What Is A Layout Page?

In case you're wondering what Blogger is talking about. It's the page where you can move and arrange the page elements (especially the ones for the sidebar) as you would like them to be. Place your cursor on the boxes after you create an element, hold the mouse left-click down as you move the mouse.



PAGE ELEMENTS AKA "GADGETS".

ALSO SEE: Page Elements Screenshot

What Is A Layout Page?

In case you're wondering what Blogger is talking about. It's the page where you can move and arrange the page elements (especially the ones for the sidebar) as you would like them to be. Place your cursor on the boxes after you create an element, hold the mouse left-click down as you move the mouse.



PAGE ELEMENTS AKA "GADGETS".

ALSO SEE: Page Elements Screenshot

Having Your Titles Show In Archive

If you want your Archive to show your own post titles (as opposed to all dates), set your "Configure Blog Archive" page element like this screenshot. Make sure that "Hierarchy" and "Show Post Titles" are both marked.

[click image to enlarge]

If your Archive list is not seen in the sidebar, check the page elements in the Layout page and see if it has been deactivated. If not turned on, you should add it. Look carefully at its settings, then save them.

END.

Having Your Titles Show In Archive

If you want your Archive to show your own post titles (as opposed to all dates), set your "Configure Blog Archive" page element like this screenshot. Make sure that "Hierarchy" and "Show Post Titles" are both marked.

[click image to enlarge]

If your Archive list is not seen in the sidebar, check the page elements in the Layout page and see if it has been deactivated. If not turned on, you should add it. Look carefully at its settings, then save them.

END.

Unordered List In Sidebar

You have two options:

• Unordered List (with bullets)
  
• Unordered List (with bullets)

OR

1. Ordered list (numbered)
   
2. Ordered list (numbered)

Newbies using New Blogger template may be better off using the Link List in the Page Elements. It is easier for the lazy Blogger; however, it is more difficult to backup the Link List widget than to just backup the Page Element. You'll also have more control over it later (when you've become more informed) in a Page Element.

Before I forget, there is a third kind of list; when you just start your list items and don't specify either ordered or unordered, you will get plain bullets (or whatever your CSS specifies)

There is an even newer Blog List type of page element if you're trying to create a BlogRoll and you may find it preferable--it does a very different (and nifty) thing for you!

[More below...]

(Page Element and Gadget (or Widget) are different names for the same thing--one is more accessible to you (through the Layout page) and the other, in the template, you can go into more deeply as far as editing it IF you know how!) So I prefer the ul or ol list, whose html code I can keep backed up in a Notepad file or other plain-text program, in an html/javascript page element.

If you are using a Classic template, you will need a list of this sort for the sidebar. In a Layout template, you'd put the code in a Gadget.

Put this after or at least not inside the other ul lists in the sidebar in the template.

Below is the code for a list of links that you could use HTML to put it in your sidebar via the Classic template or into a Gadget (html/javascript Page Element)in a Layout template. First one below is an example of a link. <h2>New Category</h2> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.zandria.us/">Keep Up With Me </a> </li> <li>list another one! </li> <li>list another one! </li> </ul>

If your template uses a particular "class" for it's titles in the sidebar, just imitate (copy) them in order for your new list titles to match the old ones.

For a second list, if needed, do another title and pair of start and end tags and fill in the middle part.

For just one link in the sidebar, use code as below: <a href="http://rodentia.blogspot.com/The Rat Squeaks</a>

The difference between an unordered list as above and an ordered list which Numbers your list is merely using an ol tag instead of the ul tag!

Show No "About Me"

Show no "About Me",
Show only the "View My Complete Profile".

1. Go to the Layout section. 2. Click on Add Page Element. 3. Add it, if absent, or click on Edit Profile. 4. Click on Share my profile. 5. Do not click on About Me. 6. You may want to unclick the Show Location. If unsure, worry about it later.

This should allow most of the About Me to remain unseen, while your readers still have the View My Complete Profile to click on.

See also: Make Your Own Blogger Profile

Show No "About Me"

Show no "About Me",
Show only the "View My Complete Profile".

