How to edit your Theme inward Blogger

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

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


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

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

For many people, editing the subject is exactly something which they require to do, because it's the alone way to do what they desire (remove the attribution, show a gadget on the homeppage only, add a Facebook similar push 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, every bit it is now
  • Open the theme-editor
  • Make the change
  • Check that it works, in addition to if not, become dorsum to the previous theme.
The next sections bring to a greater extent than details almost 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 alone making a little change. I fifty-fifty skip it myself sometimes. And it's non needed if this is the kickoff fourth dimension you've ever customised your subject - because yous tin recover from problems past times exactly reinstalling the measure theme.

But if yous would survive upset to lose whatsoever subject changes yous made earlier, or if the modify yous are making forthwith is not minor, in addition to thus I strongly recommend making a re-create before yous start, exactly inwards case.  To do this
  • From the Blogger dashboard, become to the Themes tab
  • Click the Backup / Restore button close the laissez passer on right of the dashboard
  • Click the Download Theme button, in addition to then wait spell the file downloads.
  • After the download has finished, detect the place where your estimator 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: commonly somewhere on your estimator is fine - or yous brand similar to upload it to somewhere similar Google Docs, to survive absolutely for certain that it won't larn lost.

How to opened upwardly Blogger's subject editor

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

Now yous bring your subject opened upwardly 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 yous require to change:
    See Searching for text inwards Blogger's subject editor if yous require tending alongside this.

    Note:   to a greater extent than or less of the older "how to" articles nation to brand for certain that the Expand Widgets checkbox off or on.   This checkbox has forthwith been removed from Blogger's subject editor.    If the instructions yous are next says to locomote out it "off", in addition to thus yous should exactly survive able to follow them every bit is.    However if yous are told to plough Expand Widgets off,  then yous require to detect the right business office of the code past times searching for the widget-id or department name, in addition to 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 in addition to websites almost that: I'm assuming that yous know what yous require to do).
  • Click the Preview theme button
    If Blogger tin brand feel of the modify yous made, in addition to thus thought of your weblog is shown inwards the theme-editing area, alongside what looks similar your blog's homepage. It's non a existent re-create of your weblog (the links won't work, the spacing mightiness non survive quite the same), but it shows yous how the home-page volition expect alongside your subject edits.
  • Do a quick banking concern check that the covert looks right - for to a greater extent than or less changes yous fifty-fifty survive 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 survive parsed every bit it is non well-formed. Please brand for certain that all XML elements are unopen properly. <br/> XML mistake message: The chemical component type "div" must survive terminated past times the matching end-tag "</div>".Error 500 
or
Your template could non survive parsed every bit it is non well-formed. Please brand for certain that all XML elements are unopen properly. <br/> XML mistake message: Element type "b:widget" must survive followed past times either attribute specifications, ">" or "/>".
 then Blogger has non been able to empathize the modify yous made. Sometimes the mistake message gives a clue almost what's wrong, although it tin survive misleading.   Check that yous made the modify correctly - develop whatsoever errors in addition to click Preview again.  If it nonetheless doesn't work, inquire for tending from the identify that suggested the modify yous are making 
.
  •  Once yous are happy that the preview covert looks OK, click the Save theme button.


How to examine your subject change

the page-gadget every bit a menu, the archive widget, ) your weblog uses. You require to decide what to test, based on all of these.

At least, I ever click on in addition to banking concern check on these things when I've made a major subject change:
  1. the domicile page
  2. the items inwards the card bar
  3. a label value
  4. an archive widget entry
  5. custom-search-engine results
  6. comments

And if I'm existence specially reader-focussed, I'll also banking concern check these things inwards more than ane browser:   commonly inwards the electrical flow version of Internet Explorer, Firefox in addition to Chrome.


What to do if your subject modify wasn't successful

If yous detect that the subject modify has caused problems, in addition to thus ou bring receive got a selection to make:
Can yous in addition to your readers alive alongside the problems on your weblog for "a while", spell yous expect for other solutions? 
Or 
Do yous require to withdraw the modify right now, thus visitors tin role your weblog every bit it was spell yous solve the issues.

There is no right response to this question:   It's a personal decision, based on the blog, in addition to your readers.   But if yous do require to withdraw the subject change, here's how to do it:
  • Open the Themes tab
  • Click the Backup / Restore button near the laissez passer on right of the dashboard
  • Click Choose File in addition to detect the file that yous downloaded earlier
  • Click Upload.

It is best to restore your theme before yous bring changed whatsoever gadgets.  If yous larn a message almost widgets existence missing, in addition to thus it agency that the gadgets associated alongside your weblog are non the ones referred to inwards the theme.   If this happens, yous require to create upwardly one's hear whether to deep or delete whatsoever "orphaned" ones, in addition to may require to banking concern check their settings again.


Making complicated changes

If your subject may require a lot of "surgery" spell yous figure out how to brand a change, in addition to thus it may survive a expert thought to create a individual test-blog to do the operate in, in addition to alone re-create the contents into your "real" weblog subject when yous are for certain that you've got it right (or correct-enough).



Related Articles

Advantages in addition to disadvantes of editing your Blogger theme

Finding things spell editing inwards your blogger theme

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

How to withdraw the "powered past times Blogger" attribution from designer-theme blogs

Putting a gadget on the homeppage only

Planning changes to your weblog - without readers seeing what yous are doing

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