How to Change the Color of the Blogger Navbar Menu

This Blogspot tutorial shows you how to change the color of the Blogger Navbar which appears above the header in older Blogger themes when enabled. Changing the color of the Blogger Navbar so that it matches the color scheme of your Blogger blog takes less than a minute and is an easy trick that requires no change to the Blogger code as all changes are done in the Navbar Gadget. Updated April 2022

To go straight to the step-by-step tutorial on how to change the color of the Navbar or read on for details about the Navbar and its purpose.

What is the Blogger Navbar?

The Blogger Navbar is the colored or sometimes transparent search bar menu that appears by default at the top of older Blogger themes above the header. The Navbar provides quick navigation links that make it easy to jump to the Blogger Dashboard, start a new post, access Theme Designer or share a page directly from your live blog.

Blogger Navbar Example

Currently Blogger offers the choice of 6 different Blogger Navbar colors: blue, tan, black, silver, transparent light and transparent dark. Transparent light and transparent dark are the most recent additions. It is uncertain how likely it is that Blogger will continue to offer more color options for the Navbar in the future as Google has announced that it will not be developing the Blogger platform anymore.

The Blogger Navbar Gadget Can be Customized to 6 Different Colors
along with the option to turn it off

Which Blogger Themes Have a Navbar Enabled?

Historically Blogger had the Navbar enabled by default on all blogs however these days the Navbar only displays at the top of a blog on some of the older themes like Simple, Picture Window and Awesome Inc. If you are using a newer theme or have a third party theme it will not show up automatically and would need to be enabled. If you want to know more about how to turn on the Navbar keep reading as this Blogger tutorial covers this too.

If you would like to learn how to remove the Blogger Navbar to stop it showing up I touch on this in this tutorial but for more in-depth coverage of the topic I discuss several methods in my Blogger Tutorial on How to Remove or Disable the Blogger Navbar

How To Change the Color of the Navbar / Search Bar / Menu Bar on Blogger

Below is a step-by-step walkthrough of how to change the color of the menu bar above the header in Blogger.

1. Sign in to Blogger and select the blog you wish to change


2. From the Blogger Dashboard go to Layout Menu


3. Find the Navbar section in Layout typically found at the top in the Blogger Layout Designer.


4. Click the Edit link which appears on the right side of the Navbar Gadget.






Click on the Edit Link to Open the Navbar Gadget
in the Layout Page of Blogger








Former Blogger Navbar Layout Circa 2009
Showing Position of the Edit Button




5. Select the color of your choice by clicking on the radio button on the left side of each color in the pop up Navbar Configuration window that appears.
   
   If you want to turn off the Navbar altogether click on the off radio button found at the bottom of the menu of choices in the Navbar configuration window.





Turn Blogger Navbar Off By Clicking on the Radio Button
at the Bottom of the Navbar Configuration Pop-up Window





6. Once you have made your selection click on the Save Button to save your changes


7. Click View Blog to see the effect of changing the color of the Blogger Navbar to more closely match the design and style of your blog.
   
   Or if you have turned the Blogger Navbar off you will see that the Navbar has disappeared from the top of your blog.

Summary

In today's Blogger Tutorial I have discussed what the Blogger Navbar is, its uses and what Blogger themes have it by default. I have shown you how to change the color of the Blogger Navbar on your blog via the Navbar Gadget to one of six custom choices so that it matches the color and design of your blog.

Related Links

How to Remove or Hide the Blogger Navbar with HTML
How to Change Image Sizes in a Blogger Blogspot Blog
How to Change Image Sizes in Own custom Dimensions in a Blogger Post
How to Add a Print Friendly Button to Blogger
How to Change the Date of Blog Posts in Blogger
How to Remove Blogger Labels Counter
Add a Follow Me Twitter Icon Button to Blogger
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger
How to Add a Welcome Message to Blogger Homepage
How to Unlock or Delete Locked Widgets in Blogger

How to Add a Copyright Notice to a Blogger Blogspot Blog in 2022

In this Blogger tutorial you will learn how to add a copyright notice to your Blogspot blog (Blogger blog) to protect your blog content and deter content lifting. With Blogger copyrighting your blog is an easy 2 minute task that requires no change to coding. Follow the simple steps below to have a copyright notice displaying in the footer of your Blogger blog in no time.

The most obvious advantage of putting a copyright notice on Blogger is it will act as a deterrent to would-be blog scrapers. Duplicating content from others blogs is a common practice all over the internet and it is important to safeguard your content and images.

