September 26, 2006

Hacked templates with 3 columns, Peekaboo posts

Over the past few weeks, I came up with hacks for Blogger Beta that have been liked by many. My hacks were easy to apply for most of my readers. But, I realized that some people still find it difficult to make the correct changes in the template. For such bloggers, it would be easy to just pickup a template with all my hacks built-in. At first, I thought I will come up with my own design for the templates. But, due to lack of time, I decided to just add the hacks to some of Blogger's templates.

Here are the list of hacks that were built-in:

1. 3-column conversion with additional sidebar

I decided to make the sidebar on the right wider than the left sidebar. Your Profile, archive in hierarchy format, recent comments etc will benefit from a wide sidebar (or widebar :)).

2. Peekaboo posts with summary in main page

This hack displays only post summaries in main page which expand inline upon clicking a "Read more" link. You can choose which posts are divided into summary and full post by using the post template described in step 3 of this post.

3. Peekaboo posts in label/archive pages

Only post titles will be shown in such pages so that the reader can quickly find what he wants to read amidst a long list of posts. A [+/-] toggler can be used to expand/collapse the posts. (Read more about this)

4. Multi-style Labels widget

Labels shown in multiple styles - Drop-down menu(default), zoom style and flat list (read more).

5. Del.icio.us and Digg hotlinks in post footer

6. Author comment notification (read more about this)

Check-out these hacks in action in the following Live demo blogs. If you like one of them, right-click the "Download template" link, save the code for the template and upload it to Blogger (Don't copy/paste, you might miss some lines). I will come up with more hacked templates as and when I get more free time.

Hacked-scribe Live (Download template)

Hacked-minima Live (Download template)

Get Hacked!

136 comments:

LOUI$$ said...

thanks buddy,you solve my problem!!!thanks!!!

LOUI$$ said...

sorry ramani,can you show me how to put read more in the article?my post always a long post,can you help me?

Unknown said...

loui,

Goto Settings->Formatting and at the bottom, you will find the text box provided to specify the "Post template". Copy/paste these lines into that text box and save the settings.

Type your summary here
< span id="fullpost">
Type rest of the post here
< /span>

If you create a new post now, it shows you clearly where to type the summary and where to add the rest of the post.

Anonymous said...

hi ramani,great site.

i noticed in this blog that your google adsense is not showing "ads by google", can you teach us how to do it?pls.?thanks much

Russ said...

excellent idea. I've been messing around with the template and love it.

Unknown said...

Russ, thanks for your compliments.

LOUI$$ said...

sorry ramani,i a bit dumn!after i follow your step,it stil cannot!!

anything wrong with the code??please help me!!!m i make mistake??

LOUI$$ said...

thanks for helps ramani,but i cant work on it.can you asist me further??when setting the code in,it display on the post,but when i publish,it doesnt work.what probaly i have done wrong??

Anonymous said...

hi ramani,
great to read the reviews of others in your page....very glad...im feeling very proud that you are an indian like me...keep up the good work and one more thing can i add you up in my fellow blogger's link???
nice meeting you.

Unknown said...

steve, thanks. yes you can add me to your fellow bloggers list.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you have an idea how to make a drop-down archive menu which will show titles, not dates?

lenciel said...

Great site, Ramani...I subsribed ur site for a long time and ur hacks are really great!

However, the site "http://anniyalogam.com" is banned in my country and I can not see the codes of most of your hacks. Would u please email me these two templats?

lenciel@gmail.com

Unknown said...

lenciel,

I am highly surprised why anniyalogam.com is banned in china! Maybe because of the "hacks" there?

anyway, I will send you an email.

Anonymous said...

Ramani! Awesome! I have a question, a few weeks ago, I tried to do the label drop down/peekaboo to my other blog (you helped me with my first one) and I can't figure out why it's not showing the peekaboo view, it displays the whole post? any suggestions?

thanks a million!

Anonymous said...

THANKX ALOT ramani.....
you hav been added....suprised by the amount of querries you get....good luck n good day...i have become your fan!!!!

LOUI$$ said...

thanks for your tips man,the read more come out ledi,bcoz have space between < and s,hehe!!thanks!!!

