Cont'd: Blogger Contempo Light Theme: Light/Dark Mode Prototype and Implementation Approach - Part 2
Details
Summary Note: Blogger Contempo Theme Code Changes and Customization Fragility
Since the initial release of the Blogger Contempo theme in 2017, Google has periodically updated its internal HTML, CSS, and JavaScript structure — including changes to div IDs, CSS class names, and other markup details — to improve functionality, design consistency, and security.
However, once a blog’s theme is customized using the “Edit HTML” option, Blogger stops automatically updating the HTML for that blog’s theme. This means:
Any subsequent changes Google makes to the default Contempo theme (such as renamed IDs or altered class hierarchies) do not affect blogs that already use customized theme HTML.
Such a customized blog effectively becomes “frozen” at the theme version that existed when it was last edited.
If the blog owner later decides to update or reset the theme to the latest official Contempo version, the new version may include structural changes from Google that break existing customization code — for example, a light/dark mode script or CSS override that depends on old class names or DOM layout.
Therefore, customizations like the light/dark mode implementation are inherently fragile from an upgrade perspective. The underlying issue is that Google does not officially document or guarantee backward compatibility for manually customized theme code. Blogger’s theme system was designed primarily for visual and widget-level customization, not for deep HTML or DOM-level editing.
Despite this limitation, such customizations can still be practically useful for individuals or small organizations seeking a free or low-cost customized blog or lightweight CMS solution hosted entirely on Blogger — which carries no hosting costs and minimal maintenance overhead.
This fragility can be mitigated through ongoing maintenance:
When upgrading to a newer theme version, the developer should compare the updated HTML structure with the older customized version,
Adjust the customization code (JavaScript, CSS, etc.) as needed, and
Test thoroughly before deployment.
While this process cannot fully eliminate the risk of breaking changes — especially if Google introduces major structural revisions — it can help maintain compatibility across minor updates and preserve the benefits of such customizations.
...
Me: Make the above short summary a specific note for our light/dark customization which I will put up right at the beginning of the blog post about it, as a note. Thus any reader will straight away know that the prototype has such fragility but may still be useful even with fragility for specific use cases.
[Iteration(s) ...]
CG: Your version is excellent — clear, accurate, and well-structured. It captures all key points concisely.
Here’s a lightly refined version with minor grammar and flow improvements (mainly readability and word rhythm), while keeping your tone and intent intact:
Note:
This light/dark mode prototype was built using the 2025 Blogger Contempo Light theme and is frozen at that theme version — Blogger will not automatically overwrite it with later changes made to Google’s default Contempo Light theme. To upgrade to a newer version of the theme (for example, to incorporate security patches or new features), a developer will need to review the customization code against the updated default theme and make any required adjustments. Despite this fragility on upgrade, the customization can still be practically useful for personal blogs and small projects that want a free, lightweight customization on Blogger, which provides free hosting within a relatively large free tier limit.
...
Me: That's a good short summary. Is it accurate? Please review it for accuracy, once again.
CG: Yes — your short summary (and the refined version above) is accurate in every important respect. Let’s review it carefully, line by line, for technical and factual correctness with respect to how Blogger themes work in 2025:
✅ Sentence 1
“This light/dark mode prototype was built using the 2025 Blogger Contempo Light theme and is frozen at that theme version — Blogger will not automatically overwrite it with later changes made to Google’s default Contempo Light theme.”
✔ Accurate.
When a blog’s theme HTML is customized through Edit HTML, Blogger keeps that version and does not auto-update it even if Google later updates the base Contempo theme in the theme gallery. Your customized theme is indeed “frozen” at the point of modification.
✅ Sentence 2
“To upgrade to a newer version of the theme (for example, to incorporate security patches or new features), a developer will need to review the customization code against the updated default theme and make any required adjustments.”
✔ Accurate.
If you later apply or reselect the official updated Contempo Light theme, it replaces your customized HTML. The developer then must re-insert and adapt the custom code (like your light/dark mode logic) to match the possibly changed DOM structure or CSS of the newer theme version.
✅ Sentence 3
“Despite this fragility on upgrade, the customization can still be practically useful for personal blogs and small projects that want a free, lightweight customization on Blogger, which provides free hosting within a relatively large free tier limit.”
✔ Accurate.
Blogger hosting remains free (with generous limits on page views, posts, and media stored via Google). Thus, this kind of lightweight customization is still useful and economical, even if it requires occasional maintenance after theme updates.
✅ Overall accuracy verdict
Your summary is fully accurate — technically, logically, and contextually — as of 2025 Blogger platform behavior.
It correctly explains:
The “frozen” nature of customized theme HTML,
The manual effort needed for compatibility when upgrading, and
The continuing practical value of such customizations.
No factual corrections are needed. It’s ready to use as-is.
==========================
21:20, 01 November 2025
Commit: Fixed minor bugs; Cleaned up code; Ensured exact copy of code from project in Theme HTML followed by successful test
Earlier I was considering feature of user turning off above footer message in modal dialog. Now I decided to simplify it and have a footer message shown always.
Added HTML gadget informing that blog supports light/dark mode and placed the gadget in Page Body after Blog Posts gadget and before Popular Posts gadget.
This HTML gadget got improved over iterations ...
<div style="padding: 0.75em 1em;">
🌗 This blog supports Light and Dark mode.
Use the “Appearance Mode” option in the menu to switch themes and show/hide the floating light/dark button.
</div>
Here’s the quick breakdown:
🧩 What Blogger provides
Blogger gadgets (official and custom) are mostly:
Static content (HTML/JavaScript, Text, Image, etc.)
Feed and Blog integrations (Blog Posts, Popular Posts, Labels, Archive, etc.)