1. Go to the Layout section. 2. Click on Add Page Element. 3. Add it, if absent, or click on Edit Profile. 4. Click on Share my profile. 5. Do not click on About Me. 6. You may want to unclick the Show Location. If unsure, worry about it later.

This should allow most of the About Me to remain unseen, while your readers still have the View My Complete Profile to click on.

See also: Make Your Own Blogger Profile

Mailto, Or "Email Me" Link

If still using Classic Blogger, you would have to add the mailto code in the appropriate place in the sidebar. If you're using the Layout template, you'll do the following:

Add an email link in your blog:
1. On the Navbar, click on Customize. 2. Click on Add A Page Element. 3. Click Add To Blog under your choice of page element. 4. for adding a mailto, add an html/javascript page element. 5. Put the following html code into it: <a href="mailto:ratsouthern@gmail.com">You can email me here!</a>

Of course, put your address in it, not mine! You can change the "Email me" wording.

Save Changes when you've finished with the html in the page element.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Mailto, with a picture (or button) link:



Format for above Mailto picture link:

<a href="mailto:YourEmail@what.com"><img src="http://FullUrlOfPhoto" alt="Click to email Mortimer Snerd"></a>

Mailto, Or "Email Me" Link

If still using Classic Blogger, you would have to add the mailto code in the appropriate place in the sidebar. If you're using the Layout template, you'll do the following:

Add an email link in your blog:
1. On the Navbar, click on Customize. 2. Click on Add A Page Element. 3. Click Add To Blog under your choice of page element. 4. for adding a mailto, add an html/javascript page element. 5. Put the following html code into it: <a href="mailto:ratsouthern@gmail.com">You can email me here!</a>

Of course, put your address in it, not mine! You can change the "Email me" wording.

Save Changes when you've finished with the html in the page element.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Mailto, with a picture (or button) link:



Format for above Mailto picture link:

<a href="mailto:YourEmail@what.com"><img src="http://FullUrlOfPhoto" alt="Click to email Mortimer Snerd"></a>

Page Elements Screen

This post was written before several of the new categories, such as the Blog List, Slideshow, or Video or Poll, so that the screenshot below will not quite match what you would currently see. Sorry, someday I'll catch up.

Some people still complain they can't see this item. Sometimes it helps to use Refresh (F5 or Ctrl-F5) or to clear your cache and cookies (in Internet Options-Tools). At times, you might even have to do it twice.

Here is a partial screen shot of the Page Elements list. Others listed below my screen shot are "Logo, Profile, Blog Archive, and Page Header". It is easy to select one and add it.

Click on page-element in the Label box below for other posts on this topic.



See also: Text and Html/javascript page elements

END.

Page Elements Screen

This post was written before several of the new categories, such as the Blog List, Slideshow, or Video or Poll, so that the screenshot below will not quite match what you would currently see. Sorry, someday I'll catch up.

Some people still complain they can't see this item. Sometimes it helps to use Refresh (F5 or Ctrl-F5) or to clear your cache and cookies (in Internet Options-Tools). At times, you might even have to do it twice.

Here is a partial screen shot of the Page Elements list. Others listed below my screen shot are "Logo, Profile, Blog Archive, and Page Header". It is easy to select one and add it.

Click on page-element in the Label box below for other posts on this topic.



See also: Text and Html/javascript page elements

END.

Page Elements--Html/Javascript & Text

The Html/Javascript Page Element Is Better!

At first I chose some Text Page Elements for my information at the top of the blog, but I have since changed it to an HTML/JAVASCRIPT Page Element. For some reason, both require line breaks in order to separate the text into paragraphs. Fair enough, I can do that. But the Text element loses those line breaks every time you return to do some editing, and that's crappy.

So if you had paragraphs or any kind of one-line-at-a-time "grocery list", you'd have to revamp the post to restore it to what you started with! Not hard, just time-consuming!

Text page elements are only good for a straightforward paragraph of information or for some other kind of information that you don't have to edit often.

In the HTML page element, nothing changes or is lost, and you can just edit what you meant to without a lot of special revamping. This is important to a ceaseless reviser like me--I often re-edit!