Unknown said...

jessi,

can you check if you copy/pasted the code correctly? if you just can't get it to work after retrying, send me the template.

Gary said...

I absolutely love it! I'm not ready to change mine yet but I have used one of them on one of my test blogs to tweak the colors and images.

Anonymous said...

Hi Ramani, you did a great work! I've got a problem with one of your templates. It seems like I can see my blog properly only with firefox. I tried with ie and it is all messed up. Can you help me? Thanks!

Unknown said...

ascensions86,

which blog are you talking about? Template of your main blog is not my template.

me said...

Hi Ramani

Now that You're making templates, it would be useful to bloggerize them:

1. The show/hide spans can be made an includable element:

<b:includable id='showhide' var='post'>
showlink/hidelink/Chekfull code here
</b:includable>

2. Now referenced in post includable:
   <div class='post-body'>
    <data:post.body/>
    <div style='clear: both;'/> <!-- clear for photos floats -->
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != "item"'>
    <b:include data='post' name='showhide'/>
    </b:if>
    </div>
   </div>

3. js not included in post pages (before closing <head>)
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
   <!-- Item Only Stuff -->
    <style>
    #fullpost {
    display:block }
    </style>
<b:else/>
   <!-- No Item Only Stuff -->
   <style>
    #fullpost {
    display:none }
   </style>
   <!-- Taken from http://hackosphere.blogspot.com/ -->
   <script src='hackosphere.js' type='text/javascript'/>
</b:if>

Unknown said...

Thanks for the idea, amox!

. p r i c k . said...

Thanks for the nicely done templates dude. I just wanted the drop down menu for the sidebar, and I got it. But now I got a 'Read More..' at the bottom of my posts which is just void. How do I remove that and all the other widgets save for the drop down menu?

Mick Aneworderfan said...

My biggest compliments for your hacks, the expandable posts are a much needed improvement since the label archives have no menus.
Anyway I'm also having a problem with the "read more" trick, if I paste those lines into my post template in the formatting page, when I post I just see the very same lines, also in the finished post, as if they were simple text (except the first "span" not showing), and of course no "read more" trick... I'd really like to use that so please help if you can...
I've seen Cuauhtémoc Amox's interesting hack on the template but I'm not sure where I should place those bits of code exactly, and should I still place that code in the post template as well?
I'm using the Hacked Minima with various changes, but only on the design aspect (font, color etc.).
Another favour: I'd really like to be able to place the label/category line just below the date and above the title, and not in the footer as it is now. We should be able to move it when moving the post elements in the page layout, but my changes make no effect on the rendered page.
Many thanks!

Richard said...

Thank you for your help. I finally got up a 3 column blog, with your help, and a couple of other gentlemen. Richard.

Unknown said...

Mick,

Hacked minima has been pre-tested by me. i wonder why peekaboo post doesn't work for you. can you recheck if you are using the correct code for post template? Are you seeing "span id=fullpost" after you post?

Also, looks like Blogger Beta doesn't seem to allow post elements to be placed between date and title.

Boy said...

any other new stuff?your site has not been updated since sept.

Anonymous said...

@Ramani and Mick: You can place the Labels at the top of your post. It can be place between dateheader and posttitle, or just below the posttitle.
Check it out at my testblog.

In the post-includable, find the post-footer-line-2, and cut the entire labels-paragraph and paste it at the top (just below the first <div>) or below the code that displays the post title.

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Hi Ramani,
thanks for your reply.
Yes, I see the code of the Post template in the formatting settings exactly as I pasted it, except the first "span"...
I think the code I'm using is correct as it's only four lines to copy and paste, it's quite unlikely to mess with them...
What about integrating the "read more" thing in the template like Amox suggests? Would I have still the same problems?
I'd need to know where to place those three bits of code as I'm totally ignorant about the b:include thing, I can only code in traditional HTML (Wilbur aficionado) and I can barely change the most simple settings of a CSS... the second part of the expanded template looks like Finnish to me...

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much!
It is great to see a 3 column-template with these fine pre-installed hacks!
One thing I disliked about the classic Minima was that it only had two columns,so this solution is just great!

