tips,tricks and hacks: January 2008

Sunday, 27 January 2008

Blogger XML Template - A Day Without Chocolate

Click on image for working demo

Download

A note to those of you that put my templates up for download. I appreciate that you like them enough to do so, but please link back to my post and don't put my template for download from your site. I enjoy the traffic!

Another template hot off of the press! I really like this one. As I make them, with each and every one, I'm learning something new.

I find that I get inspirations from odd places. A Day Without Chocolate was inspired by a display at Cracker Barrel. Pink Stitches was inspired by a co-worker's scrub hat. You just never know.

This template is packed full of goodies:

Fluid Widebar (Hack by me)
Label Cloud (Hack by phydeaux3)
Fluid style (Hack by me)
Post title image (Photoshop brushes used here and in header by Obsidian Dawn )
Two sidebars
Post area
Lovely footer
Custom favicon
Fancy links (go ahead...hover over one!)
Clickable header on post page
Custom blockquotes

So...enjoy!!

HELPFUL POSTS: My Category Cloud...finally
UPDATE:
02/17/08: Fixed problem with text following blockquote.
03/07/08: Fixed problem in IE to eliminate horizontal scrollbar.
04/09/08: Added text file to copy and paste. You will still have to add the images as indicated in the instructions from the zip file. Go to the Dashboard | Layout | Edit HTML | Edit Template window. +/-Paste this text in that window:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr'>
<head>

<link href='IMAGE/favicon.png' rel='shortcut icon'/>
<link href='IMAGE/favicon.png' rel='icon'/>

<b:include data='blog' name='all-head-content'/>
<title><data:blog.pageTitle/></title>
<b:skin><![CDATA[/*
-----------------------------------------------
Blogger Template Style
Name: Minima
Designer: Douglas Bowman
URL: www.stopdesign.com
Date: 26 Feb 2004
Modified: anniebluesky
URL: www.bloggeruniversity.blogspot.com
Date: 27 Jan 2008
----------------------------------------------- */

/* Variable definitions
====================
<Variable name="bgcolor" description="Page Background Color"
type="color" default="#fff" value="#ffffff">
<Variable name="textcolor" description="Text Color"
type="color" default="#987654" value="#987654">
<Variable name="linkcolor" description="Link Color"
type="color" default="#987654" value="#6f3c1b">
<Variable name="pagetitlecolor" description="Blog Title Color"
type="color" default="#987654" value="#6f3c1b">
<Variable name="descriptioncolor" description="Blog Description Color"
type="color" default="#987654" value="#6f3c1b">
<Variable name="titlecolor" description="Post Title Color"
type="color" default="#c60" value="#6f3c1b">
<Variable name="bordercolor" description="Border Color"
type="color" default="#ffb6c1" value="#ffb6c1">
<Variable name="sidebarcolor" description="Sidebar Title Color"
type="color" default="#999" value="#6f3c1b">
<Variable name="sidebartextcolor" description="Sidebar Text Color"
type="color" default="#987654" value="#987654">
<Variable name="visitedlinkcolor" description="Visited Link Color"
type="color" default="#999" value="#999999">
<Variable name="bodyfont" description="Text Font"
type="font" default="normal normal 100% Georgia, Serif" value="normal normal 110% Trebuchet, Trebuchet MS, Arial, sans-serif">
<Variable name="headerfont" description="Sidebar Title Font"
type="font"
default="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS',Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif" value="italic bold 115% 'Trebuchet MS',Trebuchet,Arial,Verdana,Sans-serif">
<Variable name="pagetitlefont" description="Blog Title Font"
type="font"
default="normal normal 200% Georgia, Serif" value="italic bold 266% Times, serif">
<Variable name="descriptionfont" description="Blog Description Font"
type="font"
default="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif" value="normal normal 116% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif">
<Variable name="postfooterfont" description="Post Footer Font"
type="font"
default="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif" value="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif">
<Variable name="startSide" description="Side where text starts in blog language"
type="automatic" default="left" value="left">
<Variable name="endSide" description="Side where text ends in blog language"
type="automatic" default="right" value="right">
*/

/* Use this with templates/template-twocol.html */

body {
background: url('IMAGE/choc_bg.png') top left repeat-x #FFFFFF;
margin:0;
color:$textcolor;
font:x-small Georgia Serif;
font-size/* */:/**/small;
font-size: /**/small;
text-align: center;
}
a:link {
color:$linkcolor;
text-decoration:none;
}
a:visited {
color:$visitedlinkcolor;
text-decoration:none;
}
a:hover {
background-color: #FADADD;
color: #987654;
text-decoration: none;
}
a img {
border-width:0;
}

