Blogging 411...How to set up your blog!

Switching templates

How do I switch my template to another provided by Blogger?

Go to Layout Pick New Template:

and pick a new one:

Finally, click the orange "Save Template" button.

Note: Before switching to a new template, it's a good idea to back up your current one (if you've made changes to it). Go to the Layout Edit HTML tab, and copy and paste the template code to a text file on your computer.

All information in this posting came directly from:
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=41439

Editing the template of your blog YouTube video

Editing your template and page layout

Blogger's Layout feature is an easy-to-use template editing feature that allows you to edit and customize your Blogger template without any knowledge of HTML or CSS. You can easily edit and customize the colors, fonts, header and sidebar of your blog with a few clicks of the mouse. To customize your blog's layout, go to the Layout Page Elements tab in Blogger.

How to arrange elements in your template

You can arrange the elements in your template the way you want them displayed. Simply click on the element you'd like to move and drag and drop it where you want it to be. You can move your page elements to the bottom of the page, anywhere in your sidebar, or below or above your blog posts. (Note: you can move all elements except your navbar, blog posts and header in some templates.)

Editing elements in your template

Here's an overview of what you can configure when you click Edit for each of these elements:
* Navbar: Select the color you'd like your Navbar to be.
* Header: Add or edit the header of your blog, which includes your blog title and blog description.
* Blog posts: Choose the number of posts to display on your main page. You can choose either the number of days with posts to display or the total number of posts on the main page. You also have the option to show email post links that let your visitors easily email posts from your blog to their friends.
* Profile: Edit/add your profile title, 'About Me' description, and location.
* Blog archive: Edit/add your blog archive title, select your display style (hierarchy, flat list or dropdown menu), choose to display post titles, display oldest posts first, choose your archive frequency (monthly, weekly or daily) and date format.

How to add a page element

You can add several page elements to your blog page or sidebar by clicking Add a Page Element. This will open a pop-up window. Click Add to Blog in the proper element section to add it:

All information in this post came directly from: http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=43708

Understanding the template of your blog YouTube video

How to select and post a template

With the Layouts feature, you can drag-and-drop to move parts of your page around, and choose new fonts and colors with easy mouse clicks. Newly created blogs will work this way automatically, but for blogs without this feature, you'll need to upgrade your template. Here's how.

1. Find the name of your blog on your dashboard, and click the Template link next to it. If this link says Layout instead, then it's already upgraded and you can skip the rest of these steps.

2. On the Template page you should see the standard window of HTML code. Now look in the navigation links for the tab that says Customize Your Design and click it.

3.You'll get a message explaining that Blogger will make a backup of your current template and replace it with an upgraded one. The backup will be made available indefinitely, so you can revert back to it later if you need to. Click the Upgrade Your Template button to continue.

4.Choose one of our default template designs. You'll be able to modify it all you want, once you pick one of these as the starting point. Click Save Template when you've made your choice.

5. Now you're all set. You'll end up on the new Page Elements tab, where you can start arranging things however you like. Have fun!

All information in this post came directly from:
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=44474