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Template Corruption: Components Missing From Blog Posts, And Other Oddities

Recently, we get reports from Bloggers that their Comments, or Labels, are missing from the bottom of their blog posts. When instructed to go to Page Elements, edit the Blog Posts widget, and select the appropriate selection under Select Items, they say either "I did, but it was already selected", or sometimes, "I can't".

In similar situations, Bloggers will complain of things in their blog posts that they don't want. Again, editing the Blog Posts widget provides no satisfaction. They may end up stuck with unwanted icons that apparently provide unwanted access to their blogs, but the unwanted access can't be easily eliminated.

In other cases, the Layouts GUI doesn't let them move objects around the screen, or won't leave objects repositioned as they wish.

Frequently, the reaction will be to reload the blog template; sometimes this will help, but normally it won't. The blog template and post template are two different objects, allowing you to customise your posts, and customise the blog, independently. If you have a corrupt post template, reloading the blog template won't make a difference.

When editing the Blog Posts widget, and even reloading the blog template, doesn't produce the desired result (positively or negatively), Blogger recommends deletion of the Blog Posts widget from the raw template code, to reset the post template.
The problem lies in the post template and can be resolved if the user resets their post page element. To do this, the user should go into the Edit HTML view of their template and remove (but save what you remove) the post page element code ("Blog Posts"), which should look something like this:
<div id='main-wrapper'>
<b:section class='main' id='main' showaddelement='no'>
<b:widget id='Blog1' locked='true' title='Blog Posts' type='Blog'/> <==
Remove, Save, Replace, Save again

</b:section>
</div>


The user then saves the changes and will have to confirm that they're deleting a widget (don't worry - the posts won't get hurt). Then, the user can either
  • Switch templates by going to the Template | Pick New Template tab.
  • Add the same post page element code back in, exactly where they took it out (in order to preserve template customizations).
These steps should reset the post page element and rectify the problem.

If the level of technical expertise, required by the above instructions, is beyond your level of comfort, I suggest that you reset the gadgets.

If the above changes don't resolve the problem, you may have to consider the possibility of blog template corruption. Remember that the blog template, and the post template, are two different objects - but corruption in one can be mistaken for a problem in the other.

Whatever you do, don't forget to refresh your cache after each change, so you ensure that you always see your change immediately. Don't make the change, then complain because the change didn't accomplish anything.

>> Help diagnose the cause of the problem - if you are afflicted.
  • Did you change anything in the Template - Edit HTML wizard?
  • Did you change anything in the Blog Posts widget, in Template - Page Elements? If so, did you
    • Rearrange elements (links, comments, etc) within the widget GUI?
    • De-select any of the options under "Select Items", i.e. "links" or "comments"?
  • Did you rearrange elements using the Page Elements GUI?
  • What browser and operating system (name, version) do you use, when making changes?


>> Forum thread links: bX-*00047

>> Copy this tag: bX-*00047

>> Top

Comments

carrie said…
YOU SAVED MY LIFE!!! thanks so much for your help.
Steph said…
I am going crazy! I DO want the widget with my blog labels on the side, but I DON'T want them to show up at the bottom of each post! How do I change this?!
Nitecruzr said…
Hey Bee,

I kill wasps - but maybe not bees.

Your problem is easy enough anyway. Just change the settings for the Blog Posts widget.
Terence Lee said…
Hi just want to thank you for your post! It really helped a lot!! Love ya!
Phillybits said…
Interesting. I inquired for help on the groups.google page for blogger and came across this same writ of advice. Tried it and it didn't work.

Today, however, I saw someone replied to my last post and pointed here. I removed the section of code, saved, restarted the browser, reinserted the code and presto!

Labels are back. Thanks.
Coley said…
This worked great! I just started using labels recently, so I was confused that they weren't showing up and was afraid I would have to start the whole blog over again. This fix was fantastic! Thanks!
Viktoria said…
GOD! I cant belive it was so simple... THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!THANK YOU!
Can't believe how easy it was to fix.
Now why can't blogger provide this fix ???
Thank you so very much
Brett Royal said…
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You. I could not get my adsense ads to show between the posts no matter what I did. You solution worked perfectly.
Unbelievable, after pursuing my question about comments not showing up on one blog for day after day on the Blogger Help Group, I finally found the answer here and it WORKED I now Have Comments! Thank you so much.
Cyril said…
Brilliant!! Damn Brilliant. Thank you.
Gina said…
unfortunately this didn't work for my problem of not being able to have the whole WWW see the wrench and screw all over my blog page BUT..at least if anyone from BLOGGER tech support contacts me I can tell what hasn't worked so far. Glad it helped the rest here and I"ll be bookmarking this site (at least until I give up on BLOGGER).
Kaliqo~ said…
Thank you so much! Your remedy worked perfectly.
Thank you! I've been missing the email function, and was trying all sorts of different advice. Yours worked.
DANIEL said…
Thank you so much!
Ask a Manager said…
It worked! If anyone is having trouble with this, make sure that you didn't click "expand widgets" when you went in to edit your HTML.
The_Editrix said…
Thank you so much! That finally did the trick when everything else didn't work.
Anonymous said…
You are great :) It worked so well... Many Many Thanks to you.
Traci said…
You just saved my friend's blog. I redesigned it and when these features didn't work, I FREAKED out!! Thank you so much for getting them back for her!!
Sandi said…
Help... I've done all that you suggested. My date of post is not showing in IE, but it is in Firefox. Not sure what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Sandi

