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The Option To "Expand Widget Templates", In The Template "Edit HTML" Wizard, Is No More

One of the more confusing features of the Blogger Template "Edit HTML" wizard, used to be the option to
Expand Widget Templates

With the new "Edit HTML" wizard, that option is not needed. Given the choice to "Expand Widget Templates", the typical blog owner was frequently caught between a rock, and a hard place, when editing gadgets.
  • Don't use the option - and the gadget code section, which was to be edited, remained concealed.
  • Use the option - and all gadget code sections were expanded, revealing all gadget code.
This frequently left the owner with either no information - or too much information, from which to work. Broken templates, caused by improper template HTML edits, were common.

The new Template "Edit HTML" wizard replaces the single "Expand Widget Templates" option with selective widget expansion. Now referred to as "folded" code, a concealed widget code section is identified by a fold marker ("sideways arrow icon"), next to the line number.
The code inside the widget is folded by default.

Clicking on any fold marker, the concealed gadget code section is revealed. If the now revealed code section itself contains concealed code sections, those sections are displayed as folded, and can then be revealed - if necessary, and only if necessary.

Thus we can eliminate unnecessary depth (internal gadget code sections) and width (additional gadget code sections) from being displayed when we only need to edit a specific gadget, at a given level of complexity. This will make it easier to identify and to edit the necessary lines of code, and to avoid editing lines of code which should not be edited.

If you're looking for a specific section of the template - for instance, the CSS rules - you may find that section folded also. CSS rules, for instance, are at the top of the template.
<b:skin>---</b:skin>
and
<b:template-skin>---</b:template-skin>
On the other hand, if you're looking for the content of an HTML / JavaScript gadget, that's still edited from the specific gadget in the Layout wizard.
<data:content/>
Gadget content is not folded.

Hopefully, we'll soon see less problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about broken templates - though we will probably continue to see confusion, about templates that only appear to be broken.

As always, if you change template code, remember to clear browser cache and restart the browser, before concluding that your changes were not effective.

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Comments

Unknown said…
Wow. I did not know what you were talking about, so went to look. That looks so much better and easier to use than before. I tweak my Blogger code quite a bit, and the new HTML editor is going to make that much easier.
Hello Chuck,
There is a drawback though. It's impossible to text-search the template when widget templates are collapsed.
Further, it seems that some CSS code I had embedded is missing, or I seem to fail to find it.
Anyway, thanks for your contribution in the blogger society.
Don Coringone said…
But there´s one thing I don´t get. How are you supposed to copy and save your template externally, say in a Windows Notepad file, if the widgets don´t expand all at the same time? You´ll have to do it yourself one by one?

And another thing: when you select "Format template" the whole organization of the code change, and it may affect your layout if you save it. Depending on how some css rules are written, some of them may be messed with and cause errors or simply not be applied at all when you load your page. This new html editor has to be improved.
Nitecruzr said…
Don,

If you try copying and pasting, I think you'll find that the entire template gets selected and copied. Folding only affects what you see - it does not affect what's copied - or what's searched.
Nitecruzr said…
Sotiris,

I think you'll find that searching is done against all code - folded, and unfolded. Folding only affects what you see, when looking at the HTML display.
rain said…
but how do i add a facebook like button to each post now?
the directions say to go to the 'expand widget template' now that that's not available, how do i get the like button to show? not just for the page for under each individual post.
thanks.
Nitecruzr said…
Rain,

Procedures for adding code have not changed, beyond finding the code block where you need to make the changes.

If you're adding something to each post, you're working with the post template, aka "Blog1".

Just look at "Blog1", instead of all the widgets in the blog.

Use the "Jump to widget" button at the top, and select "Blog1". Unfold the "Blog1" code, repeatedly, until the post template is visible.

When the entire post template is visible, go back to your instructions.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2013/04/unfold-widgets-selectively-instead-of.html
focuskeralam said…
How do I remove old and new post links and home button under this new template. These buttons are still showing up after removing the codes... pls help me.

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