <b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1'> and change the maxwidgets number to 2. Don't neglect to Save template before you return to the Layout page. Now you should be able to "Add a gadget" from above the header. Then you can drag and drop that new Page Element below the header, where of course it'll be above the posts.

Add Line or Divider Between Posts

Directions, for white or black minima: Make a safety copy of your template as per the instructions on the "Edit html" page. I can't guarantee that all blog codes are going to look the same, but I did this on several of the Minima templates. I've done it on a couple of other template styles and they varied a little. So it might work right away or you might have to tinker! (Note: You can see the blue divider I talk about here at the end of all my posts.) Go to the template. Expand the widget templates. Locate the line of code in red below. add line or divider image like the .gif that I added before "post-footer-line-3". <center><img src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_AVxLoZ0mR_0/R3-8aw3SxjI/ AAAAAAAAAnM/Z3AlnL1FsMY/s400/bluedivider-b.gif'/></center> <div class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'>

[More below...Harbor example, etc.]

In a Harbor template I placed the same blue-divider gif in the footer as above, just before the (almost) same red line of code about "post-footer-line-3". <p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'> <span class='post-labels'> <b:if cond='data:post.labels'> <data:postLabelsLabel/> <b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'> <a expr:href='data:label.url' rel='tag'><data:label.name/></a><b:if cond='data:label.isLast != &quot;true&quot;'>,</b:if> </b:loop> </b:if> </span> </p> <center><img src='http://bp2.blogger.com/_AVxLoZ0mR_0/R3-8aw3SxjI/AAAAAA AAAnM/Z3AlnL1FsMY/s400/bluedivider-b.gif'/></center> <p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'/> </div>

When you make the change or addition, use Preview to see if it's what you think it's going to be. Wait until you're satisfied to save it. You can always "clear edits" and back out if you're not confident.


Bla bla bla, says the post!

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LAZY WAY TO ADD A LINE:
I used to include <hr color=crimson> in my post template code so that a crimson line would be drawn during creation of the blank post and I'd then write my post above the crimson line. This was easier than adding a line or image to the footer widget, so a beginner might be attracted to it just for the ease of it. Some day all beginners stop being nervous about getting into the template, but it doesn't have to be today! I remember the feeling.

NOTE: additional graphics at http://www.graphics-4free.com/

More than 20 Important Sticky Posts

I tried to go back through the blog and find those twenty Most Frequent Blogger Questions and their answers, but I can't quite limit it that much! Some on this list may be of NO importance to you and certainly there are some good ones left out because they just aren't asked for very often. Maybe it's sufficient that this is a Short List compared to the more than 200 total! It is not in any order, alphabetical or otherwise.

Short List for Beginners

NEW Undelete Button on Dashboard! Can I Save My Blog? (Export/Import) Blogger Has N0 Email or Phone Support! How To Post Photos Blogsend--Email Notification for 10 or Less Small/Large Photos Quick Edit Crossed Tools What Is A Layout Page? TOS Violation Page Adding Pages Activate Post Pages Transfer Blog From One Account To Another Mailto, Or "Email Me" Link Change The Url (Web Address) Clickable "Button" Link To A Web Site Create A New Post? How To Add Or Edit A Post Language Settings Expandable Post Summaries Write Blogger Support Clear Cache Table In Blogger Post Copyright Low Sidebar Strange Symbols or Behavior From Pasting MS Word into Blogger Line Breaks--No Paragraphs Your "posted by" Or Display Name Links As Code Recover Password and Username Recover Your Template Set Number of Posts On Front Page

Linking to a Google Doc From Blogger

If you make a file in Google Docs and Spreadsheets, this is how to link to it from Blogger If you've created one document and saved it already, locate the url (web address) in the window above on your screen and copy it. Use the right-click button on your mouse and then the Copy on the small menu so that you don't make a typo. Then go back into the post or sidebar where you intend to keep the link and produce this: <a href="http:...documentLink">DocumentName</a> Paste the url that you already Copied into the above code, replacing everything between the quotation marks with the url. Keep the quotation marks, of course. The "DocumentName" is whatever name you choose to call it, whether a title or description. If you can succeed with one link, you can make a list of them, maybe using the ul or ol list or create a LinkList type Gadget. Neither one is very hard, though anything can be intimidating the first time you try (remember bicycles?). Unordered & Ordered Lists

Remove a Message from Blogger Help Group?