centsofsavings.blogspot.com
Dede Andro said…
Hey, it's work for me.. Thank you very very much!!
Unknown said…
HEY, THANKS, IT WORKED! I could not display more than 10 posts on a page,which is to little for me, but i did what you described and it worked. Many thanks.
thank you for help in solving this problem, those of us who have the ever so basic understanding of html really appreciate when there is a fix that dosen't reset everything. As others have said why couldn't blogger/google just offer this solution?
Thanks so much!! I owe such a lot to ya!
WokkingMum said…
Thank you very much for this post.
It worked for me!
osenboz said…
thanks !! worked perfectly !
artsybee said…
i tried this several times and all i get is
'Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed. Please make sure all XML elements are closed properly.
XML error message: The element type "div" must be terminated by the matching end-tag '

the code is exactly as it was before i deleted it.
DG said…
OMG thank you .....This worked perfectly and everything is back to normal.
Angela Anderson said…
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!!!!
Denise Kiggan said…
I am unable to change my post options. Whatever the date and time is when I start composing the post is the only date and time I can use. If I change it in post options, it immediately reverts as soon as I publish or save. I have tried publishing from a different computer, but the same thing happens.
Emily Frame said…
i am so relieved! i was so annoyed for a year that my labels didn't show up.

thank you thank you!
The Cope Family said…
Thank you...Thank you... Thank you. Problem fixed. It was driving me crazy!!!
The Iron Edge said…
thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!
Naarya said…
Thank u!! worked like magic!
Christy Duffy said…
Thank you so much!
Muhammad Shoyab said…
I have the same problem as artsybee. Hope someone can reply and solve the problem.

I tried this several times and all i get is
'Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed. Please make sure all XML elements are closed properly.
XML error message: The element type "div" must be terminated by the matching end-tag '

the code is exactly as it was before i deleted it.
Just another thank you -- THANK YOU!!!!
I could not for the life of me figure out what was wrong with my postings -- the labels were partially showing at the top and comments wouldn't show at all. It is fixed now...check it out at http://zoe-chronicles.blogspot.com/

Thanks again!
Anonymous said…
Thank you so much! I've been trying to fix my date/time problem for 2 months and nothing worked. I found your website today & viola! All fixed now. Thanks thanks thanks!!
andayuna said…
where can i download blogspot default layout. because my current layout is a mess one and i'd like to revert it as good as new.
please help me...
Nitecruzr said…
When you have a corrupt template, you use the Template - "Pick New" or the Layouts - "Pick New Template" wizard, and get a new template.
The Kosmo Blog said…
So... any way around this if I have a highly customized template and don't wanna write up all my changes once again??
Nitecruzr said…
Kosmo,

Unfortunately, since one of those changes possibly caused this corruption problem, most likely no. But before resetting the post template, save the contents as text and as an xml file.

Using the text copy, you can avoid having to write up the changes from scratch, just take them and refit them into the clean template. This time though, backup the template, and test, after each change.
AJ said…
Wonderful fast and free service. I looked at what had been posted and none of it made sense.

Thank you, thank you and thank you again.
Julie said…
Thank you you fixed the issue I have been having!! Thank you!
gretchen said…
THANK YOU!! that was making me mental!!!
Darlene S. said…
Sweet baby! Thank you so much! I was worried that my blog content would get deleted or that it would take forever to fix, but it was literally a 2 minute fix and now my comments and reactions are where I actually want them, as well as the labels are now deleted from the post! Thanks so much!
Shelley Banks said…
Thanks for the info on going into the Edit HTML view of the template to remove (but save what you remove) the post page element code ("Blog Posts").

Worked like a charm! (although there was a second of panic when I no longer had any blog posts... not great panic; I'd backed up the template first... but still...)
Nitecruzr said…
Shelley,

That "second of panic" is normal when removing the posts template code. I had to reset my posts template once - and I had the same panic. It's like trying to learn to ride a bicycle, for the first time - you know that you're going to fall over and hurt yourself (and sometimes, you do, too)!

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