Change Blog Post and Sidebar Width of a Blogger Theme

In today's Blogger tutorial I discuss how to change column width of both the sidebar and the blog post area of a Blogger Theme to either increase or decrease the size of the template displayed on the screen. I show you two methods of adjusting the width of the template: firstly through the Blogger Template Designer and secondly by making a small change to the template itself. These modifications are easy to achieve, only take a few minutes and will help you achieve the look you are after on your Blogspot Blog.

Older Default Blogger Themes

By default older Blogger templates eg Simple Blogger Theme were not full width but there was always the facility to increase or decrease the width of the columns of template according to user requirements. In the past it was recommended to keep the width of a Blogger blog under 1000px to ensure that visitors viewing on smaller screens did not have to keep scrolling to see the whole blog. Those days are gone now with responsive templates and the use of small devices like tablets and smartphones so it is fine to increase the entire width of your blog to 100% if you wish to.

Third Party Blogger Themes

If you are using a third party theme you may not be able to use the Blogger theme designer to adjust widths depending on how it was coded. You will still be able to use Method 2 as discussed below to make adjustments to the column width of the entire blog and / or the sidebar.

Newer Responsive Blogger Themes (Contempo, Soho, Emporio)

Newer responsive Blogger templates eg Notable Blogger template are already set at 100% width minus the sidebar so there is generally no need for tweaking the width.

How to Adjust the Column Width of Blogger Blogs

There are two basic ways to adjust the width of a Blogger template / Blogger Theme:

1. Adjusting the width in Theme Designer of Blogger (or if this is not available)


2. Changing the code within the Blogger template to the desired width

Method 1: Steps to Change the Width of a Blogger Template in the Theme Designer

1. Login to Blogger


2. At the Dashboard choose Theme


3. Click on the orange Customize button which will take you to the Blogger Theme Designer


4. On the left-hand menu click Adjust Widths





5. Adjust the width using the slider to increase or decrease the width of the entire blog. Any changes you make can be viewed in the large window on the right-hand side.
   For example: To make your blog full width push the slider all the way across to 1500px.
   


6. You can also change the width of the sidebar. By sliding the bar to the right you can increase the column size of the sidebar dimensions to a maximum width of 500px.


7. Click on the Save button in the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.

Method 2: Steps to Change the Width of a Blogger Template in Blogger Edit HTML

If you are not able to edit the width of your Blogger template in Theme Designer then you will need to adjust the widths manually in the template itself.

1. Login to Blogger


2. At the Dashboard choose Theme


3. Click on the down facing arrow next to the orange Customize button


4. Choose Backup to make copy of your existing template in case you need to reinstae it


5. Now choose Edit HTML


6. Click anywhere inside the template and then CTRL + F (Command + F on a Mac) to bring up the search function


7. Enter the following search term into the search window and press enter:
   
   
   b:template-skin


8. Look for the following code:
   
   

   <b:template-skin>
   <b:variable default='960px' name='content.width' type='length' value='960px'/>
   <b:variable default='0' name='main.column.left.width' type='length'/>
   <b:variable default='310px' name='main.column.right.width' type='length'/>
   
   



9. Change the value of the content width of the template to whatever width you would like eg for an entire blog width of 1200px the code would look as follows:
   
   

   <b:template-skin>
   <b:variable default='960px' name='content.width' type='length' value='1200px'/>
   <b:variable default='0' name='main.column.left.width' type='length'/>
   <b:variable default='310px' name='main.column.right.width' type='length'/>
   
   



10. To change the sidebar width (assuming you have a right sidebar) change the main.column.right.width to a new width by changing its value or adding a value if not already there as in this example. eg For a sidebar of 500px the code would look like this:

    <b:template-skin>
    <b:variable default='960px' name='content.width' type='length' value='960px'/>
    <b:variable default='0' name='main.column.left.width' type='length'/>
    <b:variable default='310px' name='main.column.right.width' type='length' value='500px'/>
    



11. Click on the Save icon in the top right-hand corner to save your changes.


12. From the Dashboard click on View Blog to see your Blogger template with the widths you have input.

In this Blogger tutorial you have learned how to change the column width size of your Blogger template to increase or decrease the width of the entire blog and the sidebar. Changes to the width of the columns is best achieved by using the Blogger Template Designer but if this not available for some reason I have also shown you how to adjust the width manually by making small changes to the HTML of your Blogger template.

