Managing labels

Labels group posts together on pages by category.

They are a great way to organize your blog.

But how can you manage them?

If you have only a few labels and a few posts, it's pretty simple.

But if you have hundreds of posts, and want to apply or change a new category retroactively, it can be daunting.

Batch changes

Fortunately, Blogger has the tools for batch or bulk application, removal, and change of labels—changes to large numbers of posts at once.

The tools are on your dashboard at www.blogger.com > Posts.

Click "manage" at upper right, which activates the ability to select multiple posts. Then select the posts you want (using the check boxes on the left side of each post listed). 

The changes you make will apply to those posts.

Add labels to many at once

You can apply existing labels to selected posts from a drop-down labeling menu at upper left.

The menu is unlabeled except for a small icon that might be a tag (as in, tag your posts) or maybe a stubby pencil.

That menu is not activated until you have selected at least one post.

Select the label of your choice to apply it to the selected posts. Tip: Start typing the label into the menu field to narrow down the choices.

You can create and apply a new label by typing it into the menu field.

Find all posts with a given label

Use the label-filtering menu at upper right, next to "manage," to find all posts with a particular label or labels.

This menu vanishes when you enter "manage" mode, so if you need to filter by label, do it first.

Choose a label or labels from the menu to find the posts with that label (or labels).

The click "manage labels." You can select all of the posts by clicking the master checkbox at top left.

Remove labels from your blog

The labels menu at upper left can remove labels, too. Here's how.

First, find all instance of the label you want to remove using the label-finding menu at upper right.

Then select all by checking the master checkbox at top left.

Then uncheck the label from the labeling menu at upper left.

Change labels on a bunch of posts at once

Let's put it all together.

Imagine that the cupcake blog you started on a whim years ago has thrived.

You've written hundreds of posts, labeling haphazardly as you went.

Today you want to make your labels work better.

In particular, you have labeled some of your posts "Chocolate," and some others "chocolate."

Since labels are case sensitive, these are two different labels, sorting their posts onto two different pages.

But they all belong together.

To resolve this problem, you have decided to make the label for all the chocolate posts lower case.

Here's how.

1. Find the errant "Chocolate."

Use the label-finding menu at right to find all posts labeled "Chocolate."

Click "Manage Posts" and check the master checkbox at top left to select all of those posts.

Don't delete "Chocolate" yet.

2. Apply the preferred "chocolate"

Use the labeling menu at left to apply lower-case "chocolate."

3. Delete "Chocolate"

Delete the upper-case label by choosing "Chocolate" from the labeling menu.

4. Mischief managed.

Update: Shortly after I published this tutorial, Google changed the user interface for the blogger editor. 

My revisions reflect that. However, I have not included screen shots of the new controls, since those might change again.

I hope my descriptions of the controls are clear.

Related: the power of labeling your posts.