Making a headers template for Google Blogger

Section headers can help make your Google Blogger posts (documents or articles) more readable and clear. This document shows how you can create section headers, and then use them in any document that you think requires them.

Although you need not use headers in every post, they can enhance any document in which you wish to highlight its organization. For example, in this document, I am using section headers to present two topics:

• Creating your headers template
• Using your template headers

Creating your headers template
You use this procedure to create a headers template similar to Figure 1.

Figure 1 - Example headers template

These are only example header styles; modify them as you wish. To create your headers template, do the following:

1. If you haven't yet created a blog (weblog) through Blogger, go to the Blogger Getting Started Guide.
2. Open Blogger, click Design, click New post, and then type Headers template in the Post title field.
3. Create your level-1 section header as follows:
1. Type your level-1 header in the default style (Normal), type some text for your new section immediately below its header, and then select (highlight for editing) the level-1 header text.
2. Using the icons in the Blogger formatting toolbar, set Font to Ariel, set Font size to Large, click Bold, and then set Text color to dark red as shown in Figure 2.

   

   Figure 2 - Formatting text in level-1 template header

4. Create your level-2 section header as follows:
1. Type your level-2 header, type " - " (space, dash symbol, space), type some text for your new section, and then select the level-2 header text and its dash symbol.
2. Set Font to Times, set Font size to Large, click Bold, and then set Text color to dark blue.
5. Create your level-3 section header as follows:
1. Type your level-3 header, type " - " (space, dash symbol, space), type some text for your new section, and then select the level-3 header text and its dash symbol.
2. Set Font to Times, set Font size to Normal, click Bold, and then set Text color to dark green.
6. Click Preview to verify that your headers appear correctly.
7. Click Save and then click Close.
8. Go to the Using your template headers section below.

Using your template headers
You never publish your headers template because you only copy its template headers and paste them into other documents that you do publish. To copy your template headers into a new document, do the following:

1. Open Blogger, click Design, click Posts, click Draft, and then click Headers template to open it
2. Select all three headers, press Ctrl+C to copy them, and then click Close.
3. Click New post, type a document name in the Post title field, and then press Ctrl+V to paste the template headers into your new document.
4. If you need headers while writing your document, copy each header, paste it where you need it, and then type over its header text. Start with at least two level-1 headers. Likewise, if you need any subheaders, use at least two level-2 subheaders under any level-1 header; and at least two level-3 subheaders under any level-2 subheader.
5. When you finish writing your document, remove the template headers.

Creating a Google Sites website

Google Sites lets you create and manage a free, simple, thoughtful, and elegant website. You need not write or edit any XHTML code. You can instead focus on creating website contents. This document contains procedures that explain how to:

• Create website pages
• Set up page hierarchy
• Add a logo
• Change font colors
• Add images
• Add internal links
• Add external links

Although this short document cannot cover all features available in Google Sites, it can help you create a powerful website that you can later modify, and add as many features as you need. For more information, see Google Sites Help.

Creating website pages

You begin building your Google Sites website by creating its pages. To create your website pages, do the following:

1. Log into Google Sites through your Google Account, such as your Gmail account, and then click Create new site to display its page as shown in Figure 1.

   

   Figure 1 - Create-new-site web page

2. Select Blank template, and then type a name for your website, such as Luddites Online.
3. Type a unique suffix to your new website URL, which begins with https//sites.google.com/site/- - -. Use only letters and/or numbers, such as - - - LudditesOnline57.
4. Select a theme, such as Crystal Panel. Choose a theme according to the purpose of your website and what you think its visitors might like.
5. Type the displayed security code, and then click Create to create your website and display its Home page. Note: As shown in Figure 2, while you are signed in to your website, each page has three icons at its top right: The pencil icon for Edit page, the page+ icon for Create page, and the gear icon for More actions.

   

   Figure 2 - Icons for Edit page (pencil), Create page (page+), and More actions (gear)

6. Click Edit page, type appropriate text into your Home page, and then click Save. You can edit and reformat this text later.
7. Click Create page (page+ icon), type a name for your new page, such as Animals, click Create Page, type text into your new page, and then click Save.
8. Repeat step 7 for each new page you wish to add. For example, as shown in Figure 3, Dave's Example Website includes pages named Animals, Cats, Lions, Tigers, Bears, Plants, Trees, Grass, Minerals, Rocks, and Sand.

   

   Figure 3 - All pages are initially at level 1

9. Click Sign out to close your Google Sites session. Optionally you can leave your session open if you wish to immediately change your website page hierarchy according to the Setting up page hierarchy section.

Setting up page hierarchy
To help your website visitors find information more easily, you should set up proper hierarchical levels for your website pages. To set up the hierarchical levels of your pages, do the following:

1. If you are not already logged into Google Sites, log in, and then click your website name.
2. Click More actions (gear icon), click Manage site, and then click Pages.
3. Use drag and drop to set up the hierarchy of each subpage by moving it into the Home page or any appropriate page to which you assign greater hierarchy. A page can be a subpage that has lower-level subpages as shown in Figure 4. 

