Élan is a Blogger XML theme. These first installation steps follow Blogger’s standard theme upload workflow. The Élan-specific setup begins after the template is installed.
Before you start
- Download and unzip your Élan theme package.
- Locate the final
Elan.xmlfile. - Back up your current Blogger theme before replacing it.
Step 1: Back up your current theme
- Open your Blogger dashboard.
- Go to Theme.
- Use the theme menu to download a backup of your current theme.
- Store that backup somewhere safe before continuing.
Step 2: Upload Élan
- Stay in Theme.
- Choose the option to restore or upload a theme.
- Select
Elan.xmlfrom the theme package. - Wait for Blogger to finish applying the template.
Step 3: Check the public site
Open your blog in a new tab and confirm that the Élan navigation, header, homepage sections and footer are visible. Do this before editing widgets so you know the base template itself loaded correctly.
Step 4: Open Blogger Layout
Go to Layout. Élan exposes its editable navigation, homepage slider, featured links, sidebar, footer and translation areas there. Most content setup should be done from Layout rather than by editing the template XML.
Recommended next steps
- Set up the main navigation.
- Configure the homepage slider.
- Replace the featured-link images and homepage About content.
- Set your sidebar visibility in Theme Designer.
- Update social links, newsletter action and Instagram feed.
Keep an untouched copy of
Elan.xml. If a customization ever goes spectacularly sideways, which websites occasionally enjoy doing for sport, you will always have the original template available.