← Back to AvailaBooks

Two steps, about ten minutes

Get started with AvailaBooks

First, install the free template so your Blogger blog reads as a book instead of a feed. Then, install the companion VS Code extension so you can write and revise chapters as local files, with an AI assistant, instead of typing directly into Blogger's editor.

1. Install the Blogger template

The template is a single Blogger theme file. Uploading it into your blog's theme settings replaces Blogger's default look with the AvailaBooks book layout: a splash landing page, a chapter menu, and book-wide search — described on the main AvailaBooks page.

availabooks-theme.xml

The Blogger theme file — download it, then upload it in Blogger's Theme settings.

Download theme file
  1. 1

    Create or open your blog

    Sign in at blogger.com and create a new blog for your book (or open an existing one you want to convert).

  2. 2

    Open Theme in the left sidebar

    From your blog's dashboard, click Theme.

  3. 3

    Restore the downloaded theme

    Click the dropdown arrow next to the Customize button and choose Restore. Pick Upload, select the availabooks-theme.xml file you downloaded above, then confirm.

  4. 4

    Visit your blog

    Your blog now uses the AvailaBooks layout. It'll look sparse until you've published a chapter or two — that's expected.

Note: Restoring a theme only changes how your blog looks — none of your existing posts are changed or deleted.

2. Write chapters locally, with AI, using VS Code

The AvailaBooks Blog Tools extension mirrors your blog's posts to local files in a VS Code workspace. Edit them as plain files — including asking an AI assistant to draft or revise a chapter for you — then sync your changes back to Blogger whenever you're ready.

AvailaBooks Blog Tools (.vsix)

The VS Code extension package — download it, then install it from within VS Code.

Download extension
  1. 1

    Install the extension

    In VS Code, open the Extensions view, click the menu at the top of that panel, choose Install from VSIX…, and select the file you downloaded above.

  2. 2

    Open the AvailaBooks panel

    Open any folder in VS Code, then click the AvailaBooks icon that appears in the activity bar on the left.

  3. 3

    Add your book

    Click the book picker at the top of the panel, choose Add Book…, and enter your blog's URL. Sign in to Google when prompted — every post is then imported as a local .html file under a new books/ folder.

  4. 4

    Write with an AI assistant

    Open a chapter file and edit it directly, or ask an AI coding assistant (Claude, Copilot, or similar, right there in VS Code) to draft new sections, tighten prose, or restructure a chapter — the same way you'd use it on any other file.

  5. 5

    Sync back to Blogger

    Click Sync Changes in the panel. Posts you changed locally are pushed to Blogger; anything changed on Blogger itself is pulled down to match. If the same post changed on both sides, you're asked which copy to keep.

Note: Signing in only grants access to your own Blogger account, through Google's own consent screen — the extension never sees or stores your password.

That's it — you're set up.

From here, publishing a new chapter is just: write the file, sync it, done.