It is misleading to all users that we are able to put HTML into a Text page element when it's so problematic to do so! And there should have been a warning about this difficulty with making paragraphs. Anyway, fair warning from me!

Page Elements--Html/Javascript & Text

The Html/Javascript Page Element Is Better!

At first I chose some Text Page Elements for my information at the top of the blog, but I have since changed it to an HTML/JAVASCRIPT Page Element. For some reason, both require line breaks in order to separate the text into paragraphs. Fair enough, I can do that. But the Text element loses those line breaks every time you return to do some editing, and that's crappy.

So if you had paragraphs or any kind of one-line-at-a-time "grocery list", you'd have to revamp the post to restore it to what you started with! Not hard, just time-consuming!

Text page elements are only good for a straightforward paragraph of information or for some other kind of information that you don't have to edit often.

In the HTML page element, nothing changes or is lost, and you can just edit what you meant to without a lot of special revamping. This is important to a ceaseless reviser like me--I often re-edit!

It is misleading to all users that we are able to put HTML into a Text page element when it's so problematic to do so! And there should have been a warning about this difficulty with making paragraphs. Anyway, fair warning from me!

Links List in Beta

Migration Is A Two-Step Process

On the Dashboard of blogs that have been migrated to Beta (New Blogger), there's a Manage list out to the right of each blog title that says Posts Settings Layout. If you have not been migrated at all or if your template has not been upgraded at all it will say: Posts Settings Template.

If migrated, your Navbar will also have Customize and New Post in it. Clicking Customize there or Layout in Dashboard will start the rest of the procedure (upgrading the template).

If you are in Beta, you will be able to add a Page Element, one of which is a links list. When you add it, be sure to have handy access to the URLs that you wish to enter and then just follow the directions. Enter the title and URLs for each blog, click on Add Link, and when all links are added be sure to save the changes before exiting.

If you are interested in having links open in new windows, titles, or alt comments on pics, you should choose an html/javascript page element rather than a Links List. If the Links List allowed any of that, I never figured it out!

END.

Links List in Beta

Migration Is A Two-Step Process

On the Dashboard of blogs that have been migrated to Beta (New Blogger), there's a Manage list out to the right of each blog title that says Posts Settings Layout. If you have not been migrated at all or if your template has not been upgraded at all it will say: Posts Settings Template.

If migrated, your Navbar will also have Customize and New Post in it. Clicking Customize there or Layout in Dashboard will start the rest of the procedure (upgrading the template).

If you are in Beta, you will be able to add a Page Element, one of which is a links list. When you add it, be sure to have handy access to the URLs that you wish to enter and then just follow the directions. Enter the title and URLs for each blog, click on Add Link, and when all links are added be sure to save the changes before exiting.

If you are interested in having links open in new windows, titles, or alt comments on pics, you should choose an html/javascript page element rather than a Links List. If the Links List allowed any of that, I never figured it out!

END.

Counters

You can Google a much longer list of counters than this for use in your blog. Below are some of the free ones. Others may get added later. But I'm not selling space. The first two are ones that I've used. StatCounter Site Meter BlogPatrol Google Analytics is much used, also.

In New Blogger (Layout Template), you should select an html/javascript page element (aka "Gadget") and paste the code there. Then you can drag-and-drop the element anywhere you want. See also: Blogger Counter Info

If your blog is Classic, where you'd have to enter it in the template, I think I've forgotten the details of that procedure now that New Blogger's been here so long, though I think it was just that the code had to be entered between <head> and </head>, the Start and End tags. END.

Counters

You can Google a much longer list of counters than this for use in your blog. Below are some of the free ones. Others may get added later. But I'm not selling space. The first two are ones that I've used. StatCounter Site Meter BlogPatrol Google Analytics is much used, also.

In New Blogger (Layout Template), you should select an html/javascript page element (aka "Gadget") and paste the code there. Then you can drag-and-drop the element anywhere you want. See also: Blogger Counter Info

If your blog is Classic, where you'd have to enter it in the template, I think I've forgotten the details of that procedure now that New Blogger's been here so long, though I think it was just that the code had to be entered between <head> and </head>, the Start and End tags. END.