Diagnose Problems, With Blogs Using Dynamic Templates, Using Non Dynamic Templates

The process of examining browser source listings for a blog, and of having a blog owner carefully examine blog template code, is an important part of diagnosing many Blogger problems.

With blogs published to dynamic templates, neither source listings, nor template "Edit HTML", contain as much useful information, as with blogs published to non dynamic templates. Dynamic templates reference scripts, that are hosted in external libraries - and that cannot be updated or viewed.

The idea of having templates that were less customisable was originally supposed to encourage people to work on post content, and increase stability of their blogs - not create instability.

One of the original reasons for having the dynamic templates was to have templates that would encourage blog owners to work more on content - and less on style.

Dynamic templates were designed for less customisation - and increased reliability.

Having the less customised templates would, hopefully, have made the dynamic templates more reliable. Unfortunately, Blogger chose to add features to the dynamic templates, to make them more popular.

The "infinite scrolling" feature of the dynamic templates impressed people, who decided that "infinite scrolling" would be useful for their blogs - but without having noted that dynamic templates have less options for customisation.

People, who like the existing dynamic templates features, demand more features for them. And, they cause more problems, for themselves - since many of them lack the ability to diagnose their own problems.

Eliminate general blog problems, by re publishing to a non dynamic template.

Any time a blog problem is diagnosed, and the problem involves a blog that uses a dynamic template, it's a good idea to start by re publishing the blog to a non dynamic template. Try to diagnose and eliminate any general blog problems, before tackling problems caused by tweaking of dynamic templates.

Just go to the dashboard Template wizard, and choose any non dynamic template - then "Apply to blog". Then, reset the post template (if the posts are involved, in the problem).

Publishing to a non dynamic template lets us use standard diagnostic tools.

With the blog published to a non dynamic template, you (the blog owner) can use the Template Editor to examine general (non dynamic) template CSS, HTML, and / or XML code. Also, you (and any helpers) can use a browser "View Source" window, to examine the rendered blog code.

If you diagnose a problem with non dynamic code, you can edit and correct any problems found. Once that is done, and you are satisfied that there are no non dynamic template related problems, re publish the blog to a dynamic template - and diagnose any remaining problems.

As always, template backups are strongly advised.

If you decide to make any changes to the template code, as always, I advise that you backup the template - before and after making changes. Whenever you detect a problem, recover the template to the backup taken before the changes, and see if this fixes the problem noted.

GeoLocation, And Our Use Of Blogger

Recently, we've seen signs of confusion, from people who have problems with their Internet service, which shows them moving around their geographic region.

I logged in to Blogger, with no problem, yesterday. Today, after logging in successfully, I am asked for more details, to prove my identity!!

This blog owner has a problem with location based security.

Not all Blogger blog owners or readers understand that Country Code Alias Redirection, and the ability to access one's Blogger / Google account (and prevent others from accessing it), both depend upon the ability to determine the geographical location of each blog reader.

Various Google features, like Country Code Alias Redirection, and Google login, use geolocation, to identify the location of each reader.

For people using the Internet, Geolocation uses the Internet connection, to determine physical location. Unfortunately, for many blog owners, the Internet Service Provider, the Internet connection, and the Internet customer (or Blogger blog reader) may each be in a different location.

My own location - even when I am at home - may, at times, appear to move in a 30 mile radius. My ISP routes my connection through any of half a dozen different connection points, in my region, depending upon current network activity.

Some smaller ISPs, located near a country border, may actually get service through a larger ISP in another country. Customers of the smaller ISP may appear, through geolocation, to reside in the other country.

This can be an unfortunate problem, with country code alias redirection, with language detection, with login authentication, and / or the Location option in Post Editor.

People located in one country, reading an unfamiliar language, or seeing their latest post show up in the wrong province / state - or even country - may not appreciate the confusion which is caused. And people who login, and appear to move from city to city in the region, grow tired of having to prove their identity - after successfully entering account name and password.

Thanks to domain based filtering, this may become a security issue for some blog owners, near country borders, who may not be able to maintain / publish their blogs.

Unfortunately, geolocation, using the Internet Address (aka "IP" address), will never return precise results. Any location based processes will always provide fuzzy results, thanks to Internet services which load balance their network connections.

Spam Review Requires Ownership Verification

Part of the spam review process involves verifying that a spam review request is needed.

Not every blog owner understands the reason for not requesting spam review, needlessly. A blog has to be owned under the Google account being used, and locked as a suspected spam host, for a spam review to be useful.

A spam review, when properly conducted, starts with the "Restore" / "Review" buttons, in the "Deleted blogs" section of the personal Blogger dashboard. As of December 2014, the "Restore" / "Review" buttons are not working for everybody - and this is causing some confusion.

Dashboard restore / review requests, when submitted by the owner using the buttons in "Deleted blogs", provide two functions.

• They provide some level of convenience, to the owner.
• They provide some level of assurance, to the owner and to Blogger Support, that the blogs need spam review.

The buttons provide convenience to the blog owner, because the owner can initiate a restore (for a blog that they was previously deleted, within 90 days), or request automated review (of blogs deleted by Blogger, for suspected TOS violations). This allows the owner to recover a deleted or locked blog, without spending time in Blogger Help Forums.

The buttons provide assurance to the blog owner, and to Blogger Support, that no blog deleted, by Blogger or the owner, will be released by request of someone other than the owner. The appropriate button, for any deleted blog, is only present on the dashboard of the legal blog owner, who can then initiate restore or review.

There are several cases, which don't require a spam review.

• The blog was deleted, as a suspected spam host, but under another account.
• The blog was deleted, because this account was locked, as a hacking victim.
• The blog was deleted, because another account was locked, as a hacking victim.
• The blog was deleted, because another account was locked, for a TOS Violation.

Only one specific case requires a spam review.

• The blog in question was deleted or locked as a suspected spam blog, and is owned by the Google account being used to request restore / review.

