How to Add Borders to a Blogger Footer Blogspot

In this Blogger tutorial I expand on my previous article about how to add a 3-4 column footer to Blogger by showing you how add border styling to the new footer. You will learn how to add a border around all of your footer columns or around only part of the footer columns. You will also learn how to add different border styles and border colors to customize your 3-4 column footer.


If you have just landed here and need instructions on how to add a 3 or 4 column footer to your Blogger blog then please refer to how to add a 3 or 4 column footer to a Blogger template (Blogspot template)


This is a walkthrough designed to assist bloggers with no experience of CSS styling who want to enhance their Blogger template with borders and other CSS styling. By following these examples you will gain the knowledge you need to make many types of custom changes to the borders of your new Blogger footer. For help with changing the background of your blogger footer please see my article How to Change the Background a Blogger Footer.

How to Add Borders to the Footer of a Blogger Template
To add lines (commonly known as borders) to a Blogger template footer we need to add some CSS styling.

Before beginning to add borders there are 3 values to consider:
  • width of the border (line thickness eg 1px, 2px, 3px and so on)
  • line style of the border (solid, dotted, dashed, double)
  • color of the border (hex color)


  1. How to Add a Border Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
    First we add the border property and then add the border style, border width and the border color values. In these following examples just by changing these values we can achieve lots of different results.
    • To Add a Dashed Border Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
      With the following code a dashed black line 1px thick will be added around the outside of the footer.
      #footer-columns {

      margin:0 auto;
      clear:both;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border: 1px dashed #000000;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Dotted Border Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
      By changing the dashed black line to a dotted border it is simple to get a different line style.
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border: 1px dotted #000000;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Solid Border (Blue 3px thick) Around the Outside of a Blogger Footer
      To add extra emphasis we can change the line color and its thickness. Here I have made the line blue rather than black and thickened it from 1px to 3px.
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border: 3px solid #336699;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }


  2. To Add a Partial Border to a Blogger Footer
    Sometimes we might want to add a border to only one part of the footer area rather than the whole thing. Again we add theborder property but we append it with the following values: (top, bottom, left, right) depending on where we want to place the border.
    • To Add a Solid Border to the Top of a Blogger Footer
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border-top: 1px solid #000000;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Solid Border to the Bottom of a Blogger Footer
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border-bottom: 1px solid #000000;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Dashed Border to the Top of a Blogger Footer
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border-top: 1px dashed #000000;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Dotted Border to Both Top and Bottom of a Blogger Footer
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border-top: 1px dotted #000000;
      border-bottom: 1px dotted #000000;

      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Dotted Border 4px thick to Both Top and Bottom of a Blogger Footer
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border-top: 4px dotted #000000;
      border-bottom: 4px dotted #000000;

      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

    • To Add a Blue Solid Border 5px thick to Both Top and Bottom of a Blogger Footer
      #footer-columns {
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Change to:

      #footer-columns {
      border-top: 5px solid #336699;
      border-bottom: 5px solid #336699;

      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }


In this Blogger tutorial (Blogspot tutorial) I have shown you how to make some simple customizations to the borders of a Blogger footer. This tutorial is intended as an extension of my earlier tutorial on adding a three or four column footer to Blogger. However it is also suitable if you are using a custom template and want to enhance the footer styling further. You have learned how to add borders to a Blogger footer and change the position, color, width and styling. 

If you want to know more about CSS styling I will be publishing further articles in the future. Look out for my next article in this series How to Add Backgrounds to a Blogger Footer.

Add 3 Column or 4 Column Footer to Blogger

In this Blogspot tutorial you will learn how to convert your existing Blogger footer (Blogspot footer) into a 3 column footer or a 4 column footer. With more columns in your Blogger footer you will be have the extra room to accommodate more widgets such as Flickr photos and Twitter updates. Also you will be able to put less frequently used widgets such as recents comments, archives, followers, About Me etc at the bottom of your template so that only the most important widgets are loaded first.


This tweak involves adding code to the footer section of your existing Blogger template to change it to 3 columns or 4 columns. The tutorial is not beyond the capabilities of Blogger newbies and webmasters with intermediate skills but care needs to be taken when modifying your Blogger template so back up before you start. For best results a Blogger template with a width of around 900px is best.

Convert your Blogger footer to a 3 column footer

How to Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger
  1. Log in to Blogger if not already logged in
  2. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements
  3. Move any existing widgets out of the footer section and place them in the sidebar temporarily and save changes
  4. Navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
  5. Back up your template as a precaution by downloading it to your computer
  6. Find the following section in your Blogger template
    <div id='footer-wrapper'>
    <b:section class='footer' id='footer'/>
    </div>

    If you are having difficulty finding this section trying searching for footer-wrap or something similar as sometimes this section is called something else in some templates.
  7. To Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger
    Replace all the code located in Step 6 with the following
    <div id='footer-columns'>
    <div id='footer1' style='width: 30%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer2' style='width: 40%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer3' style='width: 30%; float: right; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
    </div>
    <div style='clear:both;'/>
    </div>

