- Choosing a New Template
- Switching to a Third-Party Template
- Customizing Fonts and Colors
- Creating an Image Header
- Adding Gadgets to the Sidebar
Switching to a Third-Party Template
You’re not limited to these built-in Blogger templates, however. There are a lot of third-party templates out there on the websearch Google for “blogger templates” to see what I mean. You can also find a variety of Blogger templates at the following websites (Figure 2):
- Blog Crowds (http://www.blogcrowds.com/resources/blogger-templates/)
- Blogger Templates Blog (http://www.bloggertemplatesblog.com)
- BTemplates (http://www.btemplates.com)
- PYZAM (http://www.pyzam.com/bloggertemplates/)
Figure 2 Some of the templates available from BTemplates.
Many of these third-party templates are free to download and use. They’re typically offered in raw HTML code, often in a ZIP file that includes any accompanying graphics.
Switching to a third-party template is a little more complex than choosing a built-in template; it’s a matter of uploading HTML code. You start by opening the Blogger Dashboard and clicking the Layout link for your blog. When the Layout tab appears, click the Edit HTML sub-tab; this displays the Edit Template page.
Go to the Backup/Restore section of this page and click the Browse button. When the Open dialog box appears, navigate to and select the template file you've previously downloaded, then click the Open button. When you return to the Edit Template page, click the Upload button.
You can now click the Preview button to see how the new template looks. If you like what you see, click the Save Template button to activate the new template.