The dynamic templates have been available for just over 3 months, and for all their usefulness, there are a number of identified deficiencies. We see, every week, naive questions about one well known deficiency.How do I add a bloglist (Followers gadget, labels index, popular posts, what have you...) gadget to my blog, with it using a dynamic template?
Adding gadgets to a dynamic template display just won't be a simple project. Not to be facetious, but there is really no space on the screen, for an accessory bar (also known as a sidebar). The dynamic views dynamically fill all horizontal space.
Lack of popular gadgets, like Followers, are a major shortcoming for many blog owners, who are considering using a dynamic template for their blog. Many blog owners like the Followers gadget - and can't bear the idea of having their blog without its ability to build their reader community. Other gadgets, similarly unavailable, cause disappointment also.
It's possible that Blogger is hard at work redesigning the dynamic template display, and creating a space for an accessory bar. Until they do that, though, you may be able to have gadgets like Followers - if not on the first page of a dynamic template, possibly on a Pages link.
If you create a Pages gadget, using the New GUI Pages editor, you can add a link to any URL in the blog, in the Pages gadget. If you can do that, you can add a pair of links to the home page - one explicitly targeting the non dynamic URL, a second targeting a dynamic URL (your chosen default view). The first links your blog, using a dynamic view, to a page containing all of your missing gadgets; the second links back to the dynamic view.
The Layout menu entry is not available, when the blog is published to a dynamic template. If not already present, you'll have to add the Pages gadget, with the blog published to a non dynamic template.
As an alternate to the two links, you can force a new tab / window, for the non dynamic link. With the non dynamic view opening in a new tab / window, there's no need to link back - so you need only one link.
Here's a link to my test blog.http://nitecruzrtestnew.blogspot.com
Here's a link to the home page of my test blog, non dynamic, added to the Pages gadget.Home (Non Dynamic)
Here's a link to the home page of my test blog, dynamic, added to the Pages gadget.Home (Dynamic)
Here's how the latter two links were constructed.
Here's a link to the home page of my test blog, non dynamic, added to the Pages gadget.http://nitecruzrtestnew.blogspot.com/?v=0
Here's a link to the home page of my test blog, dynamic, added to the Pages gadget.http://nitecruzrtestnew.blogspot.com/view/sidebar
Here's a link to the home page of my test blog, non dynamic, opening in a new tab / window, added to the Pages gadget.http://nitecruzrtestnew.blogspot.com/?v=0 target="_blank"
Click on any of the links, and see what you get. It was simpler to do it, than to write about it.
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We're getting a few reports today, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, from blog owners who publish blogs with static pages, that use the new dynamic templates, and that now have no ability to index the pages in the dynamic views. We're also seeing reports mentioning some blogs which have no menu bar visible, in dynamic views. Both problems were, reportedly, first observed mid morning today, Pacific time.
Earlier this week, if you looked at this blog in dynamic view, you could see two static pages, from this blog, indexed in the menu bar. Both Commenting Policy and Leave Comments Here were, at one time, indexed. Today, they are not.
Interestingly enough, neither page is indexed in the static template menu bar, which you can see just above. Other static pages, which were indexed in the static template menu bar, were not observed in the dynamic template menu bar.
We have a rollup discussion, where we are collecting details about your observations of these problems. If your blog is affected, please provide details in the discussion, as best as you are able.- What is the published URL of the blog?
- Is the blog explicitly setup to use the dynamic templates?
- If the blog is setup to use the dynamic templates, which view is the default?
- Does the blog, in the non dynamic view, display the navbar?
- Does the blog, in the non dynamic view, display a Pages gadget / menu bar? If no, where are the pages indexed?
- Did you setup the Pages gadget using the Classic Blogger GUI, or the New Blogger GUI?
- Have you enabled the Mobile Template, for this blog?
(Update 2011/11/14): It appears that this problem originates with blogs using a custom Pages gadget. Blogs that use a standard Pages gadget, created in the New Blogger GUI Pages editor, seem to be OK. Here, you may view my test blog - both using a dynamic view, and similarly using a non dynamic view - which has a standard Pages index, positioned in the sidebar.
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Even before Blogger added static pages as a blog feature, blog owners have been asking how to make hidden or separate pages for their blogs.
When static pages, and the Pages index gadget, were added, people started asking about indexing label searches and external links in the Pages gadget.
There are several solutions to the need to have a Pages gadget that indexes archive / label searches, and external URLs. Each solution has its advantages, and disadvantages.
If you want a Pages gadget for your blog, that indexes more than just static pages, you have two basic choices. Each choice gives you different possibilities.
- Replace the Pages gadget with a linklist. You can index any URLs that interest you, in a linklist.
- Use the Pages editor, in the dashboard Layout page, which lets you add URLs of your choice, directly to the Pages gadget.
I've been advising people for several years, how to make a horizontal index bar for the blog.
With most Blogger templates, the Tabs section contains CSS that displays any linklist positioned there, horizontally. This gives you the choice of using "Add a gadget", and creating a linklist as an XML based "Linklist" - or one created as an HTML based "HTML / JavaScript" gadget - and both choices have advantages.
Use an XML based linklist.
If you look at the menu bar on this blog, you'll see how the active menu button "lights up" when selected. The "Selected" feature is a CSS tweak - and requires that you use a linklist that's XML based.
I created the menu bar here, using "Add a gadget", and tweaked the template code. The default Pages gadget is XML based - and does not require the latter tweak.
Use the Blogger supplied Pages gadget.
As an alternate to using a linklist gadget, you could use the Pages gadget.
If you use the Pages Editor, and you position the Pages gadget in the proper position, your blog, when displayed using a dynamic template, will populate the black menu bar with your Pages list. When that happens, the dynamic view menu will be displayed as a drop-down list, at the far left of the menu bar.
