Free Blogger Template: Pointe du Lac

Paying homage to a favorite author and novel, my latest free Blogger template, Pointe du Lac derives it's name from the Anne Rice novel, "Interview with the Vampire." Pointe du Lac allows the user to modify fonts and their colors easily from the Dashboard's "Fonts and Colors" section, and also has an additional (top) linkbar, which will reflect the user's blog data by default, or can be customized a variety of ways from the "HTML Editor."

Another unique feature of this template is the ever so popular "Calendar Style" post date format, which display as shown with one easy change to "Settings" by the user.

Update 9/24/10!

I apologize for the inconvenience, but this version of the template is no longer available. Point du Lac II can be downloaded from this post.

Pointe du Lac

XML Blogger Template
By Lauren Thompson

~~Live Demo~~ | ~~Download Zip~~

Features

2 column fixed width layout, the second column allowing optional narrow-third column, all sections "widgetized" or "gadget-ready"
3 column footer, also "widgetized"
2 Optional and customizable linkbars. Super easy to use and customize, details below.
Supports Blogger Dashboard editing tools, easily change fonts and colors in practically all areas of the template
Images included, you do not need to upload the images to your own server, they are stored in my photobucket.com account which allows generous direct linking bandwidth. However, users who have access to an image host are advised to download the images and upload them to their own server, as the bandwidth could potentially be exceeded in the future. ~~Download the images from here~~.
Title setup optimized and corrected for better SEO.
Embedded comment form below post
Functional search box included
Wireframe setup for easy adding and removing gadgets
"Calendar Style" post date

License

ATTRIBUTION

Templates are free to use in Blogger blogs, however, the link back to http://www.nymFont.com (usually located in the bottom footer) must not be removed.
Do not redistribute this template for paid download.
Do not add your own links to the template code and redistribute.

MODIFICATION

Modifications to the template are allowed either through the Blogger Dashboard or directly in the code, however, the link back to Nymphont/NymFont (http://www.nymFont.com) still must remain intact and again, not be removed, thank you.
Do not add your own links to the template code and re-distribute.

REDISTRIBUTING & SHARING

If you are going to redistribute the template, you are not permitted to add your own links to the template.
In addition, it is asked that you do not link directly to my files for the download, nor upload them to your own servers for download. Instead you must link back to my own page for the template, or simply to the index of this website, http://www.nymfont.com
The terms and license for the template(s) must be stated and given whenever redistributing

This is non-negotiable. If you want to share or redistribute my templates, this is how it must be done. If you don't want to abide these terms, then you don't want to share or redistribute my templates.

Customizing Top Linkbar

To make modifications to the top linkbar, open the HTML Editor within the dashboard and find this in the code:

<!-- start top links -add up to 8 divs or change links or remove if you wish -->

There you will see each link is simply placed within <div></div> tags. You can modify and replace the existing three links, and add up to five more, allowing for a total of eight. These do not have to contain links but can also display plain text provided that it will fit on each "tab," or can be left blank by replacing existing div content with &nbsp;

The completed code for a blank or empty tag should look like this

<div>&nbsp;</div>

Additionally this linkbar can be removed altogether by deleting the code starting at:

<!-- start top links -add up to 8 divs or change links or remove if you wish -->

And ending with:

Customizing Main Linkbar

Add your links to the main linkbar simply by clicking the "Layout" tab from the Blogger Dashboard, and then selecting "Page Elements." Click on the widget labeled "Linkbar," to add your links. If you do not want to use the linkbar, simply leave this widget empty.

Setting Up Calendar-Style Post Date

Have no fear, I promise setting up the post date is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. Go to Dashboard > Settings > Formatting. From the "Date Header Format" select "DD Month YYYY" style, (two digit day, name of month, four digit year with no commas) and then select "Save Settings." Presto, done!

Additional Details

If you do have access to your own image host, you might want to host the images at your own server. To do so ~~download the images here~~ and replace image URL's in the code with the corresponding URL's at your server.

I would love to get some feedback on this template! What do you think about Pointe du Lac? If you need any assistance with this template, feel free to leave a comment. I hope you like it!

Nymphont