Beautify your Blog: How to Upload a Custom Blogger Template

1:20:00 PM

This is the final tutorial in a the Beautify your Blog series of tutorials I've been writing for the last 3 months here at Sew at Home Mummy.

I'll be covering how to upload a custom Blogger template to your blog. If you've been following along with the tutorials and modifying a 'test' blog and not your 'real' blog, this will show you how to move the changes over to your 'real' blog.

As always, please read the disclosure statement from Week 1. Also, I highly suggest you go through the tutorials week by week, in order, as each week builds on information learned in the previous week's tutorial(s). 



Sew at Home Mummy

1. Start Here

8. Sidebars (Pt 1)
9. Sidebars (Pt 2)

Note:
Any sidebar content you've added or modified on your test blog will need to be manually copied over to your real blog - uploading the customized template won't move these (for example, any blog buttons you've added, widgets, custom sidebar titles, etc. - you'll need to go into each widget, copy the content, and paste said content/code into an appropriate widget on your 'real' blog).

So what if I haven't been following along, but have found a downloadable template online which I'd like to use on my blog?

There are plenty of online sites which offer free 'custom' Blogger templates for anyone to download and use. 

A Google search of "Free Blogger Templates" reveals a plethora of gorgeous freebies floating around the web.

The webistes I'm most familiar with (becuase when I was starting out, I used their templates or buttons) are:

Leelou Blogs
The Cutest Blog on the Block
Shabby Blogs

...but there are hundreds of sites out there with free, super pretty templates for you to download for your site.

There's also the option to have someone design your blog template for you - or, to pay for a pre-made, more custom look. Check out Etsy.com for this option - there are a tonne of graphic designers there, charging really reasonable prices for fantastic work.


1. Backing Up Your Blog
If you're planning on uploading a new template, be it one you've downloaded to use, or one from a 'Test' blog you've been editing, please back-up your original blog before making any modifications.

We covered this in the very first week's tutorial - but here is the video once again. 

**If you have been modifying your test blog along the way, and want to now upload your Test Blog's template to be your Real Blog's template, you'll back-up BOTH your Test Template and your Real Blog's template: I would suggest re-naming the files to something really obvious so you don't run the risk of mixing them up - something like:

(test blog's template): Blog Template - NEW version.xml
(real blog's template): Blog Template - OLD version.xml



2. Uploading Your New Template

From your Blogger.com homepage, click the drop down menu beside your Real blog's name - select

Template

on the Template page, select

Backup/Restore

(circled in RED in image below)

A pop-up appears.

Select

Choose file

(circled in GREEN in image below)

in the second pop-up which appears, select the file name of the template you want to upload to your Real Blog - be it one you've created on your Test blog, one you've downloaded from the net for free, or one that you've purchased.


click

Open

then in the previous dialogue box, click

Upload

There you have it. When you preview your blog, you'll see the new template uploaded.

If you've uploaded a purchased or web template you didn't create, you may have to go into your 

Template

Customize

Advanced

settings to play around a bit with your fonts, margins, etc. And remember, like I said above, you'll have to manually move the content of your sidebar content over from your test blog if need be.


If by chance you don't like the look of your Test blog on your Real blog's page, you can always use the above directions to re-upload your old version of your blog.

I hope you've enjoyed the series. I apologize in the delay in posting this. 

I love to see what you're doing - make sure to share a link with me with your new blog look in the comments below. If you have questions, feel free to email me and I'll try my best to point you in the right direction.

Thanks for playing along, and I hope you found this information useful!

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4 comments

  1. Erin, you have shared a TREMENDOUS amount of information in this series! It is so generous of you to write these tutorials! I plan on making good use of them when I build a little more nerve to customize the SGQ site. Thank you so much and rock on!

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  2. O. M. G. Erin!!! Have I mentioned how much I love you!!! You are so totally awesome. I've got my real blog set now. I still have some pages to build and things to adjust but I love it!! Thanks for being an awesome teacher! (And I really hope you're feeling better!) *quilty hugs*

    http://aquiltingchick.blogspot.com/

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  3. Thanks for all the posts! Without your tips and tricks my blog wouldn't look as snazzy as it does!

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  4. I still haven't even used all your tips and teachings but as I read them I find them invaluable. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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