Blogger Magic - Third Party Templates

There are millions of Blogger blog owners - and each owner has their own idea, how their blog should look.

Not every blog owner is willing to settle for using a Blogger supplied template. Some blog owners design their own templates - and others choose templates provided by non Blogger developers.

Some blog owners - even those with no technical background - choose third party supplied templates, and demand instructions in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger. Not every blog owner can be supported, according to their personal level of need.

It's OK for you to install a new third party template, for your blog - though you should plan to do some extra work.

Third party templates should include some installation instructions.

A template publisher should provide instructions for uploading and installing their template. Installation procedures may vary, however.

• Easy install.
• Template restore.
• Template Edit HTML.

Easy install.

If the template publisher is honourable, using an install script, provided by the template publisher, can be the most reliable install procedure. A well written script can extract the template of your choice from the publishers library, copy it to your blog, and tweak the install to your satisfaction.

Giving control of your Blogger account, to an unknown third party, is not always the best idea, however.

Template restore.

If the template publisher provides a template as an XML file, and describes the template as "for Blogger", you can install the template from the dashboard. You will first download the template of your choice, to a local computer.

With a template downloaded locally, you use the Blogger "Backup / Restore" wizard, in the dashboard Template page.

Start with the dashboard Template page.

Hit the "Backup / Restore" button.

Hit the "Choose File" button.

Now, you have the file manager, provided with your computer. Select the file, containing the template just downloaded.



The "Backup / Restore" wizard is part of the Blogger dashboard. The template will be selected, using the file manager wizard on the computer being used.

Template Edit HTML.

This is the most universal procedure - if the template is provided as HTML. Just use the Blogger "Edit HTML" wizard, in the dashboard Template page.

The simplest install uses "Edit HTML", from the dashboard Template page.

Copy the HTML or Text file content, into the window.



In some cases, you may have to do some work, to use an HTML template.

It's your blog - and the template choice is yours too.

You can use any acceptable third party blog template. Many blog features will perform best, though, if you use the Blogger supplied post template.

To ensure up to date Blogger code, always refresh the post template, after installing a third party blog template.

And as always, I'll suggest that you backup the template, before and after installing a custom template.

If you install a third party template, you may have to support your blog, on your own.

Please understand that Blogger won't be able to support your third party template - that is the responsibility of the template publisher. Problems with your blog, after installing third party accessories, will be yours to resolve.

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There are millions of #Blogger blog owners - and each owner is different. Blog design - and templates used - will vary similarly.

Some blog owners cannot be satisfied by the Blogger supplied template library - and require third party produced templates.

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Dynamic Templates And The Navbar

If your blog is published to a dynamic template, neither you or your readers will have a navbar, when your blog is being viewed.

The navbar, found on blogs which use a non dynamic template - when selected by the blog owner - has a number of reader friendly icons and links.

Dynamic templates have a "menu bar" 1/5 of the way down the page - which provides a combination of the Pages gadget, and limited navbar functions. At the far right end of the menu bar, you'll see 2 tiny icons - when you are properly logged in as the blog owner.

• New post, the "pencil" icon.
• Home, the "home" icon.

Blog administrators have limited navbar functions, on a blog that's published using a dynamic template.

Blog administrators have limited dashboard access using menu bar icons.

The menu bar, just below the dynamic template title section, has the "New post" and "Home" links.

There's the menu bar, just below the Title / Description.

At the far end of the menu bar, the "pencil" and "home" icons.



You'll see the "pencil" and "home" icons - when you are logged in to Blogger, as the blog owner.

Blog readers have no navbar icons, in the dynamic template menu bar.

If you're not logged in to Blogger, you get no menu bar dashboard access.



If you never logged in to Blogger, or if you have a problem with a filter blocking access to the login cookie, you won't have any dashboard access.

If you can't access the dashboard using icons, you'll be able to login - just use a bookmarked link.

https://www.blogger.com/home

If you have a cookie filter problem, you may have to login again, to access the dashboard for your dynamic template blog.

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A #Blogger blog that uses a dynamic template won't have a navbar, with easy access to the dashboard, and a convenient login / logout link. Dynamic templates provide a menu bar, which is a combination of a miniature Pages gadget and navbar.
target="_blank"

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Recovering From A Corrupt Template - The Next Step

There are three possible dashboard wizards, used to recover a blog with a corrupt template aka "500 Internal Server Error".

1. The Template Designer page.
2. The Template page.
3. The Template Editor ("Edit HTML") page.

With most blogs, one of the three can eventually be used, to install a clean, new template - and recover a blog that's offline because of the broken template.

Some blogs, unfortunately, cannot be recovered this way.

Some blogs have templates so badly broken, that no dashboard template wizard can be accessed - and used to restore the blog to operational status.

If there's no way to recover a broken blog by replacing the template, the next possibility is to recover the URL - and install a new blog at that URL.

1. Create a new blog - with a clean, working, Blogger supplied template.
2. Swap URLs between the old and new blogs.
3. Export content from the broken blog - and Import to the new blog.
4. Transfer / update Followers.
5. Rebuild the template, and add gadgets.
6. Provide notice to your Followers, readers, subscribers, and other viewers.

Create a new blog - with a clean, working template.

Use the dashboard "New Blog" button, and create a new blog. You'll only create the new blog, in this case, to recover the URL of the broken blog - so just use a random, non valued URL.

Choose a template similar to the one on the broken blog, from the dashboard Template page - and get your new blog online. Use a Blogger standard template, until you are satisfied that the problem won't continue.

Swap URLs between the old and new blogs.

Hoping that you can access the Settings - Basic ("basicsettings") page - first rename the URL Of the broken blog, to a second random, non valued URL. Then you can rename your new blog - created above - to the URL previously used by the broken blog.



