Number 1 on the Thing 24 "to do" list is "Find a new look for your blog." Oh, the quandary! I really, really like the way my blog looks and have worked hard to get it to this place...but can I not actually do a Thing requirement? I know how to change templates and fonts/colors, but I really don't want to change my blog's look.
The Solution:
I maintain not only my SZSRocks blog, but also am a co-author of the ERHS Media Center blog, and I have recently created and will be maintaining a blog for the Minnesota Mineral Club (MMC). Since my MMC blog is currently under construction and hasn't been advertised yet, I decided to try a new template from a third party site (as recommended in "For the Curious" in Thing 24), for this blog. I really liked a lot of the templates at mashable.com, but quite a few of them, including the one I wanted to use, are in a foreign language! That was draw back #1. Not to be discouraged, I clicked on the link listed for "How to Install" in "Thing 24: Curious" and followed the directions....Success!
Now, for the rest of the story...
My newly loaded template deleted quite a bit of text I had posted, rearranged and deleted some of the gadgets I had added and basically really goofed up my blog. I was extremely grateful that I hadn't messed with my SZSRocks blog. After my initial panic, I calmed myself and decided I could "fix" this. After trying various things for close to 2 HOURS...yes, I can be a little obsessive...my blog was still broke. When I embedded the new template, my "Layout" tab vanished and was replaced by a "Template" tab. This meant that I could do very little "fixing" or editing of this blog. In severe frustration mode, I searched the Blogger help, found a similar post thread and posted a question as to how to "fix" my blog. No response. Went to bed. Still frustrated and annoyed. Don't like feeling like this. Seriously thinking about deleting the blog and starting from scratch. In the morning, as a last ditch effort, I did a little more searching and found the 20 Sticky Posts blog. I found a post describing my EXACT problem, followed his directions to get my "Layout" tab back, it worked flawlessly, and I then posted my extreme thanks in the comments section of his post. He even replied to my comment. I bookmarked the 20 Sticky Posts blog in Delicious and I highly recommend you do it too. All is right with the world again!
The moral of this story: If it ain't broke...don't fix it!
3 comments:
Thanks for the warning! I've looked at some of those third party blog layout sites and been so intrigued... but a little scared too. Now I know to proceed cautiously. And back up first!
Good luck with the rest of the things.
Thanks for leaving me a comment and the reminder to back-up before major changes. That's a great tip!
wow, what a roller coaster of emotion, eh? I think you more than demonstrated that you did in fact thoroughly explore this Thing, and learned valuable things along the way, eh? Later gator...
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