Actually I think I can do it

... It is just a pain in my ass. I went back and looked again. I have this problem with not being able to let things go. And it's not really as hard as I thought. I think the easiest way is to find an existing "new" template with similar elements and then modify them. You can't just copy/paste because the new templates are XML, not HTML. But you can copy/paste individual elements. Damned if the font in their template isn't better than what I'm using.

I win at life. Well, I sort of halfway win.

Clearly this situation is going to require coffee.

1:09 AM:
Here's what I've got so far.

I Am Not Savvy Enough for New Blogger :-(

I really would like to have the drop-down menus, label functionality, quick sidebar editing, and other content provided by the new Blogger (previously Blogger Beta). But I apparently don't have the technical knowledge to implement this template in the new Blogger. It sucks. I think I finished this template right around the time the new Blogger came out of beta. And I like it. So there is no way I'm going to trash it. I just spent a little while fiddling with the template editing function, and I can't get my CSS to display properly.

I'm at this middle place where I know enough to have built this page entirely from scratch, but I don't know quite enough to make it work using Blogger's superspecial tags that govern their widgets. I know enough that I wouldn't want to drag and drop edit my site like I'm 12. But I don't know enough to translate this template into the new Blogger without a bigger headache than I have time to deal with right now. This isn't even a complicated template. I just want my freakin' boxes to be gray, all right? And my custom graphics to stay where I put them. Or, you know, to show up at all would be nice.

Testing

OK, I just migrated to Blogger Beta, which seems to have gone well except for the fact that it's anonymous-ized several of my previous comments. I don't know whether that depends on what kind of Blogger account you guys have. I see I can now use labels for my posts. I might incorporate that into my sidebar... but then, I already use Technorati tags, so would that look stupid with both? I don't know, I was going to move my whole blog off "the Spot," but I have free hosting for my site, and I won't be able to if my blog is there. It would take up too much space and bandwidth. Blogger has never eaten any of my posts or given me any disasters like it appears to have given others. So I'm going to stay here for now, and continue to upgrade my other site, until I have enough extra cash kicking around to buy a nice hosting package.

ETA: Yes, I do believe that does look stupid.

Tags: blogger beta, blogging