Resetting The Post Template

The posts are the most important part of the blog as a whole - they contain the material which your visitors read, which is generally what attracts them to the blog. Most of the blog content, that's indexed by the search engines, comes from the posts. It follows, then, that the post template is the most important part of the blog template.

When there are problems with the posts or post accessories, and the problems can't be resolved by editing the posts using the Post Editor, or adjusting the various settings in the Blog Posts gadget, the post template is corrupt, or out of date. There are three possible techniques, to resolve problems with the post template.

Resetting the post template is a fairly simple task, when you get used to it. It's done using the "Edit HTML" wizard in the Classic GUI Template Editor - and it's done without Expanding Widget Templates.

Using the "Edit HTML" wizard, look for the "Blog Posts" gadget.

<b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'/>

"Blog Posts" will probably be in the "Main" section. To be safe, you can simply save the entire "Main" section by copying and pasting its contents into any text file. This will help you put the posts template back, exactly as it was previously.

Here is a sample of a vary simple "Main" section - one with only "Blog Posts". If your blog has gadgets above or below "Blog Posts", your template may or may not be similar.

<b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>
  <b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'/>
</b:section>

This is a fairly quick process, all done from "Edit HTML".

1. Start out by backing up the template.
2. Find the "Blog Posts" gadget inside the "Main" section, and remove that one line of code, shown above in red. Be sure to remove the entire line of code - don't leave yourself vulnerable to XML error messages.
3. A variation on Step #2 is to simply change "id='Blog1'" to "id='Blog2'" - without deleting anything. This may, similarly, force the refresh of the post template, without the need for Steps #6-7.
4. Save the change.
5. Confirm the deletion of "Blog Posts".
6. Replace that one line of code, shown above in red.
7. Save the change.
8. Clear browser cache, then test the change. If the problem isn't resolved, try resetting the widget templates.
9. And finish by backing up the template, again.
10. And don't forget to clear browser cache, to ensure that the changes are immediately visible.

It looks a lot scarier than it really is. Once you get used to it, it's a 5 minute task - and can save you energy and time, in the long run.

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