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Disadvantages Of "Blogger Template Designer" Templates - SOFTWARE BAZAR

in , - on 09:50 - No comments
Template-DesignerShould you use the Designer templates provided by Blogger? This is a popular question today. The most logical answer to it is that what seems attractive from outside doesn't necessarily has to be attractive inside also. The beautiful design templates that many bloggers have started using though seem good in look and feel and easy to edit using the "Template Designer" functionality but there are some serious drawbacks and problems link to them which you must know. I have listed all the possible disadvantages below.

Excessive Use Of Dynamic Coding & Variables

Blogger Templates are designed using CSS and HTML and programmed with XML and JavaScript. All unofficial templates use these basic languages to create a blogger template. These coding can easily be edited, understood and played with. All MBT tools and tutorials are based on these basic coding. The new Blogger templates however is using a more difficult and complex dynamic language which is responsible for providing the users with easy software  editing option. i.e. The users can edit the font colors, sizes, link colors, background colors etc using the Template Designer Tool. Though it may sound good but the drawback of these auto options is that your entire template style sheet properties are declared using variables.
  • In easy words a variable links several part of your CSS together and if you change the variable value the effect will be applied to each and every CSS class. In short for Newbie bloggers and even for us, editing the template becomes tough as you don't see constant values rather weird symbols like these:
/* Header
----------------------------------------------- */
.header-outer {
  background: $(header.background.color) $(header.background.gradient) repeat-x scroll top left;
  _background-image: none;
  color: $(header.text.color);
  -moz-border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
  -webkit-border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
  -goog-ms-border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
  border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
}
.Header img, .Header #header-inner {
  -moz-border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
  -webkit-border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
  -goog-ms-border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
  border-radius: $(header.border.radius);
}
.header-inner .Header .titlewrapper,
.header-inner .Header .descriptionwrapper {
  padding-left: $(header.padding);
  padding-right: $(header.padding);
}
.Header h1 {
  font: $(header.font);
  text-shadow: 1px 1px 3px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
}
.Header h1 a {
  color: $(header.text.color);
}
.Header .description {
  font-size: 130%;
}


The above class is the CSS code for styling the Header.  You can clearly see the variables indicated by the dollar sign ($) Now suppose if you wish to edit the background image of your header or change the border colours, font style etc. then how can you set the values when everything is in variables? Of course you can do that if you have some prior knowledge of web languages but this would be difficult to new bloggers.
  • The widget code is also programmed differently using Macro:param tags. See this code,
<aside>
          <macro:include id='main-column-left-sections' name='sections'>
            <macro:param default='0' name='num' value='0'/>
            <macro:param default='sidebar-left' name='idPrefix'/>
            <macro:param default='sidebar' name='class'/>
            <macro:param default='true' name='includeBottom'/>
          </macro:include>
          </aside>

This is the new way of adding dynamic tags to your widgets so that they could be edited directly using "Template designer". Previously the widget <b:section> tags were used which was easy to understand and replace as compared to this.
  • Further simple tags like <body> has been messed up into something like this,
<body expr:class='&quot;loading&quot; + data:blog.mobileClass'>
In all blogger tutorials we always mention <body> tag and it will now turn a headache for new bloggers to find the same <body> tag in the new template designs.

Conclusion:

In a nut shell as a web designer myself I can only advise you all to kindly stick to custom templates which are far better coded and optimized compared to blogger templates. With custom templates you have complete command over your layout coding and doesn't have to reply on the template Designer tool. You can apply all blogger tutorial tricks to your custom templates easily and can better implement them. I felt it important to discuss this topic as most of you were facing problems in applying the tuts and tricks. Hope this make things clear.
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LK MAGAZINE V3 PRemium Blogger Templates For Free