/* Header
-----------------------------------------------
*/

#header-wrapper {
width:800px;
margin: -5px 0 35px 158px;
}

#header-inner {
background-image:url(IMAGE/header.png);
background-repeat:no-repeat;
height: 370px;
background-position: center;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
}

#header {
margin: 5px;
text-align: center;
color:$pagetitlecolor;
}

#header h1 {
margin:5px 5px 0;
padding: 60px 15px 20px .25em;
line-height:1.2em;
text-transform:none;
letter-spacing:.2em;
font: $pagetitlefont;
color: $pagetitlecolor;
}

#header a {
color:$pagetitlecolor;
text-decoration:none;
}

#header a:hover {
background-color: #FADADD;
color: #987654;
text-decoration: none;
}

#header .description {
margin:0 5px 5px;
padding:0 20px 15px;
max-width:700px;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.2em;
line-height: 1.4em;
font: $descriptionfont;
color: $descriptioncolor;
}

#header img {
margin-$startSide: auto;
margin-$endSide: auto;
}

#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}

/* Outer-Wrapper
----------------------------------------------- */
#outer-wrapper {
margin-left: 5%;
margin-right: 2%;
text-align: left;
width: 93%;
padding: 0 10px 10px 10px;
text-align:$startSide;
font: $bodyfont;
}

#main-wrapper {
width: 45%;
float: $startSide;
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

#widebar-wrapper {
float: right;
margin: 0 45px 0 35px;
padding-bottom: 10px;
width: 40%;
word-wrap: break-word;
color: $textcolor;
}
#widebar {
padding: 10px 0 5px 0px;
width: 100%;
word-wrap: break-word;
color: $textcolor;
}
#leftsidebar-wrapper {
float: right;
margin: 30px 0 0 0;
overflow: hidden;
width: 22%;
word-wrap: break-word;
}

#rightsidebar-wrapper {
float: right;
margin: 30px 0 0 0;
overflow: hidden;
width: 22%;
word-wrap: break-word;
}

/* Headings
----------------------------------------------- */

h2 {
margin:1.5em 0 .75em;
font:$headerfont;
line-height: 1.4em;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.2em;
color:$sidebarcolor;
}

/* Posts
-----------------------------------------------
*/
h2.date-header {
margin:1.5em 0 .5em;
}

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
}

.post h3 {
background:url(IMAGE/post_swirl.png) no-repeat;
margin:.25em 0 0;
padding:0 0 4px 85px;
font-size:140%;
font-weight:normal;
line-height:1.4em;
color:$titlecolor;
}

.post h3 a, .post h3 a:visited, .post h3 strong {
display:block;
text-decoration:none;
color:$titlecolor;
font-weight:normal;
}

.post h3 strong, .post h3 a:hover {
color:$textcolor;
background-color: #FADADD;
color: #987654;
text-decoration: none;
}

.post p {
margin:0 0 .75em;
line-height:1.6em;
}

.post-footer {
margin: .75em 0;
color:$sidebarcolor;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.1em;
font: $postfooterfont;
line-height: 1.4em;
}

.comment-link {
margin-$startSide:.6em;
}
.post img {
padding:4px;
border:2px solid $bordercolor;
}

blockquote{
background-color: transparent;
border-top: 3px dotted #ffb6c1;
border-bottom: 3px dotted #ffb6c1;
padding: 15px;
font-style: oblique;
font-size: 1em;
margin-left: 5%;
margin-right: 5%;
}

/* Comments
----------------------------------------------- */
#comments h4 {
margin:1em 0;
font-weight: bold;
line-height: 1.4em;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.2em;
color: $sidebarcolor;
}

#comments-block {
margin:1em 0 1.5em;
line-height:1.6em;
}
#comments-block .comment-author {
margin:.5em 0;
}
#comments-block .comment-body {
margin:.25em 0 0;
}
#comments-block .comment-footer {
margin:-.25em 0 2em;
line-height: 1.4em;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.1em;
}
#comments-block .comment-body p {
margin:0 0 .75em;
}
.deleted-comment {
font-style:italic;
color:gray;
}

#blog-pager-newer-link {
float: $startSide;
}

#blog-pager-older-link {
float: $endSide;
}

#blog-pager {
text-align: center;
}

.feed-links {
clear: both;
line-height: 2.5em;
}

/* Sidebar Content
----------------------------------------------- */
.sidebar {
color: $sidebartextcolor;
line-height: 1.5em;
}

.sidebar ul {
list-style:none;
margin:0 0 0;
padding:0 0 0;
}
.sidebar li {
margin:0;
padding-top:0;
padding-$endSide:0;
padding-bottom:.25em;
padding-$startSide:15px;
text-indent:-15px;
line-height:1.5em;
}