Just Edit "Blog Address", twice, to swap URLs.

First, for the broken blog, to free up the current URL - then, for the new blog, to recover the current URL.


Now, your broken URL is back online, with a clean template - though without content.

Export content from the broken blog - and Import to the new blog.

Use the "Import & back up" wizard at the Settings - Basic ("othersettings") page for the broken blog, and export comments, pages, and posts. Then use the wizard for the new blog, and import the content just exported.

Transfer / update Followers.

If the broken blog uses Blogger Followers for community building, and you had a significant Followers community, the community will remain on the old, broken blog. This is the one down side of recovering a broken template using this technique.

Fortunately, the only specific problem is the effect upon the Followers community. The other half of Following - the blog feed - will be re established with the new blog, which will now have the desired URL being recovered. And the sooner you get the blog back online, the sooner you can rebuild / recover your Followers.

Rebuild the template, and add gadgets.

If you periodically back up the template, as you tweak it, this will be the easiest step in the recovery. Of course, since you are here because the template is broken, maybe you should rebuild the template, one step at a time. Try to not repeat the previous mistake.

Then add gadgets back, one at a time - and test carefully.

Provide notice to your Followers, readers, and viewers.

If you care about your community - Followers, readers, subscribers, and other viewers - a new post, briefly admitting to your mistake might be a good idea. You can even display your new post, as a Featured Post.

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Sometimes, it's not possible to recover a broken #Blogger blog, using any of the Template dashboard pages, with a blog sidelined by a "500 Internal Server Error" broken template. If the URL has any value to you - or your viewers - you can recover it, using a new blog.

target="_blank"

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Inaccessible Comments, On Some Popular Posts

Viewing comments, on some popular blogs, one may get the idea that not as many comments are being published, as are immediately visible.

With a large comment complement, comments are paginated - with some comments hidden behind a link, captioned "Load more". The "Load more" link is JavaScript based - and there is a problem.

The "Load more" link does not always work, on all blogs.

Comments on some blogs may be unreadable - with the "Load more" link not operational.

Some posts never display all comments.

Look at the bottom of the page, below the post.

And there is the "Load more" link.

And the link, as seen when one mouse over it, is shown to be JavaScript based.

And clicking on the link yields the caption "Loading ...".

And "Loading ..." never goes away - and we get no view of the missing comments.



I've seen this problem with blogs using both dynamic and non dynamic templates.

Both dynamic templates, and non dynamic templates, appear to use comments paginated behind "Load more" - and may exhibit this problem. I've seen this problem, reported in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, for both template types.

I have reproduced this problem, using two blogs.

Here are two recently reported cases, reproduced in my testing today. I do not know how long both cases may be active.

http://slifkinchallenge.blogspot.com/2016/05/thank-you-yehoshua-duker-and-yosef.html
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/RotUfv8AwuU/discussion

http://istanbulkonstantinopel.blogspot.com/2014/03/study-in-turkey-2.html
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/7Yau3KKR9mo/discussion

Noting that both blogs are (natively) published in countries that are subject to local country codes (Israel and Turkey, respectively), I will deny that to be a simple affinity - since I viewed both blogs from my browser, as "blogspot.com", as I reproduced the problem. That said, that is an interesting coincidence, no?

There are several possible causes of this problem. Adding the above observation, some of these causes may be more or less relevant.

• Comments feed setting.
• Comment feed content / corruption.
• Cookie / script filters.
• HTTPS Redirect.
• Occam's Razor.
• Post template corruption.

Comments feed setting.

Features like the comment reply option, and blogs published to dynamic templates, require a full comment feed. It's possible that comment pagination, behind JavaScript links, is similarly sensitive to the comments feed setting.

This detail will affect everybody - both blog owner(s) and reader(s) alike. And it will probably affect all posts, uniformly.

The solution for this problem would involve checking - and correcting - the comments and feed settings, for the blogs involved.

Comment feed content / corruption.

Similar to the problem with the Blogger blog post published location, it's possible that some unknown detail in the data could interfere with script functionality.

If the problem involves content in one post - or a comment on one post, it's possible that comments for one post could be affected; but other posts could paginate comments successfully.

This detail would probably affect everybody, uniformly.

The solution for this problem will require determining what feed content detail causes the problem. This will probably involve affinity diagnosis.

Cookie / script filters.

Any problem which involves a JavaScript based link, both cookies and scripts are always going to be involved. Any filter that interferes with either cookies (identity) or scripts (link functionality) will always be a possibility.

Filters may affect either blog owners and / or blog readers, uniquely. A problem that involves some owners / readers will likely involve filters.

Thanks to the effect of country local domains, cookie / script filters may affect individuals geographically.

The solution for this problem is to check / open up script filters - and then check / open up cookie filters.

HTTPS Redirect.

Both blogs, identified above, appear to not be using the "HTTPS Redirect" option. It's not impossible that this is another feature, broken by the SSL Rollout.

Occam's Razor.

Considering the most simple alternative, is it possible that paginated comments are simply inoperative? Maybe, because of (or incidentally involving) the SSL Rollout??

Post template corruption.

Comments are part of the post template. It's likely that proper comment functionality also requires a clean post template. This detail will probably affect everybody - though it's possible that there could be code that is sensitive to some owners / readers, but not others.

The solution for this problem is to reset the post template, on the blogs involved.

The bottom line.

This problem, if not incidentally solved by a Blogger code change, will probably not be diagnosed, immediately.

More examples of this symptom are badly needed. Right now, we have seen only a handful of people with blogs that are popular - and generate comments in sufficient volume - and have reported this problem.

