Classic (HTML) Templates Get A New Lease On Life

As a result from a few (justified) complaints about Auto Pagination and its effects on blogs with classic (HTML) templates, Blogger has released an enhancement which will make classic templates, in general, more usable.

In Creating pagination links on Classic Templates, we see two new options for classic templates.

If you are using Classic Templates and would like to add pagination links to your blog, there are currently two options for setting this up. Both involve adding a snippet of code to your blog's template, which can be done from the Template | Edit HTML tab.

You even have the ability to customise the link caption, with the phrase of your choice, or even a graphic - as you can see on some of my blogs.

• "<$BlogPaginationLinks$>" (for language automatic, "Older / Newer" captioned links).
• "<$NewerPosts$>" / "<$OlderPosts$>" (for manually labeled custom captions).

Anybody with a blog with a classic template will enjoy using these options, and especially those with blogs subject to unwanted display segmentation. You may see my initial test, in my Classic Template Laboratory. Here's my implementation, with copious amount of detail removed.

<!-- Begin #main -->
<div id="main"><div id="main2">

<Blogger>

<BlogDateHeader>
<h2 class="date-header"><$BlogDateHeaderDate$></h2>
</BlogDateHeader>

<!-- Begin .post -->

...

<!-- End .post -->

<!-- Begin #comments -->
<ItemPage>

...

</ItemPage>

<!-- End #comments -->
</Blogger>
</div>
<$BlogPaginationLinks$>
</div>
<!-- End #main -->

You need to insert the extra code at the very end of the "main" section. Note that precise placement, after the right "</div>", is essential.

You'll note that neither "<$BlogPaginationLinks$>" nor "<$NewerPosts$>" / "<$OlderPosts$>" provides the exact functionality of the links that are built in to designer / layout templates. If you want full functionality, you have to upgrade. Fortunately, since FTP Publishing was terminated, there is no real need to remain with classic templates.

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Editing The Blog Template

The template is like the skeleton of your body - you can't see it (easily), but the success of the blog depends upon its being there, and being structured properly.

If you're going to have a blog, and publish it effectively, eventually the dashboard Layout and the Template Designer pages won't do enough for you. You're going to want to get to the details, underneath the GUI processes.

You access the template editor using the dashboard Theme page, where you will find (among other options) the "Edit HTML" button.

Click on "Edit HTML".



Clicking on "Edit HTML", you may get a serious warning to read.

Directly editing HTML may affect the way some features work and is only recommended for advanced users. Editing template HTML may unpredictably affect other Blogger features. We recommend using the Template Designer first, where you can Add CSS under the Advanced section.

Should you choose to click on "Proceed", you'll be into the "Edit HTML" display.

Edit carefully. Some changes may require editing / removing multiple lines of code.



With a Classic template, you have just one major activity when you're in "Edit HTML" - and that's what the name suggests, you edit the HTML. You'll have some CSS code, but no XML - so it's all relatively straightforward.

With a Layout template, you'll have a few extra options.

• Backup ("Download a copy") the template.
• Upload the template ("Backup / Restore").
• Revert widget templates to default.
• Revert to classic templates.
• View classic template. If you started the blog with a classic template, and upgraded to layout, you can look here to find any left behind HTML accessories and tweaks. You can add as "HTML / JavaScript" gadgets, any well defined accessories and tweaks.

With a Designer template, you'll have one additional minor option.

• Revert the template to Layout.

And with a layout template, you'll have "Edit HTML", but with a few more tweaks than with a classic template. You'll have CSS and HTML - and XML - code to edit. And don't overlook the possibility of using HTML code in place of XML code, in a layout template.

One of the least understood selections in the Template "Edit HTML" wizard is the option to "Expand Widget Templates" , which has been replaced by selectively unfolding any gadget to be edited. Just understand when to unfold - and when to not unfold.

Remember that Blogger blogs offer many possibilities. Some code can be installed using HTML / JavaScript gadgets, as an alternative to adding code to the template using "Edit HTML".

And please, as always - backup the template, before and after using Template Editor.

A Template For Virginia USA #2

For Christmas (End Of Year) 2009, I went back to Virginia again, for a brief visit. What I found, besides the snow (and there was too much of that) were some positive notes. The State Of Virginia USA really is moving into the future. For us Californians (Yes, I consider myself a Californian) they now have a Frys Electronics, a Trader Joes (2 of them in the Richmond area!), and an In-N-Out Burger (No, they don't have that yet!). OK, I'll settle for 2 out of 3.

The point is, Virginia really is moving ahead, into the future. And this month, some bloggers are feeling the need to do that. Two changes in Blogger - Auto Pagination, and the approaching end to FTP Publishing, will both hasten the end to classic templates, and make the move to layout templates more natural.

Owners of blogs with classic templates have, for a long time, been asking about how to get "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links for their blogs. That's not a feature that can be provided, in HTML, unfortunately. The "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links have to be dynamically generated, so they can't be part of HTML based templates.

This week, we're seeing a new need for the "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links. Owners of blogs subject to restriction in archive or main page size, thanks to Auto Pagination, report inability to get all posts indexed by the search engines, or viewed by their readers. Neither main page view, nor individual archive page views, will consistently display all posts in a single page. Without "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links, all posts can't be indexed or viewed.

Without the dynamic display that's part of a blog with a layouts template, your blog won't have "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links, and won't provide indexing or viewing of all posts in an archive or main page. Nor will the blog have a dynamic labels index.

Now, blogs that use classic templates, and have large or complex posts, are just broken. When support for FTP publishing ends next month, there will be no more blogs that absolutely must use classic templates.

No support for FTP published blogs = no need to support classic templates.

XML based layouts templates are now reality, in Blogger blogging. It's time to move ahead, Virginian bloggers.

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That said, I am suggesting that you provide details about your problems, so Blogger may be able to fix your problems.

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Identify The Template In Your Blog

My preferred policy in Information Technology starts with

Everything has a name.

Having worked with Blogger for several years, I have compromised that, and now say

Everything should have a name.

Unfortunately, there will always be things that have no names, they are just there.

When you work on the template in your blog, and especially when you ask for help with the template, the first thing that you must provide is the URL of the blog.

The first thing that I do, when providing template help, is look at the blog, and determine.

• Is the template classic, or layouts?
• What is the make and model?
  • Is it a Blogger standard template, or third party?
  • If Blogger, what "model" is it?

While you're reading this article, do "View page source" or "Ctrl+U" (for Chrome), "View", then "Page Source" (for Firefox), or "View", then "Source" (for Internet Explorer). Alternately, use an HTTP text proxy. That will give you a display of the code behind the page. You'll find a couple relevant and useful clues, in the display.

At the top, and since this blog uses a Blogger standard template, you will find the template "model" information. Third party templates may, or may not, have this. Likewise, highly customised templates may, or may not, have this.

/*
-----------------------------------------------
Blogger Template Style
Name: Simple
Designer: Josh Peterson
URL: www.noaesthetic.com
----------------------------------------------- */

That tells me that I am looking at a blog that uses the Blogger standard "Simple" template. It's "Simple" - but somewhat customised.

Installing A Third Party Template

One of the neatest features of Layouts Blogger is the ability to backup and restore your template, using a wizard - without having to copy and paste code.

You use a single link to download the code, and a two step procedure to choose then upload a template backup.

If you're getting a template from an external source, you can upload what you get using the restore procedure, too. If you get a template as text, you'll install using the "Edit Template" window. If the blog uses a Classic template, the "Edit Template" window will, of course, be the only choice.

If the blog uses a Layouts template, you'll have the use of the Browse then Upload buttons, which will only upload XML code - so you'll have no chance to make a mistake.

If the template comes as a text file, it might be HTML or XML, so make sure when pasting the code into the "Edit Template" window that the blog uses a Classic or Layouts template, respectively.