    To Add a 3 Column Footer to Blogger with a Lower Footer Section
    Replace all the code located in Step 6 with the following
    <div id='footer-columns'>
    <div id='footer1' style='width: 30%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer2' style='width: 40%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer3' style='width: 30%; float: right; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
    </div>
    <div style='clear:both;'/>
    <p/>
    <div id='footer-bottom' style='text-align: center; padding: 10px;'>
    <b:section class='footer' id='col-bottom' preferred='yes'>
    </b:section>
    </div>
    <div style='clear:both;'/>
    </div>

    Add 3 column footer to Blogger with a lower section
    To Add a 4 Column Footer to Blogger 
    Replace all the code located in Step 6 with the following
    <div id='footer-columns'>
    <div id='footer1' style='width: 25%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col1' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer2' style='width: 25%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col2' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer3' style='width: 25%; float: left; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col3' preferred='yes' style='float:left;'/>
    </div>
    <div id='footer4' style='width: 25%; float: right; margin:0; text-align: left;'>
    <b:section class='footer-column' id='col4' preferred='yes' style='float:right;'/>
    </div>
    <div style='clear:both;'/>
    </div>

    Convert Blogger Footer to a 4 Column Footer
  8. Save changes to your Blogger template.
  9. Navigate to Layout > Page Elements. You will now see a 3 column footer, 3 column footer with a lower section or a 4 column footer depending on what option you chose.
  10. Move the desired gadgets to the new Blogger footer columns. Create new widgets to fill up the footer columns if necessary. Save your changes.
  11. Click View Blog to admire your new footer section

Tips and Troubleshooting

  1. To Add Padding Between Footer Columns in Blogger
    To create some padding between the columns add the following code to the style section of your Blogger template - before </b:skin> tag.

    #footer-columns {
    clear:both;
    }

    .footer-column {
    padding: 10px;
    }
  2. To Add a Border to the 3 or 4 Column Blogger Footer
    • For Top Border Only of the 3 or 4 Column Footer
      Paste the following code before the </b:skin> tag

      #footer-columns{
      border-top:1px dotted $bordercolor;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Replace $bordercolor with a hex color if default color is not displayed. Change this color to suit your template. For example


      #footer-columns{
      border-top:1px dotted #113355;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }
    • For a Box Border Around the 3 or 4 Column Footer

      #footer-columns{
      border:1px dotted $bordercolor;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;
      }

      Replace $bordercolor with a hex color if default color is not displayed. Change this color to suit your template. For example

      #footer-columns{
      border-top:1px dotted #113355;
      clear:both;
      margin:0 auto;


In today's Blogger tutorial you have learned how to add a 3 column footer or a 4 column footer to your Blogger template (Blogspot template). You have also learned how to add some styling such as a border above the footer and around the footer. As always I am available to answer questions if you need assistance. Good luck!

Add a Categories Section to a Blogger Blog (Blogspot Blog)

Blogspot blogs at Blogger.com have no categories only labels. This Blogger tutorial will show you how to manually create categories in Blogger from your existing labels so that all the articles listed under a particular label will be displayed.

While this way to add categories to Blogger is not an ideal solution it will mean that you can display a logical grouping of your most popular articles under the one heading.

This article is aimed at new bloggers and beginner bloggers although it is suitable for all Blogger bloggers (Blogspot bloggers). No changes to the template are required to add these categories to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog).

How to Create Categories from Labels in Blogger
One easy way to create a categories section in Blogger is to simply rename the title of the labels widget as categories. This solution does not work for me because on this blog I have a huge number of labels and I don't want to show this widget at the top of my sidebar.

An easy way round this problem is create a separate categories section. If you look at the sidebar of this blog you will notice that I have several major categories at the top so that a new visitor will find what they are looking for quickly under these broad headings.

Example of Categories Section from Blog Know How sidebar
To add a categories section to a Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) follow these simple steps:

1. Decide how you want to group your articles according to the labels applied and what group heading you want to give to each grouping of articles.

2. For the first category navigate to the individual page of the label you wish to use by clicking on the label in your sidebar. Copy the URL address of this page from the address bar in your browser (right click and select copy). For example the URL address of the label of Blogger Tutorials on this site is:
http://quickearningtricks.blogspot.com/search/label/Blogger%20Tutorials

3. From the Blogger Dashboard go to Design > Page Elements

4. Click Add a Gadget in the sidebar and select Links List

5. In the Configure Link List dialog box that appears paste the link to your label into the New Site URL box

blogger Configure Link List to Add New Categories Section to Your Blogger Blog

6. Enter the name of your label or some alternative text if you wish into the New Site Name text box. 

7. Enter Categories as the title

8. Choose between sort alphabetically, reverse alphabetically or don't sort

9. Click on Add Link to add the link to your new categories list

10. Click on Save

11. For every label you wish to put into the Categories Section copy the link and add it to the Configure Links List. By the end you will end up with two or more categories in your list

12. Use the up and down arrows for each link to shuffle them around until you find the desired order

Blogger Configure Link List - Added Links to Create Categories in Blogger

Limit the Number of Posts Displayed in the Categories Section
To put a limitation on the number of posts displayed in the new categories section you will need to adjust the URL's of each label as follows:

From:
http://yoursite.blogspot.com/search/label/CategoryName

To:
http://yoursite.blogspot.com/search/label/CategoryName?max-results=max number of posts to display

So for the category Blogger Tutorials on this site for example I would enter the following to have only 25 posts displayed:
http://quickearningtricks.blogspot.com/search/label/blogger%20Tutorials?max-results=25

This Blogger tutorial has shown you how to manually add a categories section to the sidebar of your Blogger Blog (Blogspot blog) using the Link List widget.

Add Twitter Retweet Button to Blogger

Did you know that Twitter can help drive traffic to your Blogspot blog? In today's Blogger tutorial I show you how to add a free Twitter Retweet button to your Blogger posts. Adding a Tweetmeme Twitter Retweet button to Blogger will help promote your blog on Twitter in 2 ways: one by attracting new Twitter followers and two by increasing the direct traffic to your blog from Twitter.
Forget the preamble and take me straight to the instructions to insert the Retweet button into Blogger

What is Twitter and How Does it Work?
Twitter is currently the fastest growing free social networking site. Essentially, Twitter users micro blog about what they are doing or what others are doing by posting tweets of around 140 characters to Twitter. When Twitter members read these tweets and like what they read they can become followers much in the same way that your readers can choose to follow your blog.

Twitter is great news for bloggers because it can be used as a vehicle to promote blogs. Blogger can easily be linked with Twitter services so that every time a post is made to Blogger a short message with a link is posted on Twitter. As every follower is notified that you have tweeted, a blog publisher can gain lots of exposure for their blog with very little effort. 

Once you add Tweetmeme retweets to the mix the spread compounds because not only do you have followers hearing about your tweet but the followers of followers. So say one of your followers retweets your post all that person's followers hear about it too and pretty soon a tweet plus your retweets can popularize a post to the point that it spreads so widely that it goes viral. 

Advantages of a Twitter Retweet Button
A Tweet/Retweet button looks similar to and behaves like an integrated Digg button but it counts retweets rather than diggs. A Retweet button counts reposts of a tweet so that readers can see at a glance how popular your article is on Twitter. Another benefit of the Retweet button is that it allows your blog readers to retweet your post so that their followers hear about your post too. 

How to Add a Twitter Retweet Button to a Blogger Blog (Blogspot Blog)
The following instructions will place a Tweetmeme Retweet button into all of your blog posts.
  1. Login to Blogger if not already logged in
  2. From the Dashboard navigate to Layout > Edit HTML
  3. Check the Expand Widget Templates button
  4. Back up your Blogger template by clicking on Download Full Template as a precaution
  5. Using CTRL + F find the following code:
    <div class='post-header-line-1'/>

  6. Directly after the above line paste the following code depending on which Retweet button and position you prefer:
      Large Retweet Button - Right Aligned
      Retweet Button
      <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
      <script type="text/javascript">
      tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
      tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
      </script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
      </script> </div>

    • Large Retweet Button - Left Aligned
      Retweet Button
      <div style="float:left;padding:4px;">
      <script type="text/javascript">
      tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
      tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
      </script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
      </script> </div>

    • Compact Retweet Button - Right Aligned
      Retweet Compact Button - How to add to Blogger
      <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
      <script type="text/javascript">
      tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; 
      tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
      tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
      </script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
      </script> </div>

    • Compact Retweet Button - Left Aligned
      Retweet Compact Button - How to add to Blogger
      <div style="float:left;padding:4px;">
      <script type="text/javascript">
      tweetmeme_style = 'compact'; 
      tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
      tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
      </script>
      <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
      </script> </div>


  7. Change your_twitter_user_name for your actual Twitter username. For instance I would enter BlogWizz
  8. Click on Save Template
  9. Click on View blog to admire your Tweetmeme Retweet button in your Blogger posts

Tips and Troubleshooting
  • To Add Retweet Button Below Blogger Post
    If you want the button to appear at the bottom of Blogger posts instead of just below the post title locate the first instance of the following code and then paste the code for your chosen button immediately after this line: (don't forget to change your Twitter username as in Step 7)
    <data:post.body/>

  • To Have the Retweet Button Appear on Post Pages Only in Blogger
    If you want the button to only appear on the post pages and not the home page you will need to enclose the button code in an if statement. See below for an example of what the full code would look like with this extra code.
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
    </b:if>

    Thus the full code for a right-aligned large Retweet button which only appears on the individual post pages and not the home page would be:
    <b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
    <div style="float:right;padding:4px;">
    <script type="text/javascript">
    tweetmeme_url = '<data:post.url/>'; 
    tweetmeme_source = 'your_twitter_user_name';
    </script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js">
    </script> </div>
    </b:if>

In this tutorial you have learned how to add a Tweetmeme Retweet Button to your Blogger posts. The Retweet button will encourage your blog readers to retweet your content on Twitter thereby increasing your blog traffic. I have provided the code for both a large and compact button with the option of left or right alignment. The button appears just below the post title and counts the number of retweets of your Blogger post. I have also included details of how to add the Tweetmeme Retweet button to the foot of your Blogger blog and how to add the button to post pages only.