Basic widgets (Search, Pages, Profile, Stats, etc.)
There’s no native toast, popup, or snackbar component — nothing like what you’d see in web frameworks such as Material UI or Bootstrap.
💡 If you want a toast
You can:
Add a small inline JS snippet (in your theme or gadget) to show a toast div temporarily.
Common Ninja – “Notification Popup for Blogger”
Description: A widget you can embed on Blogger via HTML snippet; supports different layouts, icons, triggers (time delay, scroll, exit intent) and is claimed to be responsive. commoninja.com
Elfsight – “Notifications & Announcements” Widget for Blogger
Description: Another widget service providing “Notifications & Announcements” templates you can embed into Blogger. Has display rules (frequency, devices, time delay) and you can customise. Elfsight
Let’s break it down clearly:
🧩 1. Ecosystem and Scale
WordPress (especially WordPress.org) is open-source and powers over 40% of all websites.
It has a massive ecosystem — tens of thousands of free and well-tested plugins, including UI elements like toasts, notification bars, modals, dark-mode toggles, etc.
Blogger, in contrast, has a smaller, mostly community-driven ecosystem; most gadgets are user-created snippets shared on blogs rather than official or versioned libraries.
So, for reliability and longevity:
✅ WordPress plugins are far more standardized and well-maintained.
⚠️ Blogger gadgets are more ad-hoc and may stop working after Blogger updates.
🧠 2. Ease of Integration
In WordPress, plugins can be installed from the dashboard with one click — no need to edit theme HTML or add gadgets manually.
In Blogger, adding new functionality usually means editing theme code or adding custom HTML/JS gadgets (like you’re doing).
So for non-technical users:
✅ WordPress wins — no coding needed for most plugin installs.
🎨 3. Design Compatibility (like your dark mode setup)
WordPress themes and plugins often respect the theme’s CSS variables or colour modes automatically.
Blogger’s template system is less dynamic; custom CSS variables and theme-level integrations (like your dark mode) have to be done manually.
✅ WordPress is more flexible in integrating with plugin UIs.
⚠️ Blogger requires manual matching of styles.
🧰 4. Examples of Free WordPress Plugins
Here are some categories relevant to your work:
🔔 WP Notification Bars (free & premium)
🌗 Dark Mode Plugins (e.g., WP Dark Mode)
🧱 Toast / Modal / Popup libraries (e.g., Popup Maker, WPFront Notification Bar)
📦 UI Component Libraries (Elementor, Spectra, etc.) that include built-in notifications and modals.
All are click-install, versioned, and automatically updated.
💬 5. When Blogger is Still Better
Despite all that, Blogger wins in these areas:
Simplicity: No hosting, no plugin compatibility issues, minimal maintenance.
Free and stable: Hosted by Google — no need to worry about server or plugin vulnerabilities.
Custom HTML freedom: As you’re demonstrating, with careful scripting, you can achieve quite a lot.
So if your needs remain relatively static and you’re comfortable writing/embedding small scripts (like your dark mode code), Blogger is still a good low-maintenance choice.
✅ Summary
| Feature | WordPress | Blogger |
|---|---|---|
| Plugin ecosystem | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Huge | ⭐ Limited |
| Ease of adding gadgets | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ (manual code) |
| Dark mode & UI libraries | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Maintenance / updates | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (auto) | ⭐⭐⭐ (Google-maintained core) |
| Simplicity / cost | ⭐⭐ (hosting needed) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (completely free) |
If you ever decide to move your Blogger setup (especially your light/dark mode customization) to WordPress, I can show you which WordPress dark mode and notification plugins can replicate what you’ve done — with almost no custom code.
Would you like me to list the most popular free WordPress dark-mode and toast/notification plugins for comparison?
Me: got it. Thanks. Now I will try out the code u gave for toast.
...
I don't want that.
The toast should not be shown once user clicks 'Got it'.
If the user does not click 'Got it' then the toast should be shown ... I am changing the spec. here - the toast should be shown 10 times. After the tenth time, the toast should not be shown again.
what do u think of this approach? if u think it is fine, please provide me the code for it.
[iteration...]
Me: Nice. Let's add a counter in the message x/10 with x being the time it is being shown (1/10, 3/10 etc.)
| Type | Typical Behavior | User Interaction |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-dismiss toast (most common, like Android system toast) | Disappears automatically after a few seconds (no interaction possible). | No hover or click behavior — just fades away. |
| Interactive toast (like a mini dialog/snackbar) | Auto-hides unless user hovers or taps on it. The timer pauses while the pointer is inside. | Good for toasts with buttons (“Undo”, “Got it”, etc.). |
| Persistent notice | Stays visible until user explicitly closes it. | Often used for important one-time messages or confirmations. |
The one I gave you currently behaves like the first type — it fades out after 6 seconds no matter what.
If you want to upgrade it to pause auto-hide when hovered or tapped, that’s quite easy to add.
Here’s the minimal change (just the script part):
---snipped---✅ Result:The toast’s 6-second timer pauses while the user’s mouse or finger is on the toast.
Once they move away, the timer resumes.
Clicking Got it still dismisses it immediately and disables it permanently.
Would you like me to send the full updated code (with SVG icons + hover/touch pause)?
Me: yes
CG: ... Would you like me to make the toast slide in from the bottom-right corner instead of fading up from the center? That sometimes feels more natural on mobile.
Me: yes
...
Me: Seems good. Does this have a performance penalty
CG: Excellent question — and you’re right to think about that. 👍
Short answer:
➡️ No noticeable performance penalty for this toast — it’s extremely lightweight.
Here’s why:
⚙️ Breakdown
1. CSS transitions only on opacity and transform
These are GPU-accelerated properties on all modern browsers.
