TheRealBlogger: 2013

Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Disable The "Mention people in your posts with Google+" Popup In Post Editor

We're seeing a new sense of frustration, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

How do I prevent the constant offer to
Mention people in your posts with Google+?
in Post Editor?

This is a new Blogger / Google+ feature. Like many Google+ features, this one can be refused. Many blog owners, seeing this offer, refuse it - and are never bothered by it, again. Their refusal is retained, by Blogger, in a Blogger cookie.

If you refuse the offer properly, Blogger Post Editor will remember your refusal, and not bother you again - if your browser / computer does not unwisely block cookies and scripts.

This unwanted offer, repeated, is another example of what we should expect, when we do not setup our cookie and script filtering properly.

The mention feature appears to be one more option being offered to people who are updating blogs published under Blogger accounts which use Google+ profiles. The unwanted persistence is apparently irritating some blog owners.

This feature, like many in Blogger, is sensitive to both filtering of cookies and scripts. You may need to enable (stop filtering) "third party cookies", in your browser and on your computer. That's the most common solution, for this problem - but you may have to search for other filter(s) that affect your use of Blogger / Google.

You can have a cookie or script filter

In a native browser feature.
In a browser add-on.
In a security feature, on the computer.
In a network device.

Remember that that any and all filters must be set properly. If you have more than one cookie or script filter, that's affecting your access to Blogger, all filters must be set properly, before this offer will stop popping up, in your Post Editor sessions.

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Monday, December 30, 2013

Adding Author Identification, To Post On FaceBook

Similar to the Google Authorship feature, FaceBook provides an author identification feature.

FaceBook uses "Open Graph" code to accomplish what Google provides, with simple back and forward links. The required FaceBook OG code is added to the blog template, as metadata.

To add open graph FaceBook authorship identification to this blog, I added the necessary code to the blog template. You can do the same, with your blog.

Adding FaceBook author identification to a Blogger blog is simply a matter of adding the right meta code to the template header.

(Update 3/14): Blogger Engineering recently added OG code to the standard template header - and some of this tweak may be unnecessary for many blog owners.

Use the Template Editor. Start by locating the "<HTML ... >" tag, at the top of the template header.

<html b:version='2' class='v2' expr:dir='data:blog.languageDirection' xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml' xmlns:b='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/b' xmlns:data='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/data' xmlns:expr='http://www.google.com/2005/gml/expr' xmlns:og='http://ogp.me/ns#'>

Then add a code block, immediately after the "<HTML ... >" tag.

<meta expr:content='data:blog.metaDescription' name='description' property='og:description'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.pageTitle' name='keywords'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType == "item"'>
<meta content='article' property='og:type'/>
<meta content='https://plus.google.com/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn/about' property='article:author'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.canonicalUrl' property='og:url'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.pageName' property='og:title'/>
<b:if cond='data:blog.postImageUrl'>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.postImageUrl' property='og:image'/>
<b:else/>
<meta content='http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/S1600-R/yyyyyyyyyyyyy.gif' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<b:else/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.title' property='og:title'/>
<meta expr:content='data:blog.canonicalHomepageUrl' property='og:url'/>
<meta content='blog' property='og:type'/>
<meta content='http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/S1600-R/yyyyyyyyyyyyy.gif' property='og:image'/>
</b:if>
<meta expr:content='"en_US"' property='og:locale'/>

You will provide similar code, in your blog's template, when you do this. You'll add the code, as above.

One small snippet, added to the HTML tag.
xmlns:og='http://ogp.me/ns#'
The main code block, following the HTML tag.

You'll need to change two details, in the main code block, just added.

The URL of your Blogger / Google profile (above).
https://plus.google.com/nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn/about
The URL of your FaceBook profile photo (2 locations, above).
http://xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/xxxxxxxxxxx/S1600-R/yyyyyyyyyyyyy.gif

This is the basic code which is required, for FaceBook Authorship.

The end result - for this blog, home page.

The end result - for this post.

Having added the code to your template, you can verify the code, using the FaceBook Debugger. If necessary, you may need advice from FaceBook Support.

And please, backup the template, before and after you make this change!

This feature should make it easier to publish Blogger links and posts to FaceBook - and to allow us to publish posts containing photos, more reliably. For a version that's slightly easier to understand, one can add simpler Open Graph code to enable proper sharing of posts with photos.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Improvements To The Blogger Spam Classification And Review Processes

Too many Blogger blog owners ask what is allowed, when they publish a Blogger blog.

Asking what is allowed is a waste of time. We have explained, repeatedly, that whitelisting of blogs is not possible.

It would be better to ask what is required, when requesting advice or assistance, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Since the purpose of publishing a Blogger blog is to have content for people to read, what is required is unique content, that is composed to satisfy the targeted reader population.

Blogger TOS forbids hosting of spam content.

Spam blogs cause various problems, beyond simply wasting a few seconds of your time when you happen to come across one. They can clog up search engines, making it difficult to find real content on the subjects that interest you. They may scrape content from other sites on the web, using other people's writing to make it look as though they have useful information of their own. And if an automated system is creating spam posts at an extremely high rate, it can impact the speed and quality of the service for other, legitimate users.

If your blog uses content that's shared with other blogs and websites, it will be classified - righteously or spuriously - as a spam blog. If the blog is reviewed, judged to be spuriously classified, and restored to your control - and if you continue publishing shared content - you will be seen, righteously or spuriously, as a repeat offender.

Long ago, spam classification was a fuzzy process. The fuzzy techniques used made both false negative classifications, and false negative classifications, unavoidable. Recent tunings to the spam classification process appear to make classification much more reliable.

Blogger will continue to provide a forum based classification appeal and review process. Since the initial classification processes now appear to be more reliable, we may see less spurious classifications, reported in the forums. This may offer us opportunity to provide more in depth analysis of blog content, during some review requests.

It's possible that in depth content analysis, conducted during the review request, may provide useful examples to other blog owners, what is allowed - and what techniques should be avoided. Maybe this will help some blog owners to avoid making the same mistakes - and reduce later spurious spam classifications, and avoid damage to reputation.

This may be a win - win - win (blog owners - forum helpers - Blogger Support) situation. The only losers will be the intentional spammers, who will become more obvious.

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Some GoDaddy Hosted Custom Domains Are Showing Connectivity Errors

This weekend, a few owners of blogs published to custom domains are reporting problems viewing their blogs.

We are seeing various reports, such as unhappily reporting

CANNOT VIEW MY BLOG!

If we view the blog ourselves - or maybe if the blog owner uses one or more proxy servers to view the blog, the blog will be seen with no problem. Apparently the blog is actually online, regardless of the original observation.

Now what?

In many cases, the blog in question uses GoDaddy hosted DNS, and a specific set of GoDaddy servers, to provide domain addresses to the blog readers.