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Some #Blogger blog owners, who publish blogs with posts that receive large volumes of comments, report inability to display all comments published. Comments, when displayed in large volumes, are paginated behind JavaScript based links - and some links, when clicked, don't seem to work.

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/7Yau3KKR9mo/discussion
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/RotUfv8AwuU/discussion

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Blogger Magic - Using An HTTP Trace

An HTTP trace is a very useful tool, for diagnosing and documenting connectivity issues, and many other blog problems.

I use the Rex Swain HTTP Viewer, for this purpose. HTTP Viewer lets you package a given display, in the URL, so you can give simple instructions (accompanied by an unavoidably complicated link):

Click on the link:

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://klarfamilylife.blogspot.com&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO

And when the link is clicked, the necessary HTTP trace is displayed. There is no need to provide instructions how to actually enter the necessary values, on the HTTP Viewer home page, to generate the necessary display.

I use the Rex Swain HTTP Viewer, for diagnosing and documenting custom domain, malware, spam classification, and other connectivity issues.

Start by verifying URLs involved.

Whenever possible, make a screen print, and a text copy, of the Blogger dashboard Publishing wizard, at Settings - Basic.

Here's a live example, of HTTP Viewer use.

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://klarfamilylife.blogspot.com&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO

Start from http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html.

Note, HTTP Viewer only works in HTTP mode. SSL is not supported. Fortunately, right now, the automatic "http:" to "https:" Blogger redirect, which is not optional, does not affect HTTP Viewer.

Add the URL of the blog, and click on "Submit".

This generates a lot of text. I'm not going to explain all of it, in this post.



Since Blogger blogs have no post limit, I'll have more posts, later, that will involve HTTP Viewer displays.

But here's the second page, of the above display.



And here is the typical excerpt, that I will make, and display.

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://klarfamilylife.blogspot.com&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO

Sending request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: klarfamilylife.blogspot.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7834.70.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/49.0.2623.112 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 172.217.0.1
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:

HTTP/1.1·500·Internal·Server·Error(CR)(LF)

This is an example of a notorious "500 Internal Server Error" - which right now is plaguing various blog owners who have corrupt templates. This is what we see with many blogs, when people report various bX codes, when using several Blogger dashboard pages.

• Template.
• Template - "Customize" (aka "Blogger Template Designer").
• Template - "Edit HTML" (aka "Blogger Template Editor").

Here's a second live example.

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO

Here, we have an HTTP trace from this blog, http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/.

And, my typical display - which you might see, as an "HTTP trace excerpt", in a custom domain connectivity diagnosis.

http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO

Sending request:

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: blogging.nitecruzr.net
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7834.70.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/49.0.2623.112 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.25.121
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:

HTTP/1.1·200·OK(CR)(LF)

<meta·content='blogger'·name='generator'/>(LF)
<link·href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/favicon.ico'·rel='icon'·type='image/x-icon'/>(LF)
<link·href='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/'·rel='canonical'/>(LF)
<link·rel="alternate"·type="application/atom+xml"·title="The·Real·Blogger·Status·-·Atom"·href="http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default"·/>(LF)
<link·rel="alternate"·type="application/rss+xml"·title="The·Real·Blogger·Status·-·RSS"·href="http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss"·/>(LF)
<link·rel="service.post"·type="application/atom+xml"·title="The·Real·Blogger·Status·-·Atom"·href="https://www.blogger.com/feeds/24069595/posts/default"·/>(LF)

The latter connectivity diagnosis might be a part of my 12 link affinity / differential connectivity test.

My trace excerpts include details which I, personally, decided are most useful for me. You may find additional - or less - details to be useful, for you.

Here, we see just two examples, of my HTTP traces. There are an infinity of possibilities.

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An online HTTP trace is a useful diagnostic tool, when diagnosing and identifying many different #Blogger problems. Custom domain, malware, spam classification, and other connectivity issues may be diagnosed and documented.

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Post Data Cannot Be Moved Above The Post Body

Blog owners have been requesting the ability to position various post content items above the post body, for years.

We've seen reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about problems moving Comments, Labels, Share Bar, and others.

Several years, "Arrange Items" was upgraded to allow Labels to be moved above the post body. That option was provided briefly - then removed later.

Depending upon what items are currently in a specific location, moving other items into - or out of - that location may or may not be successful.

The "Arrange Items" wizard is not magical.

Code for each item, which can be moved, has to specifically support repositioning into any one of the target boxes.



Any item move may, or may not, be successful. Various details may affect success.

• Item being moved.
• Item current location.
• Item target location.
• Other items in the same current location.
• Other items in the same target location.
• Post template status - customisation, etc.

Frequently, when a problem with "Arrange Items" is reported, the blog owner is trying to target a position above the post body.

Diagnosing a post template problem, which involves arranging items, can involve any of these details. Not so many blog owners want to re arrange items - and even less want to arrange items above the post body - so there is not a lot of experience with diagnosing these problems.

Success - or failure - may involve several scenarios.

In some cases, the drag and drop operation, in "Arrange Items", may not accomplish anything. The owner may drag the item into place - and watch as the item perversely moves itself back, to where it was.

In other cases, the move may appear successful. The item may seem to move, and stay where is is dropped.

The owner may Save - then refresh blog display, and see the item still where it was. Opening "Configure Blog Posts", the item may or may not be displayed where it is now - or where it is wanted.

In some cases, the item may be moved successfully - and some other item, in the original or current location, may stop working.

We have seen all of these problems reported. Frequently, there is only one course of action.

• Reset the post template.
• Start over.

