How To Change Post Title Color in Picture Window Blogspot Template

By default, there is no option to change post title color in Blogger Designer Templates. I've already written a tutorial to do that but users of Picture Window template are having problems. Here is a tutorial to change post title color in Picture Window template.

Note: If you're using other templates then see this tutorial:
Blogspot How To: Change Post Title Color in Blogger-Blogspot Template Designer Templates

Steps to Change Post Title Color in Picture Window Template

1. Open the Template section.

2. Click the Edit HTML button.

3. A new window will open. You'd have to click the Proceed button to start editing.

4. Find the following code:
   

      <Group description="Post Title" selector="h3.post-title, .comments h4">
        <Variable name="post.title.font" description="Title Font" type="font"
            default="normal normal 18px Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" value="normal normal 18px Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"/>
      </Group>

   
   Tip: You can press 'Ctrl + f' keys or simply scroll down the HTML a bit to find the code.
   
   
5. Replace the previous code with the following code:
   

      <Group description="Post Title" selector="h3.post-title, .comments h4">
        <Variable name="post.title.font" description="Title Font" type="font"
            default="normal normal 18px Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" value="normal normal 18px Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif"/>
        <Variable name="post.title.color" description="Color" type="color" default="#FE6602" value="#FE6602"/>
   <Variable name="post.title.hover.color" description="Hover Color" type="color" default="#FFD25F" value="#FFD25F"/>
      </Group>

6. Now find this code:
   

   h3.post-title {
     margin: 0;
     font: $(post.title.font);
   }

7. Replace the above code with this code:
   

   h3.post-title {
     margin: 0;
     font: $(post.title.font);
     color: $(post.title.color);
   }
   
   h3.post-title a {
     color: $(post.title.color);
   }
   
   h3.post-title a:hover {
     color: $(post.title.hover.color);
   }

8. Click Save template and then Close button.

9. Now go to Template Designer then Advanced and edit the Post Title option.
   
   
   
   
   
10. You can simply edit the post color and post hover color from here.
11. Enjoy!

How to Change Sidebar Background Color in Blogger Templates

Hi guys, writing a tutorial after a long time. Anyway, here is a simple tutorial to change the sidebar background color in new Blogger Template Designer templates. After this tutorial, you can easily change the sidebar background color from Template Designer.

Update: I've updated this tutorial. Now you can change the sidebar background color in every Blogger template. Templates with multiple sidebars can also have different colors for each sidebar.

Steps!

1. Open the Template section.

2. Click the Edit HTML button.

3. A new window will open. You'd have to click the Proceed button to start editing.

4. Find the following code:
   

   /* Variable definitions
   ====================

5. REPLACE the above code with the following one:
   

   /* Variable definitions
   ====================
   
   <Group description="Right Sidebar Background" selector="body">
   <Variable name="sidebar.right.top.color" description="Right Top Sidebar Background" type="color" default="#00f" value="#0000ff"/>
   <Variable name="sidebar.right.left.color" description="Right Left Sidebar Background" type="color" default="#ff0" value="#ffff00"/>
   <Variable name="sidebar.right.right.color" description="Right Right Sidebar Background" type="color" default="#f0f" value="#ff00ff"/>
   </Group>
   
   <Group description="Left Sidebar Background" selector="body">
   <Variable name="sidebar.left.top.color" description="Left Top Sidebar Background" type="color" default="#00f" value="#0000ff"/>
   <Variable name="sidebar.left.left.color" description="Left Left Sidebar Background" type="color" default="#ff0" value="#ffff00"/>
   <Variable name="sidebar.left.right.color" description="Left Right Sidebar Background" type="color" default="#f0f" value="#ff00ff"/>
   </Group>
   
   <Group description="Sidebar Column Background" selector="body">
   <Variable name="sidebar.bgr.color" description="Right Sidebar BG Color" type="color" default="#f00" value="#ff0000"/>
   <Variable name="sidebar.bgl.color" description="Left Sidebar BG Color" type="color" default="#f00" value="#ff0000"/>
   </Group>

