Add Two Sidebar Columns below Main Sidebar in Blogger

I have told you about creating three columns in Blogger template. Many of us try to avoid this as it may sometimes look clumsy but we need widget sections to add some blogger gadgets. Now if you want to add two small sidebar columns below main sidebar in your blogger template, then I will tell you how to do it.

So let's start!

First go to Design > Edit HTML and backup your template.

1. Find the below section:

#sidebar-wrapper {

width:220px;

float:right;

word-wrap:break-word;

overflow:hidden;

}






2. And just below it add the following codes: 
#right-col {

width:48%;

float:right;

word-wrap:break-word;

overflow:hidden;

}

#left-col {

width:48%;

float:left;

word-wrap:break-word;

overflow:hidden;

}

3. Now find:

<div id='sidebar-wrapper'>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar' preferred='yes'/>

</div>





4. And add the bold codes or replace the whole code with: 







<div id='sidebar-wrapper'>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar' preferred='yes'/>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='left-col' preferred='yes'/>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='right-col' preferred='yes'/>

</div>

These bold snippets are added which would actually add two widget sections
 below the main sidebar. Preview your template for any errors and save it.

Update: Some of you are having trouble adding the two small sidebar
columns in their templates and may be getting an XML error. So, here's the solution:
You must be having widgets in your sidebar like:

<div id='sidebar-wrapper'>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar' preferred='yes'>

< ..widgets here.. >
</b:section>

</div>

 Put the bold codes below </b:section> as shown below:

<div id='sidebar-wrapper'>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='sidebar' preferred='yes'>

< ..widgets here.. >

</b:section>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='left-col' preferred='yes'/>

<b:section class='sidebar' id='right-col' preferred='yes'/>

</div>

Now go to Design > Page Elements and check for your newly added two
 small sidebars below you main sidebar.

Add Three Columns in Footer to Blogger

Keeping you sidebars clean makes your blog look good. This is where the role of the columns in footer section comes in. Also it will give your blog a new style. For example, see at the bottom of my blog. This simple tutorial will explain how to do create and add three sidebar columns to footer section in Blogger templates.

1. Go to Design > Edit HTML and first backup your template.


2. Move your gadgets/widgets (if any) from the footer section to your sidebar.


3. Find the closing "]]></b:skin>" tag and immediately before this line, add the following styling definitions and properties:



#footer-left {
width: 33%;
float: left;
margin:5px;
text-align: left;
}
#footer-center {
width: 34%;
float: left;
margin:5px;
text-align: center;
}
#footer-right {
width: 33%;
float: right;
margin:5px;
text-align: right;
}
#footer-column-container {
clear:both;
}
.footer-column {
padding:5px;
}


3. Find the codes:


<div id='footer-wrapper'>
<b:section class='footer' id='footer'/>
</div>


And replace this section with the below codes to add three widget sections to blogger footer:


<div id='footer-wrapper'>
<div id='footer-column-container'>
<div id='footer-left'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer-center'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
</div>
<div id='footer-right'>
<b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
</div>
<div style='clear:both;'/>
</div>
</div>


5. Preview for any error and save it. Go to Design > Page Elements, you will find out that you have added three columns in Blogger footer section.

Now move and add some of the widgets there and see how it looks.

How to Create Three Column Blogger Template

You must have seen many blogs having three columns. You may also want to make your own three column Blogger Layout Template and give your blog a new level in style. So let's do it with a simple tutorial.

You can see in Design > Page elements that you already have two column, one for the main body and the other is the sidebar. So you need to create and add an extra sidebar column.

Adding the Third Sidebar Column in Blogger Template

1. Go to Design > Edit Template and backup your template.

2. Find:

#sidebar-wrapper {
width: 220px;
float: $endSide;
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden;     /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
}

And change float to:

float: right;

3. Below it add:

#left-sidebar-wrap {
width: 220px;
float: left;
word-wrap: break-word;
overflow: hidden;
}

This "float: left" will make the sidebar float to left. Thus you will be having a sidebar to the left of your blogger template.



4. Find and change the width of the outer-wrapper to 900px or more to avoid overlapping of sidebar over the main-wrapper.

#outer-wrapper {
width: 660px;
margin:0 auto;
padding:10px;
text-align:$startSide;
font: $bodyfont;
}

5. Find #main-wrapper and replace it with:

#main-wrapper {
width: 410px;
float: left;
margin:0 20px; 
word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */
overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */
} 

Here a margin to left and right of 20px is added to avoid overlapping of sidebars with the main wrapper. You can change it accordingly to overcome the issue of overlapping of sidebars.

7. Find the section:

<div id='main-wrapper'>

And just before this add:

<div id='left-sidebar-wrap'> 
<b:section class='sidebar' id='left-sidebar' preferred='yes'/>
</div>

8. Save your template and "Wallah", its done. You have created an extra sidebar

   for your Blogger template. 

Now you have to do some adjustments yourselves. Adjust the widths by 
altering the pixels (px) of the "outer-wrapper", "main-wrapper", 
"sidebar-wrapper" and "left-sidebar-wrap". Adjust the margins, paddings 
and width by same way to "header-wrapper" and "footer-wrapper" to match 
the style.

Using Conditional Tags in Blogger

Conditional tags in Blogger are used to tell browsers what to do in certain conditions. It is a great way to do certain things like hiding widgets or gadgets or your share buttons in Blogger. For example, when we use:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;item&quot;'>
Hello world
<b:else/>
Goodbye Cruel World
</b:if>

It gives the browser the condition that when it’s an item (post) page then show “Hello world” otherwise, for every other pages show “Goodbye Cruel World”. Interesting, isn’t it.
A conditional tag comes handy when you are designing your Blogger blogs and customizing and editing it from the scratch to take it to the next level. But first you need to know how many types of pages are there in Blogger and then how to use the conditional tags respective to that type of page. In this tutorial I will try to cover most of it, so let’s start.

Type of Pages in Blogger and Conditional Tags to Use

Item Page

It refers to every other page except item (post) pages. The conditional tag:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;index&quot;'>
Hello World
</b:if>

Archive Page

It’s for your archive pages in Blogger. The tag will be:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;archive&quot;'>
Hello World
</b:if>

Static Page

For static pages in Blogger it will be:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == &quot;static_page&quot;'>
Hello World
</b:if>

For a Particular Page

If you want to do something on a particular page then the conditional tag for it will be:

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == &quot;URL of the page&quot;'>
Hello World
</b:if>

The only thing that you have to do is replace “URL of the page” with your

page’s URL which you want to have. 

Homepage only

It's for the homepage only.

<b:if cond='data:blog.url == data:blog.homepageUrl'>
Hello World
</b:if>

Alternative Condition

Now suppose you want a conditional tag that alternates every rule. Say, in first example, I showed how to display something only in post pages but just an “!” mark can alternate that condition. For example, when we apply:

<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;item&quot;'>
Hello World
</b:if>

It will set the condition that it should be shown on every page other than post

page. 

How to Show HTML and JavaScript Codes within Blogger Posts

While writing my blog posts for my readers I noticed that every time I use "<" or ">" signs to show JavaScript or HTML codes and snippets within my Blogger post editor in "Edit HTML" mode, it's not visible. This happens because Blogger post editor recognizes it as snippets that should be used with your blogger template.

So to show JavaScript or HTML codes within Blogger posts or comments, use < instead of < and > instead of >.

Now if there are big codes then go to Plus2net.com and convert your codes.

This is the simplest method to show JavaScript and HTML codes within blog posts.