Blog Know How

How to Access Old Style Templates in Blogger (Blogspot)

2012-01-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

"Can I still use the old default templates for my Blogger blog (Blogspot blog)?" is a frequent question I am asked on Blog Know How pretty often. Other people have asked me about the template I am using and how to get it. In answer to the first question as you can see older style templates do work on Blogger. And with respect to the second question the template I am using on Blog Know How is an enhanced version of the Rounders 3 Blogger template which is one of the older style default Blogger templates available from 2006 onwards.

In today's Blogger tutorial I am going to show you how to access the older style default Blogger templates (Blogspot templates) and activate them on your Blogger blog. This tutorial is mostly written for those new to Blogger who might not realise that there are a number of default Blogger layouts released in 2006 that are still perfectly usuable. Also there may be some of you who would like to revert back to an older style Blogger template but are not sure how to find the old templates on Blogger.

A Word of Warning First
At the outset I need to say that by applying an older style Blogger template to an existing blog you may lose some of the advanced design and layout features in the Blogger Template Designer. This may not be a drawback if you are happy to do a bit of tweaking and may actually be a far better alternative than downloading a free custom Blogger template that may have a host of compatibility problems with Blogger especially if it was released a while ago. There are some pretty good free custom Blogger templates out there and there are some which were thrown together and have all sorts of problems which are not easily solvable unless you know how to code in CSS.

So please be warned that you may potentially lose some features in converting to an older Blogger template. For instance if you are using the Simple default Blogger template and already have a three column layout selected with a 2 or 3 column footer then you will find that Blogger will revert to a two column layout and place all your widgets in the sidebar if you select an older style template. You will then need to manually add the footer and the extra sidebar. See my tutorials on how to add a 3 or 4 column footer to Blogger and how to manually add an extra column to Blogger for help with this.

I suggest before you start that you download a full back up of your template and that you upload this to a test blog to see how it looks rather than trying it out on a live blog. However if you decide go ahead and later change your mind and want to revert back to the one of the newer Blogger templates you will need to manually shift your widgets out of the sidebar using the drag and drop feature in Page Elements

How to Access Older Style Blogger (Blogspot) Templates

Note: These instructions assume you are using the updated Blogger interface. If you are using the old Blogger interface (you will have a message at the top of your blog "Try the updated Blogger interface") then start at step 3.

From Overview in the updated Blogger interface click on the wheel icon at the top right which will give you an array of Blogger options
Select the Older Blogger Interface from the drop down menu
The older style Blogger Dashboard will now be visible and displaying a list of blogs if you have more than one otherwise just the one. Click on Design from the list of links under the blog title you wish to apply the older Blogger template to.
Click on the Edit HTML link located under the Blogger tabs menu
Once on the Edit HTML page scroll to the bottom of the page and on the left you will see a heading entitled Old Templates. Click on the Select Layout Templates from the list. Avoid the Classic templates as these date from Blogger's first inception and are really too old to be of use.
You will now be on the older style Blogger templates page and can scroll through and select a template. Use the preview link to see how your blog looks with one of the older style templates applied. I use the Rounders 3 for Blog Know How by the way although I have adapted it to a 3 column layout.
Once you are sure you want to change over to an older style template click on the save button to apply the older style default Blogger template to your Blogspot blog.
Click on View Blog at the right of the menus tabs to view your changes and navigate around your blog.

Today I have shown you how to change your Blogger blog over to one of the older style Blogger templates. Remember that in doing so you may sacrifice some of the advanced layout and design features available in Template Designer but it will give you the option of more template options and a time-saving alternative to having to download and try out heaps of free custom Blogger templates available on the internet only to find they don't work properly. And remember that even with free custom Blogger templates most do not work with Blogger Template Designer. Having to manually add a footer or an extra column to your Blogger blog are really minor changes if everything else is working fine.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs

How to Fix Missing Quick Edit Pencil in Blogger Blogspot

2011-02-14T04:15:00.000-08:00

Is your custom Blogger template missing its quick edit pencil at the bottom of your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts)? Don't worry. In this Blogger tutorial I discuss how to show a quick edit pencil icon beneath Blogger posts if it is missing. This is a common Blogger problem among custom Blogger templates but fortunately it only takes a couple of minutes to fix.

This Blogger tutorial follows on from my previous Blogspot tutorial about fixing missing Blogger icons. Check out how to show quick edit gadget wrench in Blogger (Blogspot) for help with this issue.

In my previous Blogger tutorials I have also discussed how to fix many other common Blogger problems eg how to fix a missing embedded comment form in Blogger. Take a look at all my Blogger tutorials on how to fix common Blogger problems (Blogspot problems) here

Fix Missing Quick Edit Pencil Blogger Blogspot
The quick edit pencil is a nice Blogger feature that you would not want to be without. A click on this time saving Blogger icon gives you direct access to your Blogger posts without having to go through "Edit Posts"

So if the free custom Blogger template you downloaded from the internet has no quick edit pencil displaying under your Blogger posts when viewing the actual published post then it can be fixed by taking the following the steps below:

Login to Blogger
Go to your Design > Page Elements
Click on the Blog Posts edit button located in the bottom right hand corner of the widget
A Configure Blog Posts window will pop up displaying a number of different features that can be turned on and off on your blog posts.
Make sure that Show Quick Edit is checked. Tick the box and save if Show Quick Edit is not already checked
Now navigate to an actual published post and check whether the quick edit pencil is now displaying in or around the footer of your blog post. Remember that you must be logged into Blogger to see the quick edit pencil - it is not displayed to your visitors

If the pencil is there then that is the end of this Blogger tutorial. The pencil just needed to be enabled. So thank you for joining me today and if you have any other issues with Blogger be sure to check out my how to fix common problems in Blogger tutorials or take a look at the list of all the Blog Know How Blogger tutorials

If the Blogger quick edit pencil is still missing it means that some important code has been omitted from your Blogger template and it will need to be added to get the quick edit pencil to show up
Go to Design > Edit HTML
Back up your template
Check the Expand Widget Templates box by placing a tick in it
Find the following line of code by holding down the CTRL key and F at the same time:

<b:includable id='postQuickEdit' var='post'>
Check whether the following code is under it:

<span class='post-icons'>  <b:if cond='data:post.emailPostUrl'> <span class='item-action'> <a expr:href='data:post.emailPostUrl' expr:title='data:top.emailPostMsg'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='13' src='http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_email.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </b:if>  <b:include data='post' name='postQuickEdit'/> </span> </div>
If part or all of the code is missing copy and paste it above :

 <b:include data='post' name='postQuickEdit'/>
Save changes to your Blogger template
Go to an individual published post page and see your new quick edit pencil displayed under your Blogger post

Tips and Troubleshooting
If you want to change the Blogger quick pencil icon you can by changing the image. Simply replace the image as depicted in red with the URL address of your own image. If your image is a different size you may have to change the width and height as shown in blue for the image to display correctly

<span class='post-icons'>  <b:if cond='data:post.emailPostUrl'> <span class='item-action'> <a expr:href='data:post.emailPostUrl' expr:title='data:top.emailPostMsg'> <img alt='' class='icon-action' height='13' src='http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_email.gif' width='18'/> </a> </span> </b:if>  <b:include data='post' name='postQuickEdit'/> </span> </div>

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I have shown you how to fix a missing Blogger quick edit pencil that is not showing. I have demonstrated how to enable the quick edit pencil in Blogger via Page Elements and I have provided you with the missing code in the event that the quick edit pencil code is missing from your custom Blogger template.

Please let me know if this tutorial has been useful for you by leaving your comments and opinions below.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Show a Quick Edit Gadget Wrench in Blogger (Blogspot)
How to Fix a Missing Embedded Comment Form in Blogger
How to Fix Common Problems in Blogger

How to Add Missing Quick Edit Wrench to Blogger

2011-02-12T00:04:00.000-08:00

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I show you how to add a quick edit wrench to Blogger if it is missing from a Blogger gadget. Check here to find a solution for a missing quick edit pencil not showing in Blogger

The quick edit feature allows you to edit a Blogger gadget directly from the blog itself rather than having to go through the Design > Page Elements screens and then finding the actual widget itself before you can edit it.

Heaps of times I have downloaded custom Blogger templates only to find that there are lots of omissions compared to a default Blogger template. If you are using a custom Blogger template with the quick edit feature missing here is a step by step guide to insert the missing quick edit feature into your Blogger template

The quick edit can be missing from anywhere in your Blogger template. I have chosen to use the sidebar for this tutorial but the solution works wherever the quick edit feature has been removed or never inserted in the first place.

Tutorial Difficulty rating: Easy
Time: Less than 5 minutes
Suitable for all levels of Blogger expertise

How to Add the Quick Edit Wrench to a Blogger Gadget

Login to Blogger
Go to Design > Edit HTML
Check the Expand Widget Templates box
Using CTRL + F buttons together bring up the search box
Enter the following search term

</b:includable>
Scroll through your Blogger template. You will see that every instance of </b:includable> is highlighted in yellow.
Once you come to the sidebar widgets which is the most likely place for the quick edit to be missing from look for something like the following (this will vary from template to template). This is the start of the first sidebar if you had a template with a two column sidebar

<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar1' preferred='yes'>
Now look at the picture below. You can see that this is the code for a Javascript/HTML widget as shown in red
Just identify the widget that has the missing quick edit feature and add the following line of code immediately before the </b:includable>

<b:include name='quickedit'/>
Use the Preview button to check your changes before committing to them
Don't forget to click on Save Template

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) you have learned how to fix a missing quick edit button often missing from custom Blogger templates. No matter where the quick edit button has been omitted (sidebar, footer, header etc) it can be added in to a Blogger template very easily so that a Blogger gadget can be edited without having to go through the Blogger design screen.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Fix the Quick Edit Pencil when it is not Showing Up in Blogger Blogspot
How to Fix a Missing Embedded Comment Form in Blogger
How to Fix Common Problems in Blogger

How to Add Borders to a Blogger Footer Blogspot

2011-01-24T04:07:00.000-08:00

In this Blogger tutorial I expand on my previous article about how to add a 3-4 column footer to Blogger by showing you how add border styling to the new footer. You will learn how to add a border around all of your footer columns or around only part of the footer columns. You will also learn how to add different border styles and border colors to customize your 3-4 column footer.

If you have just landed here and need instructions on how to add a 3 or 4 column footer to your Blogger blog then please refer to how to add a 3 or 4 column footer to a Blogger template (Blogspot template)

This is a walkthrough designed to assist bloggers with no experience of CSS styling who want to enhance their Blogger template with borders and other CSS styling. By following these examples you will gain the knowledge you need to make many types of custom changes to the borders of your new Blogger footer. For help with changing the background of your blogger footer please see my article How to Change the Background a Blogger Footer.

How to Add Borders to the Footer of a Blogger Template
To add lines (commonly known as borders) to a Blogger template footer we need to add some CSS styling.

Before beginning to add borders there are 3 values to consider:

width of the border (line thickness eg 1px, 2px, 3px and so on)
line style of the border (solid, dotted, dashed, double)
color of the border (hex color)

How to Add a Border Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
First we add the border property and then add the border style, border width and the border color values. In these following examples just by changing these values we can achieve lots of different results.
- To Add a Dashed Border Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
  With the following code a dashed black line 1px thick will be added around the outside of the footer.
  