.sidebar .widget, .main .widget {
margin:0 0 1.5em;
padding:0 0 1.5em;
}

.main .Blog {
border-bottom-width: 0;
}

/* Profile
----------------------------------------------- */
.profile-img {
float: $startSide;
margin-top: 0;
margin-$endSide: 5px;
margin-bottom: 5px;
margin-$startSide: 0;
padding: 4px;
border: 1px solid $bordercolor;
}

.profile-data {
margin:0;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.1em;
font: $postfooterfont;
color: $sidebarcolor;
font-weight: bold;
line-height: 1.6em;
}

.profile-datablock {
margin:.5em 0 .5em;
}

.profile-textblock {
margin: 0.5em 0;
line-height: 1.6em;
}

.profile-link {
font: $postfooterfont;
text-transform: uppercase;
letter-spacing: .1em;
}

/* Footer
----------------------------------------------- */
#footer {
width:660px;
clear:both;
margin:0 auto;
padding-top:15px;
line-height: 1.6em;
text-transform:uppercase;
letter-spacing:.1em;
text-align: center;
}

p.credits {
font-family: sans-serif;
font-style: normal;
font-variant: normal;
font-weight: normal;
font-size: small;
line-height: 100%;
word-spacing: normal;
letter-spacing: 0.3ex;
text-decoration: none;
text-transform: lowercase;
text-align: center;
text-indent: 0ex;
}

/** Page structure tweaks for layout editor wireframe */
body#layout #header {
width: 400px;
}

/* Label Cloud Styles
----------------------------------------------- */
#labelCloud {text-align:center;font-family:arial,sans-serif;}
#labelCloud .label-cloud li{display:inline;background-image:none !important;padding:0 5px;margin:0;vertical-align:baseline !important;border:0 !important;}
#labelCloud ul{list-style-type:none;margin:0 auto;padding:0;}
#labelCloud a img{border:0;display:inline;margin:0 0 0 3px;padding:0}
#labelCloud a{text-decoration:none}
#labelCloud a:hover{text-decoration:underline}
#labelCloud li a{}
#labelCloud .label-cloud {}
#labelCloud .label-count {padding-left:0.2em;font-size:9px;color:#000}
#labelCloud .label-cloud li:before{content:"" !important}

]]></b:skin>
</head>

<script type='text/javascript'>
// Label Cloud User Variables
var cloudMin = 1;
var maxFontSize = 25;
var maxColor = [213,84,128];
var minFontSize = 10;
var minColor = [152,118,84];
var lcShowCount = false;
</script>

<body>
<div id='outer-wrapper'><div id='wrap2'>


<span id='skiplinks' style='display:none;'>
<a href='#main'>skip to main </a> |
<a href='#sidebar'>skip to sidebar</a>
</span>

<div id='header-wrapper'>
<b:section class='header' id='header' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>
<b:widget id='Header1' locked='true' title='Header Widget Sample (Header)' type='Header'>
<b:includable id='title'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
<data:title/>
<b:else/>
<a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'><data:title/></a>
</b:if>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='description'>
<div class='descriptionwrapper'>
<p class='description'><span><data:description/></span></p>
</div>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='main'>

<b:if cond='data:useImage'>
<b:if cond='data:imagePlacement == "REPLACE"'>

<div id='header-inner'>
<a expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl' style='display: block'>
<img expr:alt='data:title' expr:height='data:height' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_headerimg"' expr:src='data:sourceUrl' expr:width='data:width' style='display: block'/>
</a>
</div>
<b:else/>

<b:if cond='data:blog.languageDirection == "rtl"'>
<div expr:style='"background-image: url(\"" + data:sourceUrl + "\"); " + "background-position: right; " + "min-height: " + data:height + "px;" + "_height: " + data:height + "px;" + "background-repeat: no-repeat; "' id='header-inner'>
<div class='titlewrapper' style='background: transparent'>
<h1 class='title' style='background: transparent; border-width: 0px'>
<b:include name='title'/>
</h1>
</div>
<b:include name='description'/>
</div>
<b:else/>
<div expr:style='"background-image: url(\"" + data:sourceUrl + "\"); " + "background-position: left; " + "min-height: " + data:height + "px;" + "_height: " + data:height + "px;" + "background-repeat: no-repeat; "' id='header-inner'>
<div class='titlewrapper' style='background: transparent'>
<h1 class='title' style='background: transparent; border-width: 0px'>
<b:include name='title'/>
</h1>
</div>
<b:include name='description'/>
</div>
</b:if>
</b:if>
<b:else/>