If we use a WhoIs Log extract, we can see the defining factor in this problem.


artprojectsforkids.org@ns25.domaincontrol.com.:

;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

artprojectsforkids.org@ns26.domaincontrol.com.:

;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached




www.artprojectsforkids.org@ns25.domaincontrol.com.:

;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

www.artprojectsforkids.org@ns26.domaincontrol.com.:

;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached

Right now, GoDaddy name servers "ns25" and "ns26" are currently not responding, to domain address queries.

The domain itself is live. We can verify online status, and see that some readers in various portions of the Internet are able to access it.

We're still researching the support options, for this problem. I've identified a link to GoDaddy Live Support, which you may try if you are affected by this problem.

Use this Live BHF Search, to identify individual reports of the problems, and to follow the diagnostic process.

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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Internet Explorer Updates, And Use Of "Compatibility View" Settings

In 2011, Blogger announced their new browser support policy.

Starting next month Blogger.com will only support modern browsers.

This change, while seemingly dismissive and terse, appears to be necessary. With some browsers, however, a two version (the newest version, plus the version in use right now) support policy will cause problems.

Support for Internet Explorer updates will provide a challenge, for several reasons.

Each new version of Internet Explorer includes many changes, which makes the new version extremely incompatible with previous versions.
With the scope of the version changes being so broad, it takes Blogger Engineering longer to update Blogger code, to support the new versions.
The longer it takes Blogger Engineering to update Blogger to support each new IE version, the more blog owners are likely to accept the new version onto their computers - and to find that they now can’t use Blogger, because it’s not supported.

This month, Blogger Engineering, in addition to preparing for the new year, is trying to upgrade Blogger to support Internet Explorer V11. While they wait for IE V11 to be supported, many blog owners are using the current workaround.

Use "Compatibility View" Settings, and add "blogger.com".

This workaround, used in the past, is responsible for more problems, being seen this week.

Thanks to the aggressive installation of Internet Explorer Version 11, by Microsoft Windows Update, many blog owners are finding problems using Blogger.

Adding to the aggressive installation of IE V11, the Blogger two version support policy creates more problems.

Each time a new version is released, we’ll begin supporting the update and stop supporting the third-oldest version.

This month, as Blogger Engineering upgrades Blogger code to support IE V11, they are apparently dropping support for IE V9. During the previous IE - Blogger upgrade cycle, when IE V10 was pushed onto peoples computers, many blog owners used the same workaround to deal with IE V10 being unsupported by Blogger.

Use "Compatibility View" Setttings, and add "blogger.com".

Right now, many blog owners are still using IE V10 with "Compatibility View" enabled for "blogger.com". Use of IE V10, with "Compatibility View" enabled, appears to leave those blog owners with IE V9 - which is now unsupported.

The compile time user.agent value (ie9) does not match the runtime user.agent value (ie10).

Blog owners still using IE V10, with "Compatibility View" enabled for "blogger.com", need to remove the entry for "blogger.com" - since IE V10 is fully supported by Blogger. This should resolve some problems with using IE V10.

Unfortunately, having removed "blogger.com" from "Compatibility View", some folks have found that IE V10 continues to display as being incompatible.

For the blog owners who cannot use IE V10, even with "Compatibility View" disabled for "blogger.com", they may have to take a step into the deep water, and upgrade to IE V11. If IE V11 is still not supported, use IE V11 with "Compatibility View" enabled for "blogger.com" - which should give you a properly updated V10.

To enable or disable Compatibility View, see Microsoft Windows: Compatibility View.

Alternatively, use Chrome or Firefox, until Blogger can resolve their problems with IE V11, and with IE V10.

(Update April 2014): Blogger is now compatible with Internet Explorer V11 - and now faces a problem with IE V11 using Compatibility View.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Use Two Browsers, With Multiple Accounts Involved

Google has been providing single login access, to (almost all) Google services, for many years.

Properly maintained, we can have one Google account, which lets us access all services, using one login. The single login approach is a convenience, when all of the services, which we use, are part of the same Google account.

The single login approach becomes a challenge, when some of the services, which we use, are part of different Google accounts. As owners of Blogger blogs, there are some scenarios, where we have to deal with two different Google accounts simultaneously.

When we have to deal with two Google accounts, simultaneously, the single login approach becomes a problem.

Frequently, when you request assistance with a problem which involves your Google account, we'll start by advising you to

Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, all 3) - then restart the browser.

This advice is neither ceremonial, nor pedantic - it's practical. And, it solves more problems than you would believe. An alternate, developed somewhat later, is to

Logout from all Google products - then login to Blogger, using the administrator Blogger account, for the blog.

This advice is simpler, and less risky than clearing cache, cookies, and sessions.

Simple advice works, in many problem situations.

The former solution works - because many problems are caused by the Google account login cookie, which is used to retain login status from application to application, within the various Google services which we may use. This is how Google provides single login to their various services.

The latter works, because many problems involve the Google multi-account login, which is not a supported Blogger feature.

That simple advice works best when we care only about the Google service immediately visible - and it requires careful maintenance of cookies filters.

Alternately, logout then login, repeatedly - exhausting, and risky.

In cases where two services - or two Google accounts - are involved, you'd need to switch between account / service, rapidly and repeatedly. Rapidly logging out of one account, to login to another account, is both exhausting and technically unsafe.

Rapidly logging out then back in, to various Google accounts, creates odd symptoms, like the well known monolithic error

You have logged out from another location. Do you want to log in again?

Who among us has been able to correctly answer this simple query properly, without undue rise in blood pressure?

Clearing private data affects more than Google services.

Another problem with clearing cookies, routinely, is that not all browsers allow selective clearing of cookies. Many have observed problems with non Google websites, after solving a Google problem which involves

Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, all 3) - then restart the browser.

Yes, there are websites outside the Googlesphere!

Use of two browser sessions is the most consistently effective and safe solution.

If we need to work with two Google accounts, simultaneously, the only safe technique is to use two browsers, simultaneously. Since the Google login cookie is created separately, in each different browser, use of two browsers lets us maintain two Google sessions, simultaneously, without interaction between the two.

Since no two browsers are alike, we know realistically, that using two different browsers should not be done routinely. Many blog owners have a most favourite, and a least favourite, browser - and won't willingly use a different browser except when absolutely necessary.

Some browsers provide two sessions internally.

Fortunately, some modern browsers, to retain their own customer base, allow for multiple sessions - where cookies and other preferences and settings can be maintained separately. Chrome has the "Incognito Window", and Firefox has "Private Browsing" - both of which let you, temporarily, setup a second browser session, with separate cookies, preferences, and settings.

In most cases, then - and if you are using Chrome or Firefox - when we advise you to

Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, all 3) - then restart the browser.

you should be able to, alternately,

Activate a second browser session, when you are not currently using a second session.