Related Articles

Easy Way to Put Banners on a Blogger Blog
Add a Widget or Gadget Above a Blog Post in Blogger
How to Delete a Blogspot Blog from Blogger - Step-by-Step Guide to Remove a Blog
How to Add a Welcome Message to the Blogger Homepage
How to Add a Blog Description to the Blogger Header of a Blogspot Blog

How to Delete a Blogspot Blog from Blogger 2022 (Step-by-Step Guide to Remove a Blog)

In this Blogger tutorial I discuss how to delete a Blogspot blog from the Google Blogger platform. This is not a difficult task but I suggest that unless you are absolutely sure you will never use the content of your blog for any other purpose and you definitely want to remove your blog that you at least backup before deletion. It is possible to restore a deleted Blogger blog if you change your mind within a 90 day period but thereafter a deleted Blogspot blog is gone forever.

How to Delete a Blogspot Website Permanently from the Blogger Platform (Easy Steps)

When a blog is deleted from the Blogger platform the blog owner has a 90 day period in which the blog can be recovered before it is permanently deleted. To delete a Blogspot website from Blogger follow these simple steps:

1. Sing in to Blogger and select blog to delete
2. Click on Settings from the Dashboard
3. Then click Manage Settings
4. Choose Remove Your Blog
5. Download a copy of the content of your blog in xml format (optional)
6. Select Delete

See my step-by-step guide to deleting a Blogger blog below for a detailed walkthrough.

How to Delete a Multiple Blogspot Websites Permanently from Blogger

Unfortunately there is no tool to manage deleting multiple blogs from Blogger. If you have several blogs that you want to delete at the same time you will need to delete each one individually using the methods shown.

How to Delete a Blogger Account

If you want to delete a Blogger blog follow the steps outlined above and in the step-by-step walkthrough below. If however you want to delete your Google account which includes your gmail this is a different process.

Reasons to Remove or Delete a Blogger Blog

There are a lot of reasons to choose to remove or delete a blog from the Blogger platform some of which are:

• Your blog is not viable
• The content of your blog is too old and you can't be bothered to refresh it
• The blog takes too much work
• You blog is not making enough money to make it worth the effort
• You want to transfer your blog to Wordpress or another website platform like Wix or Squarespace

These are good reasons to consider deletion of a Blogspot blog. However, if your are deleting Blogger not because you have lost interest but because you have struck a problem, technical or otherwise, then deletion may not be the best solution.

If you are still keen to maintain your blog but it has just not succeeded as you would have liked or you are unsure about deleting it and looking for advice then I suggest you first take a look at my upcoming article in which I discuss a variety of scenarios about whether or not to delete a Blogger blog in each of these situations.

Steps to Delete a Blogspot Blog from Blogger

1. Login to Blogger


2. From the Dashboard click on Settings


3. Scroll down to Manage Settings






4. Click on the Remove Your Blog link


5. A pop up window will appear.


• Click on the Download blog link to download a copy of your blog in xml format. Note this not a readable copy of your blog.


• If you would like a copy of your blog posts as a memento or to turn into a book refer to my Blogger Tutorial on How to Convert Blog Posts in Blogger into a PDF document and Make Your Blogger Blog Posts into a Book.





6. Once ready to delete select the Delete button in the pop up window to delete your blog. Google reminds you that you have 90 days change of heart period in which you can restore your blog. Thereafter your blog is deleted and gone for good.

For step-by-step instructions on how to restore or recover a deleted blog please go my Blogger tutorial how to restore a deleted Blogger blog.