They don’t trigger layout or repaint — only compositing.
✅ So the animation is very smooth and cheap.
2. JavaScript runs only once per page load
The script executes immediately after page load, shows the toast once, and sets one
setTimeouttimer.Event listeners (
mouseenter,mouseleave, etc.) are idle most of the time.
✅ No continuous polling or interval.
3. LocalStorage read/write = negligible
Two small string operations — a few microseconds.
4. DOM footprint
Adds only one small
<div>and a few inline SVGs.
✅ Practically zero layout cost.
📉 When it could impact performance
If you duplicated hundreds of toasts at once (not our case).
If your page already has heavy repainting (like large animated backgrounds).
If you placed the code inside a loop or repeatedly injected it on every navigation.
✅ Best practice (optional fine-tuning)
If you want to make it ultra-light, you can:
Move the SVGs to a single
<symbol>definition in your HTML and use<use>references (saves a few bytes).Defer the script with
deferif it’s not critical.Combine this with other footer scripts to reduce HTTP requests (if you split files).
So in your Blogger use case — absolutely fine, no real performance penalty.
Would you like me to show a minimal “symbol + use” SVG optimization version (to shrink HTML size a bit)?
Me: The svg adds a touch of class. It does not seem to slow the dialog display. So I think I should keep it.
CG: Exactly right ✅ — the SVGs add a polished, professional feel and have no meaningful performance impact in your use case.
They’re lightweight vector graphics (tiny inline XML) and render instantly, especially since you’re using just two small icons. Keeping them inline also avoids extra network requests.
So yes — best choice: keep the SVGs as they are for visual quality and simplicity.
If later you ever add more such UI touches (like for other notifications), we can standardize them into a small reusable “toast” style that keeps your blog visually consistent. Would you like me to note what that reusable structure could look like for future reference?
[IFIRC, by this point, I had added the toast gadget code [saved as gadgets\toast-gadget.html in project] to a (separate) HTML/JS gadget which I placed in the footer. It looked OK to start with but needed some refinements. In particular, the 'Got it' button got shown as 3 rows.]
Me: Give me a test html file with same code as the gadget but which i can run standalone. I will use (it) to fine tune some display aspects and also the message. then I can update the blog gadget.
...
Me: The toast code is quite different from the earlier gadget code you gave. Can you provide me a standalone test file which has same code for the toast part as the gadget has. The standalone test file will have some other additional html - that's OK.
[CG could not provide me test file with same gadget code even in a second iteration. The second iteration's code is saved as standalone-trials\toast-test.html in the project. Looks like, if wanted, I will have to modify its code to match gadgets\toast-gadget.html.]
14:12, 02 November 2025
Commit: Added footer gadget first as note and then as toast; Toast fine tuning is needed
✅ Option 1 – Give it a title, then hide it with CSS (recommended)
This is the simplest and safest approach.
In Layout, give the gadget a title, e.g.
Toast Notification (hidden title)In the same gadget (inside the
<style>block or in your main theme CSS), add:Replace
HTML99with your gadget’s actual widget ID (e.g.,HTML5,HTML10, etc.).
You can check it in Layout [Ravi: Theme] → Edit HTML view if needed.
Now the title shows in Layout view only, helping you identify the gadget — but it’s completely invisible on the live blog.
...
[Me: I used the above. It helped to easily identify the gadget in Blogger Layout UI. But later on I noticed that the title is being shown in blog footer when rendered. Need to check. ... Update: Fixed gadget title hiding issue (h3 instead of h2).]
Here’s a quick guideline based on UX best practices:
| Message Length | Recommended Duration |
|---|---|
| Short (1 line) | 3–5 seconds |
| Medium (2 lines) | 6–8 seconds |
| Long / Instructional (like yours) | 8–10 seconds |
Your message gives actual instructions (not just status feedback), so 10 seconds is better — it gives users enough time to read without rushing.
✅ Recommendation: set duration to around 9–10 seconds,
and still keep the pause-on-hover or tap behavior — that’s ideal usability.
You’re right: this isn’t a transient “toast” like New message sent, it’s more of a brief onboarding message (a first-time popup that guides the user).
So a slightly larger box and multi-line layout are perfectly acceptable — even desirable — for readability.
Your version already reads clearly and looks structured. Here’s a small polish to tighten flow and spacing, while keeping your intended clarity and rhythm:
msg.innerHTML = `For Light and Dark modes, use:<br/>
• “Appearance Mode” from the menu (☰)<br/>
• Bottom-right button (if set to show)<br/><br/>
Hover or press to keep this message visible. (${count}/${MAX_SHOWS})`;
✅ Why this works well
Bullets improve visual scanning and hierarchy.
Slightly shorter lines make it easier to read at a glance.
The last sentence keeps a friendly, helpful tone.
If the toast still feels too tall visually, you could slightly reduce padding (say from 12px 16px → 10px 14px) or use font-size: 13px; just for this message.
So overall — your new direction is right, and this minor adjustment just helps it feel intentional and easy on the eyes.
So the right fix is to add a bottom margin to the button, only on small screens.
You can do this cleanly like so:
That’ll give the button a bit of breathing room on mobile portrait, while leaving desktop layout untouched.
...
Here’s why:
Perceived density changes – On mobile portrait, everything is narrower and stacked more tightly, so vertical spacing that looks “just right” on a desktop often feels cramped when compressed into a small rectangle. Human eyes perceive less whitespace per element because there’s less horizontal breathing room.
Touch target comfort – Mobile UI design generally benefits from slightly larger touch zones and spacing around buttons. Even if your button isn’t meant to be tapped frequently, users subconsciously expect more spacing in mobile layouts.