in - on 07:26 - No comments
Template Features

  • Column: 4 Columns/3 Sidebars/Right Sidebars/Left Sidebar
  • Fixed Width Template (1000px width)
  • 2 Horizontal Navigation Menus
  • Auto Read More Feature with Thumbnails.
  • 468*60 Header Ads banner
  • 125*125 Sidebar Banners
  • 468*60 Header Logo with the PSD file and Fonts.
  • 1 CSS Search Box
  • 1 Multi Tab View Widget installed.
  • 1 Featured Auto content slider installed.
  • 3 Column Footer section
  • Facebook Like Button installed.
  • SEO friendly blogger title hack installed to help you rank higher in Google
  • Blogger Default Heading Tag has Changed for better SEO
  • Meta tags installed
  • Top Bar with Feed buttons and Display Day,Month,Year
  • Hosted images on blogger. Free use forever!
  • Favicon support so you can add your own url icon
  • Compressed CSS to speed up your page load times
  • Embedded JavaScript date code showing current day
  • Built-in Related Posts Widget to show Related posts
  • Numbered Page Navigation Hack Installed
  • Replace "Older Posts","Home","Newer Posts" Text Navigation with Images
  • Automatically highlight author comments
  • Modified Comments Section to Enable Avatars in Blogger Comments
Template Customization
Basic Template Installation:
1.First download the template and unzip the file.
2.Now, sign in to Blogger dashboard and click on the layout.
3.Here is the important step, after uploading any new Blogger template, all of the previous widgets like your google adsense ads,text,profile,poll,etc etc will be lost.
So, to avoid this to happen, in this step click on 'edit' on all the widgets and copy the codes into notepad,etc.
4.Now click on the 'Edit html' tab
5.First of all please Download Full Template.This is to back up your present template.If the new template that you are going to upload makes/gets into some errors or if you make more complex errors in that,then you will loose everthing.So make sure that you back up your template.
6.Just below that,there's an option of uploading new template.So, use the Browse button and upload the downloaded xml file.
7.Now, a message appear saying that your widgets are about to be deleted.Click on the Confirm & Save (no problem doing this because we already copied the widget codes in Step 3).
8.Now click on "confirm and save".Now you successfully installed the template.
8.Click on the 'Page elements' page now and add the codes that you copied in step3 using the 'Add a Page Element' option.
Configure Meta tags
Login to your blogger dashboard--> layout- -> Edit HTML.Now Scroll down to where you see below codes :
<meta content='DESCRIPTION HERE' name='description'/><meta content='KEYWORDS HERE' name='keywords'/>
Replace DESCRIPTION HERE,KEYWORDS HERE as below.
DESCRIPTION HERE:Write your blog description
KEYWORDS HERE:Write the keywords of your blog separated by comma.
Configure First and Second Navigation Bar
Login to your blogger dashboard--> layout- -> Edit HTML.Now Scroll down to where you see below code :
<li><a href='Your-Link-Here' title='Link-Title'>Link-Name-X</a>
Now Replace Your-Link-Here,Link-Title,Link-Name-X with your details.

Configure Header logo
Login to your blogger dashboard--> layout- -> Edit HTML.Now Scroll down to where you see below line :
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlo-QXkIdoQ46M0vJyaY0dDuwhRlTcQwuOttbWfxxO69o66M1qlISf9p0e7YuYS2DUzpowrxDIMF6DZe0mYDpbwpQDL2UPEcnxAFpR47nseJJoFwjae9pYNSJPxdWNRVpKT49uFLUARCY/+Magazine+v3+logo.png
Now replace it with your logo address/url.
Configure Subscription Box:
Add this code into the HTML/JavaScript box.
<div class='subsboxfull'>

<a href='your-twitter-url' rel='nofollow' target='_blank' title='twitter'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih0o7gIZ5LREQF7Ib4XrLYz3Svej4Pb2lCHyOrj8Vqks2ShOxcY-xeRhif8Yk6QW1_k3vuBCBzLtZJ8bUIZhx2g5NKcfg3PVzR-Ot1a7dvLg5zHaBQ5evOV8wgKtBzXq80pYHvxulZNNk/" /></a>

<a href='your-facebook-url' rel='nofollow' target='_blank' title='facebook'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil9GbSvoubqu9W1wGz3pKG8MQSq6mNg9jeRL4XF_DtwdhlpEJ2xKnQzaKJG9jq3mwNat5yDhtOLSgzNPlUJZWwAJrR7fTf8pzk0Ilbr0rw26rP0ha_CrzyjyKUIU9K6dds4VlFTGlmeYY/s1600/facebook--box.png" /></a>