In many cases, resetting the post template is the only way to repair a problem caused by moving an item to where it should not go. With the template reset, the owner will have to choose whether to try again - and risk a repeat, of the same problem.

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Moving #Blogger post template items, from one location to another, is not always successful - and sometimes causes problems with other blog content. Attempting to move items above the post body is a frequent cause of problems.


https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/blogger/Gv2Mgnpg3TE

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/blogger/u6mZEd1mjLY

https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/u6mZEd1mjLY/discussion

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Recovering From A Corrupt Template - Persistence

Of the many Blogger Mysteries that confound blog owners and readers, none are more obscure than the many bX codes.

Some problems, reported in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, start so innocently.

As I edited the Template HTML, I saved my changes - and the bX error suddenly appeared.

Each different bX code refers to a different problem, with Blogger in general. Of the bX codes that refer to template corruption, each different bX code may refer to a different template corruption problem.

When a template corruption problem can be reset, the resetting process may involve repeated use of one or more dashboard pages.

Different problems may enable - or prevent - use of a different dashboard page. For problems with multiple causes, you may have to use each different wizard, persistently.

1. The Template Designer page.
2. The Template page.
3. The Template Editor ("Edit HTML") page.
4. If the blog is not operational, you start again.

Unfortunately, some problems may prevent use of all 3 pages. For the problems that permit use of one or more pages, you try each available page, repeatedly, until the blog becomes operational.

To access each page, you may need to bypass the dashboard menu.

The Template Designer page.

The Template Designer is used for one task - "Remove customizations".

The Template Designer.



"Remove customizations" may be the simplest reset that you may try - when possible. Some customizations, when removed, may enable subsequent use of the Template page, or the Template Editor.

The Template page.

The Template main page is used for two tasks.

1. Backup / Restore the existing template.
2. Get a new template.

The Template main page.



Some problems, when reset using the Template main page, may enable subsequent use of the Template Designer, or the Template Editor.

The Template Editor ("Edit HTML") page.

The Template Editor ("Edit HTML") is used for two tasks, as an alternate to the Template main page. Also, it may be used to reset any "rgba" colour combination problems.

1. Backup / Restore the existing template.
2. Get a new template.

For template corruption problems that prevent use of the Template main page, the Template Editor - combined with a second blog, where a clean template is developed and tested - can be used.

The Template Editor (aka "Edit HTML").



Some problems, when reset using the Template Editor, may enable subsequent use of the Template Designer, or the Template main page.

If the blog is not operational, you start again.

If you get a new bX code, you repeat the above sequence. Some problems, with multiple causes, may require repeated retries.

In extreme cases, you may end up creating a new blog at the URL.

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Some #Blogger template problems, which lead to a bX code display, may have multiple causes - and all causes may require solution, to make an affected blog operational. With some causes preventing solution of others, a repetitious use of the various dashboard pages may be required - to solve some template corruption problems.

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Blogger Resolves The FaceBook Photo Sharing Issue

Blogger Engineers recently added Blogger template code, to provide images in shares to FaceBook.

The added code is included in the standard template header. If you have a custom template, you may need to verify template header content.

If you have added the previously recommended Open Graph Code to your blog, to allow Open Graph based post / photo sharing - and you use the FaceBook Developers Debugger tool, you may see a new diagnostic suggestion.

Given newly added template code, blogs with added OG code may generate ominous warnings in the FaceBook Developers Debugger tool.

Looking at my blog, and the blog main page.

Object at URL 'http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/' of type 'article' is invalid because it specifies multiple 'og:url' values: http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/, http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/.

Looking at my blog, and a FaceBook Debug log, for this post.

Object at URL 'http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html' of type 'article' is invalid because it specifies multiple 'og:url' values: http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html, http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html.

With Blogger now providing a properly resized image, automatically, from each post, the image provided in the previously suggested Open Graph code is now redundant - and causes duplication.

The browser source listing, for this post.

The FaceBook Debugger log, for this post.



Here's what I see now, in the standard template header.

<meta content='Blogger recently added template code, to properly share content to FaceBook. Learn how this affects your blog.' name='description'/>
<meta content='http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/03/blogger-resolves-facebook-photo-sharing.html' property='og:url'/>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAwPngF8wVHKBg-4CTrKgEOUXfgtPIjSzp0sFgOqkFhMJhTKHaqT_qX06vE2Ib1fDdOMkwKs6Y17_XlYoZJxTQPoGHh_HerSMTCcWUT4O0JfV77PPXC3hkE6qypiqpqK69lBuQW6wOA-6/w1200-h630-p-nu/Screenshot+2016-03-13+at+14.35.32.png' property='og:image'/>

So, what do we have?

<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAwPngF8wVHKBg-4CTrKgEOUXfgtPIjSzp0sFgOqkFhMJhTKHaqT_qX06vE2Ib1fDdOMkwKs6Y17_XlYoZJxTQPoGHh_HerSMTCcWUT4O0JfV77PPXC3hkE6qypiqpqK69lBuQW6wOA-6/w1200-h630-p-nu/Screenshot%2B2016-03-13%2Bat%2B14.35.32.png' property='og:image'/>

The chosen image - resized to 1200 x 630, to suit the FaceBook recommended 1.9 aspect ratio - and large, to suit the FaceBook recommended size.

Now, 3 data elements (2 Open Graph) may be redundant.

• description
• og:image
• og:url

This makes the immediately previous advice unnecessary.

If one wishes to provide author information, that also becomes slightly simpler.