All other cases, which involve deleted or locked blogs, result in the owner waiting for Blogger Policy Review to return a verdict that they can't review a blog that was not deleted as a suspected spam host. Blogger Policy Review works from a long queue - and if we refer problems to them, that they cannot resolve, their queue gets longer.

Ownership verification starts with the owner supplying a screen print of "Deleted blogs". The screen print is inconvenient for the owner - and for the helpers in Blogger Support Forum, who must carefully verify that spam review is required - but it's a necessary inconvenience. This happens only when the owner is able and willing to cooperate, and provide a usable screen print.

Verifying ownership is a righteous task - even if it makes the spam review preliminaries longer, and seemingly pedantic.

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If You Travel, Be Prepared To Prove Identity

We're seeing reports from people who claim to be traveling, and who can't login and access their blogs.

Google appears to now authenticate us using current location, as well as account name / password. We see occasional reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about new security procedures.

I am traveling, and I need to access my Blogger account from another country. I know my account name and password - and I logged in successfully. But after logging in, I am still being asked to prove my identity!!

This blog owner is finding a problem, with Google taking extra measures to protect our accounts and blogs.

Google is trying to protect us, from people who access the Internet from different countries - and who try to access our Google accounts, and steal control of our blogs.

Somebody in a foreign land, accessing your account, may not be you.

If you normally access the Internet from your home, and you travel to another location and try to login to Blogger / Google, you may be asked for additional details, to prove that you are the legal owner of your Blogger account. You may feel like you are being treated discourteously, when this happens.

In reality, Blogger is simply trying to keep your blogs under your control, by preventing people other than you from stealing your Blogger account, blogs, and email account - and possibly, your friends Blogger account, blogs, and email account.

When you travel, you spend time preparing for the trip.

When you prepare to travel to a distant country, you are responsible for getting your travel documents (passport), permissions (visas), maybe make health preparation (update immunisations, get extra medications) - and learn a minimum amount of the local language, before you go.

Maybe you should also spend some time getting your Blogger / Google account in order (update any backup details, such as backup email address and phone number). Even, plan an account recovery, from time to time.

This is an excellent time to try 2-Step Verification.

You might even consider setting up Google 2-Step Verification - and generating a set of one time backup authentication codes.

If you don't prepare your account for travel, you may have to wait until you get home, to post to your blog. You may even be asked for proof of identity, when you get home, too.

Dashboard "Deleted blogs" Buttons Are Broken

We have numerous problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about a problem with the "Deleted blogs" section of the dashboard.

I can't restore my deleted blog!

and

I can't request spam review!

These owners are concerned, because the "Restore" and "Review" buttons appear to be broken. Nothing happens, when clicked.

Right now, we are starting immediate manual spam review, for blogs deleted as suspected spam hosts, when properly requested by the owner.

People who have "intentionally" deleted their own blogs, and who want to restore, may not be able to easily do that. There is no manual "restore my blog" process, that is appropriately part of Blogger Support Forum.

There are an array of cases, which can result in deleted or locked blogs. Only one case requires spam review.

Any other case leaves the owner waiting, needlessly, for Blogger Policy Review to return a verdict that they can't review a blog that was not deleted as a suspected spam host. Blogger Policy Review works from a normally long queue - and with the currently broken buttons, it's an even longer queue.

Without use of the buttons, ownership verification starts with the owner supplying a screen print of "Deleted blogs". The screen print is inconvenient for both the owner - and for the helpers in Blogger Support Forum, who must carefully verify that spam review is necessary. This happens only when the owner is able and willing to cooperate, and provide a usable screen print.

We now have a Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting demographic and technical details from each blog owner reporting inability to use the "Deleted blogs" buttons.

This malfunction has been reported to Blogger Engineering, for their resolution. Since we are at end of year, and the holiday season, it's unlikely that the problem will be resolved this year.

While we wait for their action by Blogger Engineering, everybody experiencing this problem is strongly urged to contribute their details to the Rollup Discussion. Problem diagnosis being as it is, any one person, contributing their details, might contribute the one essential detail that leads to successful diagnosis of the problem.

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Gambling Blogs Are Not Allowed In Blogger

Recently, we've had a few unsatisfied blog owners, with blogs deleted for TOS violation.

When able to research cached content, we see various posts with large, mysterious spreadsheets - and flashy ads with affiliate links.

When we look closer at the content, we see the spreadsheets appear to provide betting odds - and the ads link to various online betting services. The blogs in question are providing gambling services or bookmaking. Some blog owners prefer to call this "sports betting".

There are several problems with blogs which focus on gambling activity.

• Gambling is illegal, in many areas of the world.
• Even where legal, it is a regulated activity - and Blogger has forbidden it, as content in their hosted blogs.
• Blogs which focus on gambling tend to provide odds, in large mysterious spreadsheets. The search engines may see this as empty / static content.
• Blogs which focus on gambling tend to have links to other similar blogs, generally using referer links. This is called affiliate marketing.

Even if gambling is legal where a blog owner resides, Blogger blogs are viewed all over the world. Regulated activity, such as gambling, is not legal, in every world region.

Even if gambling is a legal activity in the region of the blog owner, it may not be so in that entire country. Even the well known Blogger feature of country code alias redirection is useless here. Gambling is a regionally accepted activity - and country code alias redirection is not active, for all countries of the world.

Blogger has forbidden blogs which focus on gambling, and other regulated activity.

Regulated Goods and Services: Do not use Blogger to sell or facilitate the sale of regulated goods and services, such as alcohol, gambling, pharmaceuticals and unapproved supplements, tobacco, fireworks, weapons, or health/medical devices.

Blogs with empty / static content have been a problem, for a while. We see blogs with no content / random low quality content, classified as spam hosts, frequently. The odds spreadsheets do not provide usable content, for search engine indexing.

Blogs with affiliate links have similarly been a problem. Affiliate marketing has been a classification category, for many years. Many ads - such as those with affiliate links, and / or pictures of enticing content - are not acceptable, in Blogger.