Unknown said...

gentletouch, i am quite busy with work and other things now. will try to come up with some hacks in a week or two.

Hans, thanks for the info. yes, we could achieve anything by editing HTML.

Alastor, i'm happy you like it.

Unknown said...

Mick, I will have to look at your template to see what's going wrong. send it to me through email. i might take a few days to respond though.

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Hey Hans, it does work, thank you very much! My labels are now between date and title...
I even managed to re-hack the social bookmarks since I much prefere Netvouz to Digg or Delicious, just try it and you'll see though it's less popular it's much better structured...
Ramani, thank you for taking the time to check my template (though I never changed a line of that part of code)... don't worry if it'll take time, I perfectly know how it feels to be too busy, with more than 8,000 messages in my inbox (some since January!)... I've seen on your profile you're hacking Rounders, I'm sure it'll look cool and I might try that as well (though I'd have to save all the widgets...).

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Just forgot: Hans, how do you do the pullquotes?

Unknown said...

mick, did you send your template in email?

Anonymous said...

@mick: if you wanna know about pullquotes check out this post.

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Many thanks Hans and Ramani, everything seems to work now... about the summary / full post problem, it seems it has started working without anyone doing anything, but the most important thing is it works... pullquotes are OK, though you have to remember:
1 To code the variable definitions (but the template won't get parsed unless you do it)
2 To close the span pullquote tag (and of course to tag in the code editor, not visual).
I'm now really satisfied of my template and I plan to make it available for download and to give basic explanations so that even people more unexperienced than me can deal with it... and of course to give full credits to those of you who made these fantastic hacks (I merely assembled them and changed a few easy options).

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Uhmm... actually I'm having quite some problems, but I guess the fault is of the visual editor... I get unwanted code in the post... the final result is small fonts here and there, lots of div and span tags... I also seem to have some problem with images, they don't link to the original sized ones anymore... well, thanks for your help anyway, the template will be OK even without the Read More feature...

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Hey, it's me again, on my blog now you can find a post which looks like Template For Dummies where I explain how to install and configure my template, but clearly a credited tribute to Hacked Minima, without ever writing a line of code.
By the way how do you show HTML code in the text? I tried the good old PRE tag but with no success, the code didn't show and it was even executed! I had to use text areas, but they look awful and have spawned a lot of unwanted (but uneffective) br tags...
Thanks again.

Unknown said...

Mick, Is that you? Your profile seems to be screwed up.

Yes, you can use pre tags but all the code inside should not have < and >. Replace them with &lt; and &gt;

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Ah ah, yes Ramani, it's me... don't know what happened, my test blog messed up a few things, hopefully fixed now...
Thanks for the tip, it was so simple it never came to my complicated mind, luckily there's people like you to show me the solution which was under my nose...

Janio Leonel said...

I need the template Tic Tac with 3 columns, please!!

Thanks

me said...

Mick

I've documented what I commented here on making and includable and pulling javascript only when we are not in an post page. You may read it here

Mick Aneworderfan said...

Amox thanks for your reply, but if we replace the link to the javascriptwill we still have the other features? For example I see on your blog the "read more feature" works perfectly while you haven't the +/- expandable post titles in the archives...

me said...

Hi Mick

Regarding other features, I've not implemented the (+/-) one. It should work as the javascript is only left out for individual post pages, so label, search, archive and the main one still include it.

Ramani

Sorry for using your comments space. If You fill we should move, please let me know.

Unknown said...

No problem, Amox and Mick.

Anonymous said...

Hey Ramani,

I was looking at your nice 3 column hacked templates to verify something I had run into, and noticed something you might want to fix.

In your 3column hacked scribe template, right after the opening head tag the word 'left' somehow got in there. It doesn't hurt a lot, but it does flash on a page load. Just to give you the heads up.

Also along the lines of why I was even looking at them, I noticed some slight modifications in the way certain layout sections are now setup that may affect some users of those templates. Anyway, you might be interested in my blog post on it to check out. You know my blog so I won't pimp the url in your comments. :-)

Take it easy.

Agar said...

Hi! It's the first time I write to you, even if I've found your blog long time ago when I decided to start a new blog on Blogger Beta. Great work by the way!

This is to repport one bug I have. I've used your "Hacked-minima Live" (thanks!) template on my blog , with some css changes and a kind of navigation bar.

But now there are some things I miss... specially at the permant links:
- Trackbacks (well, "links to this post" as blogger says)
- The navigation buttons (newer-home-older) on the top of the blog
- Quick-edit button

Where I made mistake... :(

Thank you again (and sorry for my english...)

Unknown said...

Azuara, this issue is because of a recent Blogger code update. I have explained how to fix the backlinks issue in this post. I will look into the other problems.

http://hackosphere.blogspot.com/2006/10/widget-auto-updation.html

LOUI$$ said...

hi ramani,how did i can have side bar segment like u?your hv 1 main side bar,then downward have 2 half side bar.can you teach me?

Spicc said...

Hy - like your hacks very much. However I have tried to upload the minima template as txt file by using the upload function in the html sheet, but got this message:
"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 document type declaration for root element type "html" must end with '>'. " I do not understand as i have uploaded this to the empty HTML template page. Can you pls help?tks.

Unknown said...

Spicc, When I tried in my test blog, it worked fine. Did you right-click and save the template before uploading? If you tried to copy/paste, you might have missed some lines.

Volker said...

hi ramani.

first of all thank you very much for your help and inspiration. i am trying to set up a 3 column minima black design on beta version. so i used your advice. however you already mentioned in your disclaimer that there may be problems with the 2 sidebars on the same level. well, my right one is now on the bottom of my blog. how can i fix this / where can i find info to do it myself?

thx in advance

volker

Unknown said...

volker, just try reducing the width (number of pixels) of main and sidebar wrappers gradually until you get it working fine.

Volker said...

thank you so much! this looks great.

good luck! i will definitely recommend you.

volker

Spicc said...

here how i tried to upload: I made select all on your template and tried to copy into a txt file. However by doing this the programs warned me that i might loose some of the unicode characters by saving the file as an ANSI coded text file (sorry i am not an expert). Furthermore i should get the unicode setting in the coding menue which i was not able to find. This might be the reason for the failure?

Spicc said...

Ramani, sorry now i found the unicode setting but have still the same error message after uploading the txt file

Unknown said...

Spicc, don't do copy/paste. As I said, right-click on the download template link and save the file. Then upload the file from your hard disk.

Spicc said...

tks, it works as you described. Looks great!

Anonymous said...

I like the "read more" option, but is there a way to show all comments for the posts in the main page? (I mean when you get the full post after clicking on "read more")

Unknown said...

I downloaded the mimima 3 colum Hack....But the summary read more... I can't get to work.Please help!!!!

Unknown said...

Magic, you will have to divide your posts as explained in the last step of these instructions.

http://hackosphere.blogspot.com/2006/09/expandable-posts-with-peekaboo-view.html

Badaunt said...

Ramani, I LOVE your 3-column minima. It is so clean and readable. I've been playing with it on a test blog (because I haven't changed my main blog over to beta yet) - but I've run into a problem I don't know how to fix. When I view the test blog in Mac IE 5.2, the body text is in small caps and not the colour I chose, which was black. Instead it is the same colour as the date header at the top of the post above the title.

I thought I'd done something to cause this problem, but then discovered that when I view your live demo in IE the same thing happens. I don't know if it is only the Mac version of IE that does this - I can't test because this is all I have - but it looks nasty. I hate IE and never use it, but unfortunately a lot of people who visit my blog do, and in older versions, so I'm reluctant to make the switch to beta until I can figure out how to fix this.

I've been hunting and hunting all over the web looking for a fix for this, but don't really know enough to know even where to start. Could you (or someone else) either point me in the right direction or suggest a change that might help?

Very grateful...

Unknown said...

Mary, I will check it and get back to you.

Skanky Jane said...

After adding the peekaboo expandable posts hack I realised I could've downloaded the template with all of the neat Hackosphere Beta Blogger hacks already in it!

But no matter because the hack works just fine. In fact it works more than fine - it is superb!

(Shedding tears of joy here!) - it is so unusual (for me at least) to find stuff that actually WORKS! And first pop too!