  #footer-columns {
  
  margin:0 auto;
  clear:both;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border: 1px dashed #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Dotted Border Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
  By changing the dashed black line to a dotted border it is simple to get a different line style.
  
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border: 1px dotted #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Solid Border (Blue 3px thick) Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
  To add extra emphasis we can change the line color and its thickness. Here I have made the line blue rather than black and thickened it from 1px to 3px.
  
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border: 3px solid #336699;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
To Add a Partial Border to a Blogger Footer
Sometimes we might want to add a border to only one part of the footer area rather than the whole thing. Again we add the border property but we append it with the following values: (top, bottom, left, right) depending on where we want to place the border.
- To Add a Solid Border to the Top of a Blogger Footer
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border-top: 1px solid #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Solid Border to the Bottom of a Blogger Footer
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border-bottom: 1px solid #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Dashed Border to the Top of a Blogger Footer
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border-top: 1px dashed #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Dotted Border to Both Top and Bottom of a Blogger Footer
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border-top: 1px dotted #000000;
  border-bottom: 1px dotted #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Dotted Border 4px thick to Both Top and Bottom of a Blogger Footer
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border-top: 4px dotted #000000;
  border-bottom: 4px dotted #000000;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- To Add a Blue Solid Border 5px thick to Both Top and Bottom of a Blogger Footer
  #footer-columns {
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Change to:
  
  #footer-columns {
  border-top: 5px solid #336699;
  border-bottom: 5px solid #336699;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I have shown you how to make some simple customizations to the borders of a Blogger footer. This tutorial is intended as an extension of my earlier tutorial on adding a three or four column footer to Blogger. However it is also suitable if you are using a custom template and want to enhance the footer styling further. You have learned how to add borders to a Blogger footer and change the position, color, width and styling.

If you want to know more about CSS styling I will be publishing further articles in the future. Look out for my next article in this series How to Add Backgrounds to a Blogger Footer.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Add a 3 or 4 Column Footer to a Blogger Template

How to Add a Table to Blogger Blogspot Post

2011-01-23T20:23:00.000-08:00

This Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) explains how to put a table into a Blogger post. You will learn how to create tables in Blogger ranging from a simple table to a more complex table with alternating colors.

We will start with a basic table and gradually add CSS styling to the table to improve the look and functionality until we have built the table pictured directly below. No knowledge of CSS and HTML is assumed so this Blogger tutorial is suitable for absolute blogging beginners.

A Blogger Table Caption
Table Header	Table Header	Table Header
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell

Tables are a useful way to display information particularly tabulated information. Tables are good whenever you want to align information so that it is easy to read and understand. You can add text, hyperlinks and even images to a table which makes them very useful for presenting information.

There is no easy way to add tables in Blogger yet. Even if you are using the new editor you will note that no table button is provided. Fortunately it is easy enough to use a bit of CSS styling to spruce up a table and enter this manually into a Blogger post.

How to Add a Table to Blogger Posts
First you will learn how to add a simple table to Blogger. We are going to start with a table with 3 columns and 4 rows including a header row. Then I will show you step by step how to add different features to the table including how to add extra rows, a background color to the header, a border, a caption, change the size of the table, center align the table and more.

Table Header	Table Header	Table Header
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell

In Blogger open either a new post or an existing post that you wish to add a table to
Click on the Edit HTML tab on your Blogger editor
Copy the following code into your Blogger post which will produce the basic table as shown above:

<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>
Make changes to the table to suit your own Blogger template if necessary by changing the following:

<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
- Border width (blue)
- Border color (black)
- Background color (red)
- Table width (orange) Can be a percentage or actual width eg 500px
Now we are going to fix an annoying problem in Blogger which renders too much white space above the table. We do this by adding the following styling denoted in red directly above the table tag and adding a closing </div> at the end of the table code

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none }</style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table></div>
Let's add some further styling to our table header to improve the look of our table as denoted in red. Change the background color and color attributes to suit your own color scheme if you wish

Table Header Table Header Table Header

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none }</style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr style="background-color:#0033FF; color:#ffffff; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:4px;">
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>
Now let's add another row to our table for Blogger so you can see how this is done

Table Header Table Header Table Header

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none }</style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr style="background-color:#0033FF; color:#ffffff; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:4px;">
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>
In this step we are going to center the contents of our Blogger table. This can be done in several ways but we are going to take a short cut here by assigning a style to every table row

Table Header Table Header Table Header

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none } tr {text-align: center;} </style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr style="background-color:#0033FF; color:#ffffff; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:4px;">
Now we are going to jazz up our Blogger table by adding alternating colored rows to improve readibility and appearance. By far the easiest way to do this is to assign a class.

Table Header Table Header Table Header

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell
Table Cell Table Cell Table Cell

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none } tr {text-align: center;} tr.alt td {background-color: #eeeecc; color: black;}</style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<tr style="background-color:#0033FF; color:#ffffff; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:4px;">
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>

It is also easy to add a caption to your Blogger table. For a caption above the table simply add the caption line as shown in red. For a caption below the table add the caption line in red and a style as shown in blue

A Blogger Table Caption
Table Header	Table Header	Table Header
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none } tr {text-align: center;} tr.alt td {background-color: #eeeecc; color: black;} tr {text-align: center;} caption {caption-side:bottom;} </style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF" width="100%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3">
<caption>A Blogger Table Caption</caption>
<tr style="background-color:#0033FF; color:#ffffff; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:4px;">
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>

One more important property needs to be addressed in our new Blogger table to improve the look. We can reduce the double border into a single one. The easiest way to do this is to change the cellspacing to zero as denoted in red. Or, alternatively we can apply the border collapse property to our table as shown in blue. Note: Border collapse may not be supported by all browsers particularly if the cellspacing attribute is defined also)

A Blogger Table Caption
Table Header	Table Header	Table Header
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell
Table Cell	Table Cell	Table Cell

<style type="text/css">.nobrtable br { display: none } tr {text-align: center;} tr.alt td {background-color: #eeeecc; color: black;} tr {text-align: center;} caption {caption-side:bottom;}</style>
<div class="nobrtable">
<table border="2" bordercolor="#0033FF" style="background-color:#99FFFF; border-collapse:collapse;" width="100%" cellpadding="10" cellspacing="0">
<caption>A Blogger Table Caption</caption>
<tr style="background-color:#0033FF; color:#ffffff; padding-top:5px; padding-bottom:4px;">
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
<th>Table Header</th>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
<tr class="alt">
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
<td>Table Cell</td>
</tr>
</table>

Now go ahead and add your data to your new Blogger table. Filling in each instance of "Table Header" and "Table Cell" with your own data. The information you add to the Blogger table can be text, hyperlinks or even an image
Save your changes to the Blogger table by saving and publishing your post

Please feel free to use this Blogger table as a template whenever you need to add a table to your Blogspot post. If you want to regularly add a table to your Blogger posts that consistently looks the same you could consider adding the table CSS styling to your Blogger template.

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I have demonstrated how to build a complex table in HTML and CSS to insert into a Blogger post. You have learned how to manipulate a variety of table properties and attributes to create a table for Blogger that matches the color scheme of your blog and is functional and appealing.

Related Articles
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How to Remove Image Border in Blogger Template Simple
How to Change or Delete Image Borders in Blogger Posts
How to Add CSS Styling to Blockquotes in Blogger
How to Add, Delete or Remove Blogger Image Borders
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Divider Between Blogger Posts
How to Add or Change a Background Image in a Blogger Template

Add a Comments Counter Button to Blogger Blogspot

2010-12-28T17:54:00.000-08:00

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) you will learn how to add a comments counter button to Blogger (Blogspot) to show off the number of comments each of your posts has received.

A comment counter button (bubble) will have the effect of encouraging visitors to comment on your Blogger blog and also help to highlight the credibility of your articles.

Installing this Blogger hack to add a comment counter button only takes a few minutes. The changes needed to add the comment bubble to Blogger while not difficult do involve adding a small snippet of code to your Blogger template in two places. For this reason I strongly urge you to back up your Blogger template before attempting this blogger hack.

Blogger Tutorial Difficulty - easy to medium

How to Add a Comments Counter Bubble to Blogger
A Step-by-Step Walkthrough
The following steps will insert a fully clickable comments counter button on the same line as the post title in Blogger. The comments counter is right aligned by default.

Log in to Blogger and the blog you wish to apply these changes to
Select Design > Edit HTML
Click on Download Full Template to back up your template before you make any changes
Check the Expand Widget Templates box
In the CSS Styling section of your Blogger template and just before the ]]></b:skin>

.comments-button {
width : 48px;
height : 48px;
background : url(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/TRqeSsZYiYI/AAAAAAAADw0/NKcU4q-Vbq4/s200/comment-counter-bubble.png) no-repeat;
float : right;
font-size : 18px;
margin-top : -15px;
margin-right : 2px;
text-align : center;
padding-top:10px;
}
Now find the following block of code using CTRL key + F

<b:includable id='post' var='post'>
<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template'>
<a expr:name='data:post.id'/>
<b:if cond='data:post.title'>
<h3 class='post-title entry-title'>
<b:if cond='data:post.link'>
<a expr:href='data:post.link'><data:post.title/></a>
Copy this code block:

<b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
<a class='comments-button' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'><data:post.numComments/></a>
</b:if>
Insert as follows:

<b:includable id='post' var='post'>
<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template'>
<a expr:name='data:post.id'/>
<b:if cond='data:post.title'>
<h3 class='post-title entry-title'>
<b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
<a class='comments-button' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'><data:post.numComments/></a>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:post.link'>
<a expr:href='data:post.link'><data:post.title/></a>
Save template and then view blog to admire your new comment counter badge.

Tips and Troubleshooting

If you prefer you can replace the button image I have provided with your own image. You can find other buttons easily enough by doing a Google search with a term like "speech button icons".

Upload your button to a hosting service such as Photobucket and change the URL address of the image in the CSS styling section. The following example will render a smaller blue button. Note I have reduced the font size to accommodate the change. You may need to play around with the settings to get the font sizing right for your image.

.comments-button {
width : 48px;
height : 48px;
background : url(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/TRqepCLnncI/AAAAAAAADw8/Wrtzy05EJ7o/s200/comment-counter-bubble-2.png) no-repeat;
float : right;
font-size : 14px;
margin-top : -15px;
margin-right : 2px;
text-align : center;
padding-top:10px;
}
If you want your comment counter to be left aligned instead of right you will need to change the CSS styling from float:right; to float:left;

In today's Blogger tutorial I have covered how to add a comments counter to a Blogger blog (blogspot blog) that will appear to the right of your blog post title. A comments counter is a way to encourage visitors to comment and is a way of showing off the credibility of your blog posts. Good luck! Any comments about installing this blogger hack are most welcome.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
Tips to Add Digg Button to Blogger Blogspot
Add Twitter Followers Counter to Blogger
Add Twitter Badge or Button to Blogger
Add a Social Bookmarking Button to Blogger
Add Social Bookmark Buttons to Blogger

How to Change Bullet Point Style in Blogger (Blogspot) Lists

2010-12-27T15:15:00.000-08:00

In Part 1 of this three part series of Blogger tutorials I discuss how to change bullet point styles of lists you may want to include in Blogger posts. This first Blogger tutorial deals with unordered lists and how these can be styled using CSS in Blogger (Blogspot). The second part of these tutorials will deal with ordered lists while part 3 discusses bullet point changes you can make to your sidebar, footer and menus.

