Change the order of posts in Blogger + Sticky post

CHANGING ORDER OF YOUR POSTS (BACK DATING)

In New Blogger, we can easily (but not so practically), change the order of our posts. The only way to do it is by changing dates of our posts. At least for now.

That means, if I don't want my NEW post to appear as a FIRST one on the page, when composing it, I'll change it's date to the past (back date it). Now, even if it's just published, it will go "down" as far as I've set the date...This is practical when:

• you're designing your blog, and want to make, for example, categories, or lists, menus....and you don't want those to appear as a regular post
• you just want to change the order of your posts
• and you'll think of more.....

To do it, go to:
DASHBOARD --> POSTING --> EDIT POSTS, click on "Edit" of the post you want to play with, and on the bottom of the box, click on the "Post Options".
Change the date. Publish the Post.


STICKY POST

"Sticky" post is a post that will appear on your main page as a FIRST post. On the top of your Blog. Always (or as long as you want). This is convenient when:

• you want a certain post to be the first thing your reader will see
• you want to make some announcements, or navigation, categories, or anything else (giving your blog a website look)
• it's practical, easy editable, and you can always remove it, of course...

I'll show you 2 methods of doing this:

1. Sticky Post by changing the date of a post
If you would like a certain post to appear (and stay) on the top, go to:

DASHBOARD --> POSTING --> EDIT POSTS, click on "Edit" of the post, and on the bottom of the box, click on the "Post Options". (look at the picture above).

• change the date. Set it as far as you can in the future. Remember, when that date comes, your post will go down, so it's better to send it as far as you can.
• publish the post
• there's no limit on changing dates for posts. You can do it as many times as you want

IMPORTANT!
This will not work if the post wasn't previously published. That means: you can't create a NEW POST, and set it's date in the future. If you publish it like this, it will be SCHEDULED.

2.Sticky post in a Gadget
You can use "Text", "HTML/Java Script" or "Picture" Gadgets to make your "Sticky". Go to:

DASHBOARD --> LAYOUT --> PAGE ELEMENTS, "Add a Gadget", and choose one from the list ("Text", for example).
Edit it, and place some text in it, or pictures, or whatever...."drag" the box in PAGE ELEMENTS above you post section, to make it appear Above posts.

• advantage of this method: no changing dates, it appears on the top until you remove it, it's easy to edit
• disadvantage: it's not same as composing posts. There's no "link" buttons for uploading pictures automatically, and you'll have to use HTML code a bit (maybe not, depends what kind of content you'll have)
• in overall, it's a good method

Back up your Blog Posts + Comments completely

NOTE: These are instructions for Beta (XML) Blogger Blogs

We are going to explain how to Back up your entire Blog Content, including Posts, Comments and Widgets.

Ok, there are a few methods to do this. There are more that few, but they are kind of different. Let's see the most practical ones first.

1. BACK UP WITH BLOGGER

The easiest possible way.... Go to:
SETTINGS ► BASIC ► beside BLOG TOOLS, click on the Export Blog, and once more on EXPORT BLOG button.
Choose the location where you want to save the file, and click Save. And that's it!

Your Blog (content + posts) is save as .xml document. Quite small, too. You will not be able to see it, or read it on externally, but you can always upload it through Blogger.
This is also suitable for exporting certain posts to another Blog, but we'll cover that in some other tut...

You Blog is saved to a hard drive (your computer), and if anything happens, you can always bring it back.

2. BACK UP ONLINE USING "BLOGBACKUPONLINE"

Yet another easy method. You just have to visit BlogBackUpOnline, open an account, register your blog, and it will be backed up daily. They offer enough memory (space) to store your Blog. Even for a Full time blogger :)



3. BACK UP YOUR BLOG USING SCRAPBOOK FIREFOX EXTENSION

For the users of Firefox Browser (if you're not, just download it here) there's a way to Back up your Blog using Scrapbook extension. You can download Scrapbook here. Install it, restart Firefox browser.
For the detailed instructions download this Pdf Document.


There are some other alternatives, (like downloading Complete Web Pages manually), but I found these the most appropriate and practical...Good luck with everything.