Using the Blogger Template Designer

Blogger Template Designer is a new way for you to easily customize the look of your blog. You can select a variety of templates, images, colors, and column layouts to make your blog an expression of you.
As you play around with the Template Designer, you’ll see a preview of how the blog will appear based on the choices you’ve made, which you can expand to by pressing the toggle to Expand Preview between the Blogger Template Designer dashboard and the preview. When you’re satisfied with the look of your blog, you can make them go live by pressing Apply to Blog in the top right hand corner of the Template Designer.
To get started with Blogger Template Designer, select a template for your blog from one of the professionally designed templates that are available. Each template appears as a large thumbnail that when clicked will show different variations on the template below that you can select by clicking on them. Note that clicking a new template will erase any customizations you’ve made on a previous template. Once you’ve chosen a template, you can continue customizing the look of your blog.

How do I add a poll to my blog?

Do you ever wonder about your visitors' opinions? Maybe you'd like to find out what your readers think about controversial subjects, or perhaps you just want a vote on whether your should change your blog's font to Verdana. Either way, it's simple to do by adding a poll to your blog.
You'll start by going to the Layout | Page Elements tab for your blog:

How can I create expandable post summaries?

Note: This article was written before we released our jump break feature and is outdated. We recommend using the new jump break feature instead of the following method as it is much simpler!
With this trick, you can choose to display an arbitrary amount of text from the beginning of each post, as a teaser for the whole thing. Then users who want to read the rest of the post can click a link to see the full text. This is handy if you have lots of long articles all on one page. Note that you'll need to have post pages enabled in order to make this feature work.
There are three ingredients that go into this feature: conditional CSS, a "read more" link for each post, and a modification for the posts that use this feature. So let's go through it step by step.

Posting audio clips to your blog

There are several services that allow you to create audio clips and post them to your blog. The first is called Gabcast. It offers everything Audioblogger does, plus a free 1-800 number (for those in the U.S.), international numbers, a Flash player for your posts, and more. There are both free and paid options for Gabcast. Another service, Hipcast, offers similar functionality, as a paid service. Please contact these sites for help and questions with these products.

Third-party Apps

The following is a list of cool third-party apps that integrate with Blogger in some way. Since these are third-party applications, standard disclaimers apply: your mileage may vary, you could experience data loss, we're not responsible if things go haywire, etc. If you come across any not on the list, please let us know.

Windows

• BlogJet
• BlogWizard
• Chrysanth WebStory
• Ecto
• NBlog
• PerfectJournal
• Photolightning
• PowerBlog
• RocketPost
• Semagic
• w.bloggar
• Zoundry

Can I get site feeds for specific labels?

Yes, you can! If a blog you read is using labels and also has site feeds enabled, then you can pick and choose which topics you want to subscribe to. The format for label feeds is this:

http://blogname.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/labelname
Be sure to substitute in the correct blog address for blogname and the label you're interested in for labelname. Also, don't miss the hyphen ("-") in the URL. That's not a typo!
Note that a URL of this form will only work if the blog in question is using this specific label, and has also enabled site feeds. However, no special site feed settings are necessary. As long as the basic site feed for posts is enabled (with either short or full descriptions) then label feeds will also work.

How do I include archive links on the main page of my blog?

Note:This will only work if you are using a classic template. If you are using Layouts, simply add a page element, and select the archive option.
You can include your archive listing on the main page of your blog without resorting to messy javascript. For example, paste the following code into the appropriate area of your classic template:
<BloggerArchives>
  <a href='<$BlogArchiveURL$>'><$BlogArchiveName$></a>
</BloggerArchives>

All about Dynamic Views for Authors

Blogger now offers you the ability to present your content in several new and exciting ways.

Comment Inbox

To make it easier for you to manage your comments, Blogger have created a new Comments tab for you to access them. Here, you can manage published comments, comments that have been flagged as spam and comments awaiting moderation if you have turned on Comment Moderation.
Users with Comment Moderation turned on will continue to see comments that need moderation and have not been flagged as spam inComments | Awaiting Moderation. Users without Comment Moderation will not see any comments in Comments | Awaiting Moderation.

