How to migrate a classic template to a beta template

Answering a reader of my blogs on how to revert from a classic template to a beta template:

Background: There are currently 2 versions of Blogger - the old Blogger (classic) and the new Blogger (previously beta). Bloggers who have been using the Blogger classic platform and have migrated to the new Blogger platform will still be using the classic template and will not have the new features of the new Blogger until they migrate their classic template to the new Blogger template. To migrate to the new Blogger template:

Sign into Dashboard
Click TEMPLATE in the extreme right of the relevant blog in the list of blogs
Click TEMPLATE > CUSTOMIZE DESIGN tabs
Click Upgrade your template
Pick new template
When satisfied, click SAVE TEMPLATE
See screenshot below (click screenshot to enlarge):

How to make a link for your blog visitors to contact you

Someone emailed me about a problem using the HTML mailto code for Blogger Beta, so I am now going to describe how to go about it. This will describe methods involving the Layout page, and if you are not familiar with the Layout page, see my earlier posts. (This one: How to add link list to sidebar>) (click "BACK" button to get back to this page).

Sign into your Blogger beta Dashboard (beta.blogger.com)
There will be a list of blogs there (you may have one or more.
Click >Layout (at the far right of the bar)
In the layout, click "Add a page element".
In the pop-up, select HTML/Javascript and click "Add to blog"
You will get the following box as shown below (click to enlarge):

Change the email address to you address, and if you wish, you may also change the "Email Me" to something else like for example "Contact Me".
Click "Save changes"
In the Layout, a new HTML page element will be added to the top of the sidebar. If this is the position you want, then your job is done. If on the other hand, you want it elsewhere, place your mouse over the new page element. The cursor will change to a cross. Drag and drop it into your prefered position.
Preview.
If satisfied, click "Save" at the top right-hand corner of the page, and you are done.

I have placed such a "Email Me" link in my blog Testing Blogger Beta (close new window to get back to this page). It is somewhere at the bottom of the page. You can surf over to there and test it if you want.

You should be warned that your email address will be harvested by robots for sending spam, and what I have done is to create a special gmail for my blog visitors to contact me. I created a special gmail address for that purpose. So far, the problem hasn't been that bad as practically all the spam end up in the spam folder, and are easy to delete. Almost none end up in my inbox. If you want a gmail invitation, just email me.

Update 15 August 2007There are problems with not receiving some email notifications for comment moderation, and in reporting this, I have being asked to check the spam folder. While this is not too difficult as they are all in the same folder and spams are easy to spot, they takes up time. Plus I have discovered that a very small number of emails of bloggers with requests for help have ended up in the spam folder. I have thus decided to scramble the email address. Refer to Scramble email address

How to link from one post to another post in the same blog

This is being written in response to another request for help from a reader of my blogs.

The very first thing you need to do is to make sure that individual post page (permalink) is enabled. Sign into Dashboard, select the relevant blog, then click the tabs SETTING > ARCHIVING, and make sure that the drop down menu for "Enable post pages?" is set to YES. When this is done, each post of your blog will have an individual post and a unique URL. See screenshot below (click to enlarge):

then click "Save setting". For those in Blogger Beta, that's it, but for those still on Blogger classic template, you will have to republish for the setting to take effect. Of course, if yours had already been set to YES, the default, you also may not need to republish.

The next thing you need to do is get the URL of the individual post page of the post you want to link to. This can be done in various ways. One is to click the POSTING > EDIT POSTS tabs and a list of all your posts will be displayed.

Right-click on VIEW on the particular post you want to link to and select "Copy link location" (this is for FireFox. Wording will be different for different browsers, but you should be able to tell which one). The URL of the individual post page of that post will then be copied to your clipboard. If you want to make sure, you can always open Notepad and paste it there. (Note: I like to use FireFox for things like this. If I am in the process of preparing a post, and I don't want to lose that page, what I do is I right-click on the EDIT POST tab and select OPEN IN NEW TAB and I can get the URL of the relevant post from that new tab, then get back to the post editor tab).

If you are trying to put a clickable link on your post, while you are preparing your post in the post editor, type in the text that you will like to be displayed as a link, highlight the text, (see screenshot below. Click to enlarge):

then click the "link" icon and a pop-up will appear (See screenshot below. Click to enlarge):

Paste your target site's URL into the field or type it in, then click OK. If you have done what had been instructed above, the URL had already been saved in the clipboard, and all you have to do is to right-click on the box and select "paste". (make sure you don't have two http:// in the URL). When you are ready, click OK, and the HTML will be added to your post.

If you like to write the hyperlink HTML yourself, here is another way to do it: Type the HTML <a href="URL of your target site">Description of your target site, eg., the title of the post</a>

If anything is not clear, ask in the comments section and I'll see what I can do to help.

