Updated Look of Res-Kem Blog a.k.a. Watch Out for the New Blogger Interface

Last Friday, I was looking over the Res-Kem blog and noticed something to the effect of "Try the updated Blogger Interface". Well I did! It was the classic "Oooo Shiny" marketing people sometime get caught up in.

The Bad News:
After about two quick clicks....BAM! I lost all the custom code of our blog!!! All the work to make the blog look like the Res-Kem site was gone. Other than going to our web people, getting the backup and reloading, there was NO WAY TO RECOVER IT!! Now the scramble began!!

The Good News:
I did not lose the the over six years of posts to the Res-Kem blog! The site reverted to a generic and very boring blog.

The Great News!!:
Faced with a blog that did not look like our website, I was forced to delve into the Blogger design features I frankly has turned a blind eye to over the years. This may be old news to some, but I was pleased with the ability to modify the features and layout.  I am ecstatic with the dramatic improvement to our blog! We now have a blog that:

• More closely matches the Res-Kem site.
• Has virtually the same left navigation as the Res-Kem site.
• Has virtually the same top navigation as the Res-Kem site which I never could get to work!
• Finally has a blog only search bar! I have wanted to do this for a long time!
• Includes a "Popular Posts" section.
• Includes a "Blog Slideshow" section which cycles through all the photos on our blog.
• Includes a "Video Bar" section which has thumbnails of some of our YouTube AquaMatic valve videos.

The Moral of the Story:
As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke, break it", you never know what improvements can be made!

I welcome any feedback you might have.