Today I will show you how to create a test blog that looks just like your original one, This is very useful for those that already have a blog, and want to change the template or even improve some features on it. Having a test blog will help you to see exactly how it will look like before installing the new changes on your real blog. This is also very useful for tracking eventual error that may come without expectation.
Step 1 – Exporting your original blog
The first thing you’ll need to do is have a file containing all your posts exactly how they were made on your original blog. To get it, just go to your Blogger Dashboard > Settings > Basic > Export Blog > Download Blog. You should get .XML file containing all your posts now. Save it in a easy to find place.
Step 2 – Saving your original template
Secondly, you will need to have a copy of your original template, so you can install it on your test blog to make it look exactly like it is. To save your template, just go to your Blogger Dashboard > Layout > Edit HTML > Download Full Template. You will have now another .XML file that is a copy of your original blog template, save it on the same place as you did for the posts.
Step 3 – Creating and setting up your test blog
Ok now we are ready to create the test blog, so go to your Blogger Dashboard > Create a Blog. Set a name and a URL to your test blog and click Continue. Choose any template from the next page page (It doesn’t matter which one, we are going to change it for your original blog’s) and you are done.
Now go to your Settings > Import Blog > Select your exported .XML file and check the “Automatically publish all imported posts” box and click Import Blog. Now you should have all your posts from the original blog nicely placed at this new one. Let’s install your original template.
Go to Layout > Edit HTML > Select your previously saved template and click Upload. We’re done.
Final Words
Keeping the habit of creating test blogs before making changes to your original blog is a very useful feature for those who don’t want to loose any content or anything related to their blog.
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