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Third Party Templates - Not Always Free

Some third party templates come with extra features - that not everybody appreciates.
How do I get rid of the "lorem ipsum" nonsense, that's part of my signature?
This blog owner just got a shiny "free" third party template, for her blog.

Some custom template providers publish free templates that contain odd, irrelevant details.
When I click on the "Read more" link on my blog, it opens up the post - but has added in a odd kind of signature. It displays my name but is using an image that isn't me, and the "lorem ipsum" text. I have no idea where to edit this?

The typical response, by experienced forum helpers, will be a simple suggestion.
Hopefully, the template publisher can sort the problem. If not, a standard Blogger template, or a different third-party template, may be your best solution.
That's a reply, based on experience.

This particular template oddity has been mentioned, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, a few times - each time with mention of the "lorem ipsum" babble, in the signature.

In one case, the blog owner did contact the template developer - and was kind enough to follow up in her forum thread.
She told me that she would be glad to provide a clean template - for a fee.
It's likely that the "bogus photo" / "lorem ipsum" bit is there, to motivate the blog owner into paying for the template.

In a way, this sort of "fee based" customisation makes sense. The blog owner has 3 choices.

  1. Pay extra for the template cleanup.
  2. Get a different third party template, from a different provider.
  3. Learn to live with the irrelevant babble.

Neither the bogus photo, or the babble, damage the blog. The content is there, as desired - and pleasantly displayed. Not too many blog readers will know that the photo is bogus, or care so much about "lorem ipsum", either.

In a way, it's similar to the legendary photos of imaginary family, that one gets when buying a fancy picture frame, or a new wallet. Some (single, and very lonely) people like the photos - and supposedly, keep them when using the wallets.

Maybe new blog owners won't care, either. They are, after all, rather attractive templates - and popular with women, anyway.


The apocryphal signature section.




The source code for the signature section.



Enjoy the new templates. Pay, when the need arises. Or, refresh the post template (possibly, lose a lot of custom formatting, if you do) - but this should get rid of the "lorem ipsum" nonsense.

---

Some non #Blogger supplied templates are provided for a price - and payment is optional, though cleverly motivated. Minor irrelevant content is included, which is most noticeable to blog owners who are publishing blogs with a large and observant reader population.

Conversely, the unwanted content is not important to new blog owners who would appreciate the free templates, which are not noticeably damaged by the irrelevant content.

Comments

Sara said…
I've played around with free templates before and they never end up working correctly. Finally figured out it's much easier to just go with one of the default Blogger templates and then upload a background image/custom header. With my current design I'm using the Simple template and then I custom made my header for free (picmonkey), and then paid a whopping $2 for the background image from a designer on Etsy :) My template works great and it has a pretty unique design as well, all within the parameters of Blogger :)
Nitecruzr said…
Thanks, Huntress,

I've always thought that, given the almost infinite ability to adjust column arrangement, and position accessories - and change backgrounds and colors and fonts, the Blogger templates should satisfy most everybody - or at least those who truly intended to publish useful stuff.

It confounds me how many people whine about lack of template choice, as if having a flashy template would make their blog more interesting. Then there are the elite, who pomp about "Blogger and the non professional look".

But some people demand the third party templates - so let them have it. And they can pay for it too.

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