In cases where you are currently using a second browser session, the advice would be more correctly phrased

Close the current second browser session, then start a new second browser session.

This advice would flush all current cookies, preferences, and settings which could possibly involve multiple Google accounts, and avoid various problems with Blogger and non Blogger applications.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Use Search Console To Target Your Audience

People who publish blogs which are relevant to a specific country may be able to focus search engine attention, for their blog - and better target readers in the country in question.

Google Webmaster Tools provides the "Geographical target" setting, which lets a blog owner select a single country. The setting increases search engine attention, for their blog, in the country selected.

If you are logged in to Google Webmaster Tools / Search Console, for a given blog, find the "Search Traffic" menu entry.

From "Search Traffic", select "International Targeting", then the "Country" tab. Click on "Target users in:", then select the appropriate country, in the pull down menu.

The list of countries, presented to you, appears to be rather complete. The list appears to be alphabetically sorted in the English language, as most of Webmaster Tools appears to be presented.

It's likely that your potential readers will be located using geolocation, so you should allow for some inaccuracies, in targeting specific readers. Readers who are located in regions close to national borders may appear to be located on either side of the border. Only one country can be targeted.

Note that this setting is not related to any Blogger dashboard settings, such as "Language" or "Time Zone", in "Language and formatting".

Also, note that the usefulness of this setting, like other search engine features, will depend upon your efforts in properly publicising the blog. Publicising the blog is still dependent upon your efforts - this setting, when used, simply focuses your efforts towards a single country.

Previous:
Blogs That Interest Inhabitants Of A Specific Country May Use The Webmaster Tools "Geographical target" Setting Use Search Console To Target Your Audience
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2013/12/blogs-that-interest-inhabitants-of.html

What Are The Differences Between Pages And Posts?

Occasionally, we see a naive question, which requests a value comparison between pages (static pages), and posts (dynamic pages).

What are the advantages of using a page, instead of a post?

That question, worded in that vague way, cannot be answered. The various differences between pages and posts can provide advantages, or disadvantages. To evaluate a page or a post as an advantage, one must know the specific needs of the blog in question.

Long ago, Blogger blogs consisted simply of posts, displayed using the static Classic template. The "home" page of each blog was merely the most recently published post. Each post was published with an optional index, "Previous Posts", which listed merely the 10 posts previous to the post displayed. There was no

Archives gadget (Date sequenced post index).
Labels gadget (Topic sequenced post index).
Main page display (Date sequenced aggregated post display).

Other posts could be located, only one post at a time, by following the top link in "Previous Posts", from post to post - or directly, from any links in the posts.

With blogs published to Classic templates, important posts were directly accessed using in post links, intentionally added as the posts were composed.

2007: Layout templates were offered.

In 2007, Blogger added the dynamic Layout templates.

Instead of displaying the most recent post as the blog home page, they gave us the main page display, to display a sequential array of recent posts. Instead of the "10 Previous Posts" index, they gave us a true "Previous Posts" index, renamed "Archives", which indexed all posts in the blog.

All posts could be accessed, using either the Archives index - or by following the main page display links ("Newer Posts" / "Older Posts"), located at the bottom of each main page display segment.

2010: Static pages were offered.

Some blog owners, enjoying their blogs with the new Layouts templates and the Archives index, demanded special blog posts that were not indexed in the Archives gadget, and could be "hidden" from their readers. Remember that all posts, using the Classic templates, were "hidden" - excepting important posts, directly accessed using in post links.

To satisfy this new requirement, Blogger added "pages", special posts that are accessed only when linked, intentionally - never in archives, label searches, main page displays, or newsfeeds. During the same time period, they added "Jump Break", which gives us the ability to collapse posts displayed on dynamic index pages, a feature not available on static pages.

Newsfeeds were important, because indexing of blog posts uses a sitemap - and Blogger blogs previously used the blog posts newsfeed as the sitemap.

2010: The Pages index gadget was offered.

Shortly after adding the "pages" feature, Blogger added the "Pages" gadget, to provide an easy to setup index for important pages and posts. The term "pages" became used by many blog owners, to refer to both "ordinary" posts (aka "dynamic" pages), and "special" posts (aka "static" pages) - since both classes of "posts" could be accessed using the Pages gadget.

The Pages and Posts editor have similar layout and options sets.

The confusion between "pages" and "posts" is further aided because the edit wizards for each feature have a common overall display layout. Those blog owners not knowledgeable about "pages" design may confuse the "page editor" and the "post editor", and continue to refer to everything as either "pages" or "posts".

This blog article, composed in the Page Editor.

Pages ("Static" Pages)

Are created using the page editor, accessed from the dashboard Pages wizard.
Are edited using the page editor, accessed using the dashboard Pages wizard, or the QuickEdit icon on the blog face.
Are not relevant to the date when published.
Won't display author, author profile, date, or time stamp - even if selected, using "Configure Blog Posts".
Cannot be scheduled, to publish in the future.
Cannot be properly created with a blank title - though malfunctioning Blogger code has occasionally allowed pages with blank titles, a mistake which has caused other problems with pages.
Cannot be created with a custom URL. A Page URL is rigidly based on page title, when published. URL Duplication prevention for pages is not understood.
Are now unlimited, per blog. Each blog can have an unlimited number of static pages. The former limit, of 20 pages / blog, was lifted in 2014.
Can contain one single blog article.
Do not appear in archive indexes, label searches, and main page displays.
Do not appear in blog newsfeeds, or in BlogSend email.
Appear in the pages sitemap - and are optionally indexed by the search engines, or as intentionally linked by the blog owner.
Cannot use "Jump Break" in a summarised index (archive, label, or main page display).
Do not have labels.

This blog article, composed in the Post Editor.

Posts ("Dynamic" Pages)

Are created using the post editor, accessed from the "New Post" button, located in the Navbar, or in the dashboard Posts List display.
Are edited using the post editor, accessed from the dashboard Posts List display, or the QuickEdit icon on the blog face.
Are relevant to the date when published. The URL of each post will always include the current year and month when published.
Will display author, author profile, date, and / or time stamp - if selected, using "Configure Blog Posts".
Can be scheduled, to publish in the future.
Can be properly created with a blank title - though problems occasionally make the post editor malfunction when publishing posts with blank title.
Can be created with a custom URL, when originally published. URL Duplication prevention for posts, especially considering "custom" URLs and post scheduling, is complicated - and has caused other problems with posts, and with their URLs.
Are unlimited per blog.
Can contain multiple blog articles, using label searches. A label search can also be used as a dynamic page.
Appear in archive indexes, label searches, and main page displays.
Appear in blog newsfeeds, and in BlogSend email.
Appear in the posts sitemap - and are routinely indexed as blog content, as individual posts.
Can use "Jump Break" in a summarised index (archive, label, or main page display).
Have labels.