If you wish to provide or advertise gambling activity, in online content, please don't use Blogger blogs to host your content.

Your Reading List Is Unique To You

One question, that I have never seen specifically asked, is about our following, reading lists, and blog subscriptions in general.

Why do I have to login to Blogger, to maintain my Reading List?

The blog follower / owner has asked a question that is involved in various problems, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue - but with this question so easily overlooked.

The Blogger dashboard Reading List, which so many use transparently, is unique to each of us.

Similar to the confusion about the email address, mysteriously displayed on our Blogger dashboard, is the unstated detail that each of us has our own personal set of followed blogs - and consequently, our own Reading List.

If you want to maintain the (Blogger Following / Google Friend Connect) Followers community, on your blog, you are forced to do this, as part of the Followers GUI. When you are able to access the Reading List "gear" icon, and "Manage Blogs I'm Following", you have already logged in - possibly, without realising.

Sometimes, blog owners have learned of various dashboard shortcuts - and use them transparently. All blog dashboard access requires a login - to simply prove, to Blogger, that you are the owner of the blog in question.

Most blog owners understand, instinctively, that they must login to access each blog dashboard. Not everybody realises, however, that they have their individual Reading List - also accessed by their own login, on the dashboard "home" page.

Along with having your own Reading List, you have your own reading list maintenance wizard (aka "Manage Blogs I'm Following" - or possibly the Google Friend Connect equivalent, for Blogger accounts that use Google+ profiles). To access your own wizard, you must identify yourself, by logging in to Blogger.

Failure to use the right Blogger account, or using a computer that prevents proper identification, leads to an empty Reading List - or to a list with just one entry. This is one reason for some people claiming that the Reading List is unreliable.

Why Do You Publish A Blogger Blog?

One of the more intriguing questions, that we see in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, involves the Blogger / WordPress dichotomy.

Should I migrate my blog to WordPress, where they provide SEO optimized themes, and various plugins?

My answer to that question starts with the suggestion, that the blog owner should ask himself

Why do I publish a blog?

This question has many possible answers - but I will focus on two possibilities.

To me, the choice of Blogger vs WordPress starts with asking why the blog is being published.

Blogger blogs are personal websites - and provide the best results when published with informative, interesting, and unique content. People read Blogger blogs, because they are written by people, who have something to say - and the readers provide the SEO activity.

WordPress offers a cornucopia of SEO enhancements, from clever themes, to plugins - and support groups that encourage the novice owner to develop a blog with little to no content or planning.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I'll suggest that, if you wish to publish a blog with little to no original content, you should move the blog to WordPress - and make use of their SEO optimized themes, and various plugins. Leave Blogger blogs to people who actually have something to say.

But, that suggestion has a downside.

One day, Google will take the next step beyond Panda, and further emphasise content over clever marketing schemes, and traffic enhancement techniques. As that happens, people who build blogs and websites based on themes and plugins will find their blogs and websites getting less traffic from actual people.

As actual people tire of reading cleverly marketed blogs with no content or focus, the owners of these blogs will turn to more innovative techniques for getting traffic. Hopefully, the WordPress Support forums will be more sympathetic to the novice spammers who ask

Why was my blog deleted by WordPress?

or

Why does my blog not appear at the top of the search list?

Blogger blog owners can organise their blogs, dynamically - based on how they want to present the content, and how their readers can choose to read the content.

Help Blogger to encourage the spammers to move to WordPress - and the people who have something to say can continue publishing Blogger blogs.

Design Your Blog, As You Develop Your Audience

Similar to starting a blog and immediately focusing on making money, we sometimes see people who start a blog, and immediately start designing the template, with custom features.

A beautiful, shiny design is useless, if your readers don't like it. Different blogs will attract different reader populations, who will respond to different designs.

Every Blogger blog is unique, because you are unique - and because you (hopefully) publish blogs that are all different from each other.

Different reader populations will respond to different features.

Depending upon what your readers are, they will respond to various unique features of any given blog. Find out who your readers are, and what they like, before you design your blog.

Start with any standard Blogger template, and with content, to attract readers. Work on getting traffic, from content indexed by the search engines.

Develop content, and get the blog indexed. Content leads to search reputation.

Publish informative, interesting, and unique content - and advertise the blog responsibly. And be patient. There are an infinite number of techniques which will give you better results.

Look at blogs with similar content, and see what works.

As your blog gets traffic, you'll learn of other blogs similar to yours - some of which are published by your readers. See what designs, features, and layouts interest your readers - and learn how to use those techniques.

A well designed blog can have a new template added, any convenient time.

You can modify your blog, including the design, without losing content or readers, any time it pleases you. That's the beauty of online, progressive publishing.

Start with content - and focus on getting readers. Work on the blog design, after you have content and readers.

Static Pages Do Not Appear In Newsfeeds

We see occasional confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.

How do I let my readers subscribe to my pages?

A static page, by definition, does not produce newsfeed content. This is one original purpose for the static pages feature, in Blogger blogs.

You can publish posts, to any non home page, as you wish - and create a dynamic page.

From a label based dynamic page, you can publish a labels newsfeed. Then, you can publicise your label feed.

Any feed based accessory gadget - such as a "feeds" gadget, a "Subscribe to my blog" gadget, or even a "Subscribe to email from my blog!" gadget will use a labels feed, as well as a posts feed. A label search produces a subset of the posts - and a labels feed is simply a subset of the blog posts newsfeed.

If you want specialised content on a page, separate from the main page - and you want to distribute your content using a newsfeed - make a dynamic page based on a label. That will give you the feed that you need.

Pages And Posts, Saved As Draft, Won't Be Visible

Some blog owners, when publishing a new page or post, really appreciate the "Preview" option in the page / post editor.

In some cases, some people may use "Preview" so instinctively, they may overlook the limitations. We see the confusion, occasionaly, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Where is my page? There's no selection, under "Pages to show", even!

The blog owner does not realise that unpublished pages or posts won't be visible, outside the page / post editor, and the "Preview" window.