<div id='header-inner'>
<div class='titlewrapper'>
<h1 class='title'>
<b:include name='title'/>
</h1>
</div>
<b:include name='description'/>
</div>
</b:if>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>
</b:section>
</div>

<div id='content-wrapper'>

<div id='crosscol-wrapper' style='text-align:center'>
<b:section class='crosscol' id='crosscol' showaddelement='no'/>
</div>

<div id='main-wrapper'>
<b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>
<b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'>
<b:includable id='nextprev'>
<div class='blog-pager' id='blog-pager'>
<b:if cond='data:newerPageUrl'>
<span id='blog-pager-newer-link'>
<a class='blog-pager-newer-link' expr:href='data:newerPageUrl' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_blog-pager-newer-link"' expr:title='data:newerPageTitle'><data:newerPageTitle/></a>
</span>
</b:if>

<b:if cond='data:olderPageUrl'>
<span id='blog-pager-older-link'>
<a class='blog-pager-older-link' expr:href='data:olderPageUrl' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_blog-pager-older-link"' expr:title='data:olderPageTitle'><data:olderPageTitle/></a>
</span>
</b:if>

<b:if cond='data:blog.homepageUrl != data:blog.url'>
<a class='home-link' expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'><data:homeMsg/></a>
<b:else/>
<b:if cond='data:newerPageUrl'>
<a class='home-link' expr:href='data:blog.homepageUrl'><data:homeMsg/></a>
</b:if>
</b:if>

</div>
<div class='clear'/>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='backlinks' var='post'>
<a name='links'/><h4><data:post.backlinksLabel/></h4>
<b:if cond='data:post.numBacklinks != 0'>
<dl class='comments-block' id='comments-block'>
<b:loop values='data:post.backlinks' var='backlink'>
<div class='collapsed-backlink backlink-control'>
<dt class='comment-title'>
<span class='backlink-toggle-zippy'> </span>
<a expr:href='data:backlink.url' rel='nofollow'><data:backlink.title/></a>
<b:include data='backlink' name='backlinkDeleteIcon'/>
</dt>
<dd class='comment-body collapseable'>
<data:backlink.snippet/>
</dd>
<dd class='comment-footer collapseable'>
<span class='comment-author'><data:post.authorLabel/> <data:backlink.author/></span>
<span class='comment-timestamp'><data:post.timestampLabel/> <data:backlink.timestamp/></span>
</dd>
</div>
</b:loop>
</dl>
</b:if>
<p class='comment-footer'>
<a class='comment-link' expr:href='data:post.createLinkUrl' expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_backlinks-create-link"' target='_blank'><data:post.createLinkLabel/></a>
</p>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='post' var='post'>
<div class='post hentry uncustomized-post-template'>
<a expr:name='data:post.id'/>
<b:if cond='data:post.title'>
<h3 class='post-title entry-title'>
<b:if cond='data:post.link'>
<a expr:href='data:post.link'><data:post.title/></a>
<b:else/>
<b:if cond='data:post.url'>
<a expr:href='data:post.url'><data:post.title/></a>
<b:else/>
<data:post.title/>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</h3>
</b:if>

<div class='post-header-line-1'/>

<div class='post-body entry-content'>
<p><data:post.body/></p>
<div style='clear: both;'/> 
</div>
<div class='post-footer'>
<p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-1'>
<span class='post-author vcard'>
<b:if cond='data:top.showAuthor'>
<data:top.authorLabel/>
<span class='fn'><data:post.author/></span>
</b:if>
</span>

<span class='post-timestamp'>
<b:if cond='data:top.showTimestamp'>
<data:top.timestampLabel/>
<b:if cond='data:post.url'>
<a class='timestamp-link' expr:href='data:post.url' rel='bookmark' title='permanent link'><abbr class='published' expr:title='data:post.timestampISO8601'><data:post.timestamp/></abbr></a>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</span>

<span class='post-comment-link'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>

<b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
<a class='comment-link' expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'><b:if cond='data:post.numComments == 1'>1 <data:top.commentLabel/><b:else/><data:post.numComments/> <data:top.commentLabelPlural/></b:if></a>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</span>


<span class='post-backlinks post-comment-link'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
<b:if cond='data:post.showBacklinks'>
<a class='comment-link' expr:href='data:post.url + "#links"'><data:top.backlinkLabel/></a>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</span>

<span class='post-icons'>

<b:if cond='data:post.emailPostUrl'>
<span class='item-action'>
<a expr:href='data:post.emailPostUrl' expr:title='data:top.emailPostMsg'>
<img alt='' class='icon-action' src='http://www.blogger.com/img/icon18_email.gif'/>
</a>
</span>
</b:if>