In general, use of a page or a post, in any given scenario, is chosen based on the latter 7 details. When incorrectly chosen, we frequently see questions.

How do I publish a page with multiple posts?

How do I publish more than 20 pages in my blog?

or maybe

How do I add labels to a page?

Now, examine the differences in real life.

This blog article has been published as a "dynamic" page. Click here, to see this blog article published as a "static" page - and click here, to see this blog article published as in a special label search "dynamic" page (with "Jump Break").

Having read this post - and hopefully, the complementary page - you are probably wondering what is the purpose for having two identical articles. And that is my real life explanation, to help you understand the confusion, between pages and posts. But the differences, between the two blog components, make the interesting stories.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Blogger Blog Content Needs To Be Unique

I've been studying spam, in Blogger blogs, for over 5 years.

This year, we've seen improvement in the automated spam classification process, implied by a noticeable reduction in spam review requests overall - and in a reduction of false positive classifications. During the past few months, blogs requested for review are 2 or 3 times more likely to be confirmed as legitimate spam blogs (true positives), compared to this time last year.

Of the blogs confirmed to be spam hosts, when I am able to examine cached copies of the content, 3 out of 4 of those appear to contain material scraped or syndicated from other blogs or websites.

Content scraped (stolen), or syndicated (copied, with permission), from other blogs / websites. Content scraped or syndicated to other blogs / websites.

Google describes the problem, in Blogger Help: Spam, phishing, or malware on Blogger, quite simply.

Spam blogs cause various problems, beyond simply wasting a few seconds of your time when you happen to come across one. They can clog up search engines, making it difficult to find real content on the subjects that interest you. They may scrape content from other sites on the web, using other people's writing to make it look as though they have useful information of their own. And if an automated system is creating spam posts at an extremely high rate, it can impact the speed and quality of the service for other, legitimate users.

Long ago, many spam blogs were part of large well named spam blog farms.

Long ago, spam blogs were first encountered as startup components in large spam blog farms.

Later, we explored the involvement of various "get rich quick" schemes, and of affiliate marketing.

Content or links which reference referral-based activities such as GPT ("Get Paid To"), MLM ("Multi-Level Marketing"), MMF ("Make Money Fast"), MMH ("Make Money from Home"), PTC ("Pay To Click"), or PTS ("Pay To Surf").
Affiliate marketing (Please, don't confuse this with "affiliate networking"!).

One common characteristic of many spam blogs was lack of uniqueness.

Of these three broad descriptions of confirmed spam blog content - spam blog startups, get rich quick schemes, and affiliate marketing - the one common feature in most of the blogs, confirmed as spam hosts, seems to be the lack of unique content. One of the features of the Panda update to Google Search was described as "content quality" in search results.

The past year tuning to Blogger spam classification appears to be in keeping with Panda, in that it is targeting blogs which rely upon content intentionally replicated from blog to blog - whether "scraped" (stolen, without permission), or "syndicated" (copied, with permission).

If your blog is to avoid spurious classification, it needs unique content.

The end result here is that Blogger blogs, to avoid spurious spam classification, need to contain as much informative, interesting, and unique material as possible. Clever technique is not helpful.

While some amounts of quotation of other blogs and websites is beneficial, the majority of blog content needs to be written by the blog owners and contributors, and properly targeted to the reader population. This helps the blog get better SERP position - and more search engine related traffic.

Account / Blog Recovery, With Team Blogs

We've known for a while, about account recovery for team blogs.

We've sent login instructions for the blog at http://mybloggerblog.blogspot.com/ to you and the other blog authors.

Apparently, team ownership recovery has its limits.

I used "Forgot?", and got the advice
Your blog has too many authors to email them all. Please enter your email address into the form below to look up your account information.
The blog has too many contributors. Since some of these contributors' accounts are no longer active, there's no way for me to easily identify the account which has now has the administrator rights.

Like account recovery for a blog with inactive team members, the "Forgot?" wizard won't work well with large membership lists, which are not well maintained.

In this case, the would be owner (former owner?) now has two possibilities.

If he was the only administrator, the blog now has no administrators - and any author can now claim ownership of the blog, by using “Forgot?” and providing the proper email address.
If the blog still has administrators, the former owner now has to identify an administrator who is active and accessible, and who is willing to restore his account to administrator status.

What to do, now?

Once again, we see the advantage of keeping the membership list well maintained. And if you need to transfer control of the blog, to a different Blogger / Google account, always use two browsers.

It is, unfortunately, the responsibility of the blog members to make the recovery process fit their situation. Blogger can simply provide no more options or suggestions.

A team cannot be managed (non managed) as if it were a committee.

Monday, December 9, 2013

Problems Adding / Editing The HTML And Text Gadgets

We're seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, mentioning problems adding or updating the HTML and Text gadgets.

The most common symptom, when reported, is very simple.

When I try to update the gadget, all that I see is
javascript:void(0);

In this case, we have to first explain that "javascript:void(0);" is not the problem - it's simply a symptom of the problem.

Once we explore the problem itself, we see various possible causes.

The base cause for problems with the HTML / Text gadget is simple - the script which processes gadget updates provides no diagnostics when detecting errors.

If you update a post (using Post Editor), or the template (using Template Editor), with bad code, you generally see some error message, indicating that your changes are bad.

Both Post Editor and Template Editor provide some diagnostics, when errors are detected. With the HTML / Text Gadget, the script issues no error messages, it simply stops.

Instead of "javascript:void(0);" displaying for a fraction of a second, as the update is saved and the window closes, you are left looking at

javascript:void(0);

until you hit "Cancel", in frustration.

The HTML / Text gadget has been observed to have various problems, which prevent changes from being properly saved. If you are looking at "javascript:void(0);" right now, after having repeatedly hit "Save", there are several possible causes for this symptom.

Bad HTML, when accidentally in HTML mode.
HTML / JavaScript code which contains line breaks in the wrong places.
Bad HTML code, when intentionally entering an HTML gadget.
Gadgets with blank titles.
Layered security, which blocks the gadget update scripts from running.
Trying to use a non supported browser version.
Changes to the blog or post template, unwisely applied by the blog owner.
Using the wrong menu selection, in "Add a Gadget".

Blog owners who are not observant, when updating the gadget, may accidentally be in HTML mode. Rich text, containing HTML significant characters, will be a problem.

HTML / JavaScript code is sensitive to line breaks in the wrong places in the code. Blog owners, accidentally or intentionally inserting line breaks, can cause a problem.

HTML / JavaScript code, in general, is syntax sensitive. Bad code will always be a problem.

Gadgets with blank titles will cause a problem, when using some browsers. If a gadget with a blank title is specifically required, it may be possible to use a null title, instead.

