Classic Templates - More Work, Not Quite As Customisable As Layouts

Have you surfed the AppsSpot Product Ideas for Blogger database yet? Lots of bloggers have submitted quite a few suggestions, including a few for new templates, and for more gadgets to install in the templates. Do this quickly, as time is limited.

Don't wait too long, we will be closing this series to new questions and votes on May 14, 2009.

If your blog has a classic template, you won't benefit from either new templates, nor XML based gadgets - you'll need gadgets written in HTML. An example of an HTML gadget is Google Friend Connect. Here's what I installed on my home blog, Nitecruzr Dot Net. (Note as always, I have inserted a few gratuitous line breaks, to make this readable.)

<!-- Include the Google Friend Connect javascript library. -->
<script src="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/script/friendconnect.js" type="text/javascript">
</script>
<!-- Define the div tag where the gadget will be inserted. -->
<div id="div-1235233700850" style="width:282px;border:1px solid #cccccc;"></div>
<!-- Render the gadget into a div. -->
<script type="text/javascript">
var skin = {};
skin['HEIGHT'] = '385';
skin['BORDER_COLOR'] = '#cccccc';
skin['ENDCAP_BG_COLOR'] = '#e0ecff';
skin['ENDCAP_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['ENDCAP_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
skin['ALTERNATE_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
skin['CONTENT_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
skin['CONTENT_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
skin['CONTENT_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_LINK_COLOR'] = '#7777cc';
skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#666666';
skin['CONTENT_HEADLINE_COLOR'] = '#333333';
google.friendconnect.container.setParentUrl
('/' /* location of rpc_relay.html and canvas.html */);
google.friendconnect.container.renderMembersGadget(
 { id: 'div-1235233700850',
   site: '00360112972094312055' },
  skin);
</script>

To install the above code in Nitecruzr Dot Net, which uses a layouts template, I simply added a new HTML / JavaScript Gadget, and pasted the code into the gadget. To install the above code into a blog with a classic template, I have to edit the template HTML.

Here, I will add a Google Friend Connect gadget to my blog which uses a classic template, Nitecruzr Classic Template Laboratory. As long as I can find the right spot to add the code, this is not too difficult. To make it easy to demonstrate, I'll add it right near the top of the sidebar, right below the Blogger Following link.

<!-- Begin #sidebar -->
<div id="sidebar"><div id="sidebar2">
   <ul>
     <li><a href="http://nitecruzrtest.blogspot.com/">>> Home</a></li>
   </ul>
  
  <!-- Begin #profile-container -->

   <$BlogMemberProfile$>
   
  <!-- End #profile -->

    <h2 class="sidebar-title">Follow / Friend Connect</h2>
    <script type="text/javascript" language="javascript">
    javascript:_FollowersView._openPopup("http://www.blogger.com/follow-blog.g?blogID=24854703&blogTitle=Nitecruzr+Classic+Template+Laboratory");
    </script>

    <!-- Include the Google Friend Connect javascript library. -->
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/script/friendconnect.js"></script>
    <!-- Define the div tag where the gadget will be inserted. -->
    <div id="div-5199007134918127325" style="width:220px;border:1px solid #cccccc;"></div>
    <!-- Render the gadget into a div. -->
    <script type="text/javascript">
    var skin = {};
    skin['BORDER_COLOR'] = '#cccccc';
    skin['ENDCAP_BG_COLOR'] = '#e0ecff';
    skin['ENDCAP_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
    skin['ENDCAP_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
    skin['ALTERNATE_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
    skin['CONTENT_BG_COLOR'] = '#ffffff';
    skin['CONTENT_LINK_COLOR'] = '#0000cc';
    skin['CONTENT_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#333333';
    skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_LINK_COLOR'] = '#7777cc';
    skin['CONTENT_SECONDARY_TEXT_COLOR'] = '#666666';
    skin['CONTENT_HEADLINE_COLOR'] = '#333333';
    skin['NUMBER_ROWS'] = '4';
    google.friendconnect.container.setParentUrl('/' /* location of rpc_relay.html and canvas.html */);
    google.friendconnect.container.renderMembersGadget(
     { id: 'div-5199007134918127325',
       site: '04818405130895930258' },
      skin);
    </script>

Having done that, you may check out the result in Nitecruzr Classic Template Laboratory.

And, as always, please backup the template, before and after making this change.

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