Incredible. I am so stoked.

Thank you Hackosphere!

SJxx
http://skankyjane.blogspot.com/

janet copenhaver said...

I think I posted comment in the wrong place. So I'll post again here. I'm not able to download a copy of 3 column template. What might I be doing wrong. I am using blogger beta and would like to got to a 3 column layout. Thanks

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANKS YOU.
I have been at this for days.

Unknown said...

Janet, can you tell me exactly what problem you are facing while downloading?

ME said...

hey ramani,
i tried your hacked minima template but eh tabs for "About me" and "archive" are coming way down.. please help. my url is
www.may-be-one-day.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

You seem to have replaced it with Hans' template now. if there's any problem with it, check with Hans.

TheEdgeClinger said...

Love the new 3 column templates for blogger beta. I'm using the Scribe template in a test blog. I seem to be having the same problem with the "read more" trick that Mick Aneworderfan had above.
I pasted those lines into my post template in the formatting page, but when I post I just see the very same lines, also in the finished post, as if they were simple text (except the first "span" not showing), and of course no "read more" trick. The whole post is there. I noticed that Mike came back here and said it suddenly worked for him, although nothing had been changed. I've been fooling with it all afternoon, but can't get it to work. Ideas anyone? Thanks for this great resource.

Unknown said...

EdgeClinger, that beats me. What's your blog?

TheEdgeClinger said...

My test blog is at:

http://edgepractice.blogspot.com/

Seems like I've tried everything. I must be doing something stupid!

Unknown said...

There seems to be a space before "/span" at the end of the post template. Can you remove it and try? How did it get there?

TheEdgeClinger said...

I removed the unwanted space, but still no luck. This is weird. I must be doing something totally wrong, but what on earth could it be?

Unknown said...

ok, forget about the post template. You can add the missing span in the post itself. If this also doesn't work, send me an email. It should be some small error somewhere.

janet copenhaver said...

Ramani,
I'm coming along with my 3 column and it looks good on my laptop but had a look at it on my sons computer with a 20 inch monitor and it looks squeezed . Lots of room on both sides. Have I done something wrong or is that the way it is supposed to look.
www.lifesinwestcliffe.blogspot.com
thanks!

janet copenhaver said...

Ramani,
Well I played around with the numbers and got it to look better on a large screen kinda bunched up on laptop but ok. On the layout screen I have to scroll over the the right column stuff but thats ok withme. How does it present for you.
www.lifesinwestcliffe.blogspot.com
or anyone else that might have a look at it.
I would love some feed back on my site.
Thanks.

Unknown said...

Janet, your blog looks cool with the nice image at the top. Good job!

Sucharith said...

I have used the same on my blog as well. Please do let me know if i have implemented it right or not. I would appreciate if you can suggest any betterment of my blog. My blog URL is
http://analyticsrecruiting.blogspot.com/

WikiFray said...

Ramani:

I just wanted to say thanks for all the hacks. Not only have I used them, but they helped me get ahead of the beta.curve.

Skanky Jane said...

Dear Ramani,

I am working on a new blog templaye for a friend. I have chosen Scribe and have changed the paper image for one of my own (feeling a bit proud that I got it working!)

http://amazingrealms.blogspot.com

Now I've come back to you because I want a third sidebar and basically I'm lazy (and not very clever!)

I love the three col Scribe template you have made with all the hacks in it - thank you!

I would like to modify your 3 col Scribe template some more and have the sidebars on either side of the Scribe 'paper' (or both sidebars to the right but, importantly both OFF the paper and sitting on the main background.

Before I start (and spend hours) on this I just thought I'd check first and ask you if you think this is even possible?

You see, I really do prefer to have three columns but personally would like a little more separation between the sidebars and the blog post section - visually speaking that is.

Thank you for your time.

SJ xx

http://skankyjane.blogspot.com

Skanky Jane said...

Dear Ramani,

I was able to check out your 3 col Scribe template live but I was unable to download it. When I clicked on the 'download template' link I was redirected here.

This page I was redirected to seems to be an example page with links back to your post on the multi-style labels widget.

Is the template still available please?

With thanks,

SJ xx

Unknown said...