Inappropriate use of layered security may block cookies or scripts, and prevent the gadget from updating. This can include browser add-ons, as well as security applications. The owner may intentionally cause this problem - or this can be entirely without owner involvement.

The gadget, like every other Blogger feature, must be updated to support newer browser versions. It will likewise be updated periodically, to remove support for older browser versions. Non supported browser versions will frequently cause problems.

Blog owners can make unwise changes to the blog or post template, which can interfere with gadget code, elsewhere in the template.

Finally, some blog owners can be using the wrong menu selection in "Add a Gadget" - and adding "XML", instead of "HTML/JavaScript".

Some of these error scenarios should be more clearly identified, by the script - but not all can be identified. Attempting to save a gadget with a blank title, for instance, should produce a stern warning

Blank titles are not accepted.

Unfortunately, HTML syntax errors generally can't be consistently diagnosed, with any detail.

The best solution here is for the blog owners to be aware that the gadget operates this way, when being updated. Some cautious effort must be made, when updating the gadget.

It's possible that problems updating the gadget, like many Blogger problems in general, can be best diagnosed using affinity testing, and / or differential testing.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Blogs Publishing Large NewsFeeds Can Cause Problems

We're seeing a few reports, which involve blogs with published newsfeeds with large volume, producing intriguing varieties of symptoms, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

My Followers are not getting email updates!

and

My blog does not update, on my Followers blogs!

and

My blog can't be viewed! All that I see is the gears turning!!!

All of these blog owners are publishing blogs which produce feeds, which are too large.

In general, a newsfeed can be any size necessary. There are two secondary details, however, which can make a Blogger blog, publishing a large newsfeed, problematic.

There is nothing basically wrong with large newsfeeds - but blogs which use dynamic templates, and blogs which produce feeds redirected through FeedBurner, can have problems when publishing large feeds.

Dynamic templates have problems with large feeds.

We're currently seeing problems with dynamic templates, caused by blogs with large feeds. This produces one more case where we end up prescribing a large Timeout setting, for dynamic views.

A blog, which provides the Blogger "Follow by Email" gadget (or the native FeedBurner Email Distribution gadget), uses FeedBurner to distribute email, from the blog posts feed. Large newsfeeds, when redirected through FeedBurner, can cause problems.

There are two ways to reduce feed size.

There are two approaches to making a feed smaller.

Publish a blog posts feed with less posts.
Format posts using Blogger post editor, instead of using Microsoft Office.

FeedBurner Help provides reference guides discussing large feed size.

See FeedBurner Help: Is there a feed file size limit? and How can I reduce Blogger's feed size below FeedBurner's 512K limit?, for details.

To diagnose a large feed problem, one can use any text browser, such as Rex Swain's HTTP Viewer, or Web-Sniffer View HTTP Request and Response Header. Either product will provide a size display.

Feeds over 512K in size will be problematic, with either dynamic view, or FeedBurner redirection.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Various Problems With Blog Owners Using Internet Explorer V11

We're seeing a few browser related problems, possibly related to a recent update of Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I can't see my dashboard!

and

I can't upload pictures - all that I get is a blank box!

and

I am receiving messages, when I log in, that my Internet Explorer is not compatible with Blogger.

Too many blog owners use Internet Explorer for using Blogger - and automatically accept updates, applied by Windows Update.

Right now, Blogger Engineering is in the process of updating Blogger to work with Internet Explorer V11. This is not a minor task - with all of the many Blogger features required by the various blog owners and readers, all of which must be checked for compatibility with each new browser version.

The recent updates of Microsoft Windows, to use Internet Explorer V11, is causing various problems to blog owners and readers.

Blogger Engineering cannot update Blogger, immediately, to work with the new version. While we wait for Blogger to be updated, it's possible that the Microsoft "Compatibility View" setting can help us bypass some of the problems.

From the Internet Explorer menu, select "Tools" - "Compatibility View Settings".
From the Internet Explorer address bar, click on the "broken page" icon.
Type "blogger.com" into "Add this website". Hit "Add", then "Close".

If we can't use "Compatibility Views" to work around the current problem, we have to wait, patiently, until Internet Explorer V11 can be properly supported, by Blogger Engineering. When Blogger does support IE V11, you will do best to remove "blogger.com" from "Compatibility Views".

If we can't wait patiently, we may need to try using another browser with Blogger - at least to diagnose the problem at hand.

>> Top

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Stats Referer Spam Moderation Is Collaborative

Some blog owners just do not understand the realities of referer spam moderation.

How can I set my dashboard, to not track pageviews from referring sites like "vampirestat . com"?

Not everybody understands that Stats was not designed for catering to individual preferences, in deciding what statistics should be displayed.

Stats spam moderation was not designed to allow for individuals to decide on what figures to display - or ignore. Like Blogger Comment moderation, Stats is collaborative, fuzzy, and heuristic.

Collaborative systems work best when everybody is subject to the same restrictions. Blogger / Google can best fight referer spam by monitoring all activity, against all blogs, uniformly.

Stats displays show the top 10 entries, in every list.

Some referer spam, like some genuine traffic, is not displayed, simply because at least 10 other traffic sources (bogus or genuine) are displayed.

Since newer blogs, with less established real traffic, are more vulnerable to referer spam, owners of newer blogs are more likely to demand individual filtering options. Owners of more mature blogs, who have devoted more time to publishing their blogs, don't see the spam, and don't worry about filtering it.

If individual blog owners were given the choice of what "traffic sources" should be filtered, for each different blog, they would waste more time examining their Stats displays, recording what sources appear spammy, and updating their filters. This would leave them less time for maintaining and publishing their blogs.

Given this possibility, referer spammers would be encouraged to tune their attacks, and to focus their attentions upon newer blogs, to encourage the newer owners to waste more time maintaining filters. In some cases, this could even enable referer spammers to conduct DOS attacks against blog owners who are naive enough to believe that they can effectively identify and filter referer spam.

With individual blog owners given the ability to individually filter Stats displays, referer spammers would be better able to conduct DOS attacks against innocent, third party blogs and websites.

Like every other righteously needed Blogger enhancement, adding individually maintained Stats filters would make Stats more complex. This would require Blogger Engineering to spend more time developing a feature demanded by a minority of blog owners - and spend less time developing and maintaining other, more essential features.

It does not require too much imagination to suspect the legitimacy of some of the unhappy blog owners.

Why does Blogger not give me the ability to decide, for myself, what traffic sources that I want to monitor?

Some of these might even be the referer spammers, trying to force Blogger Engineering to develop features that, in the long run, would benefit the spammers as much as the blog owners.

Thursday, November 28, 2013

A Custom Domain Published Blog Has A New URL

We see occasional signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, about custom domain publishing.