It is worth checking periodically if any of your content has been duplicated elsewhere on the net. If it has been scraped there are some steps you can take to claim the content and I will write about these in another article. One way to check the level of duplication of your content is to take a look at Copyscape a site devoted to identifying duplicate content and plagerism on the web.

Steps to Add a Copyright Notice to a Blogger Blog

Step 1
Login to Blogger

Step 2
From the Blogger dashboard click Layout in the menu on the left-hand side

Step 3
Scroll to the bottom of the Layout Menu

Step 4
Open the Attribution Gadget by clicking on the Pencil Icon.

For Default Blogger Themes
By default Blogger adds an attribution widget to the footer of your blog when you first create it. Whether you choose to fill it in is optional. Occasionally the Attribution Gadget can be appear the sidebar if your blog was created some years ago.

For Third Party Themes
If the Attribution Gadget is not already installed you may need to use Add a Gadget and then select the Attribution Gadget from the menu of gadgets. If you can not add a gadget to the footer at all then you will need to navigate to Theme >> Customize >> Edit HTML. Search using CTRL + F to find the footer widget in your blog and then change from showaddelement='no' to showaddelement='yes'

Step 5
Enter a copyright notice.
eg Copyright © yourblogname.blogspot.com 2022
or Copyright © Your Blog Name yourblogname.blogspot.com 2022

Step 6
Click Save

Step 7
Use the Preview Button on the bottom left to view your copyright notice at the bottom of your blog.

Step 8
Navigate back to the Layout Menu by clicking on the back arrow in your browser.

Step 9
If you are happy with your copyright notice then make sure you click on Save icon in the bottom left to update the Blogger Theme.

Step 10
Remember to periodically update your copyright notice. I suggest you do it every year and that you span the copyright over the years your have been publishing articles.

In this article you have learned how to add a copyright notice to the Blogger footer to deter content lifting. If you found this article helpful please consider following me here or on social media so you can stay up-to-date with any future articles.

Related Articles

How to Add a Welcome Message to a Blogger Homepage
How to Change the Color of the Blogger Nav Bar
Why Blogger is a Better Blogging Platform than Wordpress 2020
How to Choose a Great Topic for a Blogger Blog in 2020

How to Add a Blog Welcome Message to a Blogger Homepage

A blog welcome message is a great way to greet your visitors when they arrive on your Blogger blog. By adding a blog welcome message you will immediately engage your readers and they will get more information about what your blog is about. In this Blogger tutorial I not only show you how to add a welcome message to the homepage of a Blogger blog, but I also discuss what to say and where to place your welcome message on your blog.

Fortunately adding a blog welcome message to your Blogger homepage is easy to do with the text gadget and you can customize the look of the text, links, video and more.

What to Say in a Blogger Blog Welcome Message

A welcome message that greets visitors as they arrive on your blog can be placed on a Blogger blog with the intention of letting readers know more about your blog than they can glean from looking at your blog title and blog description. A welcome message typically says something about the purpose of your blog, may include something about you, what you do, what makes your content different and most importantly how you can help them solve a problem.

Your blog welcome message is an opportunity to engage your visitors so it is important to think about the flavor of the message you want to convey. For instance do you want to promote friendliness or trustworthiness, or both? Perhaps you want to include a message that promotes you as an authority on a subject so for example you might say I have 10 years industry experience in blogging or something like that to evidence your knowledge of the niche topic of your blog.

Take a look at this example of a simple Blog Welcome Message below that sets the tone for the visitor experience. The object is to encourage repeat visits and to let the visitor know you are there to help:

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by. This blog provides information on blogging and resources to customize your blog. I look forward to helping you create a successful blog. Please consider following me so you don't miss out on any new posts.

If you are interested in learning more about crafting a welcome message for your Blogger blog watch out for my upcoming blog post in which I give more examples of welcome messages and what to say to engage visitors.

Where to Position a Welcome Message on the Blogger Homepage Guide

Before we discuss how to add a blog welcome message it is a good idea to consider placement of your welcome message. There are three primary spots to place a welcome message: just below the header, above the post area or at the top of the sidebar.

Below the Header
A well crafted blog welcome message just below the header can be a good way to draw the eye to the hotspot below the header. If you have a banner or an Adsense unit there already you will need to be sure that the welcome message adds visual appeal and does not conflict with existing Adsense units or banners.

In the Sidebar
At the top of sidebar can also be a great place for your Blogger welcome message. If eye catching, the blog welcome message will grab a reader's attention in that spot.  Further a welcome message there is less likely to conflict with other widgets like banners or Adsense units.

