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Preview Mode Isn't An Actual Preview

Occasionally, we see confused queries from bloggers
I setup my blog, and it looks OK in Preview. When I look at it online, it looks like crap. Help!
or
Nothing displays right, using Preview mode. When I look at the blog later in my browser, it looks better, but it is missing details.


And there are examples of bloggers who confuse Preview mode with reality.


Does this look like this post?


When the post is published, it is added to the blog with the template code providing formatting. Under post editor, the template isn't part of the display. See the type face in the picture? In Preview mode, all of the text displays in Times Roman, the Blogger default font. I hate seraph fonts, but in Preview mode, without the template, that's what I'll see for the text.


See the way the text wraps around the photo, where it shouldn't?


One critical difference (for me), between Preview mode and reality, is Preview mode doesn't observe "<br clear=left />". I use that separator after each photo, in my posts. Other people, depending upon what template based features are important to them, may notice other critical differences.

You'll see similar differences, if you look at this post in various feed readers, for instance using your browser feed reader. Feeds don't use the blog template, either, and different feed readers may display the blog content in various ways. Most of us design our blogs and arrange content according to how the published copy, using the template, appears. People using a feed reader in Following, for instance, will have to adapt to the differences.

The confusion here is similar to confusion about display differences caused by multiple browsers. If you want to see what the blog looks like to your readers, you have to publish each post, then view the post in different browsers, and view the blog in various feed readers. That's the only consistent and reliable testing standard.


(Update 2010/09): Preview Mode has been recently improved - and this improvement has brought new challenges for us to accept.

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Comments

Chris said…
The feed for your site also does not respect certain formatting and looks odd with images. Perhaps you should revise how you handle images so it looks better on your feed, not just on your site?
Nitecruzr said…
No Chris,

I design my blog, and arrange the content, according to how the template makes it display. Different feed readers have their own templates, and I can't control that. People who predominantly Follow blogs will have the same challenges.
Vivi said…
This was helpful - thank you!
I'm having the same issues, I don't like the new dashboard version at all. Facebook is not showing the pictures from my blogger entries. Why is this happening?
inabadromance said…
my facebook show all my post's images. Take in mind that you have to upload every pic to your blogger account (add image)... not linking it from another site.

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