Can I publish to a custom domain - and still use the Blogger dashboard?

and

Can I publish to a custom domain - and keep my comments and posts?

and

Can I publish to a custom domain - and avoid TOS restrictions?

Some blog owners seem to see custom domain publishing as more than it actually is.

When you publish your blog to a non BlogSpot URL (aka custom domain), using a proper setup, your blog now has a new URL.

The BlogSpot URL continues to operate, with custom domain publishing.

The BlogSpot URL continues to work - and to direct search engines bots, search query results, and visitors, to the blog.

Some blog features may stop working - or may not work as well.

If your blog uses backlinks, and similar tools to measure exposure / popularity, which reference the blog using the URL, you'll start over with those features. With a properly setup custom domain, even though you don't see them, the links themselves will still operate - and any traffic headed to the BlogSpot URL will lead to the Blogger blog, published to the domain URL.

If your blog uses Google+ Comments, you won't see the comments published to the BlogSpot URL - although the comments will still exist, and be visible, in Google+.

Some accessory gadgets will stop working, temporarily, shortly after the new URL starts working. This is an unavoidable result of the Internet address lookup infrastructure, aka DNS.

Other than those features, a custom domain published blog is the same as before.

Other than those details, you'll have the same blog as before - just with an extra URL, that may be more valuable to the search engines.

The Blogger blog will still be hosted by Blogger / Google, and will use the Blogger dashboard for maintenance and publishing.
The blog will be served subject to Auto Pagination.
The blog will be subject to the same quality standards - both porn labeling, and abuse classification, will be consequences of any infractions.
The blog will be subject to the same deletion recovery restrictions.
The blog will be subject to the same publishing volume / spam mitigation restrictions.

Non Google relationships should be carefully evaluated.

Just as any time you change the URL of your blog, you'll face changes in external relationships, such as with your readers, and with search engines and other services. You'll get much better results, with careful planning, and methodical execution!

For the few times when your domain fails, see my troubleshooting check list - but prevent problems best, by first setting it up properly, and by observing your own limitations.

A Blog Published To A Custom Domain Has A New URL - And No More
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2013/11/a-blog-published-to-custom-domain-has.html

A Custom Domain Published Blog Has A New URL
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2013/11/a-custom-domain-published-blog-has-new.html

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Is A Sitemap Useful, For A Blogger Blog?

Occasionally in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see evidence of confusion and doubt.

Do I really need a sitemap, for my blog?

This question, when asked, may help us to design our blogs better.

WikiPedia defines a sitemap as

a list of pages of a web site accessible to crawlers or users

Classically, a sitemap is a visual index, to help the people viewing a static website, to easily identify and access a specific article in the website.

A sitemap provides an alternate index, to a non Blogger website. Most websites are static, with a hierarchically accessed, single structure. A well designed sitemap allows people and crawlers to more efficiently locate specific articles (pages or posts), in a static website.

Most Blogger blogs provide much more than a hierarchical, single, static structure. By default, a Blogger blog links posts dynamically, using several alternate indexes.

Archives (posts listed hierarchically, by date).
Labels (posts listed hierarchically, by topic).
Extended main page (posts listed sequentially, by "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts").

Any blog, which provides one or more of these features, serves as its own sitemap - for viewer access to posts. Static pages are accessed only when necessary - and content published in pages is not sitemapped.

For crawler access, the options are simpler.

Archives (posts listed hierarchically, by date).
Extended main page (posts listed sequentially, by "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts").

Label searches, which use a different URL structure from the base blog design, are not used for indexing a Blogger blog.

If you look at the main page of a typical blog, you can follow the "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links from page to page, repeatedly - and eventually, see every post in the blog. With a new blog, with few posts, and predominantly "first visit" viewer traffic, the main page makes a passible sitemap. For an older blog, with many posts, and more "repeat" viewer traffic, the main page makes a less efficient sitemap.

For crawlers, which will generally follow a limited number of links within any single blog or website, the main page makes a still less efficient sitemap. Most blogs with any appreciable search engine reputation, however, only need new posts indexed by the crawlers - as older posts are already indexed, and remain in search engine cache.

Blogger provides a good, default gadget which serves as a sitemap, on most blogs - the Archives index. Look in the sidebar of this blog, about halfway down, for the "Contents" gadget.

The Archives index is an HTML based gadget, which produces a set of hierarchical, date structured links, exhaustively enumerating each post in the blog. It's an ideal structure, for search engine bots (crawlers) to follow. If your blog includes this accessory, that's probably sufficient for indexing.

Blogs which contain one or more complementary features can provide search engine access, organically.

Well written, regularly published posts.
The standard Archives gadget.
The standard "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links.

Such blogs may not need a sitemap, to provide good access to both people and crawlers.

Both the Archives, Labels, and "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links are subject, on some blogs, to customisation. A blog with Javascript driven Archives, Labels, and / or custom pagination ("Newer Posts" / "Older Posts") gadgets may not provide easy crawler access. This also affects blogs which use dynamic templates. If you tweak your blog extensively, you may want to consider these issues.

There is one special case where a sitemap is always needed. Any time the URL of your blog is changed - whether to a new BlogSpot URL, or to a non BlogSpot custom domain - prompt re indexing, under the new URL, is a necessity to regain search engine reputation. A robust sitemap set, which directly references all posts in the blog, helps the crawlers to re index each post, under the new URL, much faster.

Other than that special case, a blog with standard, well designed, features may not actually need a sitemap. If the blog does need a sitemap, you use Google Webmaster Tools.

A sitemap, setup through Google Webmaster Tools - and using the blog posts newsfeed, defined through "robots.txt" - is a simple accessory to add, and requires no ongoing maintenance. Given this reasoning, most blog owners simply setup a sitemap, and don't worry about the above issues and questions.

(Update 2014/11): Blogger blogs will soon have automatically generated, dedicated sitemaps - so this discussion may be irrelevant.

>> Top

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Confusion About Visibility Of Comments, With Blogs Using Google+ Comments

Along with confusion about ownership of comments, published using Google+ Comments, we see similar confusion about visibility of comments, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I shared the URL of my post in Google+ - and now I see my Google+ post, displayed as a comment, on my blog!

and

My comments are showing up in other people's profiles, in Google+!!

and

I'm getting notifications, in Google+ - but the comments don't display, on the blog!!

Not all blog owners understand the relationship between Google+ comments, published to a Blogger blog - and posts, in Google+.

Comments on a Blogger blog are treated the same as Google+ posts, with a Blogger blog using Google+ Comments.

You may see a post shared publicly - or shared with you.

If somebody publishes a Google+ post, and shares the post to a circle that includes you, or shares a post publicly, you may see the post - if you are viewing a stream which includes them. Note that if you Block someone, their posts will never show up in your streams.