Today's Blogger tutorial has covered how to delete a blog from Blogger. It has also included instructions on how to back up your blog prior to deletion. Blogger makes it possible to restore a deleted blog within 90 days of deletion just in case.

#deleteblogspotblog #deleteblogspot #deleteblogger

Related Articles

How to Remove the Date Header From Blogger Posts
How to Delete Locked Blogger Widgets and Fix Blogger Widgets Not Showing
Remove Blogger Labels Counter or Turn On Counter in a Blogspot Blog

How to Change the Date of Blog Posts in Blogger

Blogspot gives content creators on the Blogger platform the option to change the date of any blog post. This means that it is possible to both postdate a blog post to sometime in the future or backdate a Blogger post to a date in the near or distant past. In this Blogger tutorial I show you how to change the date of a blog post in Blogger for both old articles and new posts and discuss reasons why changing dates needs to be done with care.

You will learn about:

Backdating a Blog Post in Blogger
Steps to Backdate an Existing Blog Post in Blogger
Scheduling or Post Dating Blog Posts in Blogger
Steps to Schedule or Post Date Blog Posts in Blogger

Backdate Blog Posts in Blogger

Blogger gives you the option to backdate a blog post to any date as far back as about 1970. Postdating blog posts has to be done with care though and should not be overused. The main reason for this is that SEO can be detrimentally affected as Google's algorithm is weighted to some degree toward fresh content.

However if you need to have your blog posts in chronological order for some reason backdating posts is a great way to achieve this. If you have a bunch of old articles you want to refresh and then publish on a current or recent date Blogger will allow you do this too.

For more information on backdating blog posts in Blogger check out my article How to Backdate Blogger Posts or Publish Articles on a Retrospective Date

Steps to Change the Date of an Existing Blog Post in Blogger

1. Log in to Blogger


2. Click on Posts and scroll to find the existing post you want to change the date of


3. Open the Post by clicking on it. The Blogger Post Editor will open.


4. On the right-hand side of the Compose Box in the editor you will see a menu - click on Published


5. Select the Set Date and Time radio button


6. Use the calendar to set a retropective date


7. If you need to change the time click on it and select a new time from the drop-down box that opens


8. Click the orange Update button save the change of date


9. Click Preview to make sure the date and time are showing correctly

Postdate, Schedule or Future Date Blog Posts in Blogger

If you would like to publish your blog post on a date in the future you can do this by scheduling the blog post date to any date of your choosing. Blogger will publish your blog article on the date and time when it rolls around.

The facility to postdate Blogger posts is useful for those on a busy schedule. Improve your productivity and efficiency by planning ahead of time and publishing posts in advance. This is particularly useful if you are going on vacation and do not want to disrupt your posting schedule.

There are virtually no disadvantages of scheduling posts in advance except perhaps that if you happen to make a mistake on your blog post you may not catch it before it goes live. I suggest you check your article thoroughly before setting it to a future publication date.

For a more in-depth discussion on scheduling blog posts in Blogger please refer to my article on How to Future Date / Schedule Blog Posts to a Specific Date and Time

Steps to Schedule a Future Date for a Blog Post in Blogger

1. Log in to Blogger


2. Create a New Post or Open a Draft Post


3. Select Published from the menu on the right-hand side


4. Select the Set Date and Time radio button


5. Use the calendar to set a future date for your blog post


6. Change the time by clicking on it and selecting the time you would like the post to be published on from the times in the dropdown box


7. Under Preview click Save and finish making other improvements to your blog post


8. When ready to publish click on the orange Publish button


9. From the Dashboard select posts and you will see that your post will be labelled scheduled for the date in the future you selected.

Summary

In this Blogger Tutorial you have learned how to change the date of an existing blog post for a Blogspot blog and how to schedule blog posts to publish on a future date. Also discussed are reasons you might want to change the post date. For SEO reasons backdating posts in Blogger needs to be done with care.