In some cases, the confusion is not apparent, until we view the Pages or Posts menu - and see the "Draft" caption, next to the missing pages or posts.

If you really want to view the page or post, outside the Preview window - maybe to check the links - you have to Publish. In most cases, you can just Publish, then modify / update as you continue.

If it's so important to see the page or post - and you do not want it to be visible to your readers - setup a test blog. Then, copy or edit the page or post in the test blog - and Publish at will.

Just don't be unduly alarmed, when you look at your blog - and don't see the page or post, before you Publish.

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Confusion From Non Operable Dashboard "Restore" / "Review" Buttons

This week, we're seeing a few reports from anguished blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

My blog was deleted for spam, and I can't request review because the dashboard button doesn't work!

This blog owner is being hit by a double whammy - first, a spurious spam classification; and second, inability to request review of the blog, falsely accused, using the dashboard.

It's possible that this problem is just the latest symptom of intrusive security on the personal computers, used by the owners of blogs falsely accused of hosting spam content.

Like every other feature in Blogger, that requires authentication of owner status, the dashboard "Restore" / "Review" button can only be used by the owner of a given blog.

Knowing that almost every computer on the Internet is subject to unnotified security updates, it's not un imaginable to see a recent security update having caused this problem.

This problem has been forwarded to Blogger Support, for their consideration. While we wait for a response from Blogger, it's up for the owners of the blogs falsely accused, to provide some details about their computers.

We noe have a rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue. If you are affected by this problem, please provide details there.

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Don't Try To Number Dynamic Pages

One interesting question, which we see occasionally in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, would be about making the blog easier to read - if the blog were static.

How do I number the pages, in the blog?

This blog owner does not quite understand the concept of dynamic content.

With a static website, and each page linked linearly, one after the other, it might make sense to number the pages.

Blogger blog content is dynamic.

A Blogger blog has dynamic content. Each reader retrieves the posts, in reverse date sequence, in a number of contexts.

• In main page view, one page linked to the next - owner selectable maximum posts / page, auto paginated.
• In individual post view, one post linked to the next - one post / page.
• In an archive retrieval, one page linked to the next - a maximum of 20 posts / page, auto paginated.
• In a label search, one page linked to the next - a maximum of 20 posts / page, auto paginated.

Each label in the blog can generate a different label search, one search / label.

We say that the content is dynamic, because each of the above contexts use blog content, retrieved just when a reader clicks on a link.

Each time content is retrieved, for each reader, it will differ.

Each different retrieval will generate a series of physical pages of display, with a different combination of posts. Each retrieval will be paginated according to amount of content, by auto pagination.

If the posts are summarised using Jump Break, pagination will reflect the visible post content. With other "Read More" solutions, this may or may not be the case.

Dynamic indexes can use any combination of various dynamic accessories.

You can index the posts in a blog, using various dynamic sidebar gadgets.

• An archive index.
• A label index.
• Any number of linklists.
• Any number of feed gadgets.

Again, each index will be dynamic.For truly dynamic indexing, you can provide a single blog search - or a multiple blog search - or even a label combination search.

You can get installable gadgets, and custom templates, from various third party developers. Some gadgets and templates will let you setup an index (whether dynamic, or static), with page numbers. This will be third party code - and carries with it the risks of using third party code.

Non dynamic accessories require post template tweaks.

Also, non dynamic indexes generally install as code, inserted into the post template. The post template is not a blog component that should be tweaked, without understanding the risks.

All of the above details affect how much content may appear on one physical page, and how many pages may be relevant to the retrieval. With these unknowns, it is not productive to identify each post - or set of posts - using page numbers.

How many index listings would you want to keep - especially considering that any one index could change, in the next minute, as a new post is published, or maybe a label is added to, or removed from, one or more posts?

Blogger content is dynamic. Treat it, dynamically.

NeoWorx, And The Redirecting NeoCounter Gadgets

This week, we're seeing the anxious query, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Is my blog for sale? I try to view my blog, and I see

This Domain Is for Sale

Have I lost my blog?

Fortunately, in most cases, the answer is "No, your blog is not for sale." - and "No, you have not lost your blog!".

In mid 2014, NeoWorx, the publisher of popular gadgets like NeoCounter, closed up shop. Back end code for their gadgets, installed on thousands of blogs and websites, had been served from their private libraries. Having closed their domains, the gadgets stopped working.

Initially, "neoworx-blog-tools.net" was purchased by a squatter.

The squatter apparently had hoped to capitalise on the traffic to the domain, provided by the blogs and websites that used the installed gadgets. In late 2014, the squatter gave up (or possibly, sold to another squatter), and "neoworx-blog-tools.net" is now showing a very plain parked page.

This Domain Is for Sale

Either the squatter made a profit on his purchase, by serving ads to the would be viewers of the host blogs and websites, and decided to cash in - or he lost his investment, and decided to cut his losses and move on.

In theory - and by early Internet rules of etiquette - anybody purchasing a domain that has accumulated traffic from the efforts of the prior owner, and expects to be receiving traffic from unwary people like our blog readers, should put advice on their home page.

Sorry, NeoWorx (publisher of NeoCounter and other blog / website accessories) is no more.

or

Looking for NeoCounter? Try their new website.

The advice, to at least accompany the ads displayed there, would provide a brief hint to the unwary reader, that what he sought (i.e., blog content - or a given gadget) is no longer available (as suggested by the first advice). If NeoWorx had renamed themselves, or been bought out, the second advice would have been useful.

The initial purchasers of "neoworx-blog-tools.net", in defiance or ignorance of etiquette, simply served a page full of ads, and no advice. The ads did not target the owners of the blogs and websites - they simply confused the unwary readers - and provided no hints of why they were there, instead of viewing the blog or website.

Subjected to waves of complaints from angry readers, the blog owners had earlier posted in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why is my blog directing to a page full of ads?