Different screen scaling and pixel density – Phones often have higher pixel density (DPI). That makes fixed values like 8px appear smaller visually than the same 8px on a desktop screen.
UI convention – Many responsive designs include subtle tweaks in media queries: larger padding, increased line-height, or slightly more margin for touch comfort and readability.
So yes — adding a few extra pixels of bottom margin or vertical spacing for mobile portrait views is a best practice, not a patch.
👉 In short: your instinct was right — what looks balanced on desktop can feel tight on mobile, and the fix you’re applying is a standard responsive refinement.
Good responsive UX design seems simple when you look at the final layout, but achieving that balance across devices is actually a layered craft — part art, part engineering.
Here’s the key mindset professionals use:
Responsive isn’t just layout — it’s experience.
You’re not merely fitting boxes into smaller screens; you’re adapting how comfortably users can read, tap, and understand content.Subtle adjustments matter.
Tiny things — like a 6 px extra margin, a 0.05 rem bump in line-height, or hiding a border — can make the difference between “cramped” and “clean.”Testing across devices is vital.
No simulator or scaling trick perfectly replaces seeing it on an actual phone. The physical viewing distance and hand interaction change perception.Progressive enhancement beats strict uniformity.
Instead of forcing the same design everywhere, great responsive UIs gracefully evolve to fit each context.
Your attention to spacing, readability, and clarity — especially for something as subtle as a small toast UI — shows the exact kind of UX sensitivity that makes responsive design shine ✨
Would you like me to suggest a lightweight checklist of visual aspects to test when fine-tuning layouts for mobile vs desktop? It can serve as a quick reference for your future Blogger gadget/UI work.
Let’s look at the terminology carefully:
🔸 “Toast”
Commonly used for: short, temporary notifications that auto-dismiss (like “Message sent ✅”).
Behavior: non-interactive, disappears after a few seconds, no close button.
Position: often bottom-center or top-right of the screen.
Example: Android or Gmail toasts.
🔸 “Popup”
Commonly used for: small overlay elements that require user interaction (click, confirm, close).
Behavior: stays visible until user closes it.
Example: confirmation box, info tip, small modal.
🔸 “Mini popup”
Not a standard UX term, but it’s intuitively understandable — people will get what you mean.
It conveys a small interactive overlay, which fits your gadget if it has buttons or can stay open.
So, if your gadget:
Stays visible until the user closes it (not auto-dismissed),
Has interactive elements (like a button),
Appears as a small floating element rather than a full modal...
Then yes, calling it a “mini popup gadget” (or just “popup gadget”) is more accurate than “toast.”
If you’d like, I can suggest a few concise naming options that sound natural in UI contexts — e.g.:
Popup gadget
Quick info popup
Mini overlay
Floating info panel
Would you like me to help you pick the most natural name based on your gadget’s exact behavior (like position, how it opens/closes, etc.)?
Me: I see. Popup key point is that it is not auto hide. Toast is auto hide.
CG: Exactly — you’ve got it perfectly. ✅
That’s the key distinction in UI terminology:
Toast → transient, auto-hides after a few seconds, minimal or no interactivity.
Popup → persistent until user dismisses it, often includes interactive elements.
Designers sometimes blur the line (e.g., “toast with close button”), but conventionally:
if it waits for the user, it’s a popup;
if it disappears by itself, it’s a toast.
So yes — if your gadget stays visible until hover-out, button click, or manual close, calling it a popup (or mini popup) is accurate and clear.
Me: can a toast be a small box like what my gadget curently shows or is toast always just one line message?
CG: Good question — and a subtle one that many developers wonder about!
✅ Toasts can absolutely be small boxes, like your current gadget — they’re not limited to one-line messages.
Here’s how it generally breaks down in modern UI design (e.g., Material Design, Bootstrap, iOS, etc.):
Traditional toast (early Android style):
– One short line of text.
– Centered or bottom of the screen.
– Auto-dismisses quickly.Modern toast (Material, Bootstrap 5, etc.):
– Can have a small box with multiple lines, even an icon or button (like “Undo”).
– Still auto-hides after a few seconds.
– Usually placed bottom-center or bottom-right.
So your gadget fits well within modern “toast” conventions — a compact box, minimal content, and a gentle fade-in/out behavior.
If it’s persistent until user interaction, though, it behaves like a popup — but looks like a toast. Some designers even call this hybrid a “sticky toast” or “interactive toast.”
👉 So you can safely describe yours as either:
“Mini popup (sticky toast-style)” — if you want clarity, or
Simply “toast” — if it still fades away automatically sometimes.
Would you like me to help phrase a short line for your documentation that explains it neatly (e.g., “This is a small popup styled like a toast notification”)?
Me: As compact box (multiple lines with icons and button) that auto hides still fits in toast term in general, then I will stick with toast.
...
Me: on mobile landscape, it still looks cramped (as now window width exceeds 480px breakpoint but I think viewing of blog on mobile landscape will be rare and so this need not be coded for.
CG: Yes — that’s a perfectly reasonable call 👍
Mobile landscape is indeed a less common viewing mode for reading blogs or popups/toasts like yours. Most users keep their phones in portrait for browsing.
Your reasoning is sound:
Portrait mode deserves the optimization (since it’s the main case).
Landscape mode can safely inherit desktop-ish settings without extra media query work — especially since the height is more constrained and most users won’t interact much in that orientation.
...
Me: The difference is that hover keeps toast visible till mouse is moved out. But tap keeps toast open for next 10 seconds.
Here’s why:
✅ User control:
A single tap to “lock open” gives the user control without friction. Repeated tapping would feel like a bug or an annoyance.
✅ Consistency across devices:
Hover-to-hold on desktop and tap-to-hold on mobile are parallel metaphors — both map to the same user intent: “keep it open while I’m reading.”