6. After that, find ]]></b:skin> and REPLACE it with the following code:
   

   #sidebar-right-1 { background: $(sidebar.right.top.color); }
   #sidebar-right-2-1 { background: $(sidebar.right.left.color); }
   #sidebar-right-2-2 { background: $(sidebar.right.right.color); }
   .column-right-inner, column-right-outer { background: $(sidebar.bgr.color); }
   .column-left-inner, column-left-outer { background: $(sidebar.bgl.color); }
   #sidebar-left-1 { background: $(sidebar.left.top.color); }
   #sidebar-left-2-1 { background: $(sidebar.left.left.color); }
   #sidebar-left-2-2 { background: $(sidebar.left.right.color); }
   ]]></b:skin>

7. Click Save template and then Close button.

How to Change the Background Color in Template Designer?

We've finished the coding stuff, now simply click the Customize button to open Blogger Template Designer.

Then click the Advanced tab. You'll see 3 new options there. First one is Right Sidebar Background. It has 3 further options.

Right Top Sidebar Background: This will change the background color of the top section in the right column.
Right Left Sidebar Background: This will change the background color of the left sidebar in the right column.
Right Right Sidebar Background: This will change the background color of the right sidebar in the right column.


Next option is Left Sidebar Background. It also has 3 further options.

Left Top Sidebar Background: This will change the background color of the top section in the left column.
Left Left Sidebar Background: This will change the background color of the left sidebar in the left column.
Left Right Sidebar Background: This will change the background color of the right sidebar in the left column.


Last option will be Sidebar Column Background. This is the most interesting one because it affects the whole column rather than a single sidebar section. It has 2 further options.

Right Sidebar BG Color: The color in this option will change the background of whole column on the right side.
Left Sidebar BG Color: This option will change the background of left side column.

Awesome Blogger Features Coming in 2011

Blogger is been around for a lot of time now with massive user database. In 2010, a lot of new features have been introduced including the all new Template Designer. So, what is coming in 2011? Have a look at both the current & some awesome upcoming features in this video.



I'm specially thrilled with the all new Dashboard design, what are you expecting in 2011? Leave me a comment.

Blogspot How to: Setup Blogger Custom Domain

By default, your blog address is in this format; http://YOURBLOG.blogspot.com/. As you can see, all blogs hosted on Blogger have blogspot.com included in their address. Such an address is difficult to remember and it is not suitable for a professional blog. Traditionally, switching to a personalized domain required research, a web hosting comparison and the purchase of relatively expensive hosting. Fortunately, Blogger has made arrangements for those who are looking for free or cheap hosting while also upgrading to a more personalized domain name. Now, you can simply buy a custom domain directly through Blogger and forget about setting it up. In this tutorial, I'll explain this whole process of searching, buying and setting up a custom domain.

What is a Custom Domain?

The domain of my blog is a custom domain; http://www.betatemplates.com/. It is a .com domain. However, when someone creates a blog on Blogger, the address of that blog is in this format; http://example.blogspot.com/. Blogger adds .blogspot to all of its blogs.

Why Should I Use a Custom Domain?

The Blogger addresses are very difficult to remember because they contain .blogspot. Switching to a custom domain makes it really easy to create an easy-to-remember address. It also gives a good impression to have a custom domain specially for professional blogs.

What is the Cost of a Custom Domain?

Typically, a custom domain costs you around 10$ per year. You have to renew it annually to keep using it. Please note that Blogger provides us free hosting so no need to buy hosting.

I'm Ready, Lets Buy & Setup a Custom Domain!

Follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Blogger account.
2. Go to 'Settings' then 'Publishing' tab.
3. Click 'Switch to: Custom Domain' option.
4. Enter the desired domain name and check its availability.

   If you're looking for a .com domain then it might be difficult to find a great domain because a lot of people chose .com domain names so good luck for that. You can also chose .net, .biz, .info or .org domains but they're not as popular as .com domains.

5. If that domain is available, Blogger will take you to Google Apps and you'd have to complete 3 steps there. These steps are well explained in the following video:
   
   

How Long Will it Take to Shift to a Custom Domain?