And we would examine the blog code in our browsers, find the gadget which references "neoworx-blog-tools.net", and instruct the blog owner to remove the gadget.

Now, instead of angry readers, who complain of ads, the blog owners suffer questions from confused readers, asking if the blog is being sold. And we continue to advise people to remove the misbehaving gadgets.

To the former owners of NeoWorx, and the subsequent domain owners:

Blogger blog owners are not cash cows.

We appreciate accessories, if you can support them. But please, don't produce gadgets that require your program libraries, run up huge volumes of traffic to your library domains, then sell out to spammers.

Here, we have one very real example why adding gadgets from third party developers may not always be in your best, long term interest.

Confusion From Blogs That Use Smart Links In Titles

Some blog owners like to publish blogs that use custom colours, in the titles.

Carefully coordinated colours are important, in some blogs. Both the blog title, and the individual post titles, in many blogs, are clickable link captions. The blog title links to the blog home page, and / or the post titles link to the individual post pages.

Some blog owners get confused, when they try to set the colour of the titles, to a custom colour - and see link colours (which vary according to status), instead of the selected custom colours.

With some templates, both the blog title, and the post titles, may be captions for "smart" links.

A "Smart Link" is clickable, only when it leads to a different page.

With a smart link, the caption is clickable only when you are viewing a page not targeted by the link. When the link is clickable, it becomes subject to the "link" vs "visited link" colour combination.

With a blog that uses a custom colour title, and links in the titles, you will have 4 possible title colours.

• Custom title colour.
• Link colour.
• Visited link colour.
• Hover colour.

The above colour settings are provided, for some templates, when one uses the Template Designer "Advanced" menu. All settings are not included on all templates - though you can add any needed setting, with a little work.

A post title is clickable, only when the post is viewed on an index page.

With a smart link, the title in question will be a link only when you are not viewing the page that's targeted by the link. The blog title smart link, for instance, will point to the blog home page - and each post title smart link will point to the individual post page.

• When you are viewing the blog home page, the blog title will not be clickable. Each post title will be clickable link captions.
• When you are viewing an individual post, the blog title will be a clickable link caption, and the post title will not be clickable.
• When you are viewing an archive retrieval or label search, both the blog title and posts titles will be clickable link captions.

It appears that the post title smart links are enabled, when the post permalink is part of the published date / time, in the post footer. This option was common, with older templates; with some (but not all) Layout and Designer templates, it may also be available.

If the post permalink is not provided in the post footer link, it appears that "smart" links may not be an option.

If you don't want the "smart link" colour action, you can add a CSS rule, and make page / post titles a consistent colour.

h3.post-title {
color:#000000;
}

This will, for instance, make all titles black. Be observant, though - and make sure that this works, consistently, for you!

The Mysterious StatCounter Log Proxy Address Entry

We're seeing the occasional evidence of concern, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, from people who spend too much time examining their StatCounter logs.

Why do I see "62.210.181.15:3130", in my StatCounter logs, as a referring site - reported as unknown "pool IP proxy" - and showing full BlogSpot.com and other sites' content?

This sounds scary - but it's not.

"62.210.181.15" is an unregistered proxy server address. It's like me calling myself "nitecruzr".

Google for "free proxy servers", to find such IP addresses listed.
Look for online advertisements (Google is your friend) for proxy servers. You'll see suggestions like "Surf from class, without interference". "62.210.181.15" is probably listed, in one of the suggestions.

"62.210.181.15" is probably some kidz, setting up an old computer, connected to their Mom's Internet service. Some old computers, useless for gaming, can be refurbished - and used as proxy servers. That's a popular activity, for geeks.

Unregistered proxy servers make sense, for various reasons.
By advertising only an IP address, the owners of the proxy can

• Save money (no name registration, which generally costs money).
• Prevent name based filtering by the school network admins.
• It sounds kewl, and attracts more skool kidz.

So, all the kidz in one skool tell each other

Yeah, so what if the admins block FaceBook, just go to "62.210.181.15", and surf from there!

That's all that it is, just people bypassing network security, at the office or school, and surfing. You see the entries in your logs, because they are surfing your blog.

Proxy servers make good tools, when you need to vary your apparent geographical location (for testing). If you're going to use one, just use it for read only surfing.

Only use unregistered proxy servers for insecure, read only surfing.
Internet activity that requires a password and userid (FaceBook, Google+, Twitter) will use SSL - and most free proxy servers do not provide an SSL connection. In no way would I ever use a proxy server, without SSL, and enter anything confidential or secret.

If you use a proxy server for publishing comments on a Blogger blog, for instance, you'll be publishing anonymous comments, because you won't be able to login to Blogger.

The ":3130" changes for every connection, because each number there is used by each different customer of the proxy. Those are outgoing port numbers, on the proxy server.

Get back to work, on your blog.

Confusion From Comments And The CAPTCHA

This week, we're seeing complaints from quite a few angry blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why do I have to solve a CAPTCHA, to comment on my own blog?

and

Everybody sees a CAPTCHA - even if they are logged in to Blogger!

Previously, the CAPTCHA was visible only to those not logged in to Blogger, or to those wishing to comment, anonymously.

It appears that the full page and popup window comment forms were updated, possibly to make the CAPTCHA form more usable, for those blog readers who are using a computer subject to filtering of "third party" cookies.

The CAPTCHA appears to be always required.

The effect that we are now seeing is that the CAPTCHA appears to be required, for all comments, when the full page and popup window forms are used.

In some cases, even with the CAPTCHA displayed, you can publish without solving.

• If you are authenticated, the reCAPTCHA, though displayed, may not require solution.
• If you are authenticated, and a blog member, neither the ezCAPTCHA nor the reCAPTCHA should require solution.

In either case, simply compose and Publish your comment.

People who wish to publish anonymously will always have to solve a CAPTCHA.

Unfortunately, people who are publishing anonymously will still need to solve the CAPTCHA. The non optional reCAPTCHA, which gets displayed, is not as easy to solve as the optional ezCAPTCHA.