<!-- BEGIN Open Graph tags -->
<meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='description' property='og:description'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.pageTitle' name='keywords'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<meta content='article' property='og:type'/>
<meta content='https://plus.google.com/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn/about' property='article:author'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.pageName' property='og:title'/>
<b:else/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.title' property='og:title'/>
<meta content='blog' property='og:type'/>
</b:if>
<meta expr:content='"en_US"' property='og:locale'/>
<!-- END Open Graph tags -->

If you truly want to share author details, you still have some work to do - but photos should now be shared, automatically, if your blog has a template with a standard header.

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Recently, Blogger Engineering added OG code to the standard template header, to allow us to share posts with images to FaceBook, without having to add special code. This should help, for owners of blogs which have standard headers.

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Some bX Codes Caused By Zero Alpha ("rgba") Value

We're seeing a few reports of bX codes, that are not solved by simply resetting the template - and do not involve the mysterious "500 Internal Server Error".

In some cases, the blog owner may see a bX code when trying to use "Configure Blog Posts", or another Layout gadget wizard. If the blog itself can be viewed, and Template HTML Editor is usable, the bX error may come from use of a "0" Alpha color setting.

Blogger Engineering is aware of the problem, and has suggested that a fix is being developed. While we await the necessary fix, we may need to work around the problem.

The suggestion by Blogger Engineering is that we use a "Transparent" option, instead of "0" alpha value.

It seems that this issue is triggered by color variables with a value that has zero alpha, e.g. 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)'.

Some gadgets, and template sections, have the "transparent" selection in their color setup. Not all have this option, however. Some template CSS rules are not so easily edited.

The problem here is the "rgba" 4th value of "0" - ie, the "alpha" "0" value. The simplest solution is to change the "0" to a non zero value - without changing the "rgb" values.

The simplest solution, to get "Configure Blog Posts" or any other affected gadget usable, may be to use Template Editor, and change the values, directly. Look at every CSS rule, that has an "rgba" setting - and look for a 4th value of "0".

• For "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" - Change to "rgba(0, 0, 0, .1)".
• For "rgba(255, 255, 0, 0)" - Change to "rgba(255, 255, 0, .1)".
• For "rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)" - Change to "rgba(255, 255, 255, .1)".

A transparency setting of ".1" should be visually close to "0" - and should get the blog in question back online and updatable. And after Blogger Engineering fixes their gadget / template editor code, to accept the "0" value - and if the ".1" creates a noticeably unacceptable condition - this can be corrected, when necessary.

It's possible that this error, being seen, is part of a larger problem. You may need a persistent solution.

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Some #Blogger bX codes, being seen in the forums right now, do not appear to involve terminal template corruption, and the mysterious "500 Internal Server Error". Some bX codes can be easily corrected, when they involve a "0 alpha" value (a CSS color rule involving an "rgba" setting).

When the Template Editor is usable, a simple search and replace for "rgba(nn, nn, nn, 0)" to "rgba(nn, nn, nn, .1)" may be sufficient to correct the error.

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Recovering From The Corrupt Template / "Error 500"

We're seeing a few reports, this week, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about blogs with broken templates.

I tried to log on to my blog, and it shows up an error message. I've done it several times on different browsers, but no change: the error code is bX-uukqqu.

It appears that the "bX-uukqqu" is from the owner attempting dashboard access. Trying to view the same blog, I see the ubiquitous "bX-v2vqfh".

Both codes reference blogs which show up, in an HTTP trace, with the monolithic message "500 Internal Server Error" - and tells us that this is one more blog with a broken template.

If you, the owner of a blog with a broken template, can access the Template dashboard page, you may be able to recover the template.

Some blog owners report that adding a Template Backup / Restore has helped to resolve their own bX code / "Error 500".

1. Backup the template ("Download full template").
2. Get a clean Blogger standard template.
3. Restore the template ("Upload" the template that you just downloaded).

If you're lucky, your version of the "bX-uukqqu" (dashboard) / "bX-v2vqfh" (public) can be resolved, by a quick template download then upload.



You may need direct access to the Template page, bypassing the dashboard menu - though if you can view the blog, the "Design" navbar link will provide you that ability. If you can't access the Template page at all, you may be able to clear some bX codes, by using the Template Editor aka "Edit HTML".

If any of this works, your blog will be back in service. If not, you will at least have a backup copy of the template.

If the template is still broken, you now have three choices.

1. Leave the blog as it is now, broken - until Blogger Engineering finishes diagnosing and fixing the actual cause of the template corruption.
2. Get a fresh new template. When Blogger Engineering finishes diagnosing and fixing the actual cause of the template corruption, you can try restoring the template copy that you just backed up.
3. Try a persistent solution.

And whether this works - or not - or even if you can't use it, right now, you can have a template backup. And one day, this backup may be useful.

---

A few Blogger blog owners, reporting bX codes when trying to access their dashboards, have found that accessing the Template page directly, then doing a quick back / restore, may clear the bX codes. This suggests that Blogger Engineering is beginning to test solutions to the ubiquitous "Error 500" broken template problem, that have been afflicting blog owners for some time.

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Sharing Blog Content, With Photos, To FaceBook

We have a few blog owners, reporting problems with sharing their blogs to FaceBook.

When I share my blog on FaceBook, the photo from the blog doesn't appear. Some blurry pencil appears instead.

What the blog owner is seeing, is the effect of the FaceBook Share wizard, grabbing an unwanted photo, from the page being shared.

You have 2 choices, if you want to share blog content to FaceBook - and have it all look attractive.

1. Publish every post, containing a photo that FaceBook will want to use.
2. Add FaceBook Open Graph code, to your blog.

Too many blogs do not contain quality photos, per FaceBook Standard.

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(Update 3/14): Blogger Engineering having recently added OG code to the standard template header, this tweak may be unnecessary for most blog owners.

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The problem, that too many blog owners have, is that their photos do not have the correct quality, to FaceBook.