Above the Post Area
Another option is to put a blog welcome message often called a sticky message above the posts in the main post section of Blogger. The benefits of this position for a blog welcome message is that it will not detract from any other widgets in place and will always display whenever a visitor lands on your Blogger homepage.

For detailed instructions on how to add a welcome message above blog posts in Blogger check out my companion article: How to Add a Sticky Welcome Message to Blogger

Steps to Add a Welcome Message to the Sidebar of a Blogger Homepage Guide

Follow the steps outlined below to quickly and easily add a welcome message to the sidebar of a Blogspot blog that greets your visitors no matter what page they land on. If you would prefer to place your message above the header or :

Step 1
Login to your Blogger account at Blogger.com

Step 2
From the Blogger Dashboard click on Layout from the menu on the left-hand side

Step 3
Find the Sidebar section. Click on the Add a Gadget link

Step 4
From the pop-up menu scroll down to select the Text gadget.  If you want a sophisticated welcome message that includes video and third-party scripts then choose the html/javascript widget instead from the same menu.

Add a Blog Welcome Message to a Blogger Homepage
sing the Text Gadget

Step 5
Click on the plus+ icon at the right of the Text gadget to create your welcome message.

Step 6
Enter a title for your message in the pop up window that appears. Name the gadget something meaningful like welcome message so you will be able to easily identify it later.

Step 7
Add the text of your Blogger welcome message into the text box. See an example of a welcome message in the image below for ideas. Using the Rich Text Editor icons you can add some simple styling by changing the text color, adding blockquotes, bold and italics. For more sophisticated styling click on the Edit HTML button which allows you to add specific HTML style code around your text. If you are not sure how to add HTML styling to your welcome message check out my other post on adding styling to a Blogger welcome message.

Use the Text Box Gadget to Create a Blog Welcome Message in Blogger

Step 8
Click Save to save your welcome message gadget.

Step 9
Click on Preview (bottom right-hand corner eye icon) to view your welcome message.

Step 10
Once you are happy with the message you can move on to repositioning it the sidebar. Use drag and drop to arrange the welcome message alongside other gadgets in the sidebar.

Step 10
Click Save by clicking on the save button bottom right-hand corner once you are satisfied with the positioning of your Blogger welcome message in the sidebar.


In this Blogger tutorial you have learned how to add a blog welcome message to Blogger. Also discussed were examples of what to say in a welcome message and where to place your message for best effect. Please feel free to comment about adding a blog welcome message if you would like to.

Related Articles

Basic Blogger Tutorials to Customize a Blogger Blog for Beginners
Advanced Blogger Tutorials to Customize a Blogger Blog
How to Add a Sticky Message Above Blogger Posts
How to Schedule Blog Posts in Blogger for a Specific Future Date and Time
How to Add a Copyright Notice to a Blogger Blog
How to Delete a Blogger Blog

How to Delete Locked Blogger Widgets and Fix Blogger Widgets Not Showing

If you are having difficulty with a locked widget in Blogger or you can't add a gadget in a section of Blogger then read on because I will show you how to open up a section so you can add a Blogger gadget, make the widget editable again or delete the Blogger widget depending on your needs.

Sometimes widgets in Blogger become locked.  This means the Blogger widget appears on your live blog but does not show up in the Layout menu and there is no way to edit or delete the widget.  Older blogs typically encounter locked widget problems.  Also Blogger can lock widgets with a change of template.

Want to Know How to
Remove Locked Widgets in a Blogger Blog

How to Fix a Locked Widget So That it Can Be Edited in the Layout Menu

The following steps will unlock a widget that has become locked in a Blogger blog.

Step 1
Log in to your Blogger blog

Step 2
Click View Blog and locate the general area of the widget you want to change. Is it in the sidebar, footer, the header or just under the header?

Step 3.
Select Layout from the  left-hand menu

Step 4.
Look for the widget.  All editable widgets are denoted by four dots on the left-hand side. Check it isn't hiding in another area on the layout menu  eg in the Cross-Column rather than the Header.

If you find it go ahead and click on edit to make changes as usual.

If you don't find it and you are sure it is not displayed then continue with the following steps to manually unlock the missing Blogger widget.

Step 5.

Click on Theme from the left-hand menu

Click on Backup / Restore (right-hand top corner) and then download to back up your blog

Step 6.
From the Theme main page choose EDIT HTML button found below the view of Live on Blog

Step 7.
In the drop down menu labelled Jump to Widget click on the widget you are looking for.