If somebody publishes a Google+ post, and shares the post to circle(s) that do not include you - even if the post references your blog - you won't see that post. If somebody publishes a Google+ comment against your blog, and shares the post to circle(s) that do not include you - even if the post references your blog - you won't see that comment.

If you share a post in your blog, you have a comment against that post.

If you share the URL of a post in your blog, in a Google+ post, that post becomes a Google+ comment against your blog post. With a Google+ post, you can choose to share to Public, or to any (or all) of your circles.

If you share the URL of a post in your blog to Public, everybody who is viewing a stream, which includes you, may see your Google+ post. If you share the URL to specific circles, everybody in those circles, and who is viewing a stream which includes you, may see your Google+ post.

If you publish a comment, and choose to share it, you have a stream post.

If you publish a Google+ comment to a post in your blog, and choose "Also share on Google+", that comment will become a Google+ post.

If you share a comment to Public, everybody who is viewing a Google+ stream, which includes you, may see your Google+ post. If you share a comment to specific circles, everybody in those circles, who is viewing a Google+ stream which includes you, may see your Google+ post.

When you view comments in your blog, you may view only Followers.

If you are viewing a post in your blog, you can select the "Circles" icon, and view all comments made by people in your circles, against that post, that you may see - or you can select the "World" icon, and view all comments made by everybody, against that post, that you may see. Anybody else, viewing a post in your blog, can do the same.

If you're publishing a comment against a post in your blog, you can choose to "Also share on Google+". Anybody else, viewing your blog, and publishing a comment, has the same choice.

Google+ shows all posts about your blog, on your blog.

The purpose of Google+ Comments, in Blogger, is to include Google+ posts, about your blog, on your blog.

For example, if there's a public Google+ discussion about one of your blog entries, those comments and replies will also appear on your Blogger blog.

If you do not want to include Google+ comments, about your blog, on your blog, you don't need to enable Google+ Comments.

If you do decide to use Google+ Comments on your blog, be aware of the known problems with Google+ Comments.

You can revert back to Blogger comments - but you won't see Google+ posts.

You can revert the blog back to Blogger Comments - but if you do this, no comments made using Google+ Comments will be visible on the blog, to anybody, from the blog.

We should also mention the issue of Blogger vs Google+ comments - and that you can choose one or the other, at any time. With the blog using Blogger Comments, it will not display any comments made under Google+ - and with the blog showing Google+ Comments, it will not display any comments made under Blogger. If you change back and forth, expect to lose comments.

Also, Google+ comments are based on the URL, not the blog. If you change the URL - as either a BlogSpot to BlogSpot change. or a custom domain publishing - you should also expect to lose comments. The comments will be out there - and with a properly setup custom domain, will direct to the blog - but the comments won't be visible against the blog posts.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Your Google Apps Account, And The New Administrative Google Login

In some cases, the earlier provided procedure, for accessing the limited access domain administrator account, may not work, for your Google Apps domain.

If you have trouble with providing both the account name and password, you will need to reset the password using the Google administrative reset. Instead of the wizard at "accounts.google.com", you will need the administrative reset wizard, at "https://admin.google.com".

A Google Apps administrative account reset uses the same set of initial displays, as the previously discussed limited access account reset - and it offers the same opportunities for confusion. Be prepared to add the appropriate Google account (whether GMail, or non GMail based) to the login menu, as necessary.

When you request administrative account reset, you first try the using default account name.

For my domain, if it had been purchased after November 2012, the default account name would be "bloggeradmin@nitecruzr.net". Yours will be "bloggeradmin@yourdomainURL" - whatever "yourdomainURL" actually is.

Domains purchased before December 2012 will apparently still use a Google Apps token sent in email or linked from Google Wallet.

If possible, use two browsers - one browser for Blogger and other Google activity like GMail, and the second for the Google Apps session. For best results, first clear cache, cookies and sessions (yes, all 3!), and restart the second browser.

Use the same account name, as advised - just substitute the administrative reset sequence.

https://admin.google.com/

Click on "Need help?".

Select "I don't know my password".

Enter your limited access Google Apps account name.
In most cases, you will go into the expected administrative account reset sequence.

With a mature account, where you have previously setup a custom administrative account, "bloggeradmin@yourdomainURL" may not be accepted. Now, you must try an extended administrative account reset.

If the limited access account, for your domain, is not operational, don't panic.

Return to the previous screen, and select "I don't know my username".

Now, you have other details to provide.

Whether you use the standard administrative reset - or the extended administrative reset - Google will send a password reset email message, to the backup email account associated with the domain. The email account should be the one used by the Blogger account, under which you purchased the domain.

Other than the previously enumerated cases where you can't use the recovery email address, this should be a reasonably straightforward process.

Access the new Google Administrator Login screen.
Click on "Need help?".
Request password reset.
Access the right email account.
Open, and execute the password reset email.
Hopefully, you're done.
If necessary, return to the previous screen.
Select "I don't know my username".
Provide additional details.
Go to Step 3.

Once you're in the Admin Console, you can check / set the auto renewal option setting, or you can retrieve the login instructions to access the registrar's zone editor - or do whatever else you need to do.

The next time you need to access the Admin Console, try to remember the previously set account name and password. And, if you feel up to it, add recovery options to your administrator account.

>> Top

"go.blogger.com" / MMS / SMS Blogging Is Deprecated

We're seeing a few queries recently, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about a little used option in mobile blog publishing.

Is "go.blogger.com" down? I'm trying to claim a mobile token, but having no success.

This blog owner, like a few others, is trying to use a dying Blogger feature.

"go.blogger.com", and MMS / SMS, was the Blogger solution for blog publishing using "mobile" phones, provided several years ago.

SMS is a protocol used for sending text messages between computers, that was used on "mobile" phones, before most "mobile phones" became just pocket sized computers using "cellular" (3g, 4g, etc) networking.

You can think of SMS as the original "Chat" protocol, used before cellular Internet service became the normal communications service.

With smart phones and cellular Internet, we use apps, browsers, or email.
With the gaining popularity of using "smart" phones with cellular service, most people will publish blogs using either a browser on the phone, email (and "Mail-To-Blogger") on the phone, or (for supported phones) the "Blogger" app.

Blogger Support told us that MMS / SMS was deprecated.
Recently, I asked Blogger Support if "go.blogger.com" and SMS based blogging had any future. The reply was bleak.

So that feature has been deprecated.

Basically, Blogger has moved onwards - and is trying to support mobile blogging using modern equipment and services.

SMS was never 100% available and reliable - even in USA infrastructure.
Even when people in the USA were using "go.blogger.com" and SMS for blog publishing, SMS was a constant problem. SMS is a proprietary protocol, provided by various phone carriers, over the individual cellular networks.

