using the blogspot text widget (and the post editor) to make menus and thumbnail galleries

On the right hand column of this site you can see a section where I have put a menu with thumbnails for template downloads. It just occurred to me that I never got round to posting on this little trick which I figured out and which makes it very easy to make something like this by using the text widget and the regular post editor. Here's how it goes:

1) Start a regular post - except do not publish it but save it as a draft! (You can always go back and add to it later as well if you just keep the draft).

2) Put all your images and text in the post. (Your text will wrap automatically, however remember that your images will need to be sized to the width of the sidebar that you are planning to put the widget into).

3) I guess you could also add a background texture/color, or a border, or a bit of padding while you are still doing the post entry, as explained here >>>. I haven't tried this myself yet, but I am assuming that all of these attributes would show up on the text widget as well.

4) Select all the stuff on the HTML tab of the post editor and copy.

5) Start a new text widget, go to the HTML tab, then paste the code you got from the post editor into there.

6) Save! Done!

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