Spam Inbox

Blogger now filters comments that are likely spam comments to a Spam Inbox, much like the spam folder in your email. When someone leaves a comment on your blog, it will be reviewed against our spam detector, and comments that are identified as possible spam will be sent to your blog’s Spam Inbox, found at Comments | Spam.
You can help improve our ability to automatically detect spam comments by checking your Spam Inbox and deleting spam comments and marking real comments that may have been flagged as spam as Not Spam.
Blogger are always seeking feedback on how to improve this feature, so please share your feedback with us by clicking on the Report Spam Filtering Issues.

How does Blogger Mobile work?

You send a message - which can be a photo, some text, or both - to go@blogger.com. In other words, we auto-provision a new blog and publish the post. It's that simple.

How do I post via email?

The Mail-to-Blogger feature turns any email account into a blog-posting application. In Settings | Email you can create a Mail-to-Blogger address which you will use to send posts via email to your blog:
To post to your blog via email, you need to configure your Mail-to-Blogger email address in Settings | Email:
The format of the email address is username.secretword@blogger.com. Note that this email address must be kept secret. Otherwise, anyone who gets it will be able to post as you.
Also be sure to specify whether or not you prefer your email posts to publish automatically. If this option is not checked, then your posts will be saved on your account but will not appear on your blog until you log in to Blogger.com and publish them yourself.
Once you have saved your Settings, you can send email to your blog. The subjects of your email letters will be the titles of your posts, and the body of the emails will be the posts themselves. To include an image in your post, you can attach an image to you your email.
Notes:

• Sometimes email programs append text to the bottom of each sent message; to make sure this cruft doesn't get posted to your blog, put #end at the end of your post.

How do I use the transliteration feature?

The Quick Answer

• Go to the Settings|Basic tab and enable the transliteration option.
• * Select your language.
• Click the Transliteration button on the posting form to type in transliteration mode.

What is transliteration?

Blogger offers an automatic transliteration option for converting Roman characters to the characters used in the following languages:

Amharic

Arabic

Bengali

How do I find an old post?

All your posts are available for editing on the Posting | Edit Posts tab, or by clicking the "Manage Posts" link on your dashboard.
You can use the search box to filter the list for posts containing particular words. You'll also see a list of any labels you're using. Clicking on a label in this list will show you only posts with that label.

Webmaster Tools and Blogger

It is possible to enable Webmaster Tools directly from the Blogger dashboard. Once you do this, all your Blogger blogs will be automatically added to your Webmaster Tools account and verified. To verify a Blogger blog:

• Sign in to Blogger using your Google Account.
• At the bottom of the Blogger Dashboard, under Tools and Resources, click Webmaster Tools.
• Here you will be shown a list of all the sites you own as well as given an opportunity to add any sites that are not listed.
• Under the "Verified?" column, you can see which sites have not yet been verified by Webmaster Tools. Click "Verify" on any unverified sites you would like to verify.
• Choose the "Add a meta tag" option, copy the meta tag code, and paste it in your blog's template in the first "head" section of the page, before the first "body" tag.
• Once you've added the code to your blog's template, return to the Webmaster Tools dashboard and click "Verify".

How do I import and export blogs on Blogger?

The import and export features on Blogger give your content a whole new range of portability and freedom, allowing you to create copies of your own blogs as well as import them into other existing ones. Best of all-we've made this a very simple process!

Import as a New Blog

To import content as a brand new blog, click Create a Blog from your dashboard. 

Change the text direction to right to left in the post editor

If your Blogger interface language is set to Arabic, Hebrew or Persian you'll be able to select either Left to Right  or Right to Left  directionality when composing a post. A post can contain any combination of right-to-left and left-to-right paragraphs. By default, Blogger starts composing a post with the Right to Left button active in Hebrew, Arabic and Persian interfaces.

To change the text direction:

At the beginning of a post or new paragraph:

1. Click the Left to Right button  in the formatting bar of the post editor. The cursor will move to the left side of the compose pane.

Can I use keyboard shortcuts while posting?

Blogger has several keyboard shortcuts you can use while editing posts. They definitely work in Internet Explorer 5.5+/Windows and the Mozilla family (1.6+ and Firefox 0.9+), and might work in other browsers. Here they are:

• control + b = Bold
• control + i = Italic
• control + l = Blockquote (when in HTML-mode only)
• control + z = Undo
• control + y = Redo
• control + shift + a = Link

How to put AdSense and Google Affiliate Network in your blog's sidebar?