Cookie filtering, once again, may be part of the problem.

To increase the confusion, people using a computer where "third party" cookies are filtered will be treated as if they are publishing anonymously, and will have to solve the reCAPTCHA. Some people, who think that they are properly authenticated, will find out otherwise, if they try to publish a comment without solving the CAPTCHA.

Continuing to cause confusion, in some cases, comments entered may simply vanish, if the CAPTCHA can't be displayed when necessary. This, is another consequence of cookie filtering.

Spammers - Getting Others To Do Their Work

We've known of resourceful scammerspammers, for years.

One long known scam, popular with home / small business blog owners, has been to award a badge for a "Most Excellent Blog" - and encourage the badge recipient to award the badge to friends with "Most Excellent Blogs".

The recipients of the "award" would proudly display the badge on their blogs. The "Most Excellent Blog" badge, of course, contained a link back to the scammers blog.

Recently, a spammer in a foreign country hosted an "SEO Contest" for other blog owners, where everybody participating was again, encouraged to put the "SEO Contest" badge on his blog or website. Again, the badge lead back to the spammers website.

Both examples of deviousness lead to mazes of interconnected blogs and websites, all of dubious relationship to each other.

Randomly connected blogs and websites are purposeless.

The blogs and websites involved had no real reason for interconnection - other than each being owned by a gullible contest entrant, or "award" winner. Meanwhile, the spammer sat there, watching his website swell with the readers, coming in search of informative and interesting content - and seeing more spam.

The former blog owners, participants in the "SEO Contest", later report.

Blogger deleted my blog! I need my blog, to make a little extra money!!

But there is no encouragement here, your blog is gone. Blogger Policy Review can't distinguish the spammers from the victims - that would require determination of motive. To them, it is all one big spam blog farm, in an ingenious affiliate marketing scheme.

Long ago, we had web rings. Now, blog hops and traffic exchanges.

Long ago, when the Internet was just a geeks paradise, one guy convinced half a dozen of his friends to link their websites to each other, sequentially, backwards and forwards.

Website A linked to Website B which linked to Website C ... which linked back to Website A.

The theory was that you could start from any point in the ring, surf in either direction, and view each website in the ring.

When other participants joined, they would break and insert into the middle of any convenient link pair.

Website A linked to Website AA which linked to Website B ... (and Website B linked to Website AA which linked to Website A ...)

This technique was called a website ring. My first website was linked into a ring, called by its creators, "The Ring Around The World". Now, we have "blog hops" and "traffic exchanges".

Blogger / Google has "Next Blog".

Google's version of a webring started as the well known "Next Blog". As the number of blogs and websites grew to approximate the world population, people decided that they would prefer to only view other websites that resembled their own - and Google tweaked "Next Blog", to link the current blog to other blogs of the same subject.

Blogs which derive traffic from schemes such as "Badges" and "SEO Contests" (and send their readers to the creators of the schemes) become yet one more type of righteous spam classification.

None of these schemes are useful, long term.

Folks, there is no legitimate free traffic scheme. You get traffic to your blog, from publishing informative, interesting, and unique content - and from improved search engine indexing.

Don't lose your blog, from following bogus advice.

Adding Label Search Pages To A Dynamic Template

We've been dealing with the limitations of the dynamic template - how you can't easily edit dynamic template HTML code, with a blog published to a dynamic template - for a while.

At one time, you could link a dynamic and non dynamic view of the blog - and let your readers use the sidebar, and the many options there, in non dynamic view - and switch back to dynamic view, for the comments and posts. That choice was taken away, in 2014, because of "privacy issues".

Like Designer and Layout templates, you can add a Pages gadget - and index dynamic pages, like label searches - as you may have done with gadgets on static pages.

Dynamic templates now support positioning of the Pages gadget, in the menu bar - and let you add both dynamic and static pages.

If your blog, published to a dynamic template, doesn't have a pages menu, in the menu bar, you can always index the label searches in your blog, from a linklist in the sidebar. Or, you can upgrade your blog.

Using a working Pages gadget, add dynamic pages, referencing one or more label searches which interest you. And make sure that the pages are properly sequenced, in "List Order".

Checkout the blog, using a non dynamic template, and make sure that the Pages gadget works as expected. Once you have what you like, go back to the Template wizard, and re select the non dynamic template.

With the blog once again using a dynamic template - and if you added / relocated the Pages gadget into the Tabs section of the template, you should now see your label searches, indexed in the menu bar, just below the title section of the blog. You can see my favourite topics, now indexed in my "Musings" blog menu bar.

You may not have room for every topic, in the menu bar - but you can pick your favourites. And you can still index all of the label searches, in a linklist, which will work in the pop out sidebar.

Use Common Sense, And Protect Your Blog

We see various questions about getting advice and non standard accessories / code, from blogs and websites advertised outside Blogger / Google control - generally in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why can't I see my blog? Every time I click on "View blog", I get a face full of ads!

and

Where can I get accessories, gadgets, and templates for my blog??

and

How do I know what accessories, gadgets, and templates are safe, for my blog?

and

Why did Blogger lock my blog, as a malware host?

All of these folks are discussing the same issue - blog content security. Some are asking properly, before they cause their problems - but others are not.

We have several known bad actors, right now - who have been putting out various blog accessories which, initially, work fine.

After thousands of victims have installed some accessories on their blogs, the owners and readers observe that the blogs are suddenly redirecting to advertising pages, or throwing popup ads on top of blog content. The latency period, for some blogs which are the first to install a new hacker provided gadget, may be as long as 6 months to a year.

By the time any malicious gadgets are discovered, identified, and removed, the victims have to deal with unhappy readers, who don't enjoy seeing a screen full of ads, instead of their favourite blog to read.

Search engine reputation is also affected by this problem. In some cases, the malicious gadgets may be detected by Blogger - and the host blog (ie, your blog) is locked, as a suspected malware host. Even if Blogger does not detect a problem, services outside Blogger will trash your blog.