Yes, But Not Completely

Sometimes you may "think better" and want to take your words back. Or maybe you solved it two seconds later and can't bear for the world to know how stupid you were. For any reason, good or bad, you can remove it. It is worth noting that those persons who have their membership options set to receive every message reply by email will still have gotten their copy and you can't call those back. Therefore, your message is hidden only from those who were not emailed and who read the messages on the Web. To remove your message from the Blogger Help Group, click on "More Options" above the message then select "remove". Be sure you click in the circle for "Yes, remove it" then click the "Confirm" button. That's all!

Profile Views And "Real" Counters

At present, a portion of the Blogger users are complaining that their "profile" numbers are not increasing or that they barely are. Blogger said that they changed it all due to problems such as hackers giving themselves all kinds of extra clicks. Anytway, the system was getting overloaded in some fashion. Evidently, it may now register numbers by larger increments, not one at a time. Whether or when Blogger may make a better "improvement" than that is unknown so far. Get a real counter like Site Meter or Statcounter. The "hits" on your Profile are like how many people saw your business card, but a real counter would track how many people visited your actual "store" (blog)! It's the store visits that count, isn't it? Counting Profile Views is of a much lower order of importance. It's a shame that Blogger left it vague enough that some people never thought about the relative lack of meaning in the Profile numbers. It's too late to correct that damage, but I advise that people shrug it off and get one of the real counters Many are free.

GATSBY'S EXPLANATION

NEW Undelete Button on Dashboard!

Getcher Blog Back!--Maybe

There has been an astonishing development in Blogger--it is, to me, at any rate! Until recently, there was no official feature with which to retrieve or recover a deleted blog. Now we can undelete those blogs that we accidentally deleted! Someone is always having that problem for all kinds of reasons, some of which are pathetic and some of which are our own fault, but FINALLY Blogger has a feature that will let us push a button and Undelete our mistake! At present, I know that it worked on a very small blog that I'd deleted only a few minutes before, but that's a start. It may do just as well on larger blogs or on blogs deleted last month--it's just too new for me to know yet all of how it works! My understanding is that the "delete" has to have taken place within the last 90 days. Go to your Dashboard. Scroll to the bottom and click on "Show All" if need be. You should then see the name of the blog you deleted at the bottom. In the Dashboard list, you'll see "Undelete this blog" to the right of where the deleted blog is named in a ghostly grey print. Click on "Undelete". Blogger will inform you (immediately) of the success (or lack of it?).

Below is the screenshot of the bottom of my Dashboard AFTER I clicked on "Show All". You can see that the bottom blog, "Spitting Out The Seeds Of Regret" (which I had deleted only a little earlier this same day) now shows in a ghostly print and has the "Undelete this blog" link out to the right side of it.



Screenshot of Dashboard list AFTER undeleting the bottom post shown above--of course, in my case, I had to click "Show All" yet one more time because it had reverted to the shorter list I usually keep visible:



After this stage, the blog that had been deleted HAD been successfully Undeleted and ALL of it was intact, including the four posts that had been there. This is how it's supposed to work, but I repeat that I have not yet had the experience of undeleting either a VERY LARGE blog or one that was deleted six months ago.

Where's My Questions in Blogger Help Group?

Is There A List of Questions?

How do I find ALL the questions I have asked in BHG? Right up there where you just asked that question (when we're in one of Blogger Help Group's conversation "threads"): There's your Forum "name" and to the right of it is a link, "View profile", which will show some biographical info from your BHG Profile and it includes "Recent Activity", which will list every thread (whether 2 or 2000 of them) where you left a question or answer in the past. It is not ideal, but it is complete, and you can slowly go back through them. This may be stating the obvious, but if you're new and feel like you don't have a starting place for this, ask a new question or make a remark and after you publish, you'll be right there to click on "View Profile"!

[More below...screenshots, etc.]

There are other ways to search, with Google or other search engines, but the method described first up above is the "official" way of locating and reviewing all your old threads.

Also see this post about Gold Stars in BHG.

Screenshot of BHG question-and-answer:
Screenshot of "View Profile":