<b:include data='post' name='postQuickEdit'/>
</span>
</p>

<p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-2'>
<span class='post-labels'>
<b:if cond='data:post.labels'>
<data:postLabelsLabel/>
<b:loop values='data:post.labels' var='label'>
<a expr:href='data:label.url' rel='tag'><data:label.name/></a><b:if cond='data:label.isLast != "true"'>,</b:if>
</b:loop>
</b:if>
</span>
</p>

<p class='post-footer-line post-footer-line-3'/>
</div>
</div>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='commentDeleteIcon' var='comment'>
<span expr:class='"item-control " + data:comment.adminClass'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.deleteUrl' expr:title='data:top.deleteCommentMsg'>
<span class='delete-comment-icon'> </span>
</a>
</span>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='status-message'>
<b:if cond='data:navMessage'>
<div class='status-msg-wrap'>
<div class='status-msg-body'>
<data:navMessage/>
</div>
<div class='status-msg-border'>
<div class='status-msg-bg'>
<div class='status-msg-hidden'><data:navMessage/></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style='clear: both;'/>
</b:if>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='feedLinks'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'> 
<b:if cond='data:feedLinks'>
<div class='blog-feeds'>
<b:include data='feedLinks' name='feedLinksBody'/>
</div>
</b:if>

<b:else/> 
<div class='post-feeds'>
<b:loop values='data:posts' var='post'>
<b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
<b:if cond='data:post.feedLinks'>
<b:include data='post.feedLinks' name='feedLinksBody'/>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:loop>
</div>
</b:if>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='backlinkDeleteIcon' var='backlink'>
<span expr:class='"item-control " + data:backlink.adminClass'>
<a expr:href='data:backlink.deleteUrl' expr:title='data:top.deleteBacklinkMsg'>
<span class='delete-comment-icon'> </span>
</a>
</span>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='feedLinksBody' var='links'>
<div class='feed-links'>
<data:feedLinksMsg/>
<b:loop values='data:links' var='f'>
<a class='feed-link' expr:href='data:f.url' expr:type='data:f.mimeType' target='_blank'><data:f.name/> (<data:f.feedType/>)</a>
</b:loop>
</div>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='postQuickEdit' var='post'>
<b:if cond='data:post.editUrl'>
<span expr:class='"item-control " + data:post.adminClass'>
<a expr:href='data:post.editUrl' expr:title='data:top.editPostMsg'>
<img alt='' class='icon-action' src='http://www.blogger.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif'/>
</a>
</span>
</b:if>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='comments' var='post'>
<div class='comments' id='comments'>
<a name='comments'/>
<b:if cond='data:post.allowComments'>
<h4>
<b:if cond='data:post.numComments == 1'>
1 <data:commentLabel/>:
<b:else/>
<data:post.numComments/> <data:commentLabelPlural/>:
</b:if>
</h4>

<dl id='comments-block'>
<b:loop values='data:post.comments' var='comment'>
<dt expr:class='"comment-author " + data:comment.authorClass' expr:id='data:comment.anchorName'>
<a expr:name='data:comment.anchorName'/>
<b:if cond='data:comment.authorUrl'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.authorUrl' rel='nofollow'><data:comment.author/></a>
<b:else/>
<data:comment.author/>
</b:if>
<data:commentPostedByMsg/>
</dt>
<dd class='comment-body'>
<b:if cond='data:comment.isDeleted'>
<span class='deleted-comment'><data:comment.body/></span>
<b:else/>
<p><data:comment.body/></p>
</b:if>
</dd>
<dd class='comment-footer'>
<span class='comment-timestamp'>
<a expr:href='data:comment.url' title='comment permalink'>
<data:comment.timestamp/>
</a>
<b:include data='comment' name='commentDeleteIcon'/>
</span>
</dd>
</b:loop>
</dl>

<p class='comment-footer'>
<a expr:href='data:post.addCommentUrl' expr:onclick='data:post.addCommentOnclick'><data:postCommentMsg/></a>
</p>
</b:if>

<div id='backlinks-container'>
<div expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_backlinks-container"'>
<b:if cond='data:post.showBacklinks'>
<b:include data='post' name='backlinks'/>
</b:if>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='main' var='top'>

<div class='blog-posts hfeed'>

<b:include data='top' name='status-message'/>

<data:adStart/>
<b:loop values='data:posts' var='post'>
<b:if cond='data:post.dateHeader'>
<h2 class='date-header'><data:post.dateHeader/></h2>
</b:if>
<b:include data='post' name='post'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<b:include data='post' name='comments'/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:post.includeAd'>
<data:adEnd/>
<data:adCode/>
<data:adStart/>
</b:if>
</b:loop>
<data:adEnd/>
</div>