• At least 200×200 pixels in both width and height.
• Aspect ratio of width and height no greater than 3; in other words, the width can’t be more than three times more than the height, and vice versa.

Please define a chosen image using the og:image metatag, and use an image that's at least 200x200px and is accessible from Facebook.

Current opinion seems to suggest that an image of minimum size 400 x 400 px is better than 200 x 200 px. In other words, the image which fits neatly into the post column may not be a good choice.

Without a suitable photo in shared content, FaceBook Share gets imaginative.

If your main page, or post page, does not contain an acceptable photo, the FaceBook Share wizard will pick an image from the page. The first thing that the wizard looks for is a transparent image.

This is where the infamous "pencil" or a similar image becomes involved. The "pencil" - if the blog owner is doing the sharing - is found at the bottom of the post. It's also known as the "Quick Edit" icon.

If Quick Edit is not enabled, or the person submitting the share is not a blog owner, the "pencil" won't be available. In this case, FaceBook Share will grab a similar icon, from the blog face - or maybe from the sidebar.

We need Open Graph code, to instruct FaceBook Share how to find a photo.

FaceBook Open Graph code is not hard to develop - or install - but you do need to use the right code.

If you want something better than the "pencil" or similar fluff from being included in your shares, you add FaceBook Open Graph code, to tell FaceBook how to find an appropriate photo. You can specify a photo to include when the main page is shared - and (if you like) a different photo to include when a post, with no photo, is shared.

Some very simple code - not!

One would be helper has been making forum noise recently, with some very simple code.

<!-- Open Graph Meta Tags BEGIN -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.postImageUrl'>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.postImageUrl' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<!-- Open Graph Meta Tags END -->

There are two problems with this simple code.

1. It's based on post code - and has nothing to make a main page share come out right.
2. It requires a suitable image, in the post. We are here, because many posts do not have suitable images.

Something more than the simple code is needed.

Develop the proper simple code.

So the simple code requires a little more effort. This is what I recommend:

<!-- BEGIN Open Graph tags -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.postImageUrl'>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.postImageUrl' property='og:image'/>
<b:else/>
<meta content='http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/S1600-R/yyyyyyyyyyyyy.gif' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<b:else/>
<meta content='http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/S1600-R/yyyyyyyyyyyyy.gif' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<!-- END Open Graph tags -->

There are two alternate possibilities that we want to allow for.

1. Sharing the blog itself - and no post containing an acceptable image, on the main page.
2. Sharing a post - and no acceptable image, in the post

Please note that http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/S1600-R/yyyyyyyyyyyyy.gif needs to be replaced with an actual URL of a real photo, that fulfills FaceBook requirements, for this feature to be useful. Choose a good photo, that will represent the blog when shared in main page, or a post with no suitable photo.

Now, I need a default photo, to use when no acceptable image is involved, when sharing this blog. Here's a screen print of the opening page of this post.

And, the URL from the screen print.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim6Npm_l_FkmnT7M2ZR-OrQLuaD42SAiDRyhAhXOf4pbRideSrn2hXzBgZo8XhzMGhxxjt50a2LTJOSE-ZRrg7RNX2mz1z5q-KNmf3YWCAyArC1Jh2lytWZc2op4UTULruOpMJMIhqo2w/s1600/Screenshot+2016-02-15+at+13.08.21.png

This gives me:

<!-- BEGIN Open Graph tags -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.postImageUrl'>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.postImageUrl' property='og:image'/>
<b:else/>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim6Npm_l_FkmnT7M2ZR-OrQLuaD42SAiDRyhAhXOf4pbRideSrn2hXzBgZo8XhzMGhxxjt50a2LTJOSE-ZRrg7RNX2mz1z5q-KNmf3YWCAyArC1Jh2lytWZc2op4UTULruOpMJMIhqo2w/s1600/Screenshot+2016-02-15+at+13.08.21.png' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<b:else/>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim6Npm_l_FkmnT7M2ZR-OrQLuaD42SAiDRyhAhXOf4pbRideSrn2hXzBgZo8XhzMGhxxjt50a2LTJOSE-ZRrg7RNX2mz1z5q-KNmf3YWCAyArC1Jh2lytWZc2op4UTULruOpMJMIhqo2w/s1600/Screenshot+2016-02-15+at+13.08.21.png' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<!-- END Open Graph tags →

And, there is the simple OG code, that I might use for sharing this blog, with a proper image, to FaceBook. This is actually a portion of the code needed, when adding author identification to FaceBook shares.

You might use similar code - having chosen and developed a good quality photo, to represent your blog.

Install the proper simple code.

To install the code, you will use the Template Editor. Please backup the template, before and after you make this simple change!

Start by locating the "<HTML ... >" tag, at the top of the template header.

Find:

<html b:version='2' class='v2' expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr'>

And replace with:

<html b:version='2' class='v2' expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr'>
<!-- BEGIN Open Graph tags -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.postImageUrl'>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.postImageUrl' property='og:image'/>
<b:else/>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim6Npm_l_FkmnT7M2ZR-OrQLuaD42SAiDRyhAhXOf4pbRideSrn2hXzBgZo8XhzMGhxxjt50a2LTJOSE-ZRrg7RNX2mz1z5q-KNmf3YWCAyArC1Jh2lytWZc2op4UTULruOpMJMIhqo2w/s1600/Screenshot+2016-02-15+at+13.08.21.png' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<b:else/>
<meta content='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiim6Npm_l_FkmnT7M2ZR-OrQLuaD42SAiDRyhAhXOf4pbRideSrn2hXzBgZo8XhzMGhxxjt50a2LTJOSE-ZRrg7RNX2mz1z5q-KNmf3YWCAyArC1Jh2lytWZc2op4UTULruOpMJMIhqo2w/s1600/Screenshot+2016-02-15+at+13.08.21.png' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<!-- END Open Graph tags →

Save the changes. And again, backup the template, before and after you make this simple change!

