Monday, January 21, 2008

Denim 3 Column Blogger Template (new blogger)

This is a standard "Stretch Denim" 2 (two) Column Blogger Template (for new blogger). It has been Modified to 3 (three) columns, using instructions found at "Tips for New Bloggers". I used those instructions, following them step-by-step, to create "this" page (the one you are currently viewing). It works Perfectly!

Creating or Modifying a standard Blogger template "yourself" is important, as many times "Designers" will insert malicious code into their templates, which, is not a good thing.

Sometimes it is nothing more than a link back to their own Homepage or website, but that's kinda like a mortgage payment that can never be paid off. And I didn't like that. I mean, I don't mind linking a single, or even several pages back to a designers website. But Not my Whole blog. I mean, if I'm gonna have to do that, then the designer had better be writing my post for me as well. Otherwise, I will just use the single column FREE template provided by blogger.com, which, or "who", has their own links incorporated into the code. But hey, since they provide the blog "site" for free, well then that's ok, as that's kinda like paying rent on a storage facility.

And besides all that, I wanted to be able to tell my friends that, "I Designed" my blog. And that they could too if they would simply take the time which, takes only about 5-15 minutes (depending on, DSL or Dial-up connections), so that in the end, they could take pride in something that They had accomplished, as opposed to just having something Handed to them (which, unfortunately, is what they are use to).

But enough about my Lazy, good for nothing friends. Your here to Design Your Own Blog!

And that's the CooL thing about using the "Denim" blogger template. It has more versatility than any other template I have tested. With just a click, you can change background colors, font colors and sizes, Header colors, sizes, fonts. And more. Also in choosing the "S-T-R-E-T-C-H" Denim, your blog will fit well into a viewing screen of only 800px x 600px, which is common on many laptops.

Ok, enough with the praises as I'm not getting paid to sell this template. In deed I don't get paid at all. Unless, of course, you happen to click on one of my Google Ads you see posted around this page. But "How to Monetize Your Blog", is a later post and not covered here.

So here's the deal. I Needed a good 3 (three) column template, that Worked, as it was supposed to work. And for all the reasons above and more, I just couldn't find one.

Then I found "Tips for New Bloggers".
An Excellent Blogsite, by an Excellent dude who, does in deed, include a website link back to his Homepage within the code. But Tells you about it! And even tells you that you can Remove it, if you wish. So I left it, as a show of gratitude. A "Thanks" for the honesty.

And as a further showing of my gratitude, I created this post.

Eh, well, ok. I created it for Anyone and Everyone out there in Bloggerland, who, like myself, was/is looking for a template that A) works, B) is free of "Bugs", and C) has No Malicious code!

Nevertheless, because I have been blogging for "years", and have Tired with being at the Mercy of unscrupulous template designers. I am promoting the use of "Tips for New Bloggers", as in My humble opinion, they are the best. Not only at Teaching You to manipulate/Hack your own template. But also because their site is Very well done. Clean, not a lot of Ads and and Gimmicks. And they provide excellent tutorials covering many other aspects of blogging. Including, but not limited to; Adding a "search box", "Digg button", Favicons", "images", "Headers", "page Elements", and much Much more!

All are subjects which I will soon include in "this" blog. But that, as my time for blogging is limited, I strongly suggest, and recommend, "Tips for New Bloggers"!

Go there NOW!!!

Oh, I almost forgot. Below is "Tips for New Bloggers" mission statement. "Copied and Pasted", by me. (hope they don't mind.) But I have posted it here because the best part about using their site, is that YOU are in Total Control.

Note: Some sites offer free three-column templates for download. If you are starting a new blog, you may look up these sites and use their templates. However, if you have an existing blog and merely want to expand the template to include another column, our guides would be helpful. What we do is to take the standard Blogger templates and show you how to add a new sidebar. This approach gives you total control over the changes, and if you have bookmarked this page, you can revisit it in future should you want to reverse the changes. It is also a safer method, since there could be a few out there who may introduce malicious scripts or blog virus into their customized templates without you knowing.

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