Create Pages in Blogger/Blogspot

I realize some of you have already figured this out, but there's a new feature in blogger/blogspot.

One of the biggest complaints I've heard about blogger is the inability to create pages, such as an "about me" page.  Well, that has changed.  You can now create up to ten pages by clicking a tab in the posting options:

Cool, huh?

Problem with Custom Domain Blogspot

Seems there's some problem with all my custom domain blogs (including this one).  I can post here, but I can't see the blog.

I'm assuming (and hoping) it is something temporary.  Anyone else having problems with this?

Update:  that only lasted a few minutes . . . it's fixed now . . . never mind.

Blogspot: Problem Posting Pictures in Blogger

Looks like blogspot has updated their add images menu (picture loader).  It looks great--there's an option to attach a link to pictures.

Just one problem--I can't post any pictures.  I'm getting some kind of error message, even though I know I'm trying to upload a valid image file.

No need to panic.  I'm sure they'll fix it soon enough.

Epic Blogger/Blogspot Fail

Looks like blogger/blogspot had a major meltdown.  It lasted for two or three hours, and twitter was buzzing with messages. 

I got a bX-59cppw error when I tried to open my custom url blogs (this blog and http://strongandfit.net).

I got a bX-kn2493 error when trying to access the blogger dashboard.

Everything seems OK now.

Fix Blogger Template Upload Error

Do you ever get errors when you try to upload a new template in blogger?  Usually it looks something like this:

I kept having this problem over at strongandfit.net.  I had successfully uploaded the template into another blog (my "dummy blog"), so I knew there was no problem with the xml file.

I found a way to fix it on blogger groups.  Here's what you do:


1. Make sure you have some sidebar elements before trying to upload the new template (this is so that you get the 'Widgets are about to be deleted warning')

2. You should now have your new template code in place (awaiting widget deletion confirmation)

3 Press cntl+f (find function) and search for the word widget

4 Change the number 1 to 2 in all three of the following:

5. Confirm and save


I tried this and it worked!  In fact, I think I was only able to find two of the listed widget codes.  But after changing them both from 1 to 2, my template successfully loaded.  


How and why does this work?  I have absolutely no idea.  Remember, I'm not much of a tech geek.

Changing Blog URL in Blogger/Blogspot

I just changed the name/URL of this blog.  Easy enough:

But one word of caution: unless I did something wrong, the old blog address doesn't forward to the new name.  You just end up with this on the former blog address:

So this messes up any links you've created to the old blog name.

And for Entrecard users, all your current ads will point to the old (blank) blog, so you'll have to cancel and start over with any ads you bought. 

So, changing the URL isn't hard, but keep in mind the potential problems that con come with it.  Not a big deal here, since this is a new blog.  But it would be a major issue if this was an established blog with several backlinks, etc.

NOTE:  I'm talking about changing the actual url (web address of blogger).  Changing the title of your blog is not the same thing. 

Blogger/Blogspot Tip: The Crash Test Dummy Blog

If you use blogspot, you'll want to try out new templates.  Here's the problem:  not all of them work very well.

The solution?  Make a "dummy blog" that you use soley for the purpose of testing new templates.  Set it up and load up the templates to see how they work.  Be sure you play around with the dashboard to see how well the template works. 

This has saved me a LOT of trouble.  Sometimes a template looks good but doesn't work well once you upload it.

Blogger Tip: Importing/Exporting Blogs and Posts

I've started a couple of new blogs over the past few months.  This blog and my fitness blog are actually "spin-off's" of KuyaKevin.com.

I decided to try blogger's new importing/exporting feature.  But I didn't want to import all of KuyaKevin.com--I just wanted to import the few posts that related to the new blogs/topics.

Blogger's import/export worked flawlessly:  it imported the posts and comments, but I only published selected posts.  Here's how it works:

First, take the blog you want to export from.  There's an option in your dashboard:

You can just export your blog as an xml file onto your hard drive.  It won't mess up the blog you are exporting from.  In fact, it's a good idea to do this on occassion so you'll have a backup file for your blog.  If your connection is decent, it won't take long.  I exported a 600+ entry blog in just a few minutes.


Now, you'll import this xml file into your new blog:

Here's what's cool:  the new imports will not automatically publish unless you click this box.  This will allow you to select which posts you want to import into your new blog later.  If you want to re-publish the entire blog into your new blog, just click the box.

 

This will show up on your screen while your files are uploading (if your connection is decent it won't take long).

Once uploaded, your imported posts (with comments) will show up in the dashboard of the blog you imported to.  If you chose not to automatically publish them, the'll show up labelled as imported--they won't be published yet.  Here's what my dashboard looked like on my fitness blog:  original post along with (unpublished) imported posts.

The imported posts will also have whatever label they had in the original blog.

Here's how you publish only selected imports:

Go through and select them one by one, or:

1. In your dashboard, click the label for posts you want to import.
2. Once they are loaded, select all of them and click publish.

Now, last step.  What about the other posts that you don't want to publish into the new blogger?  It's easy to delete all of them.  After you have published the desired posts, the imported label will disappear from those specific posts.  The remaining unpublished posts will still have the imported label, since you haven't published them.

So, once you've published all the imports you want, you can just click on the imported label and delete all those posts you decided not to publish into the new blog.

You can also go into your old blog, choose the label(s) for the posts you've exported, and delete them (so you won't have duplicate articles).

I really like this feature: if I ever get tired of this blog, I can just import it into one of my other blogs.

Here's the only thing you'll need to keep in mind: go back and fix any link issues caused by changing the location of your posts/articles.