Today you will learn how to:

change the style of bullet points in unordered lists
add bullet points to unordered lists if they are absent
add an image instead of a bullet to lists in your Blogger posts

This tutorial is rated easy and is designed so that even Blogger newbies can make the changes they want to their Blogger template. Changing the bullet point style involves changing the CSS styling in your Blogger template (Blogspot template). Join me as I walk you through this step by step guide.

How to Add Bullet Points to a Blogger Post
If you are still using the old Blogger editor you will need to add bullet points manually to any unordered lists you create in Blogger posts. If you are using the new editor the work is done for you. Either way though this is the type of code that generates unordered lists:

<ul><li>Create your own list markers in Blogger</li>
<li>Create unordered lists in Blogger</li>
<li>Create bullet points in Blogger</li>
</ul>

Any text can be placed between the two <li></li> tags. Simply copy this list into a Blogger post and substitute your text for mine and you will have an unordered list.

Circular Bullet Points
Circular bullets (also known as markers or discs) are displayed in Blogger by default whenever unordered lists appear. This means that whenever the <ul></ul> tags are used in Blogger posts a leader dot or disc will appear before each line of text denoted by <li>. (Note I will discuss ordered lists <ol></ol> tags in part two of this tutorial).

An unordered list in a Blogger post using the <ul></ul> tags would appear like this:

Change Bullet Point Style in Blogger
Add Bullets to Blogger
Changing the look of unordered lists in Blogger

We can make lots of changes to the look of these filled discs or filled circles by changing the CSS styling in Blogger. For instance we can have squares, or we can choose to have no bullet point at all. Here's how.

To Add Square Bullet Points to Blogger (Blogspot)
The following code will replace the filled circle bullet points with squares instead:

Login to Blogger if not already logged in
From the Dashboard go to Design >Edit HTML
Back up your template
Find the posts section of your CSS stylesheet which will be before ]]></b:skin> tag
For the following default Blogger templates eg "Simple" add the following CSS code to the post section like this

.post ul li {
list-style: square;
}
Save template and view blog post to see the circular bullet points have been replaced by square ones

To Add Circle Bullet Points to Blogger (Blogspot)
To add unfilled circle list markers or bullet points to Blogger posts do the following:

Follow steps 1-4 as per square bullets
Add the following code to the posts section of the CSS stylesheet of your Blogger template by entering the following code:

.post ul li {
list-style: circle;
}
Save the changes to your template and view a blog post to see the empty circle bullet points

How To Indent Bullet Points in Blogger
There are two ways to increase the indentation of list style markers or bullet points.

Using the Inside or Outside Element
The indentation of bullet points can be varied using the "inside" element. By default the list will be "outside" unless the "inside element" is used. The following code shifts the indentation of the list further to the right.

.post ul li {
list-style: circle inside;
}
Custom Indentation CSS Styling
It is also possible to add custom indentation styling to lists. For instance here I have added a 2.5em indent using the following code to the circles example:

.post ul li {
list-style: circle;
margin-left: 2.5em;
}

How To Replace Bullet Points with an Image in Blogger (Blogspot)
Sometimes you may prefer to have an image list marker or icon instead of a bullet point. You will need to host your image somewhere such as a free image hosting service eg Flickr or Photo Bucket. Follow the steps below to replace bullet points in your Blogger posts with an image

Follow steps 1-4 as per square bullets
In the CSS styling of the posts section of your Blogger template and before the </head> insert the following code:

.post ul li {
list-style: url("http://URLaddressofImage.gif");
}
Replace URLaddressofImage with the URL address of the image you have uploaded to an image hosting service. Note in most cases the file will have a .gif extension. If the extension is anything other than .gif you will need to change this too.
Save the changes to your Blogger template and navigate to a post page to see your image list marker installed

How to Remove the Bullet Points from Blogger Posts
If you are going for a minimalist look you may prefer to have no bullet points in the lists in your Blogger posts. In this case:

Follow steps 1-4 as per square bullets
In the CSS styling of the posts section of your Blogger template and before the </head> insert the following code:

.post ul li {
list-style: none;
}

Remove Image Border in Default Blogger Templates Simple and Awesome Inc

2010-12-23T10:07:00.000-08:00

In this Blogger tutorial I show you how to remove the border around images in Blogger posts (Blogspot posts) when using one of the latest default Blogger templates Simple or Awesome Inc.

If you are using an older generation Blogger template or a custom template the solutions contained in this article may work for you however it is more likely that you will need to follow the methods to remove image borders outlined in my previous Blogger tutorial Change or Remove Blogger Image Borders (Part 1)

Below I explore two methods of removing or deleting image borders in the Blogger template Simple. The first method shows you how to remove the image border using Template Designer and the second method outlined describes how to remove the image border manually by changing the code.

Method 1 - Use Template Designer to Remove Image Border in Blogger

From the Blogger Dashboard go to Design > Template Designer
Then select Advanced > Images
Under Border Color use the drop down arrow to open the color palette
Change the setting to transparent by checking the small box on the bottom right hand side marked "transparent"

Note: If you are using the black version of the Awesome Inc template you will need to change the Background Color to transparent too. Click on the down arrow of the color palette and select transparent.
Click Apply to Blog to save your changes to the template
Navigate to any post page to view images in posts without the border

Method 2 - Change Template Code to Manually Remove Image Border from the New Default Blogger Templates

From the Blogger Dashboard go to Design > Edit HTML
Back up your Blogger template
Find this line amongst the declared variables at the top of your template

<Variable name="image.border.color" description="Border Color" type="color" default="transparent" value="#cccccc"/>
Change to the value of the border color to transparent like so

<Variable name="image.border.color" description="Border Color" type="color" default="transparent" value="transparent"/>
Save your changes to the template
Navigate to any post page that has an image and see that the border around the image is no longer visible

In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I have shown you how to remove or delete the border around images in Blogger posts for the newest generation of default Blogger templates Simple and Awesome Inc. I have discussed two different methods to remove the border around the images either by adjusting the settings in the Blogger Template Designer or by manually changing the code of the variable in the CSS styling section of the default Blogger template

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Change or Remove Blogger Image Borders (Part 1)
How to Change the Blog Title Border in Blogger Minima Template
How to Add CSS Styling to Blockquotes in Blogger
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Divider Between Blogger Posts
How to Add or Change a Background Image in a Blogger Template

How to Remove or Change the Blog Title Border in Blogger (Blogspot) - Minima Template

2010-12-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

In this Blogger tutorial I discuss how to change the blog title border color or remove the border in a Blogger template (Blogspot template) by changing either the CSS styling of the border manually or by using the Blogger Template Designer feature.

Lots of bloggers have updated their Blogger template to the new default series of Blogger templates for 2010. There are however many of you who are still using the default Minima template from 2006 (and there are lots of good reasons to do so) so this tutorial is for you and anyone else who is using a custom Blogger template based on Minima.

You will learn how to change the border styling around the blog title to suit your individual requirements. You can either change the border color or remove the border altogether. If you want to remove the border around images in Blogger posts (Blogspot posts) then please refer to my Blogger tutorial How to Add, Change or Remove the Border Image in Blogger Posts

Remove or Change the Blog Title Border in Blogger (Blogspot)
There are two simple ways to remove the border around the blog title in Blogger. We are going to hide the border rather than actually remove the code that creates it by making the border color transparent. I will also show you how to change the border color.

Method 1 discusses how to do this using the Blogger Template Designer while Method 2 describes how to change the blog title border manually by changing the code.

Method 1 - Using Blogger Template Designer

Log in to Blogger
From the Dashboard go to Design > Template Designer
Go to Templates > Advanced > Border Color
Choose the down arrow color picker to activate the color palette window
Choose transparent which is below the color palette to remove the border around the blog title completely. You now will see the blog title border disappear. Or choose a new color from the color palette to change the color

Remove Blog Title Border
Change Blog Title Border Color
Click on Apply to Blog to save your changes

Method 2
If the Blogger Template Designer is not working on your template for some reason you can tweak the code in your template to remove the border around the blog title

Log in to Blogger
From the Dashboard go to Design > Edit HTML
Back up your Blogger template
Find the border color variable which will be near the top of the template code
Change the border color value to transparent to remove the border altogether so that your code now looks like this:

<Variable name="bordercolor" description="Border Color"
type="color" default="#ccc" value="transparent">

or change the value to a color of your choice eg

<Variable name="bordercolor" description="Border Color"
type="color" default="#ccc" value="#ff7f00">
Save your template and view your blog to see that the border around the blog title has been removed or changed color

Tips and Troubleshooting
Below are some tips to help you further customize the blog title border width. You can either remove the inner border, thicken the outer border or thicken both borders around the blog title in Blogger.

To change the width of the border around the blog title in Minima change the following:

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 1px solid $bordercolor;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
}

to

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 10px solid $bordercolor;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
}

This code increases the border width from 1px to 10px
To remove the inner border around the blog title in Minima change the code to the following:

#header {
margin: 5px;
border: 10px solid $bordercolor; (remove this line)
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
}
To increase the width of the outer border around the blog title in Minima change this code

#header-wrapper {
width:660px;
margin:0 auto 10px;
border:10px solid $bordercolor;
}

In this Blogger tutorial you have learned two methods to change the color of the border around a blog title in Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). I have also shown you how to increase the size of the border width. This tutorial applies particularly to the default Blogger template Minima but also is relevant for any blogger using a custom Blogger template based on Minima. Good luck!

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Add CSS Styling to Blockquotes in Blogger
How to Add, Delete or Remove Blogger Image Borders
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Divider Between Blogger Posts
How to Add or Change a Background Image in a Blogger Template

How to Highlight Author Comments in Blogger Posts

2010-11-21T19:22:00.000-08:00

In this Blogger tutorial I will show you how to highlight the author comments section of your Blogger template (Blogspot template) using CSS styling.

Benefits of Adding CSS Styling to Author Comments
If you are using a default Blogger template chances are it is difficult to differentiate between comments made by visitors and comments made by you, the blog author. If you only have a few comments per post that may not be enough of an issue for you. If however, you have some posts with lots of comments you may need to make your remarks stand out from those of your visitors. We can do that by adding CSS styling to highlight your author comments.

What Will I Learn in This Tutorial?
In this Blogger tutorial you will learn how to easily add some highlighting to your comments so that they will never get lost in the crowd again. This requires a small amount of tweaking to your Blogger template which is not difficult to do if care is taken. The image below shows one example of what can be achieved using this Blogger hack and some CSS styling.

Will This Blogger Hack Work on My Template?
I have tested this Blogger hack on both the old generation of Blogger templates (Minima and Sand Dollar) and the latest generation of default Blogger templates eg Simple. It will also work on custom templates as the comments code is likely to be very similar.