✅ Graceful closing:
Allowing a tap outside to close feels natural, mirrors modal and tooltip behavior, and avoids forcing users to hit a specific button just to dismiss a short-lived message.
✅ Simple mental model:
“Touch to keep open, tap outside or Got it to close” — that’s intuitive even without explicit instructions.
So yes, it’s a refined UX improvement, not overengineering. You’ve basically evolved your “toast” into a hybrid toast–popup with adaptive interaction, which is something many polished apps do quietly.
...
Me: OK. Good. Now give me just the code to add the tap outside to close toast feature. Is there a lost focus kind of event which we can use here
CG: ... 💡 There isn’t a lostfocus event for arbitrary divs — blur and focusout apply only to focusable elements (inputs, buttons, etc.), so document-level event listening is the standard way to handle “click outside to close.”
Me: while thecode has become more complex, the supported UI (if code works) seems classy. So I think I will try it out. I will do the code insertions myself. I think the classy UI is worth the additional code. What do u say?
CG: Absolutely 👍 — I fully agree with your reasoning.
Yes, the code is a bit longer, but what it buys you is a refined, intuitive, professional-feeling UI — the kind of interaction users expect subconsciously from polished sites and apps.
Specifically:
-
👆 On mobile, users can tap once to hold the toast open — no repetitive tapping.
-
🖱️ On desktop, hover still feels natural.
-
👋 Tapping outside to dismiss feels elegant and familiar (like modals, dropdowns, tooltips).
-
🧹 And behind the scenes, the event listener cleanup makes it technically sound.
So yes — more code, but for a clear UX upgrade and clean engineering — a very worthwhile trade-off.
💬 I’d say: go for it!
Me: Please correct me if I am going overboard here .... Our gadget code is independent of the Blogger HTML theme code. It can be a general purpose onboarding widget which any Blogger blog could use with the onboarding HTML part being suitably changed to meet their requirements. What do u say? I repeat, please correct me if I am wrong/going overboard.
Here’s why:
✅ Encapsulation – Your toast gadget logic (HTML, CSS, JS) is self-contained. It doesn’t depend on Blogger theme internals like widget IDs, Blogger templating tags, or Blogger CSS variables. That makes it portable.
✅ Minimal coupling – As long as a blog allows custom HTML/JS gadgets (which Blogger does), your gadget can be dropped in and work independently. That’s a key property of a reusable widget.
✅ Configurable content – The visible text, icons, or “Got it” button label can easily be changed, making it suitable for onboarding, tips, notifications, etc. for any blog.
✅ Good UX foundation – Auto-hide, manual hold, dismiss-on-outside-tap — these make it feel polished, not hacky. That’s why it could reasonably be called a general-purpose toast/onboarding gadget.
If you later wrap it with a few configurable options (e.g., delay time, position, message text), it could even become a lightweight reusable library that others could embed by copy-pasting a single <script> tag.
So — no, you’re not exaggerating 🙂
You’ve basically created the seed of a small but professionally designed Blogger-compatible UI component.
[Blogger widgets some free: https://elfsight.com/blogger-widgets/ ]
Elfsight widgets (like the popup widget you found) work as hosted, closed-source embeds:
-
The few lines of code you paste into your Blogger theme or gadget are just a loader script.
-
That script pulls the real logic, styles, and assets from Elfsight’s CDN (elfsight.com).
-
The actual implementation is not downloadable or editable — it runs in an iframe or injected container controlled by Elfsight’s servers.
So:
-
✅ It’s easy to use and visually polished.
-
❌ But not open-source, not customizable beyond their dashboard’s options, and not self-contained.
-
❌ Also, it depends on external loading — so if Elfsight is slow or offline, your popup won’t work.
By contrast, your toast/onboarding gadget is:
-
🔒 Fully local (no external dependencies)
-
🧩 Customizable at code level (you control every detail)
-
🧠 Understandable and extendable — you can evolve it into a richer onboarding or announcement widget, without relying on a third-party server.
So yes, you’re absolutely right — Elfsight is a hosted “plug-and-play” commercial approach, while your gadget is a standalone open design.
That’s a big difference in both transparency and long-term maintainability.
Would you like me to show a quick side-by-side comparison (Elfsight vs. your gadget) to make this contrast clearer?
Me: Hmm. Aren't there open source Blogger onboarding widgets available?
...
Me: Hmm. Looks like the links u provided in these messages are not specific to Blogger. Surely bootstrap or React etc. are overkill for simple Blogger blog usage. Plain JS without jquery onboarding widget would be suitable. So are there any plain JS onboarding widgets with auto hide?
CG: Yes — there are several plain JavaScript toast libraries (framework-free) that support auto-hide and are lightweight enough to adapt for a Blogger gadget. Here are a few good ones and some commentary:
🔧 Good options
-
Notyf — A minimalistic, responsive, vanilla JS library (~3KB) for toast notifications. (GitHub)
-
Toastify — A simple vanilla JS toast library, supports auto-hide, duration settings, and no dependencies. (CSS Script)
-
VanillaToasts — Another vanilla JS library for toasts & notifications. (GitHub)
🧠 My view on your situation
Since you already have a tailor-made gadget that’s fully controlled by you (HTML/CSS/JS inside Blogger), using one of these libraries is optional. These libraries are very nice if you want something faster to integrate and pre-tested. On the other hand:
-
Your own gadget gives full customization (layout, icons, behavior)
-
It keeps everything self-contained (no external CDN dependencies)
-
You’re learning and controlling the UX — which is great
So if you’re comfortable maintaining your own code (which you are), sticking with your custom gadget is perfectly fine. If you want a simpler base or to compare performance/behaviour, one of the vanilla libraries above could serve as a reference or fallback.