Related Links

How to Schedule a Blog Post to a Future Date in Blogger
How to Backdate Blogger Posts or Publish Articles on a Retrospective Date
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger
How to Put a Twitter Follow Icon Next to Blog Post Title in Blogger
How to Add a Facebook Share Button to Blogger
How to Unlock or Delete Locked Widgets in Blogger
How to Add a Sticky Welcome Message Above Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Welcome Message to the Blogger Homepage

Add a Widget or Gadget Above a Blog Post in Blogger

If you want to add a gadget or widget to Blogspot that displays above the blog posts then read on as in today's Blogger tutorial I explain how to open up the main posts section of a Blogger blog so that more gadgets can be added. Despite involving a small change to the Blogger theme it is not difficult and will only involve less than 5 minutes to unlock the main section so you can begin adding gadgets and widgets to Blogger in the Main Section.

By default Blogger themes on installation do not have the main section open to allow additional gadgets or widgets like a message or a banner to be added. Older default blogger templates have the main section locked in most cases. Therefore, in order to add gadgets the main section needs to be opened manually by tweaking the template. Whether you have a default Blogger theme or a third-party template unlocking the main section will not affect any other function.

Follow this step-by-step tutorial if you want to start adding gadgets in the Blogger posts area like a banner or a welcome message or some other widget. I suggest you also take a look at my other in-related step-by-step Blogger tutorials that show you how to do the following:

Easy Way to Add Banners to Blogger
How to Add a Welcome Message to Blogger
How to Add a Sticky Welcome Message to Blogger

How to Add a Gadget to the Main Posts Section in Blogger

In order to add a gadget or widget like a banner above blog posts in Blogger so that it displays on the homepage and all other blog pages it must first be possible to add a gadget to the main post area.

Check if the Add a Gadget Option in the Main Blogger Posts Section is Displayed

Check whether the Add a Gadget option is available by:

1. From the Dashboard select the Layout menu from the left-hand side menu


2. Scroll down to the Main Section where you will see the Blog Posts gadget in place


3. Check whether the Add a Gadget option is available in the main section.




If the Add a Gadget option is available you can skip
to Step 12

or

If the Add a Gadget option is not available it needs to be unlocked by following the steps below that will first show you how to open the main section and then add the a gadget for affiliate banners, messages and more.





Steps to Open the Main Posts Section in Blogger to Add Extra Gadgets



4. From the Dashboard select Theme from the menu on the left-hand side


5. Click on the down arrow on the orange Customize button


6. Click Backup to back up your template before proceeding then return to the drop down menu under the customize arrow





7. Choose Edit HTML from the drop down list of options


8. Click anywhere in the Blogger template


9. Enter CTRL + F to bring up the search box


10. Enter the search term class='main'
    
    You are looking for these lines:
    
    

    <div id='main-wrapper'>
    <b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>

    
    
11. Replace the no with yes to show add element and save.
    
    The code should now look like this:

    <div id='main-wrapper'>
    <b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='yes'>

    
    
12. Click Save to save the change to your template.


13. Navigate back to the Layout menu from the Dashboard


14. You will now be see the Add a Gadget link in the main blog post section. If for some reason this still isn't showing up then go back to the template and check if there is a maxwidgets attribute in the same line of code. Make sure that the maxwidgets="1" is set a number greater than one eg maxwidgets="2" and then save and go back to Layout again.




Steps to Add a Gadget Above a Blog Post in Blogger



15. To display your message or banner or other widget click on Add a Gadget above Blog Posts


16. Choose the HTML/Javascript gadget or you could choose Text Gadget if no code is being added


17. Paste the code in the content box in the pop up window that appears for the HTML / Javascript gadget.





18. Click on Save


19. Arrange your new gadget in the Main Section by dragging and dropping so that it occurs above the blog posts gadget in the Main Section


20. Click on Preview (eye icon) in the bottom right corner to see your new banner.


21. Click the Save button to apply your changes to the layout

Depending on the gadget you want to add above the blog posts you may find the following Blogger tutorials helpful:

Easy Way to Add Banners to Blogger
How to Add a Welcome Message to Blogger
How to Add a Sticky Welcome Message to Blogger

Today I have shown you how to open up the main posts area in Blogger to accommodate extra gadgets. You have learned how to add an affiliate marketing banner to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) that displays just above the posts on every page.

