I remember my first attempt to tweak a blogger template, gosh was I a novice. Anyway, I wanted to add the related posts widgets under my blog posts. I was following the tutorial on
Ogbongeblog.com. But unfortunately, my attempts to connect the Desktop computer at home to the internet to follow the guide wasn't productive.
I was so desperate for a way to do the tweaking using my android phone since going to the Cafe wouldn't be easy due to distance. Someone recommended the use of UC browser v8 but though it managed to open the template editor, the loading was super-slow and my little data was exhausted before I could do anything. Even searching through the editor was not possible. So I couldn't do any edit and had no other option other than to abort the mission.
So my blog was just default until one day, I got the chance to head to the Cafe. I wasn't with much cash and thus I purchased 30 minutes worth of browsing time for a hundred naira, which I estimated would be enough for what I needed to do. I opened the tutorial in one window and logged into my blogger account in another. The monitor of the system I used was frustrating, going on and off at will, and at the end, I managed to add the css and then the related posts widget in only desktop mode. My browsing time was exhausted and I had to log out.
Later on while trying to move my blog to a different google account, using backup blog feature, and changing my author name and google+ profile by editing the downloaded backup file on my offline Desktop, I discovered it also had the full html of the template. Excitedly, I ignorantly went ahead editing this template adding tweaks I desired, most, if not all, from
ogbongeblog.com. After which feeling fulfilled, I uploaded the backup but to my disappointment, none was executed. So I did a little google search and discovered there is a file called template in
.XML format which is different from that of the backup. Turned out this template file was what I was supposed to edit.
From there I learnt of already-made templates (free and premium),
responsive templates, etc. I tried
editing templates trying to make a design I would love, mostly trying to join tweak I liked in a template to another whose design I preferred most. This turn of events took months, making me understand much about template. I also discovered, thanks to
this post, that one had to enable custom templates for mobile, something that was frustrating my new found line of interest, i.e, modifying (tweaking) templates.
But sometimes workdone could get lost or delayed when there was a cut in power supply since I'd no backup UPS device, and that wasn't a welcomed development. So the desire to use my phone which was available 24/7 was rekindled. And not long after, though after much search, I finally found the needle in the haystack. I found 3 Android applications that could edit
.XML files, in other words, edit templates. But the best, which I've been using and addicted to, the purpose of this post is the
"920 Text Editor". It's been months since I've been editing templates with my android phone ever since I downloaded the "920 Text Editor" and I can't remember the last time I edited one with a PC.
The "920 Text Editor" works on Android 2.2.x and up. It's functionality are similar to those of the PC's Notepad. Some vital operations that it can perform are given below:
==> Search and Replace: Search is a very vital feature in template editing. In most cases, one will have to search for piece(s) of code(s) in the template related to the content that one intends to make. Without Search, well that's a perfect example of "finding a needle in a haystalk". To achieve that near-impossible and time-consuming feat, well, it's like Tony Starks said in the Avengers - Age of Ultron, "you bring a magnet". In the case of template, a "Search functionality." And this app got that magnet. It can look for anything you seek within seconds, highlighting it on the go. It also have Replace function. That way you can look for something and replace it/all.
==> Save and Save As: You can save your work on your template on the go, by clicking the save button whenever you please. You can also choose to save an edited template as a new file using the
"Save As" function.
==> Redo and Undo: You can undo any work done on the template while working on it in case of change of mind or suspected error. And you can redo what you undo. All you need do is click on either curved arrows in the Toolbar.
==> Preview: You can preview any work, preferably html, using your device HTML viewer or any supported browser on your phone to monitor the progress of your work.
See: Introduction: What is HTML?
==> Expandable (Full Screen): You can achieve this by pressing the "volume up" button, for a broader view of the template while you work on it. By doing so, the Toolbar will be hidden. You can undo this by pressing the "volume down" button.
==> Insert Colour Codes: If you're not familiar with colour codes, you can easily do this by using the "Insert a Colour" function. A colour board will be displayed for you to select the colour you wish to use (e.g. Red for links colour) and the colour code will be inserted into the template.
==> Encoding: It supports a wide range of encodings enabling it to automatically detect and edit nearly all types of documents, such as TXT, HTML/XML, PHP, ASP, C#, C, C++, Erlang, Frink, Javascript, Java, JSP, Perl, Python, Shell, ActionScript, VB, SQL, conf, CSS, lua, Tcl, TeX/LaTeX, Verilog, WML, AutoHotKey, AutoLisp, PowerShell, Go, Matlab, ColdFusion, Fortran, and VHD, XLS, etc. What a baby.
See: A World of Programming
==> Storage Folder Search: I recently used this and it was wild. You can search any folder in your HHD or SD card and any supported file bearing the Keyword, be it title or content, will come up.
It doesn't end there. The "920 Text Editor" also offer other handy functions like;
- Read-Only Mode,
- Multi-Tab,
- Change of the font and font size by touch,
- Duplicate of selected text,
- Conversions of selected texts to Title, Lowercase and Uppercase,
- List of recently opened files history,
- Auto save option,
- Document statistics,
- Show line numbers,
- You can also use it to write posts to be placed on your blog and so on.
More Cut Below:
See: Add WhatsApp Share Button To Blogger Blog
The 920 Text Editor is a free app developed by Jecelyin Peng (www.jecelyin.com). You can download it on
Github.