And with the code added to your template, you can verify your code. In extreme cases, you may need advice from FaceBook Support. You may also find FaceBook Developers: Sharing Best Practices for Websites & Mobile Apps to be a helpful reference.

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Many #Blogger blog owners share posts (and the blog itself) to FaceBook, with no problems. Some have recently observed odd images being included with the content shared.

An apparent change to the FaceBook Sharing wizard has caused odd photos to be included, with blogs that lack the necessary Open Graph code. Open Graph code is not complicated - but it does need to allow for possibilities.

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bX Codes, Diagnosing "Error 500", Being Reported

We're seeing a few reports from blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, with blogs being inaccessible.

My blog can't be seen at all, it just says error when I'm trying to open my blog. I also can't edit anything, like HTML or Template.

When the blog is viewed, it will issue one of several bX codes. So far, I've identified bX-3o92c2, bX-ppgc07, bX-tqn3zr, bX-v2vqfh, bX-vg1g6a. When the blog is viewed, using an HTTP trace, the trace will terminate, showing an old friend.

Error 500 Internal Server Error

What we appear to be seeing is multiple bX codes, being used to diagnose the various causes of the "Error 500", which has long plagued Blogger blog owners.

The "bX-v2vqfh" and other errors appear to be "500 Internal Server Error".

Here, we see a "bX-vg1g6a".

And an HTTP trace, for the same blog, shows the ubiquitous "Error 500 Internal Server Error".



So, the blog owner should get a new template - or restore from backup.

The simplest solution, to the "Error 500" has been to restore the template, from a recent backup - hoping that you have a usable backup. If a backup is not available - or if the blog, with the backup applied, also returns a bX code - you must get a new template.

The fortunate blog owner, able to login to Blogger with the right account, will have a relatively simple task.

1. Click on the "Design" link in the navbar.
2. Choose a new template - or restore from a previous backup.
3. Use "Edit HTML", and reset the post template.

If the blog has a custom template, that cannot (should not) be trashed, and the Template page can be accessed, a backup before getting a new Blogger template - and a restore after - may provide relief.

In either case, you will need to use the dashboard Template page - then reset the post template, using Template "Edit HTML".

In some cases, the dashboard can't be accessed. In this case, we must (with some effort) access the Template page, directly.

Possibly a little effort may be required.

1. Extract the BlogID, from the navbar "Design" or "New Post" link.
2. Build a Template page access URL.
3. Access the Template page, using the direct URL.
4. Choose a new template - or restore from a previous backup.
5. Use "Edit HTML", and reset the post template.

If the navbar link can't be used, a little more work is involved.

1. Find a cached copy of the blog, before the template broke.
2. Extract the BlogID, from the cache source code.
3. Build a Template page access URL.
4. Access the Template page, using the direct URL.
5. Choose a new template - or restore from a previous backup.
6. Use "Edit HTML", and reset the post template.

Finally, if possible, recall what changes you made, immediately before the problem was observed - and avoid repeating those changes.

Note that some blogs absolutely won't provide access to the Template page - but they may, to the Template Editor aka "Edit HTML".

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It appears that #Blogger Engineering, in an effort to diagnose the annoying "Error 500 Internal Server Error", has recently activated or added a series of bX codes - which are being reported by various blog owners.

We were some time ago advised to have the owner get a new template, when encountering the "Error 500".

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Unfold Widgets Selectively, Instead Of All At Once

The new Template HTML Editor has been with us for just under 2 weeks.

Not every blog owner sees the new editor as an improvement. Some folks don't understand how to find the code sections, where they need to apply changes - and would probably be happier if "Expand All Widgets" were an option.

Like the old saying goes, you just cannot please everybody.

Fortunately, with this change, it's not difficult to find the code sections that need changing - you just do a little bit of research, before using "Edit HTML".

With the old editor, finding a section that needed changing could be a bit frustrating - though simple, given enough time.

1. Hit "Expand Widget Templates".
2. Search for a recognisable section of code.
3. Try very carefully, to find the right section of code.
4. Be careful, and don't select the wrong section of code.

With the new editor, you have a bit more work to do - and what you have to do appears to be simply repetitive.

1. Find a folded code section.
2. Unfold the section that's folded.
3. Repeat, until everything is visible.
4. Search for a recognisable section of code.
5. Try very carefully, to find the right section of code.
6. Be careful, and don't select the wrong section of code.

Instead of spending so much time unfolding, searching, and rechecking everything, why not do some research? Figure out what needs changing. Look at the display on the dashboard Layout wizard (previously called "Page Elements"). Identify the widget to be changed, using both the relative position on the page, and the title.

Find the widget id, by looking at the widget to be changed, then at the URL behind the "Edit" link. If you're editing the post template, you'll be looking at "Blog Posts", which has the widgetID of "Blog1". Click here, for instructions on determining the widget id.

Once you have the widgetID, for the specific widget that you need to modify, go to the Template "Edit HTML" wizard, use the "Jump to widget" pull down list, select the widget by widgetID, and there it is. Now, unfold that widget, and do what you have to do.

Isn't that simpler, when you think about it?

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Dynamic Templates, And Jump Break

We see occasional evidence of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from blog owners who are using a dynamic template.

Why does the Jump Break not show up, in the blog display?

or

Why can't I see the entire post?

Not all blog owners understand the limited options, in the dynamic templates.