How to add a Link List to you New Blogger

I have been meaning to start a kind of online book for those new to using Google's Blogger beta (now New Blogger) for their blog. A reader of my blogs contacted me with a problem which after an exchange of emails appear to me that her problem is how to add a link list with the title "Blogs I like to read". I decided that I might as well start off this online book with a post to answer her question.

This is the way to add a link list your Blogger beta blog. Sign into the Blogger beta account, and you will see a list of your blogs (See screenshot below. Click to enlarge):



Click on "Layout" and the Layout page will open (see screenshot. Click to enlarge):



Click on "Add a Page Element" and a "Choose a new page element" pop-up will appear (see screenshot below):



If you want a link list, choose that and click "Add to Blog" and a "Configure link list" will appear. Type in the title, leave the "No of links to show in this link list" empty, type in your target site URL and then the description of that target site (what you would like to be displayed. For an example, see the screenshot directly below).



Click "Add Link" and the link will be added and appear at the bottom of the pop-up. In the screenshot below, what you will see displayed at the bottom of the pop-up will be the link "Blogger Tips and Tricks" which had been added by clicking "Add Link".



There is a drop-down menu "Sorting" which when you click on the arrow will allow you to choose "sort alphabetically", "sort reverse alphabetically" or "don't sort". The default is "don't sort" and the links will be displayed in the order they are added. If that is the only link you want, then you can just click "Save changes". On the other hand, if you have further links you would like to add, click "Add Link" and repeat the process, and the new link will be added to the earlier link at the bottom of the pop-up. You can continue to add more links in the same way as described until you are satisfied, then click "Save Changes" and you will be back to the Layout page. You will see a new "Link List" (in the example, instead of Link List, you will see "Blogs I like to read" which was the title of the link list) page element right at the top of the Layout sidebar. If that is the position you want, then you can just leave it as it is and you job is done. However, if you want the link list elsewhere, you can place the cursor over the link list Page Element and the cursor will change to a cross:



and you can drag and drop it into whatever position you want. You can view the outcome of that action by clicking on "Preview" at the top of the Layout. If you are satisfied with the position, click "Save" at the top of the Layout:

If you want another link list, you can click on "Add a Page Element" and start the process all over again, with a new title, like for example "Blogger Resources" which may contain a list of blogs which are useful to bloggers. When you are happy with what has been already added, then click "Save" at the top right-hand corner of the Layout and your job is done.

BTW, I am like any other bloggers who like their blog to be read. It is my hope that if you find this blog or any of my other blogs helpful, you will put a link to my site in your blog. Put it among your other links, or put them in a separate section with the title "Blogger Resources" and add some or all the following links (URL) to your sidebar:

http://dummies-guide-to-google-blogger.blogspot.com
http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com (Blogger Tips and Tricks)
http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com
http://firefox-alert.blogspot.com
http://generating-revenue-from-your-blog.blogspot.com

Who knows, by doing that, you may help your visitors find useful material and the help they need.

Note that the links added this way opens in the same window. If you want the links to open in a new window, see below:

Using HTML/Javascript for your Link List

BTW, another way to add a list of links to your sidebar is to use the HTML/Javascript selection instead, then type in the HTML for hyperlinks to get the link list you want. In this way, you have a better control over how you want your link list to appear, and to behave. I have appended an example which will give links that open in new windows. It is given as an example, and also hoping you copy-paste it to the HTML/Javascript element in the sidebar section:

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Blogger Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Blogger Tips and Tricks</a></li>
<li><a href="http://bloggerfordummies.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Blogger for Dummies</a></li>
<li><a href="http://adsense-alert.blogspot.com" target="_blank">AdSense Alert</a></li>
<li><a href="http://firefox-alert.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">FireFox Alert</a></li>
<li><a href="http://testing-blogger-beta.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Testing Blogger Beta</a></li>
<li><a href="http://dummies-gudie-to-google-blogger.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Dummies Guide to Google Blogger</a></li>
</ul>

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Environmental Blogs</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://enviromansays.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Enviroman Says</a></li>
<li><a href="http://envirocard.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Environmentally Friendly Greeting Cards</a></li>
<li><a href="http://foodasmedicine.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Food as Medicine</a>
<li><a href="http://aerator.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Zero Energy Waterwheel Aerator</a></li>
<li><a href="http://owaste.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Zero Waste</a></li>
<li><a href="http://morganicfarming.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Backyard Organic Farming</a></li>
<li><a href="http://freecycleinternational.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Freecycle International</a></li>
</ul>

Or you can just do a test, copy-paste it to the HTML/Javascript element, save, and see what it looks like and how it behave. If you don't want part of the lists, or you don't want it in your sidebar, just delete part of or the whole element.

UPDATE: Links in the Link List open in the same window by default. There have been numerous request to make links in the Link List open in new windows, look at this post: Blogger Beta: Making links in Link list open in new windows (close new window/tab to get back to this page).