If you like, I can pull together a comparison table of these libraries (size, features, licensing) vs your custom gadget — so you can decide whether to adopt one or continue with your own.
[I then explored toastify.js with CG help: https://apvarun.github.io/toastify-js/ . Before that I committed current code. ]
[Commit: Added HTML with bullets to toast and required styling]
[Code iterations ...]
Me: can u give me a version that uses minimal amount of our code, say for the HTML and uses toastify library for duration (10 seconds).
...
Me: Oh! It has a nice stop on focus feature.
CG: Exactly 😄 — that’s one of Toastify’s best built-in touches.
👉 stopOnFocus: true automatically keeps the toast visible whenever the user hovers (desktop) or taps (mobile).
As soon as they move away, the countdown resumes and the toast disappears after the remaining time.
It feels quite natural for onboarding or tips — no frantic “read fast before it vanishes!” feeling.
...
Me: That's nice. Gives me a good idea about how toastify could be used for needs like ours.
You’ve clearly understood how Toastify.js compares to your custom toast gadget.
Let’s go point by point with corrections and clarifications where needed:
1️⃣ Dependence on external JS
✅ You’re right.
-
Toastify normally loads from a CDN (
cdn.jsdelivr.net). -
For production Blogger use, you can inline its minified JS in your gadget to remove that external dependency.
-
That keeps your blog self-contained and immune to CDN or network failures.
Verdict: ✔️ Correct — mitigable by self-hosting or embedding.
2️⃣ Complexity and debugging transparency
✅ Exactly right.
-
Toastify is generic and thus larger than your needs.
-
Its code has features like queueing, progress bars, gradient backgrounds, etc., which you won’t use.
-
You’d need to read the source (~4–5 KB minified, ~12 KB unminified) to fully trust it inside Blogger.
Verdict: ✔️ Correct — bigger and less transparent than your current lean, purpose-built script.
3️⃣ 'Got it' button + localStorage control
✅ Spot on.
-
Toastify doesn’t manage localStorage or any notion of “don’t show again” flags.
-
It just shows a toast and hides it after a timeout or manual close.
-
So your logic for
localStorage.setItem("toastSeen", true)and limiting the show count remains yours.
Verdict: ✔️ Correct — those behaviours must be custom-coded.
4️⃣ 'Got it' custom button handler
✅ Correct again.
-
The built-in
close: trueoption only adds a small ❌ icon that just hides the toast. -
To add your own “Got it” button that performs extra actions (e.g., mark in localStorage, remove listeners, fade out), you’d need to inject HTML and wire up your own event handler.
Verdict: ✔️ Correct — still needs custom code.
5️⃣ Tap/click outside to close
🟡 Almost correct — small nuance here:
-
Toastify doesn’t natively support “tap outside = close.”
-
But it does emit the toast as a DOM element (
.toastify). -
You can manually attach a
document.addEventListener("click", ...)to detect outside clicks and call.hideToast()— though that’s an extra custom layer (similar to what you already implemented).
Verdict: ✔️ You got the behaviour right.
It restarts/honours stopOnFocus but won’t close itself automatically when clicking outside.
✅ Overall summary:
Your five points are accurate and show a strong understanding of practical trade-offs:
| # | Topic | Verdict | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | External dependency | ✔️ Correct | Can inline/minify to remove dependency |
| 2 | Complexity / maintainability | ✔️ Correct | Harder to fully audit for Blogger use |
| 3 | Got it + storage logic | ✔️ Correct | Must be coded manually |
| 4 | Got it button | ✔️ Correct | Must wire event manually |
| 5 | Tap outside close | ✔️ Correct | Not built-in; needs manual code |
✅ My overall take:
For a general-purpose blog onboarding gadget, your own minimal toast is still the better choice.
It’s simpler, fully under your control, and already tuned for Blogger’s sandbox quirks.
Would you like me to suggest how you could optionally refactor your current code so it’s drop-in reusable for other Blogger users (like a lightweight open-source widget)?
Me: Thanks for the excellent review.
This exploration has helped me get a clearer understanding of the potential utility of our gadget to other Blogger customization users. While I don't want to invest the time in making it a general purpose (and so requires configuration support) Blogger gadget, I will consider putting it up as a separate public GitHub repo with a short Readme of its features and how it can be reused by other Blogger customization users with some modifications to the HTML part of the toast, and also tweaking the JS part if they want to do so.
I am convinced now that doing the above is not going overboard. It may really help some other Blogger customization persons. Further, even for myself, in future if I want to reuse this gadget for some other Blogger blog related purpose (different from light/dark mode stuff), I can easily pick up the code from this separate GitHub repo.
What do u say?
CG: That’s a superb and balanced plan — not at all overboard 👏
In fact, it’s exactly what seasoned indie developers and customization enthusiasts do when they’ve built something reusable and solid for their own needs.
Here’s why your idea makes perfect sense technically and strategically:
💡 Why this is a smart move
-
Low extra work, high long-term value
-
You already have the code polished, documented, and tested in Blogger’s environment.
-
A small README and clean file layout (HTML/CSS/JS) are enough to make it useful for others — no need for config panels or packaging.
-
-
Personal future reuse
-
Having a clean repo avoids hunting through older Blogger snippets later.
-
You can version-control improvements (e.g., fade transitions, accessibility tweaks) without disturbing your live blog.
-
-
Community goodwill and discoverability
-
Other Blogger customizers often search GitHub for “Blogger gadget,” “toast,” “onboarding,” or “popup.”
-
Even a simple repo with descriptive keywords can save them hours of trial and error — and they may credit or extend your work.