If you are using a custom Blogger template and run into difficulty you can also try this alternative method to highlight author comments in Blogger posts

How to Add CSS Styling to Author Comments in a Blogger Post
The following instructions will highlight author comments in the comments section of a Blogger post. The code creates a shaded box around the comments made by the blog author. These changes will not affect the CSS the styling of any of the other comments made.

Instructions to Add CSS Highlighting to Author Comments in Blogger

Login to Blogger
From the Dashboard go to Design > Edit HTML
Back up your template by downloading it to your computer
Check the Expand Widget Templates checkbox on the top righthand side
Use CTRL + F by entering the following into the search box

<dd class='comment-body'>
Immediately above this line paste the following code:

<b:if cond='data:comment.author == data:post.author'>
<dd class='comment-body-author'>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</dd>
<b:else/>
Now look for this code block

<dd class='comment-body'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.isDeleted'>
<span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span>
<b:else/>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</b:if>
</dd>

and paste </b:if> immediately after it.
Your code will now look like this:

<div expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_comments-block-wrapper"'>
<dl expr:class='data:post.avatarIndentClass' id='comments-block'>
<b:loop values='data:post.comments' var='comment'>
<dt expr:class='"comment-author " + data:comment.authorClass' expr:id='data:comment.anchorName'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.favicon'>
<img expr:src='data:comment.favicon' height='16px' style='margin-bottom:-2px;' width='16px'/>
</b:if>
<a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.enabledCommentProfileImages'>
<data:comment.authorAvatarImage/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:comment.authorUrl'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='nofollow'><data:comment.author/></a>
<b:else/>
<data:comment.author/>
</b:if>
<data:commentPostedByMsg/>
</dt>

<b:if cond='data:comment.author == data:post.author'>
<dd class='comment-body-author'>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</dd>
<b:else/>

<dd class='comment-body' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + data:comment.cmtBodyIdPostfix'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.isDeleted'>
<span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span>
<b:else/>
<p>
<data:comment.body/>
</p>
</b:if>
</dd>

</b:if>

</dd>
<dd class='comment-footer'>
<span class='comment-timestamp'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.url' title='comment permalink'>
<data:comment.timestamp/>
</a>
<b:include data='comment' name='commentDeleteIcon'/>
</span>
</dd>
</b:loop>
</dl>
</div>
Now using CTRL + F again find this line ]]></b:skin>
Paste the following immediately before ]]></b:skin>

.comment-body-author {
background: #f5deb3;
border: 2px solid #de7008;
padding: 5px;
}
Save your template changes
Click on View Blog and go to a post that you have commented on to see the CSS styling has highlighted your comments.

Alternative Method to Add Highlighting to Author Comments in Blogger
The following method will also add highlighting to author comments in Blogger and can be used if you have difficulty with the first method. It does however involve changing some code rather than just adding some so this is not as desirable in terms of future proofing your template for Blogger updates.

Login to Blogger
From the Dashboard go to Design > Edit HTML
Back up your template by downloading it to your computer
Check the Expand Widget Templates checkbox on the top righthand side
Find the following section of code by using CTRL + F and entering <data:comment.body/> into the search box

<span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span>
<b:else/>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
<b:include data='comment' name='commentDeleteIcon'/>
</b:if>
Replace with the following code after <span class='deleted-comment'> and before </b:if> as shown in red:

<span class='deleted-comment'>

<b:if cond='data:comment.author == data:post.author'>
<p class='comment-body-author'><data:comment.body/></p>
<b:else/>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</b:if>

</b:if>
Use CTRL + F to find ]]></b:skin> that closes the CSS styling section
Paste the following code immediately above ]]></b:skin>

p.comment-body-author {
background: #eeeecc;
border: 2px solid #335577;
padding: 5px;
color:#558866;
}
Save your template
Click on View Blog and navigate to a post that you have commented on to see the that your comments will now be highlighted

In this Blogger tutorial you have learned two different methods to add CSS styling to highlight the author comments in your Blogger posts. Obviously there is still some work to do on your part to adjust the colors in the CSS styling to match the color scheme of your blog. Good luck!

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
Embedding a Comment Form Below Each Post
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Add Missing Embedded Comment Form to Blogger

How to Add Internal Links Within Blogger Posts

2010-11-20T06:53:00.000-08:00

In the Blogger tutorial I discuss how to add internal links within your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts) to point to either another section within the same post or to another post.

There are lots of times when you may want to direct a reader to a different part of your Blogger post depending on what their needs and interests are. Or you might want to alert the visitor to something significant in a related post. In this article I will show how to make use of internal links both within posts and in Blogger generally.

Why bother with internal linking you may be wondering? Well the answer is to improve SEO. Blogs with a good internal linking structure will fare better than blogs that don't link posts. Plus you will be creating an aid to navigation for your reader. On longer posts jumps links to different sections within your post or to other posts mean readers can quickly find the information they are looking for.

How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within the Same Blogger Posts

How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within Different Blogger Posts

How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within the Same Blogger Post
Consider the above links. Click on them. Each jump the reader to a different part of this article. This type of internal linking is common practice in website building and can be equally applied to blogs to assist with navigation.

How did I create these links? The answer is that I used simple html that anyone can learn in a few minutes. Here are the steps I used to create these links.

Log in to Blogger
Go to Posting > New Post or Edit Post and either create a new article or edit an existing one.
Within the article find a place where you want to add some jump links. This will be early on in the article as it will help the reader figure out what information is significant to them and how to get there quickly
Switch to the Edit HTML mode rather than compose mode so you can see the code you are inserting into your post
Create a couple of headings that will be your links to material further down in your Blogger article. Note you can also just jump to a word but for the purposes of this demonstration and clarity I am going to use headings. When creating this post I used the following headings:

How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within the Same Blogger Post
How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within Different Blogger Posts
Add links to your headings like so:

<a href="#withinposts">How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within the Same Blogger Post</a>

<a href="#withinblogger">How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within Different Blogger Posts</a>
- The href attribute and closing </a> element is the same structure you use for other links in your blog
- Each identifier is preceded by a hash mark (#). The # tells the visitor's browser to look for a section within your post
- Each link identifier needs its own unique identifier and needs to be enclosed in inverted commas. Use a name that reflects the link you are creating if possible as it will make it easier to identify on a page with a lot of internal jump links.
Now go to the first point in your post where you want to jump the reader to. This will be the start of some new idea, section or logical split in the information.
At this point create your anchor text by first adding your heading and then enclosing your heading with this anchor structure.

<a name="identifier">a heading</a>
- Note the use of the name attribute at the beginning and the </a> element at the end
- Each link identifier needs to be enclosed in inverted commas. Make sure to match up the correct identifier with the one created in step 6
Using this anchoring structure our first anchor becomes:

<a name="withinposts">How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within the Same Blogger Post</a>

Substitute your own link identifier and headings
Now move on to the next point you want to link to and create the second anchor. In this example we use the same structure but change the identifier

<a name="withinblogger">How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within Different Blogger Posts</a>

Again substitute your own link identifier and headings to suit your article
Save and Publish as normal and you will see your links are live and will jump the reader to different parts of the post

How to Create Internal Links To Sections Within Different Blogger Posts
Now you know how to create links to sections within Blogger posts let's look at how to create internal links within different Blogger posts.

Most of you will be able to create a link to another post in Blogger using the posts editor. You just highlight the text you want and click on the figure eight icon and Blogger creates the link for you. Which is great most of the time.

However what if we want to direct the visitor to a particular section of a different post? When you create an internal link it will take the viewer to the top of the page but what if you want them to see something near the end of the article? Well using an internal link similar to what we did to create internal links within the post we can.

Say I want to take my reader to a particular post in this case Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks. How would I go about it?

I create the link as usual by copying the article URL address from the browser address bar and using the post editor to add the link. The Blogger post editor uses this structure:

<a href="URLaddress">linkname</a>

So the Blogger editor would create the following link:

<a href="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com/2009/05/blogger-blogspot-seo-tips-and-tricks.html">Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks</a>

The link would appear like this in a browser:

Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks
Now I want to direct my visitors to the section about creating breadcrumb navigation so I add a section name using the following structure:

<a href="URLaddress#identifier">linkname</a>

Thus my link would look like this in the Edit HTML section of my post editor

<a href="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com/2009/05/blogger-blogspot-seo-tips-and-tricks.html#breadcrumb">Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks</a>

Note the link seen in a browser remains the same
If you want your link to open in a new browser window add the following to your link:

<a href="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com/2009/05/blogger-blogspot-seo-tips-and-tricks.html#breadcrumb" target="_blank">Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks</a>
Now I need to go to the post I am linking to and add the anchor. So in the post SEO Tips and Tricks I would use the following structure to link to the section about how to add breadcrumbs:

<a name="identifier">a heading</a>

So the section about breadcrumbs in the Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks article is now enclosed by the following:

<a name="breadcrumb">Add Breadcrumb Navigation to your Blogger Blog</a>

If you now click on the link below you will see that your browser open a new window and take you directly to the section about adding a breadcrumb to your blog.

Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks
Save your changes and publish your article as normal

In this Blogger tutorial you have learned how to add internal links to a particular section of a post from both within the same Blogger post and within a different post. By adding internal links you will help your visitors to find their away your blog more easily and access information quickly. You will also be adding to your blog's SEO by linking related posts.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
Blogger SEO Tips and Tricks

How to Add a Flickr Slideshow Gadget to Blogger

2010-11-19T08:39:00.000-08:00

In today's Blogger tutorial I am going to show you how to add a Flickr Slideshow (Flickr Photostream) to a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). This Blogger tutorial is suited to beginners and newbies to Blogger and contains step by step instructions to create your Flickr slideshow.

This Blogger slideshow tutorial covers the steps to insert a slideshow widget (slideshow gadget) in the sidebar or footer of Blogger and display a set of images uploaded to Flickr. Note the maximum number of images displayed in the slideshow is 20.

There are several different methods to add a Flickr slideshow to Blogger. Which method you use is largely dependent on your own individual requirements. I cover two different methods in the tutorial.

Method 1 - Add a Flickr Slideshow Gadget to Blogger - Photos in photostream are not organized into sets

Method 2 - Add a Flickr Slideshow Gadget to Blogger to display images that are organized in a set

Method 1 - Add a Flickr Photostream to Slideshow Gadget in Blogger

If you will only ever add one slideshow to Blogger from Flickr and don't want to bother with sets use this method to quickly and easily add your Flickr slideshow to Blogger:

Go to Flickr and find your Photostream link. On your home page when logged into Flickr you will see Your Photostream at the top left under the Flickr salutation
Click on the Your Photostream link and copy the photostream id from your browser address bar.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27647187@N07/
It will look something like this. Copy the identifier eg 27647187@N07
In Blogger go to Design > Page Elements
Select Add Gadget from the sidebar or footer depending on where you want to place your Flickr slideshow
Choose Slideshow from widgets in the Basics list
Choose a title for your slideshow or leave blank
Under Source use the drop down menu to select Flickr
Under Option select User
Under Username enter you Flickr Photostream id eg 27647187@N07.

