How To Edit Your Topic Inwards Blogger

This article is nearly how to edit your subject inwards Blogger.

It supports many other articles on this site, which propose specific subject changes needed to solve especial problems.    Note that until early on 2017, themes were called templates.   In practise, "edit your template" as well as "edit your theme" hateful the same thing.





In Blogger, a subject is a file which controls how your spider web log are displayed on the enshroud when someone reads it using a browser or a mobile device.   Themes used to live on called templates, but were renamed "themes" inwards early on 2017.

Previously, I've looked at whether it's a proficient thought to edit your Blogger subject / template or not.   Because themes are the same matter equally templates, the same principles apply to editing your theme.

For many people, editing the subject is only something which they require to do, because it's the exclusively way to do what they desire (remove the attribution, show a gadget on the homeppage only, add a Facebook similar push clit to posts, etc).   And Blogger is oft preferred because it allows users to edit aspects of their subject which other blogging tools done allow changes to.


Overview - how to edit your blog-theme

In general, the procedure to edit your subject is:
  • Make a back-up re-create of the theme, equally it is now
  • Open the theme-editor
  • Make the change
  • Check that it works, as well as if not, become dorsum to the previous theme.
The next sections bring to a greater extent than details nearly each of these steps.


How to brand a backup re-create of your electrical flow theme

I know:   It's tempting to skip this if you're exclusively making a little change. I fifty-fifty skip it myself sometimes. And it's non needed if this is the outset fourth dimension you've ever customised your subject - because you lot tin recover from problems yesteryear exactly reinstalling the criterion theme.

But if you lot would live on upset to lose whatever subject changes you lot made earlier, or if the modify you lot are making at i time is not minor, as well as thus I strongly recommend making a re-create before you lot start, exactly inwards case.  To do this
  • From the Blogger dashboard, become to the Themes tab
  • Click the Backup / Restore button nigh the seat right of the dashboard
  • Click the Download Theme button, as well as then wait piece the file downloads.
  • After the download has finished, uncovering the place where your reckoner puts downloaded files.
  • Find the file that was exactly created,
  • Rename it to something sensible
     (eg MyBlog subject backup before modify 31 January 2012.xml)
  • Move the file to somewhere safe: unremarkably somewhere on your reckoner is fine - or you lot brand similar to upload it to somewhere similar Google Docs, to live on absolutely sure enough that it won't larn lost.

How to opened upwards Blogger's subject editor

  • From the Blogger Dashboard, to to the Themes tab
  • Click Edit HTML

Now you lot bring your subject opened upwards inwards the subject editor, the adjacent challenge is making changes successfully - or backing them out if your changes were non successful.


How to brand the modify to your theme

  • Find the code you lot require to change:
    See Searching for text inwards Blogger's subject editor if you lot require assistance amongst this.

    Note:   around of the older "how to" articles country to brand sure enough that the Expand Widgets checkbox off or on.   This checkbox has at i time been removed from Blogger's subject editor.    If the instructions you lot are next says to larn out it "off", as well as thus you lot should exactly live on able to follow them equally is.    However if you lot are told to plow Expand Widgets off,  then you lot require to uncovering the right role of the code yesteryear searching for the widget-id or department name, as well as and thus "unfold" that to come across the consummate code.   
  • Make the modify (This article doesn't become into the principles of subject design, in that location are plenty of other articles as well as websites nearly that: I'm assuming that you lot know what you lot require to do).
  • Click the Preview theme button
    If Blogger tin brand feel of the modify you lot made, as well as thus sentiment of your spider web log is shown inwards the theme-editing area, amongst what looks similar your blog's homepage. It's non a existent re-create of your spider web log (the links won't work, the spacing mightiness non live on quite the same), but it shows you lot how the home-page volition await amongst your subject edits.
  • Do a quick banking corporation check that the enshroud looks right - for around changes you lot fifty-fifty live on able to tell if the modify has been successful exactly from this preview screen.

    However:  If the novel window/tab shows an mistake message like
Your subject could non live on parsed equally it is non well-formed. Please brand sure enough that all XML elements are unopen properly. <br/> XML mistake message: The chemical constituent type "div" must live on terminated yesteryear the matching end-tag "</div>".Error 500 
or
Your template could non live on parsed equally it is non well-formed. Please brand sure enough that all XML elements are unopen properly. <br/> XML mistake message: Element type "b:widget" must live on followed yesteryear either attribute specifications, ">" or "/>".
 then Blogger has non been able to sympathise the modify you lot made. Sometimes the mistake message gives a clue nearly what's wrong, although it tin live on misleading.   Check that you lot made the modify correctly - cook whatever errors as well as click Preview again.  If it nevertheless doesn't work, enquire for assistance from the identify that suggested the modify you lot are making 
.
  •  Once you lot are happy that the preview enshroud looks OK, click the Save theme button.


How to examine your subject change

the page-gadget equally a menu, the archive widget, ) your spider web log uses. You require to decide what to test, based on all of these.

At least, I ever click on as well as banking corporation check on these things when I've made a major subject change:
  1. the habitation page
  2. the items inwards the carte du jour bar
  3. a label value
  4. an archive widget entry
  5. custom-search-engine results
  6. comments

And if I'm existence peculiarly reader-focussed, I'll also banking corporation check these things inwards more than i browser:   unremarkably inwards the electrical flow version of Internet Explorer, Firefox as well as Chrome.


What to do if your subject modify wasn't successful

If you lot uncovering that the subject modify has caused problems, as well as thus ou bring receive got a pick to make:
Can you lot as well as your readers alive amongst the problems on your spider web log for "a while", piece you lot await for other solutions? 
Or 
Do you lot require to take the modify right now, thus visitors tin utilization your spider web log equally it was piece you lot solve the issues.

There is no right response to this question:   It's a personal decision, based on the blog, as well as your readers.   But if you lot do require to take the subject change, here's how to do it:
  • Open the Themes tab
  • Click the Backup / Restore button near the seat right of the dashboard
  • Click Choose File as well as uncovering the file that you lot downloaded earlier
  • Click Upload.

It is best to restore your theme before you lot bring changed whatever gadgets.  If you lot larn a message nearly widgets existence missing, as well as thus it agency that the gadgets associated amongst your spider web log are non the ones referred to inwards the theme.   If this happens, you lot require to create upwards one's take heed whether to deep or delete whatever "orphaned" ones, as well as may require to banking corporation check their settings again.


Making complicated changes

If your subject may require a lot of "surgery" piece you lot figure out how to brand a change, as well as thus it may live on a proficient thought to construct a individual test-blog to do the run in, as well as exclusively re-create the contents into your "real" spider web log subject when you lot are sure enough that you've got it right (or correct-enough).




Related Articles

Advantages as well as disadvantes of editing your Blogger theme

Finding things piece editing inwards your blogger theme

Adding CSS formatting rules to your blog, without editng the theme

How to take the "powered yesteryear Blogger" attribution from designer-theme blogs

Putting a gadget on the homeppage only

Planning changes to your spider web log - without readers seeing what you lot are doing
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