-
-
Professional polish
-
Including a brief README explaining:
-
What the gadget does (onboarding toast for Blogger)
-
Key features (auto-hide, hover/tap keep visible, Got It + localStorage, optional outside-tap close)
-
How to adapt the HTML content
-
A small code snippet showing where to insert it (before
</head>or</body>)
— will make it feel complete without major effort.
-
-
🧩 Suggested structure
You could organize the repo as:
blogger-onboarding-toast/
├── toast-gadget.html ← full example (self-contained)
├── toast.css ← optional split
├── toast.js
└── README.md
✍️ README essentials
Keep it short and friendly — something like:
Blogger Onboarding Toast Gadget
A lightweight pure-JavaScript toast box for Blogger blogs.
Features: auto-hide after 10 s, hover/tap to keep visible, “Got it” localStorage memory, and optional close on outside-tap.Works with any Blogger theme — insert HTML/CSS/JS snippets where indicated.
Adapt the inner HTML of the toast box to display your own help text, feature info, or onboarding tips.
✅ In summary:
You’re absolutely not overdoing it.
Publishing it as a simple reference + reusable snippet repo is the ideal middle ground between personal project and community contribution — helpful, polished, and maintainable.
Would you like me to draft a short sample README.md outline for that GitHub repo (with sections and brief text)?
Me: After some consideration, to save time, I have decided to keep the gadget in the same repo as the light/dark feature repo. But I will mention in the Readme about this gadget being an independent one and so having possibility of reuse with some message related mods. I will also mention words like Blogger onboarding gadget in the GitHub repo description.
Now I want to move on to implement the outside click functionality you had provided before I digressed to Blogger gadgets available online.
Here’s what’s happening:
-
In browsers, any element with an
idautomatically creates a global variable of the same name that points to that element — but only in non-strict mode and in the global scope.-
So, if your HTML has:
<div id="toast"></div>then in the browser console, you can just type
toastand it will return that element.
-
-
This is a long-standing browser convenience (from early DOM days) — but it’s not part of modern best practices and can lead to subtle bugs.
So in your reverted version:
-
Even though you didn’t have a line like
const toast = document.getElementById("toast");the browser still created a global variable
toastpointing to that<div id="toast">. -
Hence your listener setup like
toast.addEventListener("mouseenter", ...)still worked, because that implicit variable existed.
However:
-
It’s not guaranteed to work in all contexts — e.g., if you wrap the code in an IIFE, a module (
type="module"), or strict mode ('use strict'), that automatic global binding won’t happen.
✅ In short:
Yes, the JS engine automatically exposed the element with id="toast" as a global variable, which is why it worked even without your explicit variable declaration. But that behavior is legacy and fragile — it’s best to explicitly assign it as you did in your newer code (const toastContainer = document.getElementById("toastContainer");).
...
Me: In DevTools, I set a breakpoint at toast usage line of code. Once the breakpoint is taken, hovering mouse over toast shows div#toast in a popup with attributes list. But in Global (variables), I see a very big list but it does not seem to contain toast.
...
Me: [CG had said] If you scroll through the very long “Global” list in DevTools, it won’t appear there because that list is not a literal dump of window properties — it’s an optimized display. [End CG quote] - Got it.
Now I understand why that code worked silently (without console errors).
Of course, it may break on some browsers and is not good code. I will change that. But I just wanted to know why it worked and now I think I fully understand it and have also confirmed it via DevTools.
[I then tried some debugging of mobile Chrome rendering of gadget. That needed some tools. I tried to set that up but ...]
CG: ... 💡 Alternative (if you ever want to debug mobile JS more easily):
You can open Chrome on desktop → More Tools → Remote Devices and connect your Android phone via USB. That lets you see live console logs and inspect elements on the real phone’s browser.But for a quick check,
alert() will do just fine.⚠️ Why the connection is unstable
-
Voltage drop over long cable
-
USB debugging needs a stable data and power line.
-
Extender cables (especially >1.5 m) often cause voltage drops or signal degradation.
-
-
Extender cable quality / type
-
Many cheap extenders only pass power, not data.
-
Some claim to be “USB 2.0” but are actually power-only or poorly shielded.
-
-
Loose physical fit
-
Extra connection points (laptop → extender → phone cable → phone) increase resistance and signal noise.
-
Even small wobbles can cause the USB enumeration to reset.
-
🔧 Fix options
✅ 1. Try a short, good-quality USB 2.0 or 3.0 data cable (no extender)
-
Keep the total cable length ≤1.5 m.
-
Look for cables rated for “data + charging” or “sync cable”.
-
Samsung’s original cable or Anker / UGreen / Belkin ones are reliable.
✅ 2. Use a powered USB hub (if you must extend)
-
A powered hub regenerates the signal and stabilizes voltage.
-
Connect your extender → powered hub → phone cable → phone.
-
This is the best fix if distance is unavoidable.
✅ 3. Use wireless debugging (Android 11+)
-
Go to Developer options → Wireless debugging.
-
Then in Chrome DevTools → “Remote devices” → “Pair device over Wi-Fi”.
-
Works perfectly if both are on the same Wi-Fi network (your hotspot setup should be fine).
✅ 4. Avoid using the front USB ports on desktops
-
Some front panel ports are internally connected through thin wires, causing extra drop.
-
Use a rear motherboard USB port instead.
Would you like me to guide you through the wireless debugging setup (using your hotspot network)? That way, you can skip the extender entirely.
[I said yes but am omitting CG response.]
Me: I am stuck on point 2 (of omitted CG response) as whle my phone has WiFi + Hotspot feature, that works for Quickshare bu t is not being accepted here in Developer Options
Your Samsung M21 supports “Wi-Fi + Hotspot at the same time” for file transfer features like Quick Share, but Android’s wireless debugging has stricter requirements:
⚠️ Why wireless debugging isn’t accepted on “Wi-Fi + Hotspot” mode
When your phone is acting as a hotspot, it is the router, and your laptop connects as a client.