<b:include name='nextprev'/>


<b:include name='feedLinks'/>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>
</b:section>
</div>

<div id='widebar-wrapper'>
<b:section class='sidebar' id='widebar1' preferred='yes'>
<b:widget id='Label1' locked='false' title='Label Cloud' type='Label'>
<b:includable id='main'>
<b:if cond='data:title'>
<h2><data:title/></h2>
</b:if>

<div class='widget-content'>
<div id='labelCloud'/>
<script type='text/javascript'>

// Don't change anything past this point -----------------
// Cloud function s() ripped from del.icio.us
function s(a,b,i,x){
if(a>b){
var m=(a-b)/Math.log(x),v=a-Math.floor(Math.log(i)*m)
}
else{
var m=(b-a)/Math.log(x),v=Math.floor(Math.log(i)*m+a)
}
return v
}

var c=[];
var labelCount = new Array();
var ts = new Object;
<b:loop values='data:labels' var='label'>
var theName = "<data:label.name/>";
ts[theName] = <data:label.count/>;
</b:loop>

for (t in ts){
if (!labelCount[ts[t]]){
labelCount[ts[t]] = new Array(ts[t])
}
}
var ta=cloudMin-1;
tz = labelCount.length - cloudMin;
lc2 = document.getElementById('labelCloud');
ul = document.createElement('ul');
ul.className = 'label-cloud';
for(var t in ts){
if(ts[t] < cloudMin){
continue;
}
for (var i=0;3 > i;i++) {
c[i]=s(minColor[i],maxColor[i],ts[t]-ta,tz)
}
var fs = s(minFontSize,maxFontSize,ts[t]-ta,tz);
li = document.createElement('li');
li.style.fontSize = fs+'px';
li.style.lineHeight = '1';
a = document.createElement('a');
a.title = ts[t]+' Posts in '+t;
a.style.color = 'rgb('+c[0]+','+c[1]+','+c[2]+')';
a.href = '/search/label/'+encodeURIComponent(t);
if (lcShowCount){
span = document.createElement('span');
span.innerHTML = '('+ts[t]+') ';
span.className = 'label-count';
a.appendChild(document.createTextNode(t));
li.appendChild(a);
li.appendChild(span);
}
else {
a.appendChild(document.createTextNode(t));
li.appendChild(a);
}
ul.appendChild(li);
abnk = document.createTextNode(' ');
ul.appendChild(abnk);
}
lc2.appendChild(ul);
</script>

<noscript>
<ul>
<b:loop values='data:labels' var='label'>
<li>
<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:label.url'>
<data:label.name/>
<b:else/>
<a expr:href='data:label.url'><data:label.name/></a>
</b:if>
(<data:label.count/>)
</li>
</b:loop>
</ul>
</noscript>
<b:include name='quickedit'/>
</div>

</b:includable>
</b:widget>
</b:section></div>

<div id='leftsidebar-wrapper'>
<b:section class='sidebar' id='leftsidebar' preferred='yes'>
<b:widget id='BlogArchive1' locked='false' title='Blog Archive' type='BlogArchive'>
<b:includable id='main'>
<b:if cond='data:title'>
<h2><data:title/></h2>
</b:if>
<div class='widget-content'>
<div id='ArchiveList'>
<div expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_ArchiveList"'>
<b:if cond='data:style == "HIERARCHY"'>
<b:include data='data' name='interval'/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:style == "FLAT"'>
<b:include data='data' name='flat'/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:style == "MENU"'>
<b:include data='data' name='menu'/>
</b:if>
</div>
</div>
<b:include name='quickedit'/>
</div>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='flat' var='data'>
<ul>
<b:loop values='data:data' var='i'>
<li class='archivedate'>
<a expr:href='data:i.url'><data:i.name/></a> (<data:i.post-count/>)
</li>
</b:loop>
</ul>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='menu' var='data'>
<select expr:id='data:widget.instanceId + "_ArchiveMenu"'>
<option value=''><data:title/></option>
<b:loop values='data:data' var='i'>
<option expr:value='data:i.url'><data:i.name/> (<data:i.post-count/>)</option>
</b:loop>
</select>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='interval' var='intervalData'>
<b:loop values='data:intervalData' var='i'>
<ul>
<li expr:class='"archivedate " + data:i.expclass'>
<b:include data='i' name='toggle'/>
<a class='post-count-link' expr:href='data:i.url'><data:i.name/></a>
<span class='post-count' dir='ltr'>(<data:i.post-count/>)</span>
<b:if cond='data:i.data'>
<b:include data='i.data' name='interval'/>
</b:if>
<b:if cond='data:i.posts'>
<b:include data='i.posts' name='posts'/>
</b:if>
</li>
</ul>
</b:loop>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='toggle' var='interval'>
<b:if cond='data:interval.toggleId'>
<b:if cond='data:interval.expclass == "expanded"'>
<a class='toggle' expr:href='data:widget.actionUrl + "&action=toggle" + "&dir=close&toggle=" + data:interval.toggleId + "&toggleopen=" + data:toggleopen'>
<span class='zippy toggle-open'>▼ </span>
</a>
<b:else/>
<a class='toggle' expr:href='data:widget.actionUrl + "&action=toggle" + "&dir=open&toggle=" + data:interval.toggleId + "&toggleopen=" + data:toggleopen'>
<span class='zippy'>
<b:if cond='data:blog.languageDirection == "rtl"'>
◄
<b:else/>
►
</b:if>
</span>
</a>
</b:if>
</b:if>
</b:includable>
<b:includable id='posts' var='posts'>
<ul class='posts'>
<b:loop values='data:posts' var='i'>
<li><a expr:href='data:i.url'><data:i.title/></a></li>
</b:loop>
</ul>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>
</b:section>
</div>