In this example the missing widget is called Adsense1 and is locked in the Cross Column area of the Blogger Theme (not editable from the Layout menu).

To fix the problem jump to the widget Adsense1. In cases where the exact name of the widget isn't known just jump to the nearest area eg Header1 and scroll downwards to find it.

Use the Jump to Widget to Locate the Locked up Widget
in Blogger Theme Edit HTML

Find the cross column area of the template around line 862 and the following code or very similiar.

<b section class='table' id='crosscol' maxwidgets='1' showaddelement='no'>
<widget id='Adsense1' locked='false' title=' ' type='Adsense'>...</b:widget>

How To Unlock Blogger Widget with Blogger Widget Code so that it can be edited in the Layout Menu

Open up the section so more widgets can be added by changing the maxwidgets to 2 and the showaddelement to yes. Go ahead and save the theme. Now navigate back to the Layout menu and you will find that the add gadget button is now available in the Cross Column section of the Blogger template and the locked Adsense widget is now editable.

Cross Column Section in Layout Menu Can Now Add a Gadget

How To Disable / Delete / Remove the Blogger Widget HTML Code Completely

While the name of the widget will vary depending on your situation the code between the widget tags will be similiar. You will note that the ...</b:widget> denotes that the widget is expandable and more code is hidden. In this case the quick pencil and all the color scheme for the Adsense unit is hidden.

<widget id='Adsense1' locked='false' title=' ' type='Adsense'>...</b:widget>

If you choose to delete the widget from the template take care to delete only the widget code for the widget. I like to expand the widget by clicking on the dots first before trying to delete it.

Once deleted and the changes to the theme saved go to view blog and you will see that the Blogger widget has been removed from your blog for good.


If you found this article helpful in some way feel free to leave a comment. If you would like to get more tips and tricks to customize Blogger consider following me.

Related Articles

Basic Blogger Tutorials to Customize a Blogger Blog for Beginners
How to Delete a Blogger Blog
How to Change Color of the Navbar or Delete it Altogether
How to Delete or Hide the Date Header in Blog Posts on Blogger
How to Remove or Hide the Labels Counter in Blogger

Remove Blogger Labels Counter or Turn On Counter in a Blogspot Blog

Until recently the only way to turn off, disable or remove the counter of the labels widget in Blogger was to use a Blogger hack. Luckily Blogger has now added a new feature so that Blogspot bloggers have a choice about whether to show or not show a post count next to the corresponding tag when using the Blogger labels widget. (Updated as at 18 February 2022)

How to Turn Off  / Remove / Delete the Blogger Labels Counter?

If you already have a Blogger labels widget installed and you are using an older template then Blogger shows a count of the number of posts with that label or tag next to each label by default. If you want to turn off the label counter you will need to disable it.

Removing the Blogger labels counter is easy and only takes a minute. Switching off the labels counter can be useful sometimes for instance when establishing a new blog where a limited number of posts may deter visitors. Fortunately Blogger has listened to users and now installs a new blog with the Labels Counter turned off.

Conversely you may find that your Blogger label counter has been disabled and you want to reinstate it. In this case you would navigate to Blogger and follow these steps except that you would reverse Step 4.

1. Log in to Blogger
2. At the Dashboard go to Layout Menu
3. In the Blogger sidebar click on the pencil or click the edit link to edit your Labels Gadget
4. Use the toggle button to switch between on (blue-green) and off positions (white) in the Show Number of Posts Per Label heading.
5. Click on Save
6. View your Blogger blog without the number of posts shown next to the labels tag

#bloggertutorials #blogspot #bloggergadgets

Summary
Today you have learned how to turn off the Blogger labels counter so that no count of the number of posts is shown next to the label in a Blogspot blog. Disabling this feature only takes a minute and can be a useful feature for new blogs with few posts. If you are new to Blogger and blogging you can learn more useful tricks and tips for customizing your blog at Blogspot Blogger Guide. Watch out for more Blogger tutorials in this series of Blogspot Tutorials for Beginners.



Related Links
How to Put a Copyright Notice on a Blogger Blog
How to Add a Print Friendly Button to Blogger
How to Change the Date of Blog Posts in Blogger
Add a Follow Me Twitter Icon Button to Blogger
Easy Ways to Put Banners on Blogger
How to Add a Welcome Message to Blogger Homepage
How to Unlock or Delete Locked Widgets in Blogger
Making Money From Affiliate Banners and Links with Blogger
How to Get More Adsense Clicks with Blogger
Easy Ways to Put Affiliate Ad Banners on Blogger