   

   Figure 4 - Pages at hierarchical levels 1, 2, 3, and 4

   In this instance, Dave's Example Website includes:
• A level-1 Home page that has greater hierarchy than its level-2 Animals, Minerals, and Plants subpages, which have been dragged into Home.
• A level-2 Animals page that has greater hierarchy than its level-3 Bears and Cats subpages, which have been dragged into Animals.
• A level-3 Cats page that has greater hierarchy than its level-4 Lions and Tigers subpages, which have been dragged into Cats.
• A level-2 Minerals page that has greater hierarchy than its level-3 Rocks and Sand subpages, which have been dragged into Minerals.
• A level-2 Plants page that has greater hierarchy than its level-3 Grass and Trees subpages, which have been dragged into Plants.
4. Click your website name to return to its Home page.
5. Click More actions (gear icon), click Edit site layout, and then click Navigation (in the sidebar) to display the Configure navigation dialog.
6. Set the Level of pages to show to all, click OK to close the navigation window.
7. Click Close to save your changes and redisplay your website.

Adding a logo

A logo enhances your website. To add a logo through Google Sites, do the following:

1. If you are not already logged into Google Sites, log in, and then click your website name.
2. Click More actions (gear icon), click Edit site layout, place your mouse pointer within the header until it displays an Edit site header prompt, and then click the header to display a Configure site header window. 
3. Select Custom Logo, browse for and select your logo image file (such as LuditeLogo.jpg), and then click OK to close the header window.
4. Verify that your logo displays correctly. 
5. Click Close to save your changes and redisplay your website.

Changing font colors

Changing certain font colors can enhance your website. Be careful to use no more than a few colors; too many can be distracting. To change font colors, do the following:

1. If you are not already logged into Google Sites, log in, and then click your website name.
2. Click More actions (gear icon), click Manage site, and then click Themes, Colors, and Fonts to display a window, similar to Figure 5.

   

   Figure 5 - Font-color dropdown pallet

    Here, you can make changes to:
• Entire page
• Header area
• Content area
• Content area gadgets
• Sidebar gadgets
• Horizontal navigation
3. Select an area to change (such as Content area), select an item to alter (such as Page title) select the Color dropdown pallet, and then select a color.
4. As needed, repeat step 3 for any other areas and items, and then click Save.

Adding images

Images can help your website visitors understand the subjects your website presents. To add images, do the following:

1. If you are not already logged into Google Sites, log in, and then click your website name.
2. Select a page into which you wish to add an image, such as a photo or drawing, as an image file. An image file is typically a JPEG or GIF file.
3. Click Edit page (pencil icon), and then place your insertion point (blinking cursor) wherever you wish to add the image. For example, you might wish to place the image between two paragraphs.
4. Click Insert, and then click Image, to display an Add an image window.
5. Select either Uploaded Images or Web Address (URL)
6. Select the image file you wish to add (such as 03_LudditesOnline.jpg), and then click OK to add the image.
7. Click the image to display its menu, in which the first three icons let you align the image. For example, you would click Align center (second icon) to center the image.
8. The next five icons let you resize the image. For example, you can click L to resize the image to large.
9. Repeat steps 2 through 8 for each image you wish to add, and then click Save.

Adding links

You can add both internal and external links to your website:

• An internal link lets your website visitor click on that link to display another page within your website. 
• An external link, which is also called a hyperlink, lets your website visitor click on that link to display another website.

Note: To compare an internal link with an external link, see Sample Links.

Adding internal links - To add internal links to your website, do the following:

1. If you are not already logged into Google Sites, log in, and then click your website name.
2. On any page in your website, click Edit page, select (highlight) any word or phrase that you wish to link to another page within your website.
3. Click the Add or remove link icon to display a Create Link window. 
4. Click Sites page, type a page name or use the Site map to select a page, click OK, and then click Save.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each internal link you wish to create.

Adding external links - To add external links to your website, do the following:

1. If you are not already logged into Google Sites, log in, and then click your website name.
2. On any page in your website, click Edit page, select (highlight) any word or phrase that you wish to link to another website.
3. Open the website to which you wish to link, and copy its URL.
4. Click the Add or remove link icon to display a Create Link window. 
5. Click Web address, type or paste a URL, click OK, and then click Save.
6. Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each external link you wish to create.

Mouse dongles interfere with Chromebook touchpads

A dongle (USB connector) for a wireless mouse can cause intermittent problems with the touchpad on a Chromebook. Therefore, as explained in this document, you should always unplug the dongle before using the touchpad. 

Note: This document applies to all portable computers, specifically to Chromebooks and generally to laptop PCs.

While getting started with your Chromebook, you might plan using only a wireless mouse, never the touchpad. You might decide to leave the dongle plugged in at all times as shown in Figure 1. However, should you later want to use the touchpad, it will almost certainly not work properly until you unplug the dongle. Your touchpad should always work as described in Chromebook touchpad tips.