After setting up a custom domain, it might take up to 3 days to move to the custom domain. So, don't worry about that. Blogger also takes care of the settings behind the scenes.

What Happens to Existing Address, Visitors & PageRank?

Here comes the awesome features of Blogger. Your existing visitors will be automatically redirected to the custom domain. The PageRank is also kept intact so don't worry about that as well.

Creating a Picture Link in Blogger Posts

You can also create picture link so that when a user clicks an image in your post, a new blog or a website will open. By default, when you upload a picture, it is linked to itself. For example, I've uploaded the following image, click it to see what happens:



So by default this image is linked to itself. If you've clicked it, you would have seen that same image is opened in the same tab. So, we'll change this image link.

Creating an Image Link in New Post Editor

To change the image link, please switch to the 'Edit HTML' tab of your post editor.



You'll see that there is no image there. Instead, there will be only code. Actually, this code is the HTML of our image. 'Compose' mode shows us the compiled HTML and 'Edit HTML' mode shows the raw HTML code. Anyways, now we'll do a little bit of editing.

This is the code for the above uploaded image.

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UB7H1LJcUnxbVkjxCBKDOj1SvNIzd6hqu4A_h0byVFRIuz-B31xEyBCVDVSx4DTOHWZXfKC4mfLnMeLX3B-7tj7dnmUKCyA1Z6JDOSkRPHZ22rGkU3UCw2Uenna5xz3qOJ0BuUeyjAHl/s1600/1330057_flower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UB7H1LJcUnxbVkjxCBKDOj1SvNIzd6hqu4A_h0byVFRIuz-B31xEyBCVDVSx4DTOHWZXfKC4mfLnMeLX3B-7tj7dnmUKCyA1Z6JDOSkRPHZ22rGkU3UCw2Uenna5xz3qOJ0BuUeyjAHl/s400/1330057_flower.jpg" /></a></div>

Please note that there will be 2 addresses or URLs in the uploaded image. For my image, these are the URLs.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UB7H1LJcUnxbVkjxCBKDOj1SvNIzd6hqu4A_h0byVFRIuz-B31xEyBCVDVSx4DTOHWZXfKC4mfLnMeLX3B-7tj7dnmUKCyA1Z6JDOSkRPHZ22rGkU3UCw2Uenna5xz3qOJ0BuUeyjAHl/s1600/1330057_flower.jpg

&

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UB7H1LJcUnxbVkjxCBKDOj1SvNIzd6hqu4A_h0byVFRIuz-B31xEyBCVDVSx4DTOHWZXfKC4mfLnMeLX3B-7tj7dnmUKCyA1Z6JDOSkRPHZ22rGkU3UCw2Uenna5xz3qOJ0BuUeyjAHl/s400/1330057_flower.jpg

There is only 1 difference in the image URLs which is s1600 and s400. First URL with s1600 is actually the link URL. It is responsible for making this image a link. Second URL with s400 is the source URL. It displays the image.

As I've already told you that, by default, the image is linked to itself. So we need to change the first URL in our image code. For example, if I want to link the above uploaded image to my blog's homepage which is http://www.betatemplates.com/. I'll only replace my blog homepage URL with the first URL in the image code. After that, the image code will look something like this:

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.betatemplates.com/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UB7H1LJcUnxbVkjxCBKDOj1SvNIzd6hqu4A_h0byVFRIuz-B31xEyBCVDVSx4DTOHWZXfKC4mfLnMeLX3B-7tj7dnmUKCyA1Z6JDOSkRPHZ22rGkU3UCw2Uenna5xz3qOJ0BuUeyjAHl/s400/1330057_flower.jpg" /></a></div>

As you can see that I've only changed the first URL. Second URL is still an image. Now, if you'll click the following image, it will take you to my homepage.

Make Image Link Open in a New Window or Tab

If you're linking your image to some other blog or website then it is pretty desirable to make it open in a new window or tab. By doing this, visitors will stay on your blog.