Related Articles

How to Add a Welcome Message to Blogger
How to Add a Sticky Welcome Message to Blogger
Easy Way to Add Banners to Blogger

How to Backdate a Blogger Post or Publish Article on a Retrospective Date

In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to backdate a Blogger post to a date in the past. This handy Blogger feature allows content creators on the Blogger platform to customize blog posts by setting a user defined publication date for a blog post that is retrospective. Backdating a post is possible for any blog post you are about to publish or for an existing post where you want to change the publication date to an earlier date.

If you are looking for a Blogger Tutorial on how to set a future date you could check out my companion article on how to schedule Blogger Posts for a Specific Date in the Future.

Reasons to Backdate a Published Article or a New Post

It is not difficult to change the date of a blog post to a past date but this feature does need to be used with care. There are times when it can be useful to be able to backdate Blogger posts for example to fill a gap or to fit into a particular blog post timeline if your blog is date sensitve. You might change the dates of a blog post if you are intending to publish your blog as a book and want to tidy up the post dates for reasons of continuity.

Change Date of Blog Posts to Past Date if You Need to Reorder the Timeline

Older Posts Can Be Seen as Less Relevant by Search Engines

Do keep in mind that older posts can potentially get penalized by the Google algorithm as they are viewed as less relevant.This is only an issue up to a point though as search engines are still able to recognize the actual date a post was published despite its timestamping. As a rule of thumb it is best not to overdo the backdating of blog articles unless you have a very specifc reason to do so.

Changing the Date of a Blogger Post Has No Affect on the Permalink

Changing the publication date of an blog article does not affect the permalink which is the URL (blog post address) assigned on publishing a blog post. Do not change the permalink without good reason as any backlinks to that article will be lost and search engines like Google will eventually remove the blog post from the search index. A redirect to handle deleted blog posts or changed permalinks can be set up but this is a subject for a more advanced Blogger tutorial that I will be writing about in the future.

Blogger Posts Can Be Backdated to a Date and Time of Your Choice

Steps to Back Date an Existing Blog Post or to Publish an Article on an Earlier Date

1. (a) Navigate to New Post and Create a Blogger post or
   (b) Open a draft post or
   (c) Open an already published post


2. In the Blogger Post editor click on Published which is in the menu on the right-hand side of the compose box


3. From the two radio buttons: Automatic and Set Time and Date click Set Time and Date and use the calendar that opens to set a date before the current date for your Blogger post


4. (a) Click on Save and Update for an already published article or
   (b) Save from the Preview Drop Down Menu and then Publish to publish a new blog post


5. Click on Posts to then view your post in a list of articles. It will now be timestamped for the date you selected.


6. If you now click on the View button (the eye icon) to view the article you will see that the publication date of the blog post has changed to the date you selected. The date in the permalink which appears in the browser search window remains the same.

#blogspottutorial #bloggertutorial #changedate #blogposts

Summary

In this Blogger Tutorial I have shown you how to backdate a Blogger post and discussed reasons why you might choose to set a date for a Blogger post that is retrospective. There are advantages in selecting a user defined date especially if you are needing to reorder the timeline of your blog posts in Blogger for some reason. As a general rule it is best to keep blog articles current otherwise their relevancy in terms of the Google search engine algorithm can be affected.

Related Links

Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger
How to Put a Twitter Follow Icon Next to Blog Post Title in Blogger
How to Add a Facebook Share Button to Blogger
How to Unlock or Delete Locked Widgets in Blogger
How to Add a Sticky Welcome Message Above Posts in Blogger
How to Add a Welcome Message to the Blogger Homepage
How to Schedule a Blog Post to a Future Date in Blogger
How to Change the Date of Blog Posts in Blogger