TEMPLATE TERROR

Well, okay. I wasn’t going to post today at all, because, frankly, the progress on my cabled raglan just isn’t that interesting. (I’m making the front! It’s a lot like the back! But with a neckline! You get the idea.) But then, I cruised by Larry’s site, and I saw that he was talking about making some changes to his Blogger template and that it was not going so well. And so, I decided to share with you all the sad truth: I live in mortal fear of my Blogger template.

I know, it’s pathetic. But there it is. I don’t think this fear is unfounded. I have screwed my simple template up royally many a time now. Each time I try to add a link or some such, my heart is in my throat. It’s at the point now that, whenever I make a change, I first copy the entire thing into a separate text document, so I can get back to where I was, in case of disaster. I’ve had to go into “safe mode” more than once. Yes. Web programming, not really my strength.

My most recent html horror occurred this weekend, when I first surfed by the little blog at home on my Mac. (With the DSL! Oh, dang, wasn’t going to mention that.) Much to my shock and dismay, the background was black. Now, on my work computer, a PC, the background is white. The template I am using calls for a white background. I wanted a white background. What was up with this black nightmare? I was particularly affronted because I have some personal issues with black-background web pages. They can be okay, but it just isn’t my personal design aesthetic, you know? So what the heck was going on? Was it a platform issue? Who knew?

After some panicked monkeying with my template, which accomplished absolutely nothing, I just gave up and surrendered to the new, blog-of-doom look. Back at work on Monday, I checked the page again. White. At home that evening: white. Huh? What does this all mean? Did my blog, of its own accord, decide that it was time for a little change? Is black its weekend-casual look, and I just never knew? Still, the mind boggles. If any of you are in possession of some canny html knowledge and can explain this mayhem to me, I will be your slave.

In the meantime, don’t expect any big changes here at the blog. Even going into the template section of Blogger causes my palms to sweat and my knees to knock together. Well, maybe it’s not that bad. But it’s close.