<div id='rightsidebar-wrapper'>
<b:section class='sidebar' id='rightsidebar' preferred='yes'>
<b:widget id='LinkList1' locked='false' title='Link Love' type='LinkList'>
<b:includable id='main'>

<b:if cond='data:title'><h2><data:title/></h2></b:if>
<div class='widget-content'>
<ul>
<b:loop values='data:links' var='link'>
<li><a expr:href='data:link.target'><data:link.name/></a></li>
</b:loop>
</ul>
<b:include name='quickedit'/>
</div>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>
</b:section>
</div>


<div class='clear'> </div>

</div> 

<div id='footer-wrapper'>
<b:section class='footer' id='footer'>
<b:widget id='HTML1' locked='false' title='' type='HTML'>
<b:includable id='main'>

<b:if cond='data:title != ""'>
<h2 class='title'><data:title/></h2>
</b:if>
<div class='widget-content'>
<data:content/>
</div>

<b:include name='quickedit'/>
</b:includable>
</b:widget>
</b:section>
</div>

</div></div> 


<p class='credits'><span style='color : #987654; '>
designer : anniebluesky : </span>
<a href='http://bloggeruniversity.blogspot.com/'>
<span style='color : #987654;'>www.bloggeruniversity.blogspot.com</span></a></p>


</body>
</html>

07/23/08: Fixed a problem with header.

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Friday, 25 January 2008

How to Change the Post Text Size Only

Fearful of running this subject in the ground, I'm at it again. Reason being is I'm on the edge of OCD and this is what I do :-) In BlogU I explain changes I make to a template. And I like things to be written out in no uncertain terms.

While designing Pink Stitches I wanted to change the post font size only. Not the date font size or anything else tied into that code. So, I modified the code from this series of posts:

The following instructions will allow you to change the size of the post text only. Open your Dashboard | Template | Edit HTML. Look for the /* Variable definitions section. Add this code to that section:

<Variable name="postfont" description="Post Font" type="font" default="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif" value="normal normal 113% Verdana, sans-serif"></variable>

Next find the post section of the CSS style sheet.

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
}

Add this line to it:

.post {
margin:.5em 0 1.5em;
border-bottom:1px dotted $bordercolor;
padding-bottom:1.5em;
font: $postfont;
}

Save your template. Once again go back to your Dashboard | Template | Fonts and Colors. There will be a new listing in the scroll box called Post Font. Now changes can be made to the post font with only a click!

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Sunday, 20 January 2008

Blogger XML Template - Pink Stitches

Label Cloud
Stylized blockquotes
Custom favicon
Post, sidebar and footer section
Post title image

The header in this template needs to be customized with the blog title. Tutorial: Custom Header for Blogger Using GIMP will show you how.

And remember...

Need help? It is just a click away!

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Saturday, 12 January 2008

Using a Calendar Icon as the Post Date Header

But since we're on the subject of the date header. Have you been able to figure out (or maybe seen somewhere) how people add the caledar icon next to the date header?

It's usually a graphic behind the month and date to the left of the date header. Like:
JAN
---
10

WOW, this was not an easy task. At least for me. Sometimes it is just an uphill struggle. But, I stuck with it and won.

Of course, I found help from two places: Orangevolt for the calendar code and Euphorish for the icons, which I resized to fit this code. Many thanks to them for all their work. You can read about it on their site, or follow the instructions that I've simplified below.

So, let's get started.

