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Showing posts with label Blog Template. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog Template. Show all posts

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Unfold Widgets Selectively, Instead Of All At Once

The new Template HTML Editor has been with us for just under 2 weeks.

Not every blog owner sees the new editor as an improvement. Some folks don't understand how to find the code sections, where they need to apply changes - and would probably be happier if "Expand All Widgets" were an option.

Like the old saying goes, you just cannot please everybody.

Fortunately, with this change, it's not difficult to find the code sections that need changing - you just do a little bit of research, before using "Edit HTML".

With the old editor, finding a section that needed changing could be a bit frustrating - though simple, given enough time.
  1. Hit "Expand Widget Templates".
  2. Search for a recognisable section of code.
  3. Try very carefully, to find the right section of code.
  4. Be careful, and don't select the wrong section of code.


With the new editor, you have a bit more work to do - and what you have to do appears to be simply repetitive.
  1. Find a folded code section.
  2. Unfold the section that's folded.
  3. Repeat, until everything is visible.
  4. Search for a recognisable section of code.
  5. Try very carefully, to find the right section of code.
  6. Be careful, and don't select the wrong section of code.

Instead of spending so much time unfolding, searching, and rechecking everything, why not do some research? Figure out what needs changing. Look at the display on the dashboard Layout wizard (previously called "Page Elements"). Identify the widget to be changed, using both the relative position on the page, and the title.

Find the widget id, by looking at the widget to be changed, then at the URL behind the "Edit" link. If you're editing the post template, you'll be looking at "Blog Posts", which has the widgetID of "Blog1". Click here, for instructions on determining the widget id.

Once you have the widgetID, for the specific widget that you need to modify, go to the Template "Edit HTML" wizard, use the "Jump to widget" pull down list, select the widget by widgetID, and there it is. Now, unfold that widget, and do what you have to do.

Isn't that simpler, when you think about it?

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Friday, 30 November 2012

The Missing / Invisible Pages Index Gadget

Occasionally, a blog owner wants to add the Pages Index gadget to the blog, but just can't.
I go to add it - and I see "Already Added" - but where is it?

The first thing to check, when this happens, is the "Show pages as" option in the dashboard Pages display. Sometimes, you'll find "Don't show" selected. Other times, you'll find "Top tabs" - but the template may lack the code which houses the "Top tabs" gadget. This will be a problem for older templates, installed before the Pages index gadget was offered - as well as some third party templates.

Try selecting "Side links" (or change from "Side links", to "Top tabs", and back to "Side links") - and see if the gadget shows up, in the sidebar. Each time you change the setting, hit "Save arrangement".

After each change, view the blog, to verify success. Remember to clear cache, and restart the browser, each time you view the blog.

Once you get the gadget to show up in the sidebar - and if it matters - change the option to "Top tabs", and see if it shows up there. If not, you'll have several options.
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