Note:If you have entered your Flickr Photostream id correctly you will be able to see a preview of your slideshow.
Click on Save and then View Blog to see your new Flickr slideshow in action on your Blogger blog

Method 2 - Add a Flickr Photostream Set to a Slideshow Gadget in Blogger

If you use sets in Flickr to organize your photos and images you will need to use a slightly different method to install a Flickr slideshow into Blogger.

Log on to Flickr
Upload your photos and create sets to organize your photos if desired
Go to view your sets in Flickr and select the set you wish to use for your Blogger slideshow
In your browser window you will see a URL address similar to the following:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27647187@N07/sets/72157624508265319/
There are two important parts to this address that you need to note because we will be using these to create our slideshow:
- Your photostream - designated by something similar to 27647187@N07
- The id of the set - designated by something similar to 72157624508265319
In a different browser window log on to Blogger if not already logged in
Go to Design > Page Elements
Select Add Gadget from the sidebar or footer depending on where you want to place your Flickr slideshow
Choose Slideshow from the list of Basics Widgets
Click on the blue plus sign to the right of the Slideshow gadget to activate and configure your Blogger Flickr Slideshow
Choose a title for your slideshow or leave blank
Under Source use the drop down menu to select Other (Note do not select Flickr if you are using a set as this will not work - see Method 1)
In the Feed URL section enter the following feed:

http://api.flickr.com/services/feeds/photoset.gne?set=72157624508265319&nsid=27647187@N07&lang=en-us&format=rss_200
Substitute your photostream id (this will unique to your Flickr account)
Substitute the id of the set of images you wish to display
Leave the speed of the slideshow at medium unless you specifically need it to be faster or slower
Click on Save
Click on the View Blog link to admire your new Flickr slideshow

In today's Blogger tutorial you have learned two different methods to add a Flickr slideshow to Blogger. Both methods use the Blogger Slideshow Gadget but the difference between them is that method 2 shows you how to use a selected part of your Flickr photostream to create a Blogger slideshow for your blog instead of your whole Flickr photostream. Hope you have lots of fun with this Blogger slideshow gadget. Enjoy!

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs

Add Your Blogger Blog to Facebook

2009-11-30T00:39:00.000-08:00

In today's Blogger tutorial I will show how to add your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) to Facebook so that your updated content can be read right from your Facebook profile. Importing your Blogger blog into Facebook will only take you a few minutes to set up but will likely produce quite a few extra readers.

By importing your blog into Facebook your Blogger posts become available to all your Facebook friends and family. Everytime you post new articles to your Blogger blog they will automatically appear on your Wall in Facebook and in your friends News Feeds. It is also possible to remove any content that you do not wish to be displayed which may be handy for some.

Advantages of Importing Your Blog into Facebook

Increase your web presence
Enjoy added interest in your blog articles and new readers
No need to replicate your blog articles or content on Facebook

Disadvantages of Importing Your Blog into Facebook

If you blog for profit think carefully about importing your Blogger blog into Facebook as you are likely to experience a drop off in traffic and a reduction in revenue earnings as fewer people will visit your actual blog. One possible way around this is to set your blog's RSS feed to show summaries only that way ensuring that anyone interested will need to visit your blog to read the whole article.

How to Import or Add Your Blogger Blog to Facebook

Login to Facebook or Sign up to Facebook if you are not already a member
From your Facebook profile page go to Settings > Application Settings which you will find in the top right hand corner
Select Notes from the list of applications displayed on the page
Click on Import a Blog in the right sidebar
Enter the URL address of your blog

either website URL:
http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com

or your Blogger feed: http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss
Please note it is not necessary to add the feed of your blog as Facebook will autodetect this
You will need to tick the box below this to confirm that the content is not illegal or obscene and that you have the right to permit Facebook to reproduce the content of your blog. Any problems click Cancel and reenter your blog URL address
Click Start Importing
Facebook will now import your feed and you will be taken to a preview screen to make sure the content matches your blog. If it does go ahead and confirm the import by clicking on the Confirm Import button
Go to your Wall in Facebook to check that your Blogger posts are now available to all your Facebook friends and family.

Tips and Troubleshooting

If your Blogger blog is members only the blog import will fail as Facebook will be unable to detect your blog's feed
To remove a blog post from your Wall in Facebook click on the Remove button on the righthand side
If your images are not displaying (there seems to be a bit of a glitch with this) then you may need to try importing your blog using Networked Blogs

In this Blogger tutorial I have discussed how to import your Blogger blog into your Facebook profile. I have also pointed out some advantages and disadvantages of adding your Blogger blog to your Facebook profile. I will be talking some more about importing blogs into Facebook in the future which is likely to be of interest to those with multiple Blogger blogs.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs

Add Profile Images to Blogger Comments

2009-11-02T00:09:00.000-08:00

Today I will show you how easy it is to have Blogger (Blogspot) display profile images in the embedded comments section of your blog even if you are using a custom template.

About a month ago Blogger announced that it was enabling profile images (profile avatars) in the embedded comments section on Blogger (Blogspot) as part of its 10th birthday feature series. The new profile image feature which has been available on other commenting options has now been extended to the embedded comments option. This is good news if you are using a default template as you will now see a small avatar next to your visitors comments and your own avatar if you have uploaded a profile image.

Default Blogger Templates - Enabling Profile Images
Profile images work on default Blogger templates and have been automatically enabled by Blogger. If you are using a default Blogger template with embedded comments enabled and have recent comments on a post you will see a profile image to the left of visitor comments (provided they have uploaded one that is). Your profile avatar will also display when you respond to visitor comments again provided you have uploaded one. (To upload your profile photo click on Add Photo at the Dashboard). If profile images are not displayed enable them by going to Settings > Comments and checking the Yes radio button at the bottom of the page which says Profile Images Enabled.

Custom Blogger Templates - Enabling Profile Images
If you are using a custom template you may still be able to see profile images in your embedded comments section. Check out Settings > Comments to make sure Profile Images are enabled. If you can't see profile images you can still add this feature by tweaking your Blogger template. Follow the instructions below to have Blogger display profile images in the embedded comments section of your custom Blogger template.

Add Profile Images to Comments Section of a Custom Blogger Template
If you are using a custom Blogger template you can use the following method to add profile images to the embedded comments section of your Blogger template.

Login to Blogger if not already logged in
Go to Design > Edit HTML
Back up your Blogger template as a precaution by downloading the full template to your computer
Expand Widget Templates by checking the box on the right hand side
Find the following line in your Blogger template by using CTRL + F:
```
<dl id='comments-block'>
```

Change the above line to the following:

<dl expr:class='data:post.avatarIndentClass' id='comments-block'>

Scroll down a few lines and find the following line in your Blogger template:
```
<a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/>
```

Directly before the above line paste the following code block:

<b:if cond='data:comment.favicon'>
<img expr:src='data:comment.favicon' height='35px' style='margin-bottom:-2px;' width='35px'/>
</b:if>
<a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.enabledCommentProfileImages'>
<data:comment.authorAvatarImage/>
</b:if>

Click Save Template
Click View Blog and navigate to a page with commenting to see avatars next to comments in the embedded comments area

Tips and Troubleshooting

If you have added the author commenting highlight hack to your Blogger template there will be 2 instances of the code at Step 7 to change
If your template does not have the code mentioned in Step 5 and Step 6 check that dl has not be replaced by div. In this case leave the div as is and replace the rest of the code in the line.
Blogger has only enabled profile images for Blogger and Google profiles so if your visitors comment using identities such as "Anonymous" or "Name/URL" their image profile will not be displayed. If OpenID, AIM or other identities are used these favicons will be displayed instead.
Profile avatars load last so they will not prevent visitors viewing your content if you have a lot of comments on some pages

In today's Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) you have learned how to enable profile images in the embedded comments section in Blogger. If you are using a default Blogger template this can be achieved by enabling profile avatars in your Blogger template. If you are using a third party custom template I have shown you a Blogger hack that will display profile images next to comments on your blog. As always I am interested in how you get on with this tweak. Good luck!

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
Add Missing Embedded Comments Section to a Blogger Template
Embed Comments Form in a Blogger Template
How to Get More Comments on a Blogger Blog

Add CSS Styling to Blockquotes in a Blogger Template

2009-11-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Today I continue the series of Blogger tutorials (Blogspot tutorials) by showing you how to apply CSS styling to blockquotes in a Blogger template. Other articles I have already published on the subject of CSS styling include:

How to Add, Delete or Remove Blogger Image Borders
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Divider Between Blogger Posts
How to Add or Change a Background Image in a Blogger Template.

Today's tutorial on Blogger blockquotes will be useful if you are using a default Blogger template or a third party custom template. It will show you how to change your blockquote area in the following ways:

Add a background color to the blockquote
Add a border around the background of the blockquote
Add or change the color of the blockquote text
Add or change padding around the text
Add or change the margin
Add a background image

Blogger beginners you can relax as I have written this Blogger tutorial with you in mind. I will walk you through the steps of styling the blockquote section and you will see that it is not as daunting as it first appears. This Blogger tutorial assumes no knowledge of CSS styling. I have rated the difficulty level as easy to medium because it does involve making adjustments to your Blogger template.

How to Change the Blockquote Section of a Blogger Template

First of all let's take a look at the CSS Styling for the blockquote section of a default Minima Blogger template.

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
}

.post blockquote {
margin:1em 20px;
}

.post blockquote p {
margin:.75em 0;
}

As you can see the blockquotes area of this Minima template has minimal styling. Apart from line height and margin indentation there has been no additional code added to improve the look of the template.

Let's go ahead and give the blockquotes in your Blogger posts some styling. I will use the Minima template to show you but you can do the same for another default template or custom template. As always back up your Blogger template by downloading it to your computer before you begin to make any changes.

CSS Styling to Add a Background Color to Blockquotes
Adding a background color to the blockquote area can be achieved in 1 of 2 ways.
1. One way is to enter the hex color directly into the styling as I have done below. This code will add a light grey background to the blockquote area.
  
  .post-body blockquote {
  line-height:1.3em;
  background-color: #cccccc;
  }
2. Another way to add a background color using CSS styling for the blockquote area is to make use of the variable names already set up. The border color is light grey #cccccc by default in a Minima template. The advantage of this option is that if you decide to change the border color under Layout > Fonts and Colors the blockquote color will automatically change to the new color too.
  
  .post-body blockquote {
  line-height:1.3em;
  background-color: $bordercolor;
  }
  
  If you wanted the background color to be the same as the blog title color rather than the border color you would write this instead
  
  .post-body blockquote {
  line-height:1.3em;
  background-color: $titlecolor;
  }
CSS Styling to Add a Border Around Blockquotes
You have your background in place now let's add a narrow border around the background to add some more definition. The following will add a 1px solid border around the outside of your blockquote area in your Blogger posts.

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
background-color: #cccccc;
border: 1px solid #cc6600;
}

or if using variables

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
background-color: $bordercolor;
border: 1px solid $titlecolor;
}
CSS Styling to Add Padding Around Blockquotes
Now if we were to leave the styling at this point one of the problems would be that the text would butt up against the background which is not a good look. To create some space between the text and the background edge all the way around we use CSS styling to add some padding like this:

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
background-color: #cccccc;
border: 1px solid #cc6600;
padding: 20 px;
}

or if using variables

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
background-color: $bordercolor;
border: 1px solid $titlecolor;
padding: 20 px;
}
CSS Styling to Add or Change the Text Color of Blockquotes
If you want to accent your blockquote area in your posts one effective way to do this is to make the blockquote text color a different color from the text color of your pages. We do this by picking a color and adding the following line to the code:

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
background-color: #cccccc;
border: 1px solid #cc6600;
padding: 20 px;
color: #cc6600
}

or if using variables

.post-body blockquote {
line-height:1.3em;
background-color: $bordercolor;
border: 1px solid $titlecolor;
padding: 20 px;
color: $titlecolor;
}

Tips and Troubleshooting
If you want to add further modifications to the blockquotes area of your Blogger template here are several other possibilities.

CSS Styling To Change the Margin of Blockquotes
You can increase the margin from 1em to 1.5em by changing the margin line to
margin: 1.5em 20px;
CSS Styling to Add a Background Image to Blockquotes
You can have your own image as a background in your blockquotes area of your posts by adding this line:

background: url(http://URL of your image.jpg);

In today's Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) you have learned how to add CSS styling to the blockquotes area of your Blogger posts. I have shown you how to add a background, a background border, change the text color, add padding, change the margin and add a background image to the blockquotes code block. If you have a moment please let me know how you got on customizing your own Blogger template. Any questions please ask.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Add, Delete or Remove Blogger Image Borders
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Divider Between Blogger Posts
How to Add or Change a Background Image in a Blogger Template

Add or Change Background Image of a Blogger Template

2009-10-26T22:15:00.000-07:00

In today's Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I will show you how to both add a background image to a Blogger template if you don't have one already or change the existing background of your Blogger template.

I have chosen to write this article not because there aren't any how to articles already on the net but because they assume quite a bit of knowledge. I have taken a different tack with this post in that I assume you are an absolute beginner with no knowledge of Blogger templates.

For this reason I have provided some sample backgrounds for you to play around with. By just cutting and pasting these images you can see first hand how dramatically adding a different background to your Blogger template can change it. You will see that replacing your background image with these images isn't that difficult and hopefully it will give the confidence to branch out further and change the background of your Blogger template to suit your own needs. All that is needed is to insert a small snippet of code into the CSS styling section of your Blogger template and hey presto your Blogger template will take on a whole new look.

How to Change the Color of a Blogger Background (Default Templates)
If you are using a default Blogger template then you already have the option to change the background color to your own taste by going to Layout > Fonts and Colors. Some third party custom Blogger templates have this option too but by no means all. For instructions on changing the background color of custom templates see tips and troubleshooting below.

How to Add a Background Image to a Blogger Template

Log in to Blogger if not already logged in
Go to Layout > Edit HTML
Back up your Blogger template as a precaution by downloading the full template to your computer
Find the following line in your Blogger template

body {
Add the following line directly after this line
background-image: url(URL address of your image);

Your block of code will now look like this:

body {
background-image: url(URL address of your image);
(existing code in this block)
}
Now replace the code in red for the URL address of your image. Choose an image from the selection below to practise with or use your own image. Note if using your own image make sure you read the tips and troubleshooting section below.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/Suar7GicppI/AAAAAAAACEU/ehsnwoKlQ5Y/s320/background_047.gif

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SuamXkfTu8I/AAAAAAAACDs/rJnVhvFbM1M/s320/background_104.gif

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/Suan8y-9mYI/AAAAAAAACD8/oc0bPJN37o0/s320/background_126.gif

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/Suao0VP9FKI/AAAAAAAACEM/e2CHiBRQw4Q/s320/background_073.gif

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SuaovXygRTI/AAAAAAAACEE/EKKrQIKWLeE/s320/background_083.gif

Green Paws Background

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SuanXnu7qsI/AAAAAAAACD0/Dg-liDplbL8/s320/green-paws.gif

Musical Notes Background

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SuasPNs6XdI/AAAAAAAACEc/Vp3SxC6OVF8/s320/melody.gif
Use the Preview button to see the effect of these different backgrounds on your template. It will help you get an idea of the kind of possibilities out there.
You are welcome to use one of the above Blogger backgrounds as they are all free to use without any restriction. If you decide to use one of these simply click on Save Template and you are in business. Alternatively go ahead and find your own background image on the net and follow the instructions below to insert it into your Blogger template.

Tips and Troubleshooting

To Add Your Own Image to a Blogger Template
There are huge number of backgrounds on the net that are suitable for Blogger. Search under free website backgrounds in your favorite search engine to find these.

Simply download your preferred background and save to an image service like Photobucket, Flickr.

Make sure the file format is either a .jpg, .gif or .png and that its size does not exceed 100kbs. As a rule of thumb an image size of around 30kb or less is about right if loading time speed is not to be compromised. Larger images can be resized quickly by using an online resizing service such as Shrink Pictures.

Follow the instructions above to change the URL to that of your image.
To Change the Background Color of Your Custom Blogger Template
If there is no option to change the background color of your Blogger template in Layout > Fonts and Colors you can still change the color manually.
1. Follow steps 1 to 4 as above
2. Find the line beginning with :
  
  background-color: #
3. The hex color will be different for each template. We will change the color only
  
  background-color: #change hex color code to your chosen color;
4. Replace the existing hex color code with the value of your chosen hex color. List of web safe hex colors. For example insert the following code to change the background color to:
  
  Denim Blue
  background-color: #336699;
  
  Black
  background-color: #000000;
  
  White
  background-color: #ffffff;
5. Use the Preview button to see the effect of each color before you save it.
6. Once you are satisfied go ahead and click on Save Template

Today's Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) aimed at Blogger beginners continues the series on CSS styling for Blogger. You have learned how to add the background image to your Blogger template or change the existing background image. To help you gain confidence in changing the background image I have provided some sample images for you to practise with. Also in this Blogger tutorial you have learned how to change the color of your Blogger background if you prefer a plain solid background color rather than a background image. As always if you strike any problems implementing the tips in this tutorial please let me know.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Add, Delete or Remove Blogger Image Borders
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Divider Between Blogger Posts

Add a Post Divider Between Blogger Posts

2009-10-16T02:40:00.000-07:00

In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to enhance your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) by adding a post divider to your Blogger template. Used effectively post dividers can really jazz up your blog and will lend it that individual feel which most of us are hoping to create.

This tweak is very easy and well within the capabilities of any Blogspot blogger. Only a few simple changes to your Blogger template are required and these are in the CSS styling section.

By way of example I will use a divider that I downloaded from the internet free by searching for free divider graphics. Here are some sample dividers you can use to get started:

URL address:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SthJsqCtR3I/AAAAAAAAB9o/tO5gQME5P8Q/s400/ribbon.gif

URL address:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SthL_Aqzv6I/AAAAAAAAB9w/Icu8yWmless/s400/bar1.gif

URL address:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SthNNybvGoI/AAAAAAAAB-Q/RGApKNx42RE/s400/barbsmpl.jpg

URL address:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SthNZ9ciE-I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/TykAigqgPxQ/s400/bar47.gif

How to Add a Divider Between Posts in Blogger

Login to Blogger if not already logged in
From the Dashboard navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
Back up your Blogger template as a precaution by downloading it to your computer
Find the following line of code in your template:

.post {

You are likely to have something like this in your template already:

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
}
Paste the following lines of code to this block making sure you paste them before the closing curly bracket:

background: url(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SthJsqCtR3I/AAAAAAAAB9o/tO5gQME5P8Q/s400/ribbon.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: bottom center;
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
If any lines are duplicated remove them.
Remove any line beginning with: border-bottom: eg

border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
You will now have a block of code which looks like this plus any extra lines from the existing code in this block:

.post {
background: url(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SthJsqCtR3I/AAAAAAAAB9o/tO5gQME5P8Q/s400/ribbon.gif);
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-position: bottom center;
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
}
Click on Save Template to save your changes
Click on View Blog to see your new post divider between posts

Tips and Troubleshooting

To change the divider to one of the above replace the URL address of the image (in red) with the URL address of the new image you want to use.
To use your own divider image download to your computer from the internet and then save the image to a photo image service like Photobucket. Replace the divider image URL address (in red) with the URL address of your new image
To increase the padding around the divider change the following line of code:

padding-bottom:1.5em;

to

padding-bottom:2.5em;

In today's Blogger tutorial you have learned how to insert a divider between your Blogger posts to enhance the look of your Blogger template (Blogspot template). You can either make your own post divider or download one from the myriad of free website dividers available on the net.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
How to Add, Delete or Remove Blogger Image Borders
How to Align and Justify Posts in Blogger

Add a Twitter Profile Widget to Blogger

2009-10-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

If you use Twitter then you are going to want to let your Blogger readers know about it. One effective way to show your Twitter updates on Blogger is to add a Twitter profile widget to the sidebar of your blog. This widget is quite a bit more fancy than the current Twitter Updates Widget available through Blogger which I showed you how to insert into your blog in my recent article Add a Twitter Updates Widget to Blogger. On the minus side the widget may slow your blog down so test it out first if fast loading time is crucial to you.

How to Insert a Twitter Profile Widget into Blogger

Go to Twitter Widgets and sign in
Choose Profile Widget and you will be taken to a default profile widget page where you can customize your Twitter widget according to your needs.
Choose Settings and make sure that your username is correct
Choose Appearance and make any custom color changes you need to so that the widget will blend into your blog. At the very least you will need to change the shell background and the links colors to suit your blog
Choose Dimensions and change the sizing of the widget if it is too large to fit into your Blogger sidebar. The default setting is 250x300
Click on Test Your Settings to ensure your new widget looks the way you want it to
Click the Finish and Grab Code button
Copy the code by right click the mouse in the code box and choosing Select All. Right click again and choose Copy
Sign in to Blogger. From the Dashboard go to Layout | Page Elements
In the sidebar choose Add a Gadget and then a HTML/Javascript widget
Paste the Twitter code into the gadget content box and click Save
Your Twitter Profile Widget will now be showing in your Blogger sidebar so click on View Blog to admire it

In this Blogger tutorial I have showed you how to add a Twitter Profile Widget to the sidebar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). This Twitter widget will encourage your blog readers to visit your Twitter Profile and with luck you may get some new Twitter followers out of it.

Related Articles
List of Blog Know How Tutorials for Blogger Blogs
Add a Twitter Updates Widget to Blogger
Add Twitter Button or Twitter Badge to Blogger
Add Twitter Followers Counter to Blogger
Add a Social Bookmarking Button to Blogger
Add Social Bookmark Buttons to Blogger
Best Free Social Bookmark Icon Sets for Blogger

Add a Simple Drop Down Menu to Blogger

2009-10-10T02:18:00.000-07:00

In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to add a simple drop down menu widget sometimes called a select box to the sidebar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). If you want to add lots of links to your Blogger blog but are worried about the amount of space this will take up on your blog this tutorial is for you. A drop down widget is a neat solution to the cluttered sidebar problem as it is both space saving and easy to install. The convenience of a drop down menu widget can be seen on many blogs where it is used for lists like a long Blogroll, Categories list, Labels list or a Recommended Posts list.

How to Add a Drop Down Menu Widget to Blogger
Adding a drop down menu to Blogger is well within the capabilities of even beginner bloggers. Most of the work is in cutting and pasting the links which is not difficult for anyone with basic computer skills. So let's get started but first here is a working drop down menu list with links to various posts in my blog:

Log in to Blogger if not already logged in
Navigate from the Dashboard to Layout > Page Elements.
Click on Add a Gadget in the sidebar or other location if you wish
Select a HTML/JavaScript gadget from the list of gadgets
Paste the following code into the content box of the widget:

<form><select name="menu" onchange="window.open(this.options[this.selectedIndex].value,'_blank')"
size=1 name=menu>
<option>- Your Menu Title -</option>



<option value="http://URL of link1">Link 1</option>
<option value="http://URL of link2">Link 2</option>
<option value="http://URL of link3">Link 3</option>
<option value="http://URL of link4">Link 4</option>
<option value="http://URL of link5">Link 5</option>

<option value="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com">Blog Know How</option>
</select></form>
Replace _blank as follows:
- To have a new window open leave the same
- To have the new page appear in the same window replace _self
Replace - Your Menu Title - with a title of your own
For each instance of the option values highlighted in red substitute your own links and link names. For example:

<option value="http://blogknowhow.blogspot.com">Blog Know How</option>
Click Save
Use drag and drop to position the drop down menu widget in the location you want it within your sidebar and save any changes
Click View Blog to admire the new drop down menu in the sidebar of your blog

In today's Blogger tutorial I have provided you with instructions to create and insert a simple drop down menu widget in the sidebar of your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). This widget is ideal for reducing clutter on your Blogger sidebar and excellent for displaying long lists of links such as labels in a convenient, neat and space saving way. A drop down menu gadget is easily installed from the Layout > Page Elements page and can be customized to your own specifications. Any problems with this Blogger tweak please let me know. Enjoy!

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Add Breadcrumb Navigation to Blogger
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Blogger Read More Links in Posts with Jump Breaks Feature

2009-10-09T16:56:00.001-07:00

In this Blogger tutorial you will learn how to insert jump breaks into your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts) as an aid to quick navigation for your visitors. Jump Breaks in Blogger provide an easy way to show only a snippet of your whole post on the home page of your blog with a read more link below it for the rest of the story.

I have already written about a Blogger expandable post summaries hack which provides a read more feature for a Blogger blog homepage. For most Blogger webpublishers (Blogspot webpublishers) this hack is no longer necessary because Blogger as part of its 10th birthday celebration introduced a new feature called Jump Breaks. I cover several methods to insert jump breaks depending on whether you are using a Blogger default template or a customized Blogger template.

The advantage of adding jump breaks to your Blogger posts is that your readers can quickly and easily skim your most recent posts for what interests them rather than having to scroll through a whole bunch of long articles. This is definitely a big help for those of us like me who often write articles longer than 500 words. If your posts are short and sweet you may find that adding this read more feature is unnecessary however you can still apply it when you do have a longer post. Below is an example post which illustrates the Jump Break feature in action.

How to Insert Jump Breaks (Read More Links) in Blogger
It is easy to insert a Jump Break into your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts) at any point of your choosing.

There are two methods of inserting the Jump Breaks in Blogger. Which method you choose depends on which post editor you are using. If you are not sure which editor you are using check this out by going to Settings > Basic and scrolling to the bottom of the page. Under Global Settings you will see a radio button next to old editor or updated editor.

Method 1
Insert Jump Breaks - New Blogger Post Editor Only
In order to use this method you need to be using the updated editor in Blogger or have Blogger in Draft enabled.
- When creating a new post in the Blogger Post Editor position the cursor in the editor at the point you wish the Jump Break to be inserted
- Click on the insert Jump Break icon (currently the last option on the menu)
- A jagged dividing line will appear to mark the insertion point
- Publish your post as normal
Method 2
Insert Jump Breaks - Old Blogger Post Editor Only
If you are using the old post editor rather than the new post editor you can still insert jump breaks into your Blogger posts.
- When creating a new post in the Blogger Post Editor make sure you are in the Edit HTML mode rather than compose mode
- Insert the following code at the point where you want to break the Jump Break to occur:
  
  
- Publish post as normal

Tips and Troubleshooting

To Add Jump Breaks to New Posts Automatically
To save time it is possible to automatically add Jump Breaks to posts with the following method:
- Go to Settings > Formatting and scroll to the bottom of the page
- Under Post Template paste  into the box and save. The next time you create a new post the  will automatically appear. Make sure you are in the Edit HTML mode to see  appear.
To Change the Read More Text
If you want to change the Read More text for something like Read Full Story or Continue Reading you can easily do this by:
- Go to Design > Page Elements
- Edit the Blog Posts widget
- Change the post page link text (Read More text) which appears at the top of the page to your preferred text and save
To Manually Add Jump Breaks to Blogger For Users of Customized Templates
If you are using highly a customized template or have customized your Blog Posts widget you may experience a problem in getting the Blogger Jump Break feature to work. In this event you can edit your Blogger template to enable Jump Breaks.
- As a precaution back up your template by downloading full template to your own computer
- Tick the Expand Widget Templates checkbox
- Using CTRL + F find the following line of code:
  
  <data:post.body/>
- Directly below this line insert the following code into your Blogger template:
  
  <b:if cond='data:post.hasJumpLink'>
  <div class='jump-link'>
  <a expr:href='data:post.url + "#more"'><data:post.jumpText/></a>
  </div>
  </b:if>

In this tutorial you have learned how to create expandable post summaries using the new Blogger feature Jump Breaks. You now have the option to easily insert Jump Breaks into your Blogger posts so that longer posts appear with only an introduction followed by a Read More link.

I have shown you 2 methods to insert the Jump Breaks and Read More links into your Blogger posts depending on whether you are using the new or old post editor features. I have also given you some tips to make sure you get the most out of the Blogger Jump Break feature including what to do if the Jump Breaks feature does not work with your customized Blogger template. As always I would welcome your feedback about your experiences with the expandable post summaries Blogger feature (Blogspot feature) or any other feature you may be having an issue with.

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Add Twitter Retweet Button to Blogger

2009-10-05T00:07:00.001-07:00

Did you know that Twitter can help drive traffic to your Blogspot blog? In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to add a free Twitter Retweet button to your Blogger posts. Adding a Tweetmeme Twitter Retweet button to Blogger will help promote your blog on Twitter in 2 ways: one by attracting new Twitter followers and two by increasing the direct traffic to your blog from Twitter.

Forget the preamble and take me straight to the instructions to insert the Retweet button into Blogger

What is Twitter and How Does it Work?
Twitter is currently the fastest growing free social networking site. Essentially, Twitter users micro blog about what they are doing or what others are doing by posting tweets of around 140 characters to Twitter. When Twitter members read these tweets and like what they read they can become followers much in the same way that your readers can choose to follow your blog.

Twitter is great news for bloggers because it can be used as a vehicle to promote blogs. Blogger can easily be linked with Twitter services so that every time a post is made to Blogger a short message with a link is posted on Twitter. As every follower is notified that you have tweeted, a blog publisher can gain lots of exposure for their blog with very little effort.

Once you add Tweetmeme retweets to the mix the spread compounds because not only do you have followers hearing about your tweet but the followers of followers. So say one of your followers retweets your post all that person's followers hear about it too and pretty soon a tweet plus your retweets can popularize a post to the point that it spreads so widely that it goes viral.

Advantages of a Twitter Retweet Button
A Tweet/Retweet button looks similar to and behaves like an integrated Digg button but it counts retweets rather than diggs. A Retweet button counts reposts of a tweet so that readers can see at a glance how popular your article is on Twitter. Another benefit of the Retweet button is that it allows your blog readers to retweet your post so that their followers hear about your post too.

How to Add a Twitter Retweet Button to a Blogger Blog (Blogspot Blog)
The following instructions will place a Tweetmeme Retweet button into all of your blog posts.

Login to Blogger if not already logged in
From the Dashboard navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
Check the Expand Widget Templates button
Back up your Blogger template by clicking on Download Full Template as a precaution
Using CTRL + F find the following code:

<div class='post-header-line-1'/>

Directly after the above line paste the following code depending on which Retweet button and position you prefer:

Large Retweet Button - Right Aligned

<div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
</script> </div>

Large Retweet Button - Left Aligned

<div style="float:left;padding:4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
</script> </div>

Compact Retweet Button - Right Aligned

<div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; 
tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
</script> </div>

Compact Retweet Button - Left Aligned

<div style="float:left;padding:4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; 
tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
</script> </div>

Change your_twitter_user_name for your actual Twitter username. For instance I would enter BlogWizz
Click on Save Template
Click on View blog to admire your Tweetmeme Retweet button in your Blogger posts

Tips and Troubleshooting

To Add Retweet Button Below Blogger Post
If you want the button to appear at the bottom of Blogger posts instead of just below the post title locate the first instance of the following code and then paste the code for your chosen button immediately after this line: (don't forget to change your Twitter username as in Step 7)
```
<data:post.body/>
```
To Have the Retweet Button Appear on Post Pages Only in Blogger
If you want the button to only appear on the post pages and not the home page you will need to enclose the button code in an if statement. See below for an example of what the full code would look like with this extra code.
```
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
</b:if>
```
Thus the full code for a right-aligned large Retweet button which only appears on the individual post pages and not the home page would be:
```
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
<script type="text/javascript">
tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
</script> </div>
</b:if>
```

In this tutorial you have learned how to add a Tweetmeme Retweet Button to your Blogger posts. The Retweet button will encourage your blog readers to retweet your content on Twitter thereby increasing your blog traffic. I have provided the code for both a large and compact button with the option of left or right alignment. The button appears just below the post title and counts the number of retweets of your Blogger post. I have also included details of how to add the Tweetmeme Retweet button to the foot of your Blogger blog and how to add the button to post pages only.

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How to Align and Justify Blogger Posts

2009-10-03T02:36:00.000-07:00

This is the second article in a series about CSS styling tricks and tips for Blogger written with Blogger beginners and novices in mind but suitable for all bloggers who want to customize their existing Blogger template. While the first article dealt with how to add or remove image borders in Blogger today I show you how to align and justify Blogger posts.

Skill Level: Beginner

Rating: Easy

Time: 1 Minute

Many of the questions that my readers ask me are about how to customize various features of their Blogger template (Blogspot template). Over the coming weeks I will be focusing on some simple CSS styling tricks and tips to help you get more out of your Blogger template. Much can be achieved by learning a little about CSS. So before you rush off to download a custom Blogger template consider customizing your existing Blogger template.

This tutorial is part of a series of articles that I will publishing over the coming weeks about customizing your Blogger template using CSS styling. I will be targeting beginner bloggers and newbies to Blogger as well as more seasoned bloggers so if you want to spice up your Blogger template please read along.

How to Justify Blogger Posts (Blogspot Posts) Using CSS
It is easy to change the text alignment of your Blogger posts with the addition of one extra line in the CSS styling section of your Blogger template (Blogspot template). By default the alignment is set to left align so that the text aligns to the left while the right edge is ragged. You can also have right alignment where the text aligns to the right and the left edge is ragged.

Another not so common option is to justify the text so that both left and right edges are straight. Users of MS Word and other word processing programs will be familiar with justify as an alignment choice. Justify stretches out the text so that each line has an equal width similar to what you will find in newspapers and magazines. I have found justifying my Blogger posts to be a useful feature on several of my blogs and thought some of you might to. Below are instructions on how to justify your Blogger posts so that all your blog's articles are justified but first take a look at the difference in presentation of these 2 blog posts just by justifying the alignment of the text. Makes a big difference don't you think?

Before you start check how text is currently aligned on your Blogger posts. If it is left aligned you will be able to follow this trick to justify it. If it is already justified no need to go any further.
Login to Blogger if not already logged in
From the Dashboard click the Layout link for your blog and then click on Edit HTML
Back up your template by downloading it in full as a precaution
Use CTRL + F to find the code block beginning with .post in the CSS styling section of your Blogger template. As templates will differ greatly there are no hard and fast rules about what styling will be in this block. Here is a typical code block taken from the default Minima Blogger template

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
}
Add the following line to the code block before the end brace (the end curly bracket)

text-align:justify;

so that your code now looks like:

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
text-align:justify;
}
Click on Save Template
Click View Blog to see the alignment of all your posts has now changed to justified

Tips and Troubleshooting

If your Blogger template justifies posts and you would like to left align them find the code beginning with .post in your Blogger template and add the following line to the block:

text-align:left;

so that your code now looks like:

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
text-align:left;
}
If you want the posts right aligned you would substitute the word right for left.

In this tutorial you have learned how to justify your Blogger posts to create a straight rather than ragged margin edge. By using this tip to add one line of code to your Blogger template you can enhance the look of your Blogger posts. This tweak only takes a minute but can markedly improve the presentation of your Blogger posts. Please keep reading along for more CSS tips and tweaks in the coming weeks.

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Add a Twitter Updates Widget to Blogger

2009-09-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

If you are a regular Twitter user and have a bunch of followers you might want to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). In today's tutorial I will show you the easy way to add a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger (Blogspot). It is fairly straightforward to add this Twitter Updates widget to Blogger so please don't be put off if you are a Blogger beginner as you can have this widget up and running in no time.

If you are new to Twitter and don't have an account yet you can sign up to Twitter for free

How to Add a Twitter Updates Gadget to Blogger
There are several methods of adding a Twitter Updates widget to Blogger which I will be discussing over the next few posts. Today I will start with the easiest method by far. This Twitter widget won't slow down your blog loading time particularly but I suggest as with all HTML widgets that you place it near the bottom of your column of gadgets and limit the number of updates shown.

This Twitter Updates widget will provide a basic widget only and is fine if you aren't too bothered about styling. The widget uses the styling from your blog based on the Blogger template you are using but unfortunately there is no way to modify its appearance at the moment. If you want something a little more fancy keep an eye out for my future posts about Twitter Updates widgets.

Log in to Blogger if you are not already logged in
Go to Layout > Page Elements
Click Add a Gadget in the Blogger sidebar
Click on More Gadgets to the left and choose the Twitter Updates widget. Blogger may change this so if you don't find it there try looking in Featured or Popular.
Enter your Twitter name (usually your blog name)
Choose the number of updates to display. By default this is set to 5
Uncheck display link to your Twitter page if you do not want visitors to go to your Twitter page for some reason otherwise leave it as is.
Click Update to Preview any changes and then Save
Use Blogger's drag and drop feature to reposition your Twitter gadget in the desired location in sidebar or footer of your Blogger blog. Save any changes
Click View Blog to admire your new Twitter Updates widget

In today's tutorial I have shown you how easy it is to add a Twitter Updates widget to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog). The Twitter Updates widget will display your latest Twitter tweets on your blog. The disadvantage of this third party Twitter Updates widget is that it has basic styling only and no way to modify it. On the plus side it loads fast and is likely to be trouble free. I will be writing more about Twitter updates widgets in the next couple of posts so keep an eye out. Enjoy!

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Blogger Post Image Borders Change or Remove

2009-09-19T18:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you may want to remove, delete or change the image border of a custom Blogger template or default Blogger template (Blogspot template). In this Blogger tutorial you will learn how easy it is to make changes to your template so that you can get rid of unwanted image borders around all the images that appear in your blog posts or around a single image in a blog post.

You will also learn how to enhance your Blogger template (Blogspot template) by changing the line color and line style of the existing image borders.

Note this Blogger tutorial applies to custom templates and the previous generation of Blogger templates. If you are using the new default Blogger Template Simple please refer to my Blogger tutorial How to Remove the Image Border in Blogger template Simple for instructions

This Blogspot tutorial is rated easy. It involves making minor alterations to your Blogger template (Blogspot template) but this is well within the capabilities of beginner bloggers and newbies. The changes will take less than 5 minutes to complete and can make the world of difference to your Blogger template.

How to Delete, Remove, Get Rid of the Image Border in Blogger Posts
The following instructions will remove the little border around the images in your Blogger posts.

Login into Blogger if not already logged in
From the Dashboard navigate to your blog. Go to Design > Edit HTML by clicking on the Design tab and then choosing the Edit HTML link
Back up your existing Blogger template by clicking on the Download Full Template button
Find the following code in your Blogger template (no need to check the Expand Widgets Template box as we are only working with the CSS Style Sheet). Note: the code in Blogger templates varies but this is the code you will find on a Blogger Minima template and most other default Blogger templates.

.post img {
padding:4px;
border:1px solid $bordercolor;
}

If you do not have this code look for the following:

img{
padding: 4px;
border:1px solid $bordercolor;
}
There are two ways to get rid of the unwanted border image code. You can either:
- Remove the following line:
  
  border:1px solid $bordercolor;
  or
- Change it to the following
  border:0px;
Click on the Save Template button
Click View Blog to admire your post images minus any image border.

How to Change the Color of the Image Border Around Posts in a Blogger Template
The following instructions will show you how to change the color of the border which appears around images in your Blogger posts

Follow Steps 1 to 4 as per removing the image border from Blogger posts.
There are several methods to change the color of the image border but the easiest is to
- Change the following line:
  border:1px solid $bordercolor;
  
  to
  border:1px solid #6698FF;
  
  The above change will make the border line color sky blue. To change the color (in red) to your own color choice replace with the hex color code for your chosen color
Click the Save Template button to save your changes
Click on View Blog to admire the new color around the images in your Blogger posts

Tips and Troubleshooting

To change the image border line style from a solid line to a dotted line change the word solid to dotted eg

border:1px dotted $bordercolor;
To change the image border line style from a solid line to a dashed line change the word solid to dashed eg

border:1px dashed $bordercolor;
To increase the width of the image border change the size from 1px to 2px or 3px eg

border:3px solid $bordercolor;
To Remove The Image Border Around Only One Image paste the following into your image code in your Blogger post:

style="border:none"
eg
<img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 126px; height: 22px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vLeiVavkV_M/SrRp2wb1I_I/AAAAAAAAAAA/XXXXXXXXX/s200/download-now.png" border="0" style="border:none" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_XXXXXXXXXXXX" />

In this Blogger tutorial you have learned how to remove, delete and get rid of the line border which appears around images in your Blogger posts (Blogspot posts). You have also learned how to change the line color of the border image to your own chosen hex color. In addition I have shown you how to change the line style from solid to dotted or dashed and to remove the border around a single image. As always any problems with making these changes please let me know. Good luck!

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Add 3 Column or 4 Column Footer to Blogger

2009-09-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

In this Blogspot tutorial you will learn how to convert your existing Blogger footer (Blogspot footer) into a 3 column footer or a 4 column footer. With more columns in your Blogger footer you will be have the extra room to accommodate more widgets such as Flickr photos and Twitter updates. Also you will be able to put less frequently used widgets such as recents comments, archives, followers, About Me etc at the bottom of your template so that only the most important widgets are loaded first.

This tweak involves adding code to the footer section of your existing Blogger template to change it to 3 columns or 4 columns. The tutorial is not beyond the capabilities of Blogger newbies and webmasters with intermediate skills but care needs to be taken when modifying your Blogger template so back up before you start. For best results a Blogger template with a width of around 900px is best.

How to Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger

Log in to Blogger if not already logged in
Navigate to Layout > Page Elements
Move any existing widgets out of the footer section and place them in the sidebar temporarily and save changes
Navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
Back up your template as a precaution by downloading it to your computer
Find the following section in your Blogger template

<div id='footer-wrapper'>
<b:section class='footer' id='footer'/>
</div>

If you are having difficulty finding this section trying searching for footer-wrap or something similar as sometimes this section is called something else in some templates.
To Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger
Replace all the code located in Step 6 with the following

<div id='footer-columns'>
<div id='footer1' style='width: 30%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer2' style='width: 40%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer3' style='width: 30%; float: right; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
</div>
<div style='clear:both;'/>
</div>

To Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger with a Lower Footer Section
Replace all the code located in Step 6 with the following

<div id='footer-columns'>
<div id='footer1' style='width: 30%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer2' style='width: 40%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer3' style='width: 30%; float: right; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
</div>
<div style='clear:both;'/>
<p/>
<div id='footer-bottom' style='text-align: center; padding: 10px;'>
<b:section class='footer' id='col-bottom' preferred='yes'>
</b:section>
</div>
<div style='clear:both;'/>
</div>

To Add a 4 Column Footer to Blogger
Replace all the code located in Step 6 with the following

<div id='footer-columns'>
<div id='footer1' style='width: 25%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer2' style='width: 25%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer3' style='width: 25%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer4' style='width: 25%; float: right; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col4' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
</div>
<div style='clear:both;'/>
</div>
Save changes to your Blogger template.
Navigate to Layout > Page Elements. You will now see a 3 column footer, 3 column footer with a lower section or a 4 column footer depending on what option you chose.
Move the desired gadgets to the new Blogger footer columns. Create new widgets to fill up the footer columns if necessary. Save your changes.
Click View Blog to admire your new footer section

Tips and Troubleshooting

To Add Padding Between Footer Columns in Blogger
To create some padding between the columns add the following code to the style section of your Blogger template - before </b:skin> tag.

#footer-columns {
clear:both;
}

.footer-column {
padding: 10px;
}
To Add a Border to the 3 or 4 Column Blogger Footer
- For Top Border Only of the 3 or 4 Column Footer
  Paste the following code before the </b:skin> tag
  
  #footer-columns{
  border-top:1px dotted $bordercolor;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Replace $bordercolor with a hex color if default color is not displayed. Change this color to suit your template. For example
  
  #footer-columns{
  border-top:1px dotted #113355;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
- For a Box Border Around the 3 or 4 Column Footer
  
  #footer-columns{
  border:1px dotted $bordercolor;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }
  
  Replace $bordercolor with a hex color if default color is not displayed. Change this color to suit your template. For example
  
  #footer-columns{
  border-top:1px dotted #113355;
  clear:both;
  margin:0 auto;
  }

In today's Blogger tutorial you have learned how to add a 3 column footer or a 4 column footer to your Blogger template (Blogspot template). You have also learned how to add some styling such as a border above the footer and around the footer. As always I am available to answer questions if you need assistance. Good luck!

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