Open the Dashboard | Settings | Formatting
Locate the Date Header Format and set it to YYYY-MM-DD (2008-01-12)
Save settings.

That gives the correct date format to work with this script. Let's continue.

Open the Dashboard | Template | Edit HTML.
Check the Expand Widgets Template box.
Find the <head> tag and paste the following code under it:


<script src='http://anniebluesky.googlepages.com/fastinit.js'/>
<script src='http://anniebluesky.googlepages.com/prototype-1.5.0.js'/>
<script src='http://anniebluesky.googlepages.com/orangevolt-calendar.js'/>
<link href='http://anniebluesky.googlepages.com/calendar.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css'/>

So far so good!

Next you will locate this code in your template: <data:post.dateHeader/> and replace it with:

<h2 class='date-header'>
<data:post.dateHeader/>
</h2>

This is pretty painless, isn't it. Last step. This is where you can customize the font used, color of font, float the icon to the left or right, and where you add your calendar image. In the CSS Style Sheet, add this code:

/* Calendar
----------------------------------------------- */
span.cal {
background:transparent url('CALENDAR IMAGE. URL') no-repeat scroll 0%;
float:left;
height:49px;
width:48px;
font-family:"Trebuchet MS",Tahoma,Arial;
font-size-adjust:none;
font-style:normal;
font-variant:normal;
font-weight:normal;
margin-right: 13px;
}

span.cal_month {
color:#FFFFFF;
display:block;
font-size:11px;
line-height:11px;
margin-left:-3px;
padding-top:2px;
text-align:center;
text-transform:uppercase;
}

span.cal_day {
color:#999999;
display:block;
font-size:18px;
line-height:18px;
margin-left:-3px;
padding-top:8px;
text-align:center;
text-transform:uppercase;
}

If you have a calendar icon upload it to your webhost (I use Ripway). Put your Calendar Image.URL in the above code. Or, download this set of icons and take your pick. It looks like candy!! This set of calendar icons will make your blog POP!

Download

Friday, 11 January 2008

Choices for Post Body Fonts

...For example:

I've been trying to add the Gothic Century (?) font to a blog template with little luck. I'd like the Sidebar title to be that Gothic font and the sidebar body to be Trebuchet. And say the post title font to be Gothic as well but with the Verdana font of the post body.

Further more I'd like to be able to have the sidebar body font at say a 10pt and the post body font at a 15pt, just as an example.

This was but one of the questions from Mr. Brown Thumb, my gardening friend in Chicago. As it turns out, while I was busy working on another project, another friend, Hans, came up with an easy solution. I must be living right!

I'll put Hans' solution here. He states that you can define an extra bodyfont-class in your CSS style sheet, for example:

.extrabodyfont {
font: Arial;
font-size: 1.2em;
color: #800080;}

Now, when you want a to use this font in a post, wrap the text inside span tags like this:

<span class="extrabodyfont">your text here</span>

This little piece of code has the added benefit of allowing you to change the size and color of the font also!

Another added bonus. If you are really fickle and want even more extrabody font choices, start labeling the classes .extrabodyfont1, .extrabodyfont2 etc. Then make changes to the class:

.extrabodyfont1{
font: Georgia;
font-size: 1.2em;
color: #800080;}

Then when posting,make sure to choose the corresponding span class.

<span class="extrabodyfont1">your text here</span>

The possibilities are endless!!

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Sunday, 6 January 2008

Change the Date Header Font Easily

If I do it through the blogger feature it doesn't really work. The sidebar title is a large font like I want, but look how date/time enlarges with it.

The other thing I've been trying to figure out is how to have 2 different body fonts with different title fonts.

MrBrownThumb, I have an answer for the first question, but the next one will have to wait. I have a bowl of ice-cream with my name on it! I have priorities, after all.

Open your Dashboard | Template | Edit HTML. Place this code in the /*Variable definitions area.

<Variable name="dateheaderfont" description="Date Header Font" type="font" default="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif" value="normal normal 78% 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, Sans-serif"></variable>

Now in the CSS style sheet, find this code:

h2.date-header {
margin:1.5em 0 .5em;
}

Add this font: $dateheaderfont; to make it look something like this (depending on your blog template):

h2.date-header {
margin:1.5em 0 .5em;
font: $dateheaderfont;
}

When you open the Fonts and Colors tab, you will see in the scroll box the Date Header Font. This will change the font, size and color of the date header only.

Next time I will address your other question if I can figure it out. And I will put up a little Sidebar Title Font tutorial also.

post signature

Blogger xml Template - Snow Below

Hide/Show labels
Hide/Show links
Styled blockquotes
Custom favicon
Post, sidebar and footer section

And remember...

Need help? It is just a click away!

post signature