To do this, I'll just add target="_blank" in the image code just after the link address. The code will look like this:

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.betatemplates.com/" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="225" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1UB7H1LJcUnxbVkjxCBKDOj1SvNIzd6hqu4A_h0byVFRIuz-B31xEyBCVDVSx4DTOHWZXfKC4mfLnMeLX3B-7tj7dnmUKCyA1Z6JDOSkRPHZ22rGkU3UCw2Uenna5xz3qOJ0BuUeyjAHl/s400/1330057_flower.jpg" /></a></div>

And the image will look same. However, now it will open in a new window or tab.

How to Backup & Restore Blog Posts Using Blogger Import/Export Feature

Blogger has an awesome feature to download and save blog posts on your computer. Of course, you can later restore the posts as well. Additionally, you can also move your posts to some other blogging platform using the export feature or to some other Blogger blog. I'd highly recommend to regularly backup your posts. Check out the instructions to see how to do it.

1- Export or Backup Blog Posts to Your Computer

1. Chose Settings from the list of options. You can press the drop down arrow button to see more options.
2. In the Settings section, click Other from the left menu.
3. You'll see 3 options in Blog Tools. Click Export blog. A window will open where you'd have to click the Download Blog button.
4. An .XML file will be downloaded to your computer. Make sure to give it a proper name and keep it safe. This file will be used to restore your posts later.

2- Import or Restore Blog Posts From Your Computer

1. Chose Settings from the list of options. You can press the drop down arrow button to see more options.
2. In the Settings section, click Other from the left menu.
3. You'll see 3 options in Blog Tools. Click Import blog. A window will open where you'd have to browse the file on your computer & click the Import Blog button.
4. If you're importing posts from some other blog then make sure that Automatically publish all imported posts is not checked.
5. Now your posts have been imported or restored.

How to Change Jump Break (Read More) Font, Color & Background Color in Blogger Template Designer

Blogger officially supports 'after the jump' summaries. You can insert a jump break anywhere in a post to make it short on the blog homepage. The part after the jump break will be visible only when user will click on the Jump Break or Read More link. In this tutorial, we'll add some coding in the template HTML. After that, you'd be able to change the font, color or even the background color of the Jump Break or Read More from the Template Designer.

Update!: This tutorial has been updated on 08/06-2012. Now, it can be applied to any default Blogger template without errors.

What is Jump Break or Read More Link?

If you don't know anything about Jump Break or Read More links, please read the following article in the official Blogger help.

Creating 'After the jump' summaries

Steps

Follow these simple steps to complete this Blogspot tutorial.

1. Open the Template section.

2. Click the Edit HTML button.

3. A new window will open. You'd have to click the Proceed button to start editing.

4. Scroll down a bit and you'll see this code:
   

   /* Variable definitions
   ====================

   Tip: Windows users can press 'Ctrl + f' to fing the code.
5. Replace the above code with the following code:
   

   /* Variable definitions
   ====================
   
      <Group description="Read More" selector=".jump-link">
        <Variable name="readmore.font" description="Font" type="font"
            default="normal normal 12px Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" value="normal normal 30px 'Courier New', Courier, FreeMono, monospace"/>
        <Variable name="rm.link.color" description="Link Color" type="color" default="#FFFFFF" value="#666666"/>
        <Variable name="rm.link.hover.color" description="Link Hover Color" type="color" default="#222222" value="#f5f5f5"/>
      </Group>
   
      <Group description="Read More Background" selector=".jump-link">
        <Variable name="rm.bg" description="Background Color" type="color" default="#00000" value="#222222"/>
      </Group>

6. After that, find ]]></b:skin> and replace it with the following code:
   

   .jump-link { float: right; font: $(readmore.font); background: $(rm.bg); }
   .jump-link a, .jump-link a:visited { color: $(rm.link.color); }
   .jump-link a:hover { color: $(rm.link.hover.color);  }
   ]]></b:skin>

7. Now, save your template.
8. After saving template, open the 'Template Designer'.
9. In 'Template Designer', expand the Advanced tab and you'll see "Read More Link" tab at the top.
   
   
   
10. You can change the font, color and background color and instantly see the preview. However, changes in hover link color will not be visible in the preview.
11. After customizing the Jump Break or Read More link, click 'APPLY TO BLOG' link to save your changes.