<a href='your-delicious-url' rel='nofollow' target='_blank' title='delicious'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmmUv5ItvPVRsPwlSdqsEG6j7WR1KXNhqnph7jPgy2k_IB7JFPVFcAHHUV3viPhfoOiNT9wg64gU6YsnRPYtI9GIyRTOtPQu84kzQPG59RHuBGq37MZNZYWIqa3mU2u89jnt_pX04q1RQ/s1600/delicious-box.png" /></a>

<a href='your-stumbleupon-url' rel='nofollow' target='_blank' title='stumbleupon'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfalRQiXByZyO8SFo58C-M6McG37t0npwVRIJcUQCvDbsFbwBi1wgFPcGruJCIGQOivnFzxjpiq61PBh392HgXA8AvIaUagiWaFuUu-yP3XVRwTzneVl1djmElop_PFaGeWZ4YX3pge20/" /></a>

<a href='your-linkedin-url' title='linkedin'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkIOpUwY-TUQq9nFqKT8rpjRRZjGbVHDPxWgW6Yf4p9addIRfmexMs0qMSjqxBajstIkgdYexkiSOGrpyTpjhg-YKw9Q0QUI_ANBSYOqq-2w6mSjjYOHr_nQouv34G7ldostVOwGpwf-0/" /></a>

<a href='your-contact-url' title='contact'><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3__hj8-ldmUlaa2uV6zIRFcI-cG3eRtSDZvXGg98Aozu2NsSxzRxuncoL8eWTHF3XyOChIWtrk9p_JXYcflk2dqO31tQRgavdRcaaJXz1E-qcxUCW-JiBqpaEGT9igdENLCmOrmKCP0k/" /></a>

<form action='http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID&loc=en_u' method='post' onsubmit='window.open(\'http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID', \'popupwindow\', \'scrollbars=yes,width=550,height=520\');return true' target='popupwindow'><p><input name="email" style="width:230px; border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 5px;" type="text" value="Enter your email address" /></p><input name="uri" type="hidden" /><input name="loc" type="hidden" value="en_US" /></form>

<p><span><a class='rss-boxicon' href='http://feeds2.feedburner.com/YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>RSS</a></span><span><a class='email-boxicon' href='http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID&loc=en_u' rel='nofollow' target='_blank'>Email</a><span><span style="float:right;"><a href='http://feeds.feedburner.com/YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID' rel='nofollow'><img alt="" height="26" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~fc/YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID?bg=ff9900&amp;fg=000033&amp;anim=0" style="border:0;float:right;margin-top:0px;" width="88" /></a></span></span></span></p>

</div>
Now Replace,
your-twitter-url, your-facebook-url, your-delicious-url, your-stumbleupon-url, your-linkedin-url, your-contact-url, YOUR-FEEDBURNER-ID with your details.
Configure Multi Tab view widget:
Add this code into the HTML/JavaScript box.
<div id='tabzine'><ul class='tabnav'><li class='pop'><a href='#tab11'>Video</a></li><li class='fea'><a href='#tab22'>Recent</a></li><li class='rec'><a href='#tab33'>Popular</a></li></ul>

