Fixing Common Template Errors On Blogger

I realized that I had gone too much into designing widgets, losing track of the basic stuffs which drove a lot of traffic to my blog - those articles and tutorials which helped the newbies solve their common problems. With that being said, I plan to post articles and refresh on topics that are already existing on my blog with a better view and knowledge about them in the upcoming weeks.

In this article, I plan to provide solutions for the most commonly encountered template problems on blogger. I guess webmasters shall find this article way too silly but, I'm sure this is a life saver for many newbies out there. I'll just list out the problems, as it appears on the dashboard, when you try to make a change on your blogger template. Obviously, solutions shall follow below them:)

Most commonly encountered problem on blogger - "Your template could not be parsed as it is not well-formed. Please make sure that all XML elements are closed properly." This error message is usually accompanied by another message that indicates the actual reason for this reason. Hence, you should watch out for the next statement which may be one among the following.

XML error message: The entity name must immediately follow the '&' in the entity reference.

SOLUTION: Just look out for the place where you modified the codes on your template. I'm sure you'll find the following symbol - &, somewhere in the newly inserted code. Just add amp; to the right of the symbol or in other words, suffix amp; with that symbol to fix the error.

XML error message: Open quote is expected for attribute "{1}" associated with an element type "href".

SOLUTION: The element type may be src or type or class or id or anything for that matter - not necessary that it should always be href. Well, it is pretty simple to solve this one! You just missed an a quotation mark some where in the code. Consider the example below.
<a href=http://abc.com">Example</a> should become <a href=''#">Example</a>

XML error message: The element type "img" must be terminated by the matching end-tag "</img>"

SOLUTION: This error occurs when you miss out a trailing slash ( / )that should appear before you close the img tag. This could be better explained with an example as shown below.
<a href=''source link"><img src="img link"></a> should be changed to
<a href=''source link"><img src="img link"/></a>

More than one widget was found with id: HTML1. Widget IDs should be unique.

SOLUTION: This occurs when the id name is found to the same at two instances. Just change the id name to solve this issue. For example, from id='HTML5' to id="HTML57" - a unique name that does not appear anywhere on your template.

We were unable to save your template. Please correct the error below, and submit your template again. There should be one and only one skin in the template, and we found: 2

SOLUTION: Simple! You defined two different skins on your template. Make sure you delete one and the problem should be fixed - occurs at very rare instances. But, it does happen:)

bx - xxxxxx error

SOLUTION: You'll find bx followed by some number when you try to save your template - usually occurs when you try to shift tabs between "Page Elements" and "Edit HTML". Just make sure you save your widgets at their respective positions before you shift the tabs to avoid this error. Clearing your browser cookies might help sometimes. Saving your template by manual deletion/removal of widgets using "Page Elements" section is better than using the wrench icon to delete them - avoids the errors.

Well, only few errors are mentioned in the article above. There are plenty of errors which you might have encountered. Just share them via comments - possibly with their solutions as well. If not, just post the error you encounter and I'll try to fix it up for you!

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Solve "Another blog or Google site is already using this address" On Blogger

This week has been complete a roller coaster ride for me. I saw both the ups & downs with my blog - almost lost this domain, PR Update, etc... Many would have noticed that my domain "www.newbloggingtipz.com" was not available for few days. The reason behind the absence was a redirection problem - the infamous "Another blog or Google site is running on this address" problem.

I did struggle to get my domain back. I'm not sure how I solved my issue but this might help you provided you have proper DNS settings on your domain registrar. I should definitely thank Jacklynn Tong and Patrick from the Google Apps team for their support and nitecruz from the blogger help forum who tried their best to solve my issue. I would list two possible solutions that would solve this issue.

Before we beign, just check whether the DNS settings are correct on your domain registrar. You need to have the CNAME and A NAME records as mentioned in the screen-shot below.

Note: Please replace the domain name in the respective rows above with your domain name. I just showed you the DNS settings for my blog. 
Are they correct? If not, change them as mentioned above and wait for 1800 seconds. Now, trying redirecting your blog to the custom domain. If they are correct and still you see the problem on the blogger dashboard, then you need to try this...

SOLUTION 1
1. Login to your Google Apps Account - Domain Management. Navigate to "Settings" page from the dashboard. Now, choose sites tab that appears on the left.
2. You will see a tab that shows "Web Mapping". Just click on it. Check whether a mapping exists. If yes, then delete the mapping.

3. Now, login to your Blogger Dashboard and try to redirect your blogspot domain to the custom domain.

SOLUTION 2
1. Login to your Google Apps Account - Domain Management. Navigate to "Settings" page from the dashboard. Now, choose "Sites" tab that appears on the left.
2. You will see a tab that shows "Web Mapping". Just click on it. Check whether a mapping exists. If not, return to the previous page. Click on "Change URL" link that appears to be blue in color. Have a look at the screen-shot below.

3. Select the second option on the page that appears below. Just enter "www" in the space available in the second option. Proceed with the continue options. Now, make the DNS changes if required to! Else, leave it as it was! Have a look at the screen-shot below for better understanding.

4. Now, save the changes that you made. Wait for few minutes. Then, login to your Blogger Dashboard and try to redirect your blogspot domain to the custom domain. It should now redirect to the sites page which you enabled (mentioned at step 3). In other words, you should not see the "Another blog or.." error.
5. If yes, then your problem is solved. Just revert back to the blogspot domain from your blogger dashboard. Save it. Later, login to your Apps Accout and navigate to "Dashboard >> Settings >> Sites". Again hit the "Change URL" link and choose the first option. Save the changes you made. Log out from your Google Apps Account. Wait for few minutes.
6. Now, login to your Blogger Account and try to redirect your custom domain. You will not see "Another blog or Google site is already using this address" error.

Well, if the above two solutions don't work. Then, login to your Google Apps Account and Use the "Support" tab to contact the Google Apps Team. Your query will be addressed in not more than 48 hours. In my case, they even gave me a call to fix the issue. So, don't panic! You will get back your domain! You may contact me via email if you need any help regarding this issue!

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Solving/Fixing "Another blog is hosted at this address" Error

 I recently shifted my blog, Everything About Blogging, from the default blogspot domain to a custom domain (www.newbloggingtipz.com). I had a lot of confusion whether to shift my blog to WP or just buy a domain & stick to blogger. I consulted my friend & he simply said, "Be it blogger or wordpress, if you have good content, you can reach great heights". So, I chose to stick with blogger but preferred a custom domain. UPDATE : New article can related to this topic can be found here - SOLUTION. 

Fine. Let's get to our work. After all the initial setup with CNAME and A records, when you try to enter the URL through blogger for your custom domain, that is, when you transfer your blogspot domain to custom domain, you will encounter the error saying "Another blog is hosted at this address". I know how annoying it is to see that kind of an error. Don't panic. It is very simple to solve this problem. Just few minutes of work and your error is fixed!!

Follow these simple steps.
1. Login to your Google Apps account.
2. From the dashboard, hover to Service Settings and then select Sites under the menu.
3. Choose the tab Web address mapping instead of General as shown below.4. Now, you will be able to see www address in that list. Select and Delete it. Just proceed with the warnings and confirmations.
5. Once you finish this, move on to your blogger dashboard. Navigate to Settings – Publishing – Switch To Custom Domain - Advanced Settings from the dashboard. Now, enter your custom domain URL with "www" before the domain name. (Eg: www.newbloggingtipz.com)
6. Now, save your settings and the error is fixed. Still if you face problems, then use this form called "Magical Custom Domain Form" and let the blogger help forum fix it.

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