14 DAY TRIAL // After debuting the very modern and nice looking new dashboard to everyone, Blogger is not done with the big announcements. It is now making available seven dynamic templates built with AJAX, HTML5 and CSS3, the latest web technologies.
The templates are a huge step forward from what has been available until now and they look and feel great. Google is making the most of what the modern web and browsers can do with the new templates.
The templates, available now to all Blogger users after being in testing for several months, are suitable for a number of blogs and, though they look rather complex, they actually load faster than previous ones.
"Built with the latest in web technology (AJAX, HTML5 and CSS3), Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that will inspire your readers to explore your blog in new ways," Antin Harasymiv, software engineer at Google, wrote.
"The interactive layouts make it easier for readers to enjoy and discover your posts, loading 40 percent faster than traditional templates and bringing older entries to the surface so they seem fresh again," he explained.
Apart from looking spectacular, the new Dynamic Templates come with a few nice tricks like infinite scroll, there's no more "older posts" link, dynamic loading of images or keyboard navigation.
There are seven template styles to suit different types of blogs. The Classic and Sidebar are more suited for text blogs, Flipcard and Snapshot for photo blogs and Mosaic is for those that mix photos and text in equal measures. Magazine and Timeslide offer a more interesting way displaying recent posts, for those looking for a bit more flair or order.
Be warned though that enabling any of these templates means saying goodbye to your old one and all of your customizations. What's more, the customization options for the Dynamic Templates are very limited, you can't even change any colors, though Blogger says more options are coming.