The New Post Editor With Static Pages

For many months, bloggers have been asking for the ability to add static pages - pages that do not contain dated posts, and that do not show up in the archive index, or in the main page display - to their blog. Before this year, only the latter possibility existed - posts that would not show up on the main page could be created by publishing posts back dated to appear before the earliest post on the main page. This created "static" pages that still appeared in the archives index - a messy workaround.

In January 2010, as a belated Christmas present, true static pages were added to the new post editor. In June 2010, the new post editor was moved into Production Blogger.

It's not difficult to make a static page. In the Classic Blogger GUI, dynamic pages (aka "posts") are accessible in the post editor under two tabs - "New Post" and "Edit Posts". Static pages are accessible under one tab - "Edit Pages". On "Edit Pages", you start with the "New Page" button. This simply takes you to a replica of the (new) post editor page, but a replica lacking fields for Labels, or Post Date. You then create, and publish, a page. Your new static page looks just like a post, except it lacks dates and labels, and it has a slightly different URL form.

With the New Blogger GUI (2011), Posts and Pages are separate menu items, along with Settings and other selections. When you're in the Pages editor, select "New page". From the pulldown list, select "Blank page" to create a new page. You can alternately select "Web address", if you wish to create a Pages entry that redirects the reader to any existing URL within or outside the blog.

Since static pages have neither dates nor labels, they won't show up in an archives or labels index. Pages have their own index - the Pages index. After you publish one static page, you have 3 choices how to index your static pages.

1. In a sidebar linklist, provided by Blogger.
2. In a horizontal tab index / vertical linklist not in the sidebar, provided by Blogger.
3. In an index of your own design.

You get to make this choice after you create the first static page - but as indicated below, you can change you mind any time you wish.

Having created and published your first static page, and selected an indexing option, you may create additional static pages, view and edit existing static pages, or create and edit posts. Once the first static page has been published, and the indexing option selected, you edit the static page index as a normal page element, depending upon what indexing option you have selected.

If you wish to change your post page indexing between the first two options, you can drag and drop to reposition the gadget, using Page Elements. Here, you have 5 positioning options, which give you 2 different formats depending upon positioning.

• Below the header, as a horizontal linklist, spanning the entire width of the header.
• Above the pages / posts container, as a vertical linklist, spanning the width of the pages / posts container.
• In the sidebar, as a vertical linklist.
• Below the pages / posts container, as a vertical linklist, spanning the width of the pages / posts container.
• In the footer, as a horizontal linklist, spanning the entire width of the footer.

You can drag and drop the pages index, and it will position and resize itself - try it and see.

If you decided to make your own Pages index (#3, above), you can go to "Page Elements", and "Add a Gadget", and select "Pages" for a Pages index, with the above choices. If you selected #1 or #2 above, you can use "Page Elements" and delete the Pages index, and create your own.

Once you have published a set of static pages, you can go to the "List of Pages". For each page, you'll find a "View" link and a page title. From each "View" link, you can extract the URL of the page. If you selected the custom index option, you'll need the page titles and URLs to use them in your own custom index, that you create separately.

This isn't a complicated option. If you are able to use the new post editor, try it and see what you think.

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