If you're new to AdSense and not too familiar with making modifications to your blog's template, you can follow these instructions for placing AdSense code in your blog's sidebar (using the Minima template as an example).
Assuming you have already signed up and been approved for a Google AdSense account, you should be able to log in here. Once you're signed in, click the AdSense Settings tab near the top of the page. To cut right to the chase, focus on these steps:

1. Choose Your Ad Layout - To fit ads in your sidebar, it's best to choose one of the following ad layouts.

   Button (125x125)
   Skyscraper (120x600)
   Wide Skyscraper (160 x 600) 
   Vertical Banner (120 x 240)
   Small Rectangle (180x150)
   

2. Choose a color palette - They are very cleverly named but it's really just a matter of your preference.
3. Copy your AdSense code - At the bottom of the page, there's a box with code in it. Highlight all of that code and copy it.
4. Paste the code somewhere - Notepad or Text Edit or something like that is a good place for now.
5. Go to Blogger.com and sign in - Choose the blog you want to put ads on and click the template tab.
6. This is less of a step and more of a precaution - Copy your entire Blogger template and save it in Notepad or Text Edit just in case.
7. Find the place in your template that says this; you might have to scroll down pretty far:

   <!-- Begin #sidebar -->
   <div id="sidebar"><div id="sidebar2">

8. Paste the AdSense code you saved earlier right after that part.

   <!-- Begin #sidebar -->
   <div id="sidebar"><div id="sidebar2">
   PUT YOUR ADSENSE CODE HERE!

9. Save your template changes and republish your blog.

How to put Google Affiliate Network links in your blog's sidebar

If you're new to Google Affiliate Network and not too familiar with making modifications to your blog's template, you can follow these instructions for placing Google Affiliate Network links in your blog's sidebar (using the Minima template as an example).
Once you sign up and are approved for a Google Affiliate Network account, you can sign in here to view your account. Once you're signed in, click the Links tab near the top of the page. Select which advertiser's links you want to work with, and then follow these steps:

1. Choose your links - In the 'Links' section of your profile, select the advertiser whose links you want to use. Click Get Links in the Action drop down menu next to the advertiser's name. Click either the Text Links or the Image Links tab to view your options in each category. To fit ads in your sidebar, it's best to choose one of the following dimensions for an image link:

   Button (125x125) 
   Skyscraper (120x600) 
   Wide Skyscraper (160 x 600) 
   Vertical Banner (120 x 240) 
   Small Rectangle (180x150)

2. Copy your Affiliate link HTML - Just beneath your desired link, click Get HTML. A box with code in it will appear. Highlight all of that code, then copy and paste it into Notepad, Text Edit, or a similar program.
3. Sign in to Blogger - Choose the blog you want to put ads on and click the Template tab.
4. Caution - Copy your entire Blogger template and save it in Notepad or Text Edit just in case.
5. Find the place in your template that says:

   <!-- Begin #sidebar -->
   <div id="sidebar"><div id="sidebar2">

6. Paste the Affiliate link HTML you saved earlier right beneath that place in the template:

   <!-- Begin #sidebar -->
   <div id="sidebar"><div id="sidebar2">
   PUT YOUR AFFILIATE LINK HTML HERE!

7. Save your template changes and republish your blog.

How do I show ads between my posts?

If you want to show ads between your posts but chose not to do it while initially signing up for AdSense, first go to your Template | Page Elements tab. Then, in the "Blog Posts" section, click on "Edit". A pop-up window will appear with options to configure your blog posts. Check the box next to "Show Ads Between Posts". (Note: You must be signed up for AdSense before you can check this box.)
Once you check this box you'll see the configuration options for your ads. You can then select how often you would like ads to be shown after your posts.
For example, if you want ads to be displayed after every post, select "1" from the drop-down menu. (Please note that AdSense policies limits you to a total of 3 ad units per page and Blogger will automatically prevent you from going over this limit.) You can then select your ad format and colors. Once you have finished configuring your ads, click on the orange "Save Changes" button in the bottom right corner.