Installing an HTML template into a blog that uses Layouts, or an XML template into a blog that uses Classic, will cause you various problems, some which you may see immediately, others only later. If you use the "Edit Template" window to install your template, make sure that you have the right type.

1. If the blog "Edit HTML" wizard has an Upload button, but the template is HTML, you won't be able to use it until you Revert the blog to use a Classic template. Don't try using the "Edit Template" window, until you Revert the blog.
2. If the template is XML, but the blog "Edit HTML" wizard has no Upload button, you will need to Upgrade the blog to use a Layouts template. Don't try to use the "Edit Template" window, to install an XML template. If the blog is published by FTP, you won't have this option at all.
3. Use the "Edit Template" window ONLY if there is no "Upload" button, and the template is HTML.
4. If the template is XML, ONLY use the "Upload" button.
5. If you follow all 4 of the above rules, you'll be fine. Since you're here, you probably ignored one or more.

You cannot fit a square peg into a round hole, nor a round peg into a square hole. Neither can you make a Classic template work in a Layouts blog, nor a Layouts template work in a Classic blog. Before you load a third party template using the "Edit Template" window, make sure that it's the right type of template.

Having said that, I will note that you can use HTML in a layouts template, and that is easier to do than you would think. That's still a layouts template, though - there is no way to fit XML code into a blog that uses a classic HTML template.

Classic or Layouts Template? Your Choice (Maybe)

Does anybody remember Old Blogger (pre 2006), and the process of adding or relocating an accessory - maybe a picture or linklist - to the blog? For many of us, that memory is fast fading. New Blogger 2006, and the Layouts templates with their GUI linklist setup, is so much more user friendly. You can use a Layouts template with any blog published to a BlogSpot URL - or to a non-BlogSpot URL on a Google server, using Custom Domain publishing.

Even with New Blogger 2006 being the reality (and Old Blogger a distant memory), some bloggers are still stuck with a Classic template. Maybe by choice

I hate new Blogger, and the widgets. I like having a template that I can understand.

or maybe forced upon them

I want to publish my blog to my own server.

some bloggers are sticking with a Classic template. Publishing your blog to a non-BlogSpot URL on an external server, using FTP, requires static HTML and a Classical template.

Occasionally, you hear the puzzled question

What does this mean?

Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed. Please make sure all XML elements are closed properly.

That's awfully mysterious, to the new blogger who just got a (Classic) template at Templates-R-Us, and tried to install it to his (Designer / Layout) blog. To those of us who have seen that message a few hundred times, it's a 5 second diagnosis. You cannot install a Classic template into a Designer / Layouts blog.

If you're lucky and you're simply trying to install a widget that uses HTML, all that you have to do is create a new HTML page element. If it's a full blown template, you're going to have to revert the blog to use a Classic template, before installing the new code.

Not everybody knows if they have a Classic or Designer / Layout template. To the folks who understand the differences, though, it's as clear as night and day.


My Classic Template Laboratory is where I test blog changes against a Classical template. See the "Template" link?



The Real Blogger Status (this blog) uses a Designer template, with its many widgets, to bring you the information that you need. See the "Layout" link (which will now say "Design")?



Another example can be seen if you click the "Customize" or "Design" link in the Navbar. What do you see then?

To edit a Classic template, you have 1 choice - "Edit HTML".

To edit a Designer / Layout template, you have several choices.

1. Edit HTML.
2. Page Elements.
3. Template Designer.

For some changes, you may have alternate solutions. And many changes are far easier to make, by using "Page Elements" or "Template Designer", than by using "Edit HTML".

You can generally access each of the above wizards using the (obvious) menu structure. In some cases, if the template is damaged, the wizards won't work correctly, so you may need manual procedures to access the right wizard.

Having said all of the above, I will note that you can use HTML in a layouts template, and that is easier to do than you would think. That's still a layout template, though - there is no way to add XML code into a classic HTML based template.

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