<!-- tab1 --><div class='tabdiv' id='tab11'>

ENTER-TAB-1-CONTENT-HERE

</div><!--/tab1-->

<!-- tab2 --><div class='tabdiv' id='tab22'>

ENTER-TAB-2-CONTENT-HERE

</div><!-- tab2 -->

<!-- tab3 --><div class='tabdiv' id='tab33'>

ENTER-TAB-3-CONTENT-HERE

</div><!-- /tab3 -->

</div>
Now Replace,
ENTER-TAB-1-CONTENT-HERE, ENTER-TAB-2-CONTENT-HERE, ENTER-TAB-3-CONTENT-HERE with your contents.
How To Add Search Box
Add this code into the HTML/JavaScript box.
<div id='search' style='display:inline;'><form action='/search' id='searchform' method='get'><input id="s" name="q" type="text" value="" /><input id="searchsubmit" type="submit" value="Search" /></form></div>
How To Configure Favicon:
Login to your blogger dashboard--> layout- -> Edit HTML.Now Scroll down to where you see below code :
<link href='YOUR-FAVICON-URL' rel='shortcut icon' type='image/vnd.microsoft.icon'/>
Now replace "YOUR-FAVICON-URL" with your Favicon address/url.
Configure Featured Content Slider:
Add this code into the HTML/JavaScript box.
<script type="text/javascript">stepcarousel.setup({galleryid: 'mygallery', //id of carousel DIVbeltclass: 'belt', //class of inner "belt" DIV containing all the panel DIVspanelclass: 'panel', //class of panel DIVs each holding contentautostep: {enable:true, moveby:1, pause:3000},panelbehavior: {speed:500, wraparound:true, persist:true},defaultbuttons: {enable: true, moveby: 1, leftnav: ['https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3AK7qbv3rm-6zWkQl3sSkhVPBfz0KmyQ0IstuEnrp4h_NLW8TPQzpvP4lnHfSkMBdrGq4A8lW42jXwYls14OIxYLXVT_gj90ya23Mc9DCW5xu3bwBkDv-MC3KyZ2ljce_cuzwxSL9k4/', -29, 90], rightnav: ['https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNr0VFz0ev4-2s5fwEBcFdR1SKjl1dl3nwFg0ft5eZ-OEQIaYnkYIDRNa0ol_AwVBnIWzZ5JGTLBjy-j_Fjd1SBEEve3ADjb3-7ZcRKqjGmmbehjUdDLRb2uyTK7ImT49Tifxrhyphenhyphendpys/s1600/fleche2.png', -18, 90]},statusvars: ['statusA', 'statusB', 'statusC'], //register 3 variables that contain current panel (start), current panel (last), and total panelscontenttype: ['inline'] //content setting ['inline'] or ['external', 'path_to_external_file']})

</script>

<div id="slider"><div id="mygallery" class="stepcarousel"><div class="belt">

<div class="panel"><img src="Slider-1-Image-Address-Here" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-1-Link-Here">Slider-1-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Enter-Slider-1-Description-Here</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="Slider-2-Image-Address-Here" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-2-Link-Here">Slider-2-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Enter-Slider-2-Description-Here</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="Slider-3-Image-Address-Here" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-3-Link-Here">Slider-3-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Enter-Slider-3-Description-Here</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="Slider-4-Image-Address-Here" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-4-Link-Here">Slider-4-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Enter-Slider-4-Description-Here</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="Slider-5-Image-Address-Here" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-5-Link-Here">Slider-5-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Enter-Slider-5-Description-Here</p></div>

</div></div></div>

<div style='border-top:1px solid #050505;border-bottom:1px solid #353434;height:0px;width:100%;'/></div>
Now Replace Slider-X-Image-Address-Here, Slider-X-Link-Here, Slider-5-Title-Here, Enter-Slider-5-Description-Here with your contents.Look at the example below:
<script type="text/javascript">stepcarousel.setup({galleryid: 'mygallery', //id of carousel DIVbeltclass: 'belt', //class of inner "belt" DIV containing all the panel DIVspanelclass: 'panel', //class of panel DIVs each holding contentautostep: {enable:true, moveby:1, pause:3000},panelbehavior: {speed:500, wraparound:true, persist:true},defaultbuttons: {enable: true, moveby: 1, leftnav: ['https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR3AK7qbv3rm-6zWkQl3sSkhVPBfz0KmyQ0IstuEnrp4h_NLW8TPQzpvP4lnHfSkMBdrGq4A8lW42jXwYls14OIxYLXVT_gj90ya23Mc9DCW5xu3bwBkDv-MC3KyZ2ljce_cuzwxSL9k4/', -29, 90], rightnav: ['https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKNr0VFz0ev4-2s5fwEBcFdR1SKjl1dl3nwFg0ft5eZ-OEQIaYnkYIDRNa0ol_AwVBnIWzZ5JGTLBjy-j_Fjd1SBEEve3ADjb3-7ZcRKqjGmmbehjUdDLRb2uyTK7ImT49Tifxrhyphenhyphendpys/s1600/fleche2.png', -18, 90]},statusvars: ['statusA', 'statusB', 'statusC'], //register 3 variables that contain current panel (start), current panel (last), and total panelscontenttype: ['inline'] //content setting ['inline'] or ['external', 'path_to_external_file']})