Compare the main page of this blog, to a formatted feed page of this blog.

Do you see the differences? I use Jump Break consistently, on my main page posts. Unfortunately, newsfeeds do not include the Jump Break, because the newsfeed standard was developed before Blogger developed their post summarisation feature, Jump Break.

Blog feeds will not contain Jump Break tokens.

Since dynamic views format the display using the blog posts feed, they have no way to include the Jump Break. The posts feed contains each post, in its entirety. The "Jump Break" token is part of the main page display, not the posts.

This is just one more reason why dynamic templates won't be chosen, on all blogs.

If you want to display your main page as I do, you can't use a dynamic template. Dynamic templates format their posts without using jump break. Some dynamic template "main page" views include text, broken; others include text, unbroken; and still others include only photos. None of the dynamic views include the Jump Break.

Dynamic templates require a full blog feed - comments and posts.

Remember that to use dynamic views, you have to set the blog feed to "Full". If you set the feed to "Until Jump Break", dynamic views won't work. The dynamic views format the post displays to the requirements of each different view (selected by the reader), and require the complete post content in the feed.

To see an example of what happens, using "Until Jump Break" - and with a Jump Break included, you can click here. If you want to display your blog in a dynamic template, you have to let the template determine (or not) where to break the posts.

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All Template Changes Won't Always Be Visible, When The Blog Is Published

Not all blog owners appreciate the differences between using the various template wizards, and what they will actually see, once the blog is published.

The confusion about the various template wizards, and what is actually seen, expressed in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, is numerous.

Why aren't my changes to the template being saved?

This question is expressed in a number of ways - and has a number of causes.

There are a number of causes of template problems, in general.

• Some problem are caused by Blogger Engineering, as they manage the Blogger application.
• Some problems are caused by the blog owners, as they use (and yes, misuse) the Blogger application.
• Some problems are simply caused by the perception of the blog owners, and will never be resolved, to everybody's expectations.

If you're viewing this blog using a desktop / laptop computer, with a "normal" browser, and you can find the "View Source" control, take a look at the source for this page. Compare what you see there with the display in the Template "Edit HTML" wizard (and allow for some confusion, when using "Edit HTML").

• If you have a "normal" browser, and are viewing this blog in a "Designer" / "Layout" template, you'll see a lot of the same code, in both "Edit HTML" and "View Source".
• If you have a "normal" browser, and are viewing this blog in a "Dynamic" template, you'll see very little of the same code, in both "Edit HTML" and "View Source".
• If you have a "normal" browser, and are viewing this blog using a redirected "mobile" browser view, you'll see very little of the same code, in both "Edit HTML" and "View Source".
• If you're using a "mobile" computer, you probably won't even have an option to "View Source".

The bulk of the options in the Template "Edit HTML" wizard, in the "Layout" wizard, and in the Template Designer, are intended to change the "Designer" / "Layout" template views. The three wizards have much less effect, against the "Dynamic" / "Mobile" template views.

If you tweak the CSS settings in "Edit HTML" or the Template Designer - or if you change the layout using "Layout" or the Template Designer - you may not see all of the changes reflected in either a Dynamic or Mobile view.

Sometimes, this is because you have already tweaked the template improperly, preventing the wizard from saving your latest changes. Other times, it may be simply because the Dynamic and Mobile templates are not designed to let you tweak the settings in question.

We've also seen vague suggestions that having the mobile template active can cause the Template Designer font and style selections to be non operational. Font settings, made using the Template Designer, won't be saved and won't appear in the blog, when published. Right now, we're unsure whether the Live Preview window updates reliably.

And recently, uncontrolled customisation of the blog accessory complement, and of the dynamic template code, have caused instability in network access, when viewing blogs using dynamic views.

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The Option To "Expand Widget Templates", In The Template "Edit HTML" Wizard, Is No More

One of the more confusing features of the Blogger Template "Edit HTML" wizard, used to be the option to

Expand Widget Templates

With the new "Edit HTML" wizard, that option is not needed. Given the choice to "Expand Widget Templates", the typical blog owner was frequently caught between a rock, and a hard place, when editing gadgets.

• Don't use the option - and the gadget code section, which was to be edited, remained concealed.
• Use the option - and all gadget code sections were expanded, revealing all gadget code.

This frequently left the owner with either no information - or too much information, from which to work. Broken templates, caused by improper template HTML edits, were common.

The new Template "Edit HTML" wizard replaces the single "Expand Widget Templates" option with selective widget expansion. Now referred to as "folded" code, a concealed widget code section is identified by a fold marker ("sideways arrow icon"), next to the line number.

The code inside the widget is folded by default.

Clicking on any fold marker, the concealed gadget code section is revealed. If the now revealed code section itself contains concealed code sections, those sections are displayed as folded, and can then be revealed - if necessary, and only if necessary.

Thus we can eliminate unnecessary depth (internal gadget code sections) and width (additional gadget code sections) from being displayed when we only need to edit a specific gadget, at a given level of complexity. This will make it easier to identify and to edit the necessary lines of code, and to avoid editing lines of code which should not be edited.

If you're looking for a specific section of the template - for instance, the CSS rules - you may find that section folded also. CSS rules, for instance, are at the top of the template.

<b:skin>---</b:skin>

and

<b:template-skin>---</b:template-skin>

On the other hand, if you're looking for the content of an HTML / JavaScript gadget, that's still edited from the specific gadget in the Layout wizard.

<data:content/>

Gadget content is not folded.

Hopefully, we'll soon see less problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about broken templates - though we will probably continue to see confusion, about templates that only appear to be broken.

As always, if you change template code, remember to clear browser cache and restart the browser, before concluding that your changes were not effective.

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