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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The World Wide Blogger Culture, And Date Formatting Under The New GUI

Since Blogger took the next step with The New Blogger GUI a few months ago, and made it The Default Blogger GUI, complaints about the New GUI have been numerous, and impassioned. One complaint, seen occasionally, mentions the date / time setting wizard, in the Post Editor "Post settings" Schedule.

In the new blogger interface, it is very hard to backdate content. You have to use the calendar GUI, you can't just type a date it. I have content going back 13 years, do you know how hard it is to click the left-arrow on the calendar 144 times to get to the proper date??? It's a nightmare!

This is one person who needs a more flexible date setting wizard, in The New GUI.

In criticising the new date setting wizard, we need to understand the reasons for the design. I don't think that Blogger designed the new wizard, and removed the ability to just type the date, simply because they wanted the new wizard to look shiny.

Since Blogger gave us the ability to compose posts now, and have them published some time in the future, there have been problems with scheduled posts not publishing properly. Both posts published too early, and posts never published, have been the source of many complaints. The reason for many of these complaints were not obvious, however.

When Blogger offered us the scheduled posts option in 2008, they made the ability to schedule posts quite simple. Unfortunately, they did not observe that the entire world does not type the date in the same way. Many scheduling problems were caused by people who did not enter the date properly.

Now that more people are using The New Blogger GUI, and the new date setting wizard, we are seeing significantly less complaints about posts not publishing at the right time (or at all). A large part of the reduction of such complaints, I believe, is due to the design of the new date setting wizard, which does not allow typing of the date - but forces you to explicitly select the month and year by sequential selection - and eliminates the ambiguity.

Unfortunately, this ignores the needs of people who wish to back date (or forward date) by large time spans. So, Blogger needs to make the date setting wizard just a bit more flexible.

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Label Management In The New GUI

With more people starting to use the New Blogger GUI, we're starting to see more questions about some non obvious and obscure details. Recently, people are starting to use the New GUI for routine blog maintenance, and are trying to manage their labels.

How do I add labels to my posts, using the Posts (previously the "Edit Posts") menu?

The answer is right there in front of our eyes - but we need sharp eyes.

With the Classic GUI "Edit Posts" menu, we had a pulldown menu labeled "Label Actions". Opening the menu, we would see three sections.

• "Apply Label" - with an inventory of all current labels.
• At the bottom of the "Apply Label" list, subtly placed "New Label...".
• "Remove Label" - with an inventory of all labels in all currently selected posts.

The New GUI Posts menu has none of these. Now, we have a stylised "label" logo, with a pulldown arrow. Opening the menu, we see two sections.

• "New label...".
• An inventory of all current labels.

It's not complicated, to use the new menu.

1. Select one or more posts, in the posts list.
2. To add a label to the posts selected, open the label menu, and click on a label.
3. To remove a label from the posts selected, open the label menu, and click on a label.
4. Basically, the labels menu is a toggle.
   • If you click on a label that's not part of the selected posts already (or, add a "New label"), the label gets added to the posts selected.
   • If you click on a label that's part of the selected posts already, the label gets removed from the posts selected.
   It is that simple - really.

It's just not obvious, at first glance.

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