Thoughtful blog owners will ask how they can get good, reliable, and safe blog accessories. I would start, by ranking the possibilities.

1. Blogger "Add a Gadget", with gadgets labeled "By Blogger".
2. Websites provided by well known Internet services.
3. Blogger "Add a Gadget", with gadgets not labeled "By Blogger".
4. Non Blogger websites provided by developers.
5. Non Blogger websites provided by hackers and spammers.

1. Blogger "Add a Gadget", and gadgets labeled "By Blogger".

The most reliable and safe gadgets will always be found in the "Add a Gadget" library, and be labeled "By Blogger". You have to trust Blogger, if you are going to use their publishing platform in general.

The optional gadget library, and gadgets "By Blogger", is just as safe as the dashboard, and components referenced by the dashboard.

2. Websites maintained by well known Internet services.

Most well known Internet services and social networking platforms will provide gadgets that are designed for Blogger. The best gadgets will be labeled "For Blogger", and be written in Blogger compatible XML. Some general purpose gadgets, written in HTML / JavaScript, will also be suitable.

Almost any gadget in this category, if written by the staff of the service in question, will be free from malicious intent. Both FaceBook, and Twitter, for instance, provide gadget libraries. Because these gadgets were not written by Blogger staff, they will not be as reliable as Category #1.

3. Blogger "Add a Gadget", and gadgets not labeled "By Blogger".

Many gadgets provided in "Add a Gadget" will be provided by third party developers. Hopefully, Blogger / Google exercises some quality control, over gadgets distributed through their library.

That said, the first mass hacking of Blogger blogs, of 2009 - 2010, came through gadgets that were distributed from the "Add a Gadget" libraries. One such gadget was discovered, just last week.

4. Non Blogger websites provided by developers.

After the unforgettable blog hijacks of 2009 / 2010, then 2010 / 2011, Blogger / Google Security got aggressive with the problems of malicious gadgets being served from their libraries. Most recent hacking attacks have been distributed from websites outside the control of Blogger / Google.

Some non Google websites are provided by third party developers, who write code almost as reliable as Blogger staff. However, if the choice for my blog was between gadgets in Categories #3 and #4, and be of equal functionality and suitability, I would choose #3 over #4 - and I would seriously recommend the same, if asked.

In some cases, legitimate third party developers have provided accessories that require access to their code libraries. The developers have gone out of business, and have cancelled the domains where the code libraries were served. The abandoned domains have been bought by spammers, as investments - based on serving ads to accumulated incoming traffic, from people surfing to the blogs and websites which have the accessories installed.

In some cases, the domains were actually abandoned by the developers. In other cases, the developers were spammers, who sold their domains for a good profit, to other spammers.

We, the blog owners, cannot really tell which case is involved, when our blogs start redirecting to pages of spam - or even malicious domains, serving malware to our readers. We do need to protect our readers, though.

5. Non Blogger websites provided by hackers and spammers.

Some websites outside the control of Blogger / Google should not be trusted. I would seriously suggest without hesitating, that you stay away from websites like "SEOYourBlog.com", "MakeMunyFromHome.info", and such.

Any blog or website, with clever initials in the name, should be considered, with great caution. Although "SEO" was originally a serious concept, most websites with "SEO" in the name will not have your best interests in mind. Likewise "GPT, "PTC", "PTS" will do you no good.

If and when you add gadgets, always add them using "Add a Gadget". Gadgets added using "Add a Gadget" can be easily removed, if they go bad. Gadgets added using "Edit HTML" must be removed using "Edit HTML" - and some gadgets will be extremely challenging to diagnose and remove.

Security begins with you.

Blogger Cannot Provide A Blog Spam Review Tool

Among the cases which involve the hopeful, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, we see an occasional query about proactive spam review.

I am worried that my blog, like so many others, may be deleted by Blogger! Is there any tool or service, by which I can scan or analyze my blogspot blog, to see if it's breaking any of Google rules?

And the answer here, simply, has to be "No.".

For any such service or tool to be helpful, a positive review of a blog would have to be accompanied by a certification that the blog is free of any TOS violation. The blog would then be frozen, to prevent any further changes. How many blog owners would want their blog frozen, for eternity?

Short of freezing changes for any blog certified as "spam free", Blogger would become a spam bloggers paradise.

Every spammer would start out with empty or reserve blogs, get the blogs certified, then go to town.

Legitimate blogs, though certified, and invulnerable to spurious spam classification - would still have no chance of being read, with Blogger saturated with endless waves of spam blogs, also invulnerable.

The only possible answer here has to be a firm

No.

No legitimate blog owner would even think of encouraging this service.

Every blog owner has to publish, and to allow for classification. This blog has been deleted three times, in the past - and there's always a chance for a fourth.

As long as spammers exist, spurious spam classification, against any blog, will always be possible. It's not a pleasant possibility, but it exists.

Publish your blog regularly and steadily - and keep it very free of dodgy content. Keep ahead of the spammers - and stay well within the law.

AutoSave, And Draft Mode Post Editor

Recently, we've been seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, suggesting more problems with Post Editor, in Draft mode.

I keep getting an error, when editing my posts.

An error occurred while trying to save or publish your post. Please try again.

I am editing Draft posts, some of which are fairly large.

This blog owner is discussing yet another facet of the Post Editor feature, AutoSave.

Early AutoSave Experience

Long ago, people would report a different problem, when composing posts.

When I compose my post, my typing is way ahead of what is displayed.

Blog owners, long ago, discovered that AutoSave, which applied to posts being composed before publishing, made their computers slow down. This made their on screen post content show noticeable delay, from their typing.

With newer and more powerful computers, and people who still type at the same speed, Post Editor slow down has become a thing of the past - but at a price.

With highway traffic engineering, a well known problem involves the regional effects of upgrading a local arterial street, to handle more traffic. This might improve traffic in your neighbourhood, but at the expense of another highway in the next city.

Similarly, upgrading the speed of your computer improves your Post Editor typing problem, but puts more load on the networks and Blogger servers. Thus we see the symptom, reported above.

An error occurred while trying to save or publish your post. Please try again.

Pre AutoSave Experience

As you compose a post, what you type is saved on your computer - and displayed in Post Editor. This lets you see what you are typing, in a "what you see is what you get" display. If you hit "Save", periodically, what you have typed gets saved to the Blogger servers.

Originally, many blog authors did not think to Save, when composing a post. Some would just type - then eventually Publish, when convenient. This technique created two problems.

1. The longer an author waited before Publishing, or Saving, the greater the chance that something would happen with the computer being used, causing loss of what was being typed. And the greater the catatrophe from the loss.
2. The longer the author waited before Publishing or Saving, the more work would be done by the Blogger servers, when the author finally did Save, then Publish.

Blogger added AutoSave to Post Editor, so the effects of Publishing massive amounts of unsaved post content would not affect Blogger resources so abruptly - and so less people would see their hard effort go down the drain.

Current AutoSave Experience

One known problem with AutoSave is that it generates load on the local computer, on the networks connecting to Blogger, and on the Blogger networks and servers - thus the slow typing problem, long ago.

Another problem is that it saves automatically (hence the name) - and for some people, who may have just cleared the contents of a post, AutoSave saving an empty post tends to cause a problem. The longer people work on pages or posts, without publishing, the greater the chance that this disaster may happen.

Unfortunately, having a more stable publishing process, thanks to the reverse effect of AutoSave, will just encourage people to take longer before Publishing or Saving. Thus the complaint.

I was working on my new post for weeks. Right in the middle of highlighting a section for deletion, AutoSave kicked in, highlighted the whole post, deleted the highlighted section, and saved an empty post. How do I get my post back?

And for this unhappy author, there can be no helpful answer.

Future AutoSave Prognoses

For a while, I've been suggesting that when possible, you should publish a post immediately, then continue editing your post after publishing - since AutoSave only affects post editing, before the initial Publish. Recently, I discovered that it may be possible to use Google Docs as a Content Management System, for long term post development.

A third possibility is that you compose your unpublished posts in HTML mode, instead of Compose mode. The effects of AutoSave, in HTML mode, are not as objectionable. Some of my posts, I might develop for a week or two before Publishing, using HTML mode. If you use this technique, and you include anchor links in your posts, beware of switching back and forth between Compose and HTML.

A fourth alternative, use of Microsoft Word instead of Google Docs, is known to cause problems with auto pagination and with various posts newsfeed accessories. We do not recommend use of Microsoft Word.

However you develop a post, the longer you wait before Publishing, the greater the chance that AutoSave will make you unhappy - either by sudden destruction of your post - or by contributing to the latest symptom.

An error occurred while trying to save or publish your post. Please try again.

Publish sooner, develop offline, or become a victim.

Removing Author Information From The Blog

Not everybody likes to be known, everywhere.

Some folks prefer to publish a blog, without their name appearing. Anonymity is a goal, for many blog owners.

Blogs using both Dynamic and non Dynamic (Layout, Designer) templates can be made anonymous - but different tasks are involved. Fortunately, both tasks are simple.

We've been advising how to achieve anonymity, with blogs published to non Dynamic templates, for many years.

Both the Author Name, and Author Profile below the posts, are removed, using the proper selections in "Configure Blog Posts". In the "Post Page Options", the second option (has a modifiable caption, which by default is "Posted by") can be de selected, to remove the name. The twelfth option, "Show Author Profile Below Post", can likewise be de selected.

With a blog published to a Dynamic template, the solution for this need is not obvious - but it's not complicated, either. Use the "Add CSS" wizard, in the Template Designer "Advanced" menu, and add one CSS rule.

.publish-info {display:none !important;}

I advise people to include blank lines before and after the rules being added. If there are other rules, previously added using "Add CSS", with blank lines, you won't necessarily need a second blank line - but you do need one blank line, between each different rule.

There are other tasks needed, to publish a blog anonymously - but removing the name from the blog is one of the most visible changes that you can make.

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Simple Edit / Removal Of Problem Blog Gadgets

Blog owners frequently have to edit or remove various blog gadgets - and sometimes need coaching, to edit or remove.

Editing or removing gadgets, normally, is pretty simple - when you know what you're looking for. Whenever you are logged in to Blogger, as a blog administrator, you can find the "Edit" link, on the dashboard Layout wizard - or the "Quick Edit" link on the blog (when "Quick Edit" is enabled), as displayed.

Sometimes, identifying a problem blog gadget, to another person, isn't easy. What happens, if someone misreads your instructions?

Even when identified, it may not be a simple task to locate a given gadget.

• The "Quick Edit" option may not be enabled, on a blog.
• Even when "Quick Edit" is enabled, a blog with lots of gadgets may be tedious to search, looking for the gadget in question.
• Mistakes can be made. What happens, if you click on the wrong link, and remove the wrong gadget?
• When a malicious or misbehaving gadget is involved, either loading the blog or the dashboard may produce unacceptable results.

Fortunately, with the right diagnostic work, we may not have to load either the blog, or the dashboard, to edit or remove an identified gadget.

Start by locating, and identifying, the gadget in question. As an example, I will use a gadget from my test blog. First extract the code, for gadget "HTML13" - my so called "Empty HTML Gadget".

<div·class='widget·HTML'·id='HTML13'>(LF)
<h2·class='title'>Empty·HTML·Gadget</h2>(LF)
<div·class='widget-content'>(LF)
This·is·a·(<span·style="font-weight:bold;">somewhat</span>)·empty·HTML·gadget.(LF)
</div>(LF)
<div·class='clear'></div>(LF)
<span·class='widget-item-control'>(LF)
<span·class='item-control·blog-admin'>(LF)
<a·class='quickedit'·href='//www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6231987187698503326&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML13&action=editWidget§ionId=sidebar-right-1'·onclick='return·_WidgetManager._PