If you plan on doing any html work in your Blogger blog, it is wise to backup your template. Here’s a very quick and easy way to do it:
Sign in to Blogger and go to your dashboard. For the blog you want to change, choose “Layout.” This will take you to the Layouts page, showing many options. The page you automatically go to is “Page Elements.” You’ll see other pages, like “Fonts & Colors,” “Edit HTML,” and “Pick a New Template.” Choose “Edit HTML.”
You’ll see an option that says “Backup/Restore Template.” Underneath, it says “Before editing your template, you may want to save a copy of it.” This is what you want to do. Click the link “Download Full Template.” Choose a safe place, like My Documents, to store this file on your computer’s hard drive.
If you make a mistake or don’t like the work in your new template, you can always come back to this page and upload the file you stored. This will take you back to your template.
Now, I have uploaded, downloaded, copied, and pasted a lot of templates. I have noticed that when I do a complete template change with a non-Blogger template, Blogger wipes out my widgets. Therefore, I recommend that you save all the information in your widgets before switching to a new template. I regularly save the information in them, anyway, as a precaution.
Note that just changing a few things in your existing template does not wipe out your widgets. And changing a Blogger default template (for example, you had Minima and now are going with Blogger’s Rounders) does not wipe out your widgets, either. It only occurs when you switch to a different, non-Blogger template.
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I’ve been crazy-busy this week! I can’t believe the break-neck speed I’ve had to work at! There is a lot going on at the homestead, but I am also doing a lot of blogging, working on stuff for advertisers, and repairing templates.
My New York Renovator blog template gave up the ghost over the week. I’ve been trying to get it back on track with a new template and header. I had to *gasp* utilize a basic Blogger template until I got my new one going. I absolutely love the three-column templates, with both sidebars off to the side. It’s so organzied! While working at that, I decided to spiffy up my New York Traveler blog, also. It just took too long to load and was getting messy with all the buttons and text in the sidebars. I am very pleased with the results. Next in line is my other travel blog, New York Traveler.Net. I am not happy with the header, and the theme is just too “dark” for me. So I’ll be trying to squeeze that in this weekend. We’re getting a whopper of a snowstorm this weekend, so I won’t be doing any outdoor work!
I have to post up some tutorials on customizing blog templates and headers. Remind me if I forget. This is all fresh on my mind. It’s not difficult, you just need to know what you’re doing. I’ll try to get to that next, after all my projects. I am having trouble deciding on a photohosting website. A fellow blogger mentioned JAlbum, and I downloaded it (but haven’t had time to install it or check it out). My accounts at Flickr are almost full. I’d love to have everything all at one place… but it would be very laborious to go back and change the blog links to a new photohosting site.
At any rate, I promise I’ll have some tutorials up soon!
