The Real Blogger Status

In order to make the Pages gadget "Pages to show" useful, you need to add one or more static pages. Without entries under "Pages to show", you've nothing to do but add dynamic pages , using "Add external link". There is one way to access Page Editor - though several ways to access Post Editor . You use the Page Editor, to publish static pages - which then are listed under "Pages to show", in " Configure Page List ".

One of the most versatile ways to organise a blog is by using a Pages index. Long ago, the only possibility, for indexing a blog attractively, was a horizontal table, with manually added links. We called it a horizontal menu bar . Alternately, a vertical linklist might be used. Then Blogger added static pages - and later, the Pages index gadget .

We see an occasional blog owner, having renamed a blog to a new BlogSpot URL, reporting in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue that the Pages gadget stopped working. I changed the URL of my blog, from "myoldblogspoturl.blogspot.com" to "mynewblogspoturl.blogspot.com". All of the links are working fine - except when I click on a pages link, I get Blog not found. Sorry, the blog you were looking for does not exist. However, the name myoldblogspoturl is available to register! Long ago, we observed this to be a problem with static pages . It appears that this is a problem with both dynamic and static pages, for some blogs, when renamed.

Some blog owners, when publishing a new page or post, really appreciate the "Preview" option in the page / post editor. In some cases, some people may use "Preview" so instinctively, they may overlook the limitations. We see the confusion, occasionaly, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Where is my page? There's no selection, under "Pages to show", even! The blog owner does not realise that unpublished pages or posts won't be visible, outside the page / post editor, and the "Preview" window.

The "Configure Page List" wizard is an extremely useful - yet obscure - feature in the dashboard Layout page. Not every blog owner sees the "Pages" gadget, in the "Layout" page and knows to click on "Edit", to access "Configure Page List". Nor do all owners know how many assorted functions, previously part of the "Pages" dashboard wizard, are now found, exclusively, under "Configure Page List". "Configure Page List" is an essential component in the pages management suite , in the Blogger dashboard.

The recently redesigned Pages gadget and wizard has been with us for just over 3 months. We are occasionally seeing some confusion from people who can't add a dynamic page link to their blog - even when they manage to find the redesigned Pages gadget. I added a dynamic page, linking from "mymainblog.blogspot.com" to "mysecondblog.blogspot.com". Imagine my dismay, when the new page link goes to "mymainblog.blogspot.com/mysecondblog.blogspot.com", instead of to my actual target "mysecondblog.blogspot.com"! Here is a blog owner who is not aware of the unforgiving syntax of the "New Page › Web Address" wizard, and the "Web address (URL)" entry.

A week ago, Blogger redesigned the dashboard wizards, that are used to setup and maintain pages . The most visible change involved a complete redesign of the Pages wizard . Now, mirroring the look and feel of the Posts wizard, the Pages wizard has a pages index / menu - with layout, button / link set, and similar features resembling the Posts wizard. To make the new Pages wizard design fit in, the Pages wizard now only indexes and maintains "static" pages. Conversely, "dynamic" pages are maintained using the Layout "Pages" gadget. Archive retrievals. External links. Label searches. Additionally, all other Pages functions have been relocated, and are also provided under the Pages gadget, in the Layout wizard. This redesign did not go unnoticed, among the blog owners.

Some blog owners are never quite sure how to manage all characteristics of the Pages, in their blog. From time to time, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , we see evidence of the confusion. How do I hide the Home tab? or I can't rename my pages! Some blog owners may know of one Pages management wizard, but not another. To the untrained eye, it may all seem like one big magic show.