</script>

<div id="slider"><div id="mygallery" class="stepcarousel"><div class="belt">

<div class="panel"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLZCoyQ7jccU2ljFYO2bSYUNZtdIgltDGCxOO5M1wbwXQzv7gvDRRi4cMQqnJcV8iTGNnAjjC_ecMaauDqhZly_JKcaFUgarQmJXVMvSdfT2qCbyeL51w6fsCvK3OX0kb-Fk-rvkZQl4Q/s1600/slide1.jpg" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-1-Link-Here">Slider-1-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. Aenean massa. Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. Nulla consequat massa quis enim.</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEnnC87qbcVL4j8ptEiVO5ddCmzteoOOUs3qPvSE-wpgoCd7KRQQAW1BaB7QAxzZl3Ujc1VsPrkfaq0vpV8V7Fj40HdI4YudjFfJxl3J4vYPvfygl_Ow_iGANQrWX84-xxKkZR5XjEJs/s1600/slide2.jpg" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-2-Link-Here">Slider-2-Title-Here</a></h2><p>In enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. Nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. Integer tincidunt. Cras dapibus. Vivamus elementum semper nisi. Aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. Aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. Aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. Phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet.</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxp8bDTZtuNOLt7Qg5Y-4nz8T9XZuWIgjeXF7o5pY7CZno6d2sr3p2gcDUh_RcQtVCCd_ABq8buHC-JNBHw0weDNdq2Wdeo046N8wcjZ8fENN8F7NUwTMjUGagaslTlwrBiwMsCAnmcY/s1600/slide3.jpg" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-3-Link-Here">Slider-3-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Aenean imperdiet. Etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. Curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. Nam eget dui. Etiam rhoncus. Maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. Nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem.</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOvDIiTBpo9f9ycryQbuv0vUI8lVwvk_uk9k171U82LNappQTbOFRNiJ3Nu5FYrhzik2NIfAb23pxOpsYQ0jOPJIp3CjXAs9dkA_nE7pbyrCdzy-dYFYujb0I4vC6hJqZiWj4kAH0X6as/s1600/slide4.jpg" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-4-Link-Here">Slider-4-Title-Here</a></h2><p> dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. Nam pretium turpis et arcu. Duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. Sed aliquam ultrices mauris. Integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. Praesent adipiscing. Phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. Nunc nonummy metus. Vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. Cras id dui.</p></div>

<div class="panel"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cFA6gtakqujn60A4vURBLC9KjrOLXadxbdwY-YL2Zxvobhv_2GLm_Jijd-zBNWxwzxz2L2mrr033T_rLtjm6VnSnGixEirU7Gy8f17-8cPzSIaptQEZBupVnW7EfTdV5RLhC5yAcjU0/s1600/slide5.jpg" alt="" /><h2><a href="Slider-5-Link-Here">Slider-5-Title-Here</a></h2><p>Aenean tellus metus, bibendum sed, posuere ac, mattis non, nunc. Vestibulum fringilla pede sit amet augue. In turpis. Pellentesque posuere. Praesent turpis. Aenean posuere, tortor sed cursus feugiat, nunc augue blandit nunc, eu sollicitudin urna dolor sagittis lacus.</p></div>

</div></div></div>

<div style='border-top:1px solid #050505;border-bottom:1px solid #353434;height:0px;width:100%;'/></div>
Configure "Blog Posts" Widget
Login to your blogger dashboard--> layout- -> Page elements.Click on "Edit" form "Blog Posts" Section.Now change it value as the picture below:

Important !!!:
Please do not remove the footer credit. I spend several hours to create this blogger template. So that you can use it for your blog. All I ask is, stay the credit intact.
License:
This free Blogger template is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License,which permits both personal and commercial use.
However, to satisfy the 'attribution' clause of the license, you are required to keep the footer links intact which provides due credit to its authors. For more specific details about the license, you may visit the URL below:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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