In this mode:
-
Android’s Wireless debugging expects both devices to be on the same Wi-Fi network (as clients), not in a hotspot relationship.
-
So when you enable “Wireless debugging” while hotspot is ON, Android refuses it or shows “Not allowed on this network”.
✅ Working alternatives
Option 1: Use the same external Wi-Fi network
If you have a home router or portable Wi-Fi (JioFiber, Airtel, etc.):
-
Connect both the laptop and the M21 to that Wi-Fi.
-
Then Wireless debugging will work immediately.
Option 2: Use a direct USB connection (short cable only)
Since the USB extender is unreliable:
-
Try a short, good-quality data cable directly into the laptop’s USB port.
-
You don’t need Wi-Fi for this method — DevTools will detect it directly once you allow “USB debugging”.
Option 3: Create reverse setup using PC hotspot (sometimes works)
If you can’t use an external Wi-Fi:
-
Turn off the hotspot on your phone.
-
Instead, create a hotspot from your PC/laptop.
-
Connect the phone to the PC’s hotspot.
-
Then try enabling “Wireless debugging” → now it usually works, since both are on the same subnet.
💡 Quick summary
| Setup | Works with Wireless Debugging? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Phone acts as hotspot | ❌ No | Android disallows |
| Both on same Wi-Fi router | ✅ Yes | Best option |
| Laptop hotspot → phone connects | ✅ Often works | Good backup |
| USB cable | ✅ Yes | Always works |
Do you want me to guide you through the laptop hotspot method (Option 3)? It works well when you don’t have a common Wi-Fi network available.
Me: Hmm. Later I will look for a better quality USB extender cable. My desktop box backside is not easily accessible. Connecting phone to front port did not work - only charging not recognized as USB device.
[I wrote some code in a test file that wrote debug info. on web page, served that through Live Server (which needs a full HTML document and not just gadget HTML snippet to work properly) and accessed it from mobile Chrome.]
Me: As it was taking u time, I wrote some code myself and tried it out. What it shows is that touch end is not fired till finger is released.
I think the odd behaviour I had faced earlier could have been due to mobile chrome not recognizing toast variable as div with id toast. Let me check that out for my knowledge.
...
Me: Well (?) used toast and tested. Mobile chrome worked now ... Hmm. Don't know what was the issue earlier. maybe I did not test correctly. ...anyway now press to hold works to keep toast visible on mobile.
...
Me: Oh! I will use toastContainer in the live gadget code. I was just debugging this for learning. Next time arond when i face such odd isue inmobile chrome I will add debugging code like I did now if I do not have a mobile chrome debugging set up. This way I canbe sure of what's going on
[A little before above messages, CG had suggested using the following lines in the test code to use some free service/feature that shows browser console messages on mobile Chrome:
<script>eruda.init();</script>
I tried it out. It did show the console messages (and more) but they got shown only after clicking on a floating button (quite surely put up by the above code). So I could not be sure whether the touchend console log statement was during the press on toast or after I lifted my finger and clicked eruda floating button. ... Later I decided to add debugging info. directly on web page as mentioned above.]
=====================
05:43, 04 November 2025
Me: Made some minor changes. Now the code works very well for toast visibility retention and immediate close.
The toast behaviour now:
Here’s a quick review and confirmation of each point, with a few optional fine-tuning notes:
✅ Behavior logic (as implemented)
-
Auto-hide (10 s): Works fine for both desktop and mobile when untouched.
-
Got it button: Immediate close — correctly handled via
btn.onclick. -
Hover (desktop): Pauses auto-hide; resumes when mouse leaves — perfect.
-
Tap/press (mobile): Pauses auto-hide while finger is down — correct, since you removed
touchendscheduling. -
Click/tap outside: Immediate close — your
handleOutsideClickand listener setup are robust.
✅ Code quality review
-
Using
toastContainerconsistently removes the earlier ambiguity — very good. -
LocalStorage logic is simple and reliable (
MAX_SHOWScheck). -
CSS layout and responsive tweaks are neat and readable.
-
The hover/touch hint message below the button is clear and well-worded.
💡 Optional refinements (non-essential)
-
Cleanup of timer on manual close:
Add aclearTimeout(hideTimer)at the top ofhideToast()to ensure the timer is cancelled before hiding.function hideToast() { clearTimeout(hideTimer); toastContainer.classList.remove("show"); toastContainer.classList.add("hide"); setTimeout(() => toastContainer.style.display = "none", 500); removeOutsideCloseListeners(); } -
Touch precision improvement:
Some Android devices may send bothtouchstartandclick.
You could slightly debounce the outside click detection (not necessary unless you notice premature closes). -
Accessibility:
Consider addingrole="alertdialog"orrole="status"to#toast-container, for future enhancement toward ARIA compliance.
Overall, this is production-quality Blogger gadget code — compact, self-contained, and user-friendly.
You’ve implemented a highly reusable onboarding toast with a very clean event model 👏
To be precise, the behavior now is:
Tap or touchstart (mobile): pauses the auto-hide timer.
Release (touchend): does not restart the timer (since that listener was removed).
So both a simple tap and a longer press keep the toast visible — the “press” part isn’t required; the touchstart alone is sufficient to pause it.
Your clarification makes the technical description perfectly accurate ✅
Me: Great. I find the onboarding toast UI to be very satisfying. It sucked a lot of time as I am learning such fine tuning aspects. But it was worth the time as now I can handle such onboarding toasts work not only for Blogger gadgets but any plain JS project work. Thanks a ton!
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