Jane,

Nice design on your template. You will have to adjust the margin widths to achieve nice 3 columns.

The link that you sent is the template for the hacked minima. There's another link in the same post for hacked scribe. You should right-click and save the link (instead of left click).

Skanky Jane said...

Thank you Ramani, I've got your hacked 3 col Scribe template now!

I am assuming that when you say I need to adjust the width of my margin widths to achieve nice 3 columns that you are saying it is possible to have the information in my two sidebars positioned off of the white paper image (the main content post section). Anyway (laffing at myself) I'll give it a whirl and let you know if I succeed.

Added you to my faves on Technorati, love your site. I read somewhere the other day - maybe it was on Wikipedia or maybe Blogeratto that you were the first to apply hacks to Blogger templates? A claim to fame indeed!

SJ xx

Unknown said...

Jane,

I haven't looked into your template that closely, so no guarantee that you can adjust it. Try it out.

Skanky Jane said...

Thank you Ramani, I think I have an idea how to do this (this stuff is addictive!

I have tonight been viewing your page source in order to wrok out how you got such a nicely spaced page (hence i extended my outer wrapper to 900px).

Now I am not sure what the etiquette here is so I thought I'd ask regarding your "widebar". I like the look of it and think I can work out how to add one to the Minima template I downloaded from you. May I have your permission to do this? Is it alright to view your page source for tips such as this or is that a definite no-no?

Many thanks,
SJ xx

Skanky Jane said...

Me again!

Ramani, I looked but couldn't find the answer here - so I ask - is the 3 col Minima template i downloaded from here a fluid template?

I noted that the orignal template has idths in percentages rather than pixels and so I wondered if that is the difference between fluid and fixed?

Cheers,
SJ xx

Ben C. said...

Ramani,

Let me know if it's OK to ask questions here.

I've been working for hours trying to figure out why my navbar won't appear. This problem occured before working the Minima 3-col hack.

I use the Minima hack you developed and changed it to Minima Blue. The navbar appears intermittently. Mostly not there with the header at the top of the page with no gap for the navbar. Here is a test blog I'm working on before moving to the main one:

http://nycnovahunter.blogspot.com

I don't see any navbar-iframe items in the template. There aren't any navbar items either.

Also, the navbar in the layout is narrower than the 3 groups below it (i.e. left sidebar / blog posts / right sidebar). Navbar is 758px and the outer-wrapper is 900px.

Also, the look of layout in Firefox 1.5 is less attractive than it is with IE6. On Firefox the right sidebar is below and right of the 'Blog Posts' section instead of right and at the top edge of 'Blog Posts'.

Thanks again!

Unknown said...

Ben, you can ask questions but I will be able to answer them only when I get time. Especially, if it needs quite a bit of time to think about it.

Ben C. said...

Ramani,

Thanks for the reply.

Please check out this thread on Google Groups called Where is the Navbar?. I added a few posts to the end and a link to an image of the Page Elements which may shed some light on the situation.

Thanks again for the work you've doen for all Blogger Beta users.

Ben

Anonymous said...

Hi, very nice hack! I installed it on my blog and it works great.

However, could you please tell me what I would need to change in order to make the main column wider. I chose the dots design.

Thanks if you can help!

Unknown said...

Crystak, You could try increasing the width of #main-wrapper (and maybe decreasing the width of #sidebar-wrapper)

Ben C. said...

Ramani,

A question whenever you have a chance.

Can you take a look at the following image of the 'Page Elements' screen after successfully uploading your Hacked Minima 3 column template?

I'm wondering what controls the width of the navbar and why the right sidebar is below the level of 'Blog Posts'. See image.

All the best.

Ben

Unknown said...

Ben, I will take a look tonight.

Ben C. said...

Ramani,

Thank you much for looking into this.

Anonymous said...

hi. i tried changing my template with yours. i tried the 1st two and it worked perfectly... but i got really interested in using the scribe template. when i tried it, blogger said they couldn't process my request. am i doing something wrong? im just uploading the saved template. help pls. btw, really good work! wow.

Unknown said...

It sometimes gives this error if it tries to removes several page elements while uploading. Did it ask you to confirm the removal of elements? If so, manually remove them in the Page elements tab and retry uploading.

Ben C. said...

Ramani, I've resolved the page elements problem mentioned above. I modified the template to a fluid style and this is what the page elements looks like now.

See test blog to see the template in action.

Thanks again for all the help with the many hacks that appear in your 3 column Minima which is what this template is based on.

Ben

Unknown said...

Ben, I am glad you got it working. Blue Minima looks great too.

Skanky Jane said...

Just thought I'd come back to say - I did it! ...I got the two sidebars in Scribe (Ramani's hacked version) to sit off of the 'paper'. (On a blog for a friend at http://amazingrealms.blogspot.com/)

Maybe I didn't do it all that well...or in the best way possible but the idea at least proved sound. (Some problems in IE and at low screen res).....but - learners can't be geniuses!

Thanks for the template Ramani I really like it.

Cheers
SJ xx

Phil’s Pix Lnyx said...

Awesome. Simply Awesome. I need to figure out how to add the comments to the pages that appear when you click "older posts".

If it isn't obvious, I am a forty something rookie. Having a blast. Thanks.

Unknown said...

Phil,
Looks like you are quite thrilled. Like many others who visited my blog ;)

Phil’s Pix Lnyx said...

Ok, I give up. Is there a way to make the comments appear on the pages that come up when you click "older posts"?

Still having a party....

Unknown said...

Phil,

I see that your older posts page doesn't even show the post itself but only +/- for peekaboo view. Is that the way you want it? Otherwise, let me know.

Agar said...

Well, well, just another blog based on your template. Thanks!!!

Sam Morgan said...

Hey. Great work with the 3 column templates! They look great. I actually took your minima one and modded it, and helped my friend out setting up a blog @ http://deekay-xavier.blogspot.com/. Came out great!. I have one thing i need a bit of help with if you have the time. Ive been trying to create my own blogger template with 3 columns, just as sort of a learning experience. I did a bunch of mods, and added another column, but the column is in the wrong place! you can see it here at http://work-test.blogspot.com/. I have tried moving the right column before the main column in the body code, but it just moves the main column for posts down to the bottom instead. What the heck am i doing wrong? Thanks for any help you can give :)

Skanky Jane said...

Dear Ramani,

I have found that (in your hacked 3 col BB clone templates) the Drop Down Menu for Archives (Blogger Beta) do not work. The List and Heirarchy styles work fine just the Drop Down Menu style (my preferred style) does not work.

Is there a reason for this?

SJ xx

Unknown said...

hi Jane, I don't see a reason why Dropdown should not work. I need to look into this when I am free.

Adsense Tips said...

This is good stuff, just trying to get my head round it. Have you got any plans to do the 3column layout for rounders 3 or rounders 4 please? I tried following your tips for changing other templates but I must be getting something wrong.
Best wishes
Flora

Skanky Jane said...

Thanks Ramani

SJ xx

marimorimo said...

I'm very new to blogging and I don't know much about coding, but I tried the Minima hack template and it works beautifully - no problems at all. Thank you very much for this wonderful piece of code!

I hope hacks for other templates come soon.

Rock said...

Ramani, thank you for your template. I still get a drop float though, with every template, including yours, in IE. I discovered that what causes it is when I enable Blog Feeds in the settings. This happens, as I've said, no matter whose template I download.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Don

afilmaker@earthlink.net

Rock said...

Ramani, it's me again. What I mean by "drop float" is that my right sidebar appears at the bottom of the page in I.E., no matter what settings I use for Outer-wrapper, sidebar width etc.

Thanks.

Don
afilmaker@earthlink.net
Truth--the No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone

Unknown said...

Rock, since you have some videos in your posts, i think you could try adjusting the width of #main-wrapper and see if it helps. IE always behaves wierdly in these things.

Rock said...

Ramani, thanks for responding. No, changing the width of the #main-wrapper does not help. What does help, again, is disabling Blog Feeds, which I prefer not to do.

Thanks.

Rock

Rock said...

Ramini, by the way, even if I eliminate all my posts, with the videos, and without, I still get the drop float. It's definitely because of the Blog Feeds setting.

Thanks.

Rock

Rock said...

Ramani, thanks again for your great template. I solved my drop float problem by making the right sidebar position absolute. This was the only solution I could find.

Thanks again.

Rock

Unknown said...

Quite useful infos. Thanks a lot.
Do u have such template for stretch denim:-)???

Regards,
Guhan

http://internetbazaar.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

No, I don't have stretch denim version. But, you can apply the hacks to that template too.

Rock said...

Ramani, me again. The absolute positioning did not work out well for me either, so I'm back to having the problem with drop-float with your templates and with all the other templates offered now for 3-column Beta Blogger. Again, it is independent of videos, images, or even posts--it appears even with one post using just text.

The problem probably is with Blogger, but I hope one of you can come up with a solution.

Thanks for all your good work.

Truth—The No Spin Politically Incorrect Zone

Rock

Mleczny said...

Great job dude!! Many thanks ;D

Ameet said...

i came up with this template with
Multiple columns, http://amdou.blogspot.com .
But problem with this is its impossible to vertically align with 3
columns properly.
Any suggestion are welcomed.

The.Digital.Life said...

?? I'm slightly confused. Does it not work with blogger? I can't seem to download it. When I click on the link, I only see a messed up preview. Also, I tried the other ones without the built-in hacks but the link only brought me to a blank page. I don't think your link is broken because it worked for everyone else, but does it not work in Firefox?

Unknown said...

as I said in the post, "right-click the Download template link, save the code for the template and upload it to Blogger"

holmes221 said...

hi Ramani,

Thanks for your tips on tweaking Blogger Beta.
I will use some of your js script and credit your name. hope you don't mind!

I have a question. Can you display more than 100 posts from the feed? If not, what will you do?
delicious feed doesnt allow more than 100 posts too :(


SHC

holmes221 said...

and one more question.. :)
can we sort the feed in ascending order or chronographical order ?

Thanks,

SHC

Unknown said...

I think it is not possible to get more than 100 posts at one time. But you can get the previous 100 posts by specifying the last updated timestamp. I haven't experimented with it though.

You should be able to sort too but you have to write some sorting code in js.

K. Stone said...

Hello,
I downloaded your "hacked minima" template.
The peekaboo is not working for my blog posts.
Is there something else I need to do.
thank you

Unknown said...

Life learning,

Did you divide the posts into summary and full post?

K. Stone said...

I think I figured out the peekaboo thing, although sometimes blogger's posting template is tempermental with dropping things you type in. So I think I'm all set there.

I do have another question: I was wondering if it would be possible to increase the margin within the right hand column? And would you be able to give me instrux to do so? Or is that too involved?

The reason is the text in my center (post) colum is very close to the text in the right hand column and I think it would read a little easier with more space btwn the two columns.

thank you for this wonderful template and all its fun functionality! And thanks for all your help!

Dave Riley said...

Ramani,

I incorporated your three column template in one of my new blogs. (here). I have used other 3 column designs before and now can even play with the column sizes to suit my preferences.

However, I don't think I have come upon a better template in way of bells and whistles as well as utility as yours. Even some of your conceptual hacks with the labels are amazing and take Blogger to a whole new level of experience!

What you and others in the Blogger hacker community are doing is wonderful. Your passion, skill, talent and generosity make me feel so excited about what can happen webside in way of everyday Joes, like me, creating their own customized presence on the web.

Thank you so much.

Kagemonsteret said...

Hello.
I just wanted to ask how i get the text in my right colums to align to the right, as the left do so to the left? Thanks

eldoctor said...

I wonder did you make harbor template hacked and can it be like neo template?

Unknown said...

No, I didn't modify harbor template and it cannot work like Neo.

Nirazo Malla said...

though this is not the place but..you are also one of the hack providers.i made my blog like 3 column from 2 column from beautifulbeta but alas i am not able to post mine views over there so i m posting over here...but later one..i got problem that in the post section i dont have any post but it archived in the archived section..what is mine problem i was unable to figure it out....could u please figure it out...mine blog is http://nirazz.blogspot.com...
HOpe to get solution from u...
Thanks in advance.
Nirazz