Even with SMS in the USA, years ago, there were some cellular services providing SMS, that did not work with Blogger. SMS outside the USA is worse - and globalisation of Blogger made this a problem.

Nowadays, not every cellular service provides SMS. Most cellular Internet providers focus on regular Internet service. If you want to "chat" with somebody, you use a normal "chat" client like GTalk - or now, Google Hangout.

Use Mail-to-Blogger or browser for best results.
If your "smart phone" (or mobile computer) supports email over voice, you can use Mail-To-Blogger. If not, you'll need a modern and supported phone, with cellular Internet service - if you want to publish your blog using your phone.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Market Your Blog, To Those Who Are Interested

We see many questions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about blog content, and (lack of) appreciation by the readers.

Occasionally, people become concerned about activity of the people reading their blogs - why they get so many new visitors (but nobody returns later, to read more), or why the main page is so well read (but nobody reads the archived posts).

In other cases, they wonder why the blog was deleted - even though it had the required warning protecting it - or maybe why the content warning is there. And sometimes, they may wonder why so many people read the blog, but nobody comments on the posts.

If your blog just uses Stats, to provide you reader activity statistics, you'll probably be only concerned with visitor activity, and pageview count.

If you use an actual visitor activity log, like SiteMeter or StatCounter, you may also look at new / return visitor ratio, or pages read / visitor count. In both cases, you're examining visitor interest.

Try to advertise your blog, where it will be appreciated.

Visitor interest starts with how you advertise the blog. You get good visitor interest when you advertise the blog where it will be welcomed, and in a style where your advertisements will be welcomed.

People who don't like your blog may read the first page, then go elsewhere. If they read more than the first page, they will probably be doing that so they can report the blog, for TOS Violation or similar. This is why some blogs are unrighteously clasified as abusive.

No matter how objectively you may write a blog discussing alternative lifestyles, if you advertise your blog where Bible Belt USA Conservatives may gather, the best result that you may see is "single pageview" visitors.

Objections may lead to "adult content" or "spam" accusations.

Occasionally, we'll see a problem report that starts out with a common complaint.

Why was my blog deleted? I don't spam.

When we're able to retrieve a cached copy of the blog, we'll agree with the owner.

Some blogs, deleted as abusive, will have a little known problem.

Commercially funded adult content.

Other times, the problem will be more subtle.

I set the "Adult Content?" flag to "Yes"! Why am I getting complaints? (Why was the blog deleted?).

The "Adult Content" interstitial hampers - but does not block - access.

The problem here starts with the nature of the "Adult Content" warning.

Not every blog owner realises that the warning is only advisory. Anybody, no matter their age or religious preference, may (by accident, or intentionally) click on "Agree". Having clicked, they may be subject to a faceful of content which is not in their best interest, or which they do not appreciate.

If you advertise inappropriately, you may not enjoy the results.

If a link to your blog appears in the wrong forum discussion, or on the wrong website - either a Bible Belt forum or School Children's website - don't be surprised if your blog continues to get content complaints. And in some cases, we'll see you in the forums.

Why was my blog deleted? I don't spam.

Be sensitive to both the stated, and unstated, policies where you post. If your blog contains controversial material, be very conservative about how and where you advertise. Publish properly targeted posts, with unique content, for the best future of your blog.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Diagnose Problems Using Affinity Testing

When you go to the doctor to report a health problem, you'll likely tell him

Doctor, I have a pain.

and he will likely ask you

Where does it hurt?

If you tell him

My stomach hurts.

he will probably ask

When does it hurt?

and

How long has it been hurting?

None of these are formalities or mere protocol, they are systematic problem identification procedures. We diagnose problems with Blogger, using similar techniques.

If you write in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue and report

My readers can't access my blog.

or maybe

I can't access Blogger!

you'll likely get similar questions.

With enough people reporting the same problem, we look for an affinity.

If enough people report a similar problem and provide useful details, we can identify an "affinity" to the problem. This may help Blogger Support to isolate a segment in their code base, or an errant server in their network, that's causing your problems.

If you report

Some of my readers can't access my blog!

you might be asked

Where are your readers located, who can't access your blog? Where are your readers located, in general?

and maybe

What language do your readers speak?

and

What language is the blog published in?

and

When was this problem first observed?

and

When was this problem last not observed?

None of these questions are asked, by the "doctors" in the clinic, or in the Blogger Support forums, as an attempt to annoy you, or to show off. And as simple as they sound, they are actually lead ins to much more complicated diagnostics, or maybe to referrals to other specialists.

Affinity and differential testing complement - but do not replace - each other.

Affinity testing compares multiple tests, and asks which tests produce the same results. Similarly, differential testing compares multiple tests, and asks which tests produce different results.

One of my simplest "tools" which I may use to identify an affinity would be my simple 12 link set. That set of 12 links (which vary according to your initial problem report) represents a carefully chosen set of addresses.

Some addresses, in the link set, are in the Blogger / Google hosting space - and others may be outside Blogger / Google. Systematic analysis of the results of trying each link, one after the other, can lead to any of several different diagnoses.

Some of the links look similar - but with "inconsequential" details. The details represent a test, to see if known features might be part of the problem. None of these tests are redundant, or trivial.

Start by verifying the URLs involved.

Make a screen print, and a text copy, of the Blogger dashboard Publishing wizard, at Settings - Basic. Some Blogger problems are solved by identifying simple typographical errors.

You can have your readers use the 12 links - and provide results to you.

If you have readers complaining of a problem with your blog, you can email the list of links to your readers, and have them click on each of the links, and report results. If the problem comes and goes on your computer, you can click on each of the links, repeatedly. By combining and comparing the results, you can identify an "affinity".

If you are given that list of links, as a reply to your question, and you're able to say (for instance)

I can access only #4 and #5 ("0001-100").

or maybe

I cannot access #2 and #3, but I can access #1, 4, and 5 ("1001-100").

you are well on the way to a diagnosis. On the other hand, if you can only reply

Some of the links get me nothing.

you are not as well on the way to a diagnosis.

The "New Question" dialogue collects similar demographic details.

Blogger provides a simpler (and no more consistently observed) affinity dialogue, at the top of the "Post a question" wizard, in some forums.

Your Blogs URL:
Browser(s) used:
Location:

When properly answered

Your Blogs URL: http://blogger-status-for-real.blogspot.com/
Browser(s) used: Firefox V3 / IE V8
Location: California USA

There are good clues, that may help the helpers, or Blogger Engineering, to identify a new problem - and may help them to help you faster. On the other hand, a frequently seen set of mildly amusing "answers"

Your Blogs URL: blogger-status-for-real.blogger
Browser(s) used: i dunno, it came with the computer
Location: planet earth

are less useful.

It's your choice what details to provide, to the forum helpers. In the same way, you get to chose whether to tell your doctor that you've started smoking, again.