Holy Complicated Batman!!

Wow...I just spent the better part of an hour trying to upload a customized layout for my blog here. Had no idea that there was such a difference between a "layout" and a "template". One is in XML format where the other is in HTML. And I GUESS the two don't make good bed fellows.

Regardless, I tried to choose a LAYOUT that wasn't so irritating that it would chase off what (if any) readers I have. There are a lot of cool ones out there for FREE though. And kudos to those designers. I'd have no idea how to create a custom graphic like these. Bravo.

So yeah, I pretty much just wasted an entire morning doing this. Oh...I DID create a test blog. This is because the first time I tried to install the new layout, it completely WIPED OUT my widgets (AKA all the links, audio blog, map, etc you see to the right of this blog post). I freaked!!! So luckily, I was able to back out without destroying everything. I then went to a site called Blogger Buster (which comes HIGHLY recommended for Blogger nOObs!) and it described how to convert the old-to-new layout while maintaining ALL of your widgets. Thank the Lord! I wasn't somehow able to save ALL of my widgets, but the 2 that didn't survive the transition were easily installed again.

So off I go again into the blog-o-sphere! Hope this layout works as well as the last one. If it sucks, I'm sure I'll hear about it. Blog on brothers & sisters...blog on!