Clear Or Reset The Post Template Wizard

Many problems with post features or layout can be resolved by refreshing or resetting the post template, using the Template Editor.

Not all post display problems are caused by unwise use of the Template Editor - some problems may be part of the individual posts. The dashboard Post Template wizard, in Settings - Posts and comments, lets you add a template to the posts - in addition to the "post template".

The "Post Template" added content then appears as part of each new post, in the post editor window.

The "Post Template" wizard, which is frequently used to add fancy signatures and other accents to the posts, contains HTML code, like any other blog component.

If used improperly, the "Post Template" entered code can cause problems with the posts - just as any use of the Post Editor or Template Editor.

If you just added a fancy post signature or other custom feature or graphic to your posts, and you're now seeing problems with the newer posts, your first instinct might be to reset the post template. Before doing that, why not check the Post Template wizard, at Settings - Posts and comments, and verify what you're adding to your new posts?

If you have code in the "Post Template" box, click "Remove" and remove it. You can always copy the contents, to an old post for instance, before you Remove the contents - should you later decide to try again.

After Removing the contents of the "Post Template" wizard, test your changes by publishing a new post - and see whether the new post is any better than any recent posts, where you observed a problem.

If your new post is successful, you will have to go back and edit each post, by hand, that you published since you last edited the "Post Template" template. Remember also, to clear browser cache, and restart the browser, before checking your old posts for successful correction.

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Setting Options In The Post Template

Every person who maintains a Blogger blog (or other web site) has his or her own idea about what features she or he wants to present, on his or her blog / web site. Under Classic Template Blogger, this need was provided only by editing the blog template, using HTML.

With a Layouts / Designer template, besides letting us add and move template objects all over the display page, Blogger also provides us the ability to add and move objects all over the post layout. This, too, is done without even opening the "Edit HTML" Template wizard.

The Layout wizard lets you add and re locate objects on the blog page, and maintains the blog template.



From the Layout wizard, you can edit the Blog Posts gadget, and configure or re locate the various blog post components, in the post template. In the Classic Blogger GUI, the Layout wizard was called "Page Elements", and was the first tab that you see when you clicked "Design" in the dashboard or navbar. In the New Blogger GUI, it's the Settings menu entry on the Dashboard.

Find the "Blog Posts" gadget, which is the only gadget that will probably never be found in the footer, header, or sidebar, in the Layout GUI. Just like any other gadget in Layout, Blog Posts has an "Edit" link. So click on the link, which gives you "Configure Blog Posts".

There are useful options here.

• Disable / Enable Post header elements like the date.
• Disable / Enable post footer elements (and change captions) like Poster Name, Date and Time, Comments, Backlinks, and Labels (I call my labels "Topics").
• Disable / Enable Quick Editing and Email Post Links.

You can change captions / formats, include or exclude altogether, and / or reposition the various elements in the post template.

• Date / time stamp.
• Author attribution.
• Author date / time stamp.
• Comments.
• Backlinks.
• Labels.
• Quick Editing pencil icon.
• Reactions buttons.
• Email Post Link envelope icon.
• Share Buttons.
• Per post location captions.
• Per post author profile links.
• Ads Between Posts.

Change the captions, carefully. If you change the caption of a given option, and later cannot find that option because you obscurely changed the caption (and this documentation does not help), you may have to refresh the post template.

You can rearrange various post elements into the order that pleases you. Do this carefully though.



Whenever you add, change, remove, or rearrange, any of these features, always clear browser cache, then restart the browser, before testing for success. If your changes are unsuccessful, or the settings are not persistent, you may have to refresh the post template.

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