Figure 1 - While using a wireless mouse (instead of the touchpad)
with your Chromebook, connect the dongle to a USB port. 

Note: When I started using a Chromebook, I didn't want to bother with the touchpad. Therefore, I never unplugged the dongle. When I gradually started using the touchpad, and having intermittent problems, I thought I was just too clumsy for the touchpad. Recently, I wondered whether removing the dongle might let the touchpad work correctly. To my astonishment, it immediately worked properly and smoothly.

Each wireless mouse works only with its own dongle. If you lose the dongle, your mouse is useless. Therefore, while not using the dongle, you should keep it in its storage slot, which is inside the mouse as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - While using the touchpad (instead of a wireless mouse) with
your Chromebook, disconnect the dongle and store it in the mouse.

Enhancing Python GUI through ttk styles

This document can help you enhance your Python graphical user interface (GUI) windows by applying styles to your data-entry ttk widgets. For more information about ttk widgets, please see Tkinter (ttk) graphical user interface for Python. For more information about applying styles to ttk widgets, please see Python Software Foundation Library - ttk styling.

This document presents two example Python programs that you can download, install, and run. The first generates a window that contains ttk widgets without styles. The second generates ttk widgets with styles.

Note: Before you can download and run the example code in this document, you need to download and install Python 3 and IDLE for Python 3. IDLE is the Python integrated development environment (IDE). For details, see Getting Started with Python Programming.

Running example ttk widgets without styles
To download and run the Python code for example ttk widgets that have no styles, do the following:

1. In a new browser window or tab, go to Ttk_Widgets_Without_Styles.
2. Select the entire program, and then press Ctrl+C to copy the code.
3. Start Python 3 and open a new window in IDLE.
4. Click File, click New File, and then press Ctrl+V to paste your copied code into your new file.
5. Save your new file with an appropriate file name, such as ttkWidgetsNoStyles.py. 
6. Click Run Module to verify that the code generates a Ttk Widgets Without Styles window similar to that in Figure 1.
7. Test the window by experimenting with its buttons and its numeric-value entry field.

Figure 1 - Example ttk widgets to which styles have not been applied.

Running example ttk widgets with styles

To download and run Python code for example ttk widgets that have styles, do the following:

1. In a new browser window or tab, go to Ttk_Widgets_With_Styles.
2. Select the entire program, and then press Ctrl+C to copy the code.
3. Start Python 3 and open a new window in IDLE.
4. Click File, click New File, and then press Ctrl+V to paste your copied code into your new file.
5. Save your new file with an appropriate file name, such as ttkWidgetsWithStyles.py. 
6. Click Run Module to verify that the code generates a Ttk Widgets With Styles window similar to that in Figure 2.
7. Test the window by experimenting with its buttons and its numeric-value entry field.

Figure 2 - Example ttk widgets to which styles have been applied.

Comparing the example programs
To help you get started with ttk styles, the two subsections below let you compare example Python code fragments that generate ttk widgets without styles and with styles.

Note: Figures 3 and 4 show example Python code fragments as copied into word-processor text.

Generating ttk widgets without styles - The code fragment in Figure 3 generates ttk widgets for labels and buttons shown in Figure 1. This code does not define or apply styles to these widgets.

Figure 3 - Example code fragment that defines ttk widgets without styles.

Generating ttk widgets with styles - The code fragment in Figure 4 generates ttk widgets for labels and buttons shown in Figure 2. As shown in highlighted text, this code defines styles for the label and button widgets. It also applies a custom style to the Exit button.

Note: You can define a default widget color as a literal string in double quotes, such as "red." You can define a custom color as a hexadecimal string in single quotes, such as '#afd' in the Exit.Tbutton style. You can define a widget border relief as a literal string in double quotes, such as "solid," "flat", "raised", "sunken", "groove" or "ridge."

Figure 4 - Example code fragment that defines ttk widgets with styles.
The highlighted code defines the styles.

Fixing a LibreOffice Calc 3D spreadsheet problem

If you use LibreOffice Calc for one or more 3D spreadsheets, they might recently have stopped working correctly. If you have this problem, this document might help you fix it.

I use LibreOffice on a Linux PC. Recently, my Calc 3D spreadsheet lost its ability to share information among its separate sheets. Sheet names disappeared from the formulas that referenced cells in other sheets. I don't know what has caused this problem; it could be a bug in an update to LibreOffice Calc.

If you also have this problem, your might see either incorrect data or an error message similar to that in Figure 1. In this example, the original formula in cell E8 was '=Qtr1.E8+E7,' which adds the value in cell E8 of sheet Qtr1 (First Quarter) to the value in cell E7 of this sheet, Qtr2. The problem caused 'Qtr1.' to disappear.

Figure 1 - The missing sheet name causes an error, Err:522.

To correct this problem, you would simply type Qtr1. (including the period) after the '=' sign and prior to the 'E8+E7' in formula field as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - Restoring the sheet name, 'Qtr1.' corrects the error.