When Reverting to Classic Template Was A Big Mistake

Oops!

Now you want to revert back to the New Blogger (Layout) version, but Blogger only allows for part of that; unless you had not yet created any page elements, you can't switch back with a single button-push or without some busy work! 1. locate and click on "Customize Design", 2. then click on "Upgrade Your Template ", 3. choose a new template. 4. click "Save the template" [More below...] You will be returned to an upgraded version of Blogger (with the layout) in which you will find some aspects of the Layout version, but not the elements that you added previously. You can create new Page Elements, but all the elements that disappeared when you reverted to the Classic template will remain lost. The only way to have kept a "backup" of the page elements would have been to have "expanded" the widget templates and to have made "copy and paste" copies of the text data and kept them in plain-text files (such as Notepad). I've switched back and forth like this numerous times, but only in a test blog, not in an important blog with things too important for me to lose all the elements, so I may not have noticed every detail of what's possible and what's not. I just know that some things will be possible. Never discount the possibility of being able to view "cached" versions of your blog in Google or other search engines and possibly being able to "copy and paste" some of your code or info from there. Maybe you can recuperate a goodly portion of it by using your Internet Options to get to the "View Source Code" feature. But do be careful not to copy any parts of the posts out of the Source Code into your actual template; it will cause great damage if you do!

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.

Migration To Blogger Beta

Waiting For Beta

I think most people have had to wait to be "invited". On a gradual basis, I guess they do get invited. At one time when I was not yet interested in Beta, I saw the following; I don't know how it works.

Beta

I waited until there was an invitation, which was a text blip that started appearing after each "publish" on the right hand side of my screen telling me about how you could do "more" with Beta. The first step was to "migrate" my blogs into Beta, but then I had to Customize and Upgrade them in order to be fully converted.

Migration was done to all blogs at once. The other procedures were done one blog at a time, as I requested them. Clicking on Customization will cause it to offer to "upgrade" your template.

I had 4 or 6 blogs that they migrated all at once, saying they'd notify me when it was over. I thought that meant it'd take a long time, and maybe sometimes it does. But it only took 3 minutes to migrate my blogs, including the big one (The Rat Squeaks, with nearly 1000 posts). So Blogger's not slow all the time!

See other migration-related posts on this same site. (Click on migration under Label.)

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