Installing a Blogger Template.
Installing a Blogger Template.
1. Go to your Template Editor on your blogger blog control panel.
2. Click on the Browse button, and get your XML template file, and click Upload.
3. Done.
On the normal and most cases, that steps would be enough.
What did you mean by saying “On the normal case” Jack?
Oh I was expecting you to ask that question, great. On the normal case here means If the XML template has 3 widgets in it. e.g Blog1 Widget, Categories Widget, Archives widget and your current template has also 3 widgets with exactly the same types as the XML template, that is normal case.
You’re lucky if you have same widgets on your current template and on the new template you’re going to install.
Unfortunately, not every time we got that perfect condition. sometimes we got a template with so many widgets already installed on it. This is the main cause of this problem.
How we know if a template has more or less widgets then our current template?
There are several ways to know this. but the easiest way is
1. Create a new blog on blogger. just name it as a test blog
2. Upload the new template there. follow the instructions there above.
3. Go to Page Elements, and see how many widgets exist there.
4. Compare with your current template on your blog.
5. Now you know if it is has more or less widgets then your current template.
Actually, I recommend you to always have a new dummy blog, so you can always test a template there first before you’re going to install it on your main blog. I recommend it high!
On the next guidance, we will focus on this matters. I will separate the guidance into 2 lines. The first is Installing a blogger template which has more widgets then our current template, and Installing a blogger template which has less widgets then our current template. they are different things.
Installing a blogger template which has more widgets then our current template.
1. Upload your template. Follow the steps on the first guidance there above.
Usually, if the template has more widgets, it has no problem on the uploading. so you should have no problem until this step.
And here, you have been successful, at the moment your new template is alive. if you refresh your blog, you should see that your new template is already installed.
The problem will occurs if you want to make some changes on your template. Each time you edit something, you will never be able to save your changes because an error occurs saying like this
We were unable to save your template
Please correct the error below, and submit your template again.
More than one widget was found with id: HTML5. Widget IDs should be unique.
What cause this problem? It is because as I said before, the new template has more widgets then our previous template.
It is Blogger Engine’s bug I think. Each time we upload a new template with more widgets then our previous template, let say the template has this widgets
“Blog1, Archive1, Label1, HTML1, HTML2, HTML3, HTML4, HTML5″
and our previous template has only this widgets
“Blog1, Archive1, Label1, HTML1, HTML2″
The Blogger Engine will automatically convert those widgets that we don’t have yet on our previous template. To be example as this below
“Blog1, Archive1, Label1, HTML1, HTML2, HTML1, HTML2, HTML1″
So each time we create some modifies on the template, we will never be able to save it because it has some widgets with same id’s.
So how to fix this problem?
now we go to the next step on installing a blogger template with widgets more then our previous template.
2. After you successfully upload your new template, now without changing anything, Click on the Save Template there next to the template code.
If you don’t see any error occurs, then Congratulation. You don’t need to read the next steps anymore.
But if error occurs. and says “More than one widget was found with id: HTML5. Widget IDs should be unique.“
then here is how you can fix it.
Fixing the Duplicate id’s on blogger template
2.1 If it says HTML5 should be unique, then go find HTML5 (you can use CTRL+F on your keyboard and type HTML5 on the search box).
Now you should see your cursor is now focusing on this lines below
HTML5” bla..bla..bla…
*Why I wrote bla..bla..bla? I know it doesn’t look pretty, but because it could be very vary depends on the duplicate widget you had. on this example, we have HTML5 id duplicated which is likely the type of the widget is HTML. but on your case, it could be the Feed widget, Link list, or etc.
2.2 Now you have found that HTML5, rename it into HTML6.
then try to save your template. if now you see an error says “More than one widget was found with id: HTML6. Widget IDs should be unique.“
Then it means you have to repeat this step (#2.2) until you see no more error occurs.
if you can now save your template without any error occurs, the it means you’re done.
Installing a blogger template which has less widgets then our current template.
If this is your situation now, then you have to read all this steps carefully.
1. Upload your template. Follow the steps on the first guidance there above.
If the new template has less widgets then your previous template, usually it will raise this warning,
Widgets are about to be deleted
Please confirm that the following widgets should be deleted. All the widgets’ configuration data will be lost.
- HTML14
- HTML15
- HTML16
- HTML17
- HTML10
- HTML8
- HTML5
- HTML7
- LinkList4
- LinkList5
- LinkList5
- LinkList6
- Image1
- LinkList3
- LinkList2
- LinkList1
- Text1
- HTML16
- HTML4
- HTML13
- HTML12
- HTML11
- HTML14
- HTML15
- Header1
- HTML3
- HTML1
- HTML9
- HTML2
- HTML6
- Blog2
Write down all that widgets id that listed on the going to be deleted list above. (We will use it later)
Of course this also could be very vary, depends on how many widgets your previous template has which the new template doesn’t have!
Now what is your decision? Are you going to delete all your widgets listed above? if your choose no, then you can click the cancel button, and read the next steps on the I want to keep my widgets section down there.
But if you choose Yes to delete all your widgets, then go to next step.
Delete All The Widgets
2. Click on the Confirm and Save button.
If after clicked on the Confirm and Save button you don’t see any error message, then congratulation. You’re done here. and can begin to customizing the template to be more personal as yours now.
But if you see an error occurs, then usually it’s like this
We’re sorry, but we were unable to complete your request. and bla.. bla..
see the screenshot,
Somehow, Blogger will gives us this error to our face each time we’re trying to delete many widgets on a same time. Again I think this is Blogger Engine bug.
If this happened, then unfortunately, you have to delete it manually.
There are several methods to delete those many widgets, but the safest way which I recommend to you is by deleting all the widgets one by on through the widget control panel (Your Page Elements Control).
3. So now Push Back Button on your browser,
- You are now on the previous page, asked about deleting your widgets or not.
- and click Page Elements on your Blogger Dashboard.
4. You are now on your Widget Control Panel.
Now delete one-by-one all the widgets on your going to be deleted list. (remember our going to be deleted list above?)
How to know which the id of the widget?
- Hover your mouse on the edit link on each widget.
- There you will see your widget id on your browser statusbar.
look at your list, if you found widget id matched, click that edit link.
A new window will popup, then click on the Remove Page Elements Button.
keep doing this until your list is completed.
* If you found some Page Elements / Widgets are unable to be removed, then try to refresh your Browser first. and try the steps again.
Now if you have all your widgets on the list deleted, you can begin to upload your new template again. and it should now succeeded. You’re done here.
Now if your previous decision is to keep your widget. You can read the next steps.
I want to keep my widgets