Broken theme in Windows Live Writer? You can fix it!

One of the nice things about Windows Live Writer is that lets you edit your blog in the same style your readers will actually see.  However, often times, Windows Live Writer cannot detect a blog theme or it incorrectly detects a user’s theme.  These problems can make users angry, and rightfully so.

If you have fallen victim to this problem, I have good news for you!

I have created a tiny application to help you create a theme file for Writer. 

Download the Windows Live Writer Theme Fixer

Step 1: Open the ThemeFixer.exe and select the blog you want to fix in the top left corner. 

Step 2: Navigate to a single blog post on your blog by clicking a link or entering a URL in the textbox and clicking ‘navigate’.

Step 3: Click ‘pick title’ and hover your mouse over the title of your blog post.  When you see the element selected, click on it.

Step 4: Click ‘pick body’ and hover over the body of your post, make sure all of your post is highlighted.  Your post title might also be in the selected range, that is fine.

Step 5: Click ‘save’ button and wait while it downloads all the html and images for your template.

If you still have problems after using this application, you can click the ‘Open template folder’ button where you can edit the HTML file yourself.

Comments

• Anonymous
  August 25, 2009
  Brandon, I know that this is 'off topic' to this post, but I have used the tables in Writer to create a newsletter. (see my post) however, once I begin inputting text, and formatting that text into each column (two column set up) the table width becomes unstable and begins widening from it set width.The same thing occurs to each column, so if I have them set to 350 say, then slowly creep past that to 360, 370 etc. Eventually the table widens. I wan't it to be stable and remain at the width that I set it to no matter what I place in each column.For now, I have found a work around is to place a picture inside each column set at the width I desire. This then helps to 'hold' the column at a fixed width.Also I wish that I could save the whole set up as an empty template for future use, so I didn't have to construct it all again each time I want to publish my newsletter.Why does the table and columns do this? Why doesn't it stay at the width that I set?The titles are formatted central and the body text left.TG
• Anonymous
  August 31, 2009
  Brandon, Hi. Can you write a fix for the "unable to download theme" error. This version does not fix that error.
• Anonymous
  August 31, 2009
  Hi,Thanks for the tool but it throws an error on my setup stating -Unhandled exception has occurred in the application ...************** Exception Text **************System.IO.IOException: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.  at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)etc.
• Anonymous
  September 07, 2009
  Exactly the same error message like Rishi :-( After the 250 error messages, I can click "ignore" and then it's stuck with "Downloading all the images for your template... please wait" message. Images all exist, servers are all online.
• Anonymous
  September 07, 2009
  ps: there is no .html file inside the folder. Just hundreds of images and several .css files.
• Anonymous
  September 20, 2009
  Hey, I've been trying to do this, but am receiving the same error as Marco.I've created my wordpress theme using Artisteer and have all of the html and images for the theme, but cannot get WLW or your theme fixer to make it work.Is there a simple way to fix this?
• Anonymous
  October 04, 2009
  It doesn't work. Even the Open the HTML Folder doesn't work. Just error messages. I think we need to wait for the next version of the Theme Fixer.
• Anonymous
  October 05, 2009
  TG. I had the same problem when I first started using tables in Writer. I noticed the creep factor aswell so what I did was just set the table to be just a bit smaller then it should be. This allowes for some creep but if for instance you did't get creep, it would'nt be noticed when published.I'm glad you realised that it was the text formatting that pushed the margins out a little. Placing a picture inside the table can push the margins out aswell if you make it too big.Having said all that, the table is the best way to ensure that your blog stays the size you want it to be.Sean.
• Anonymous
  October 22, 2009
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  October 29, 2009
  I would like to use it but even with administrator rights I have some error saying that it can't open the jpg files. An ideo on who to fix it ?
• Anonymous
  January 27, 2010
  What if it still doesn't work? :)
• Anonymous
  March 16, 2010
  great. Today I installed the ThemeFixer and start it. Without any problems it runs at once. I am very happy because now I haven't to repair so much mistakes like bevor. Thank you very much.Hermann
• Anonymous
  June 17, 2010
  I was reading your article and your right. Windows Live Writer has some issues with themes and I’m offering this as a link/solution to help them with those theme issues.www.lehsys.com/.../windows-live-writer-creating-a-custom-templateI hope this helps…Until next time,LEHenryJrLEHSYS.com
• Anonymous
  July 19, 2010
  That is the single most awesome fix I have ever seen!  Thank you so much!!
• Anonymous
  October 22, 2010
  I've been getting the unhandled exception too however the folder location is there and populated with the CSS files and images - but no HTML files.  Any ideas?
• Anonymous
  April 08, 2011
  The comment has been removed
• Anonymous
  May 08, 2011
  NO GO. Crashes immediately on startup in Windows 7 Ultimate x64.
• Anonymous
  June 13, 2011
  disappointing this doesn't work in windows 7 64the nerdy nursehttp://www.thenerdynurse.com
• Anonymous
  March 03, 2012
  Images of this post are broken. Can you please fix them?
• Anonymous
  November 27, 2012
  For those trying to run it on a x64 version of Windows, I have rebuilt it (Brandon kindly gave me the code) to work on x64 and can be downloaded from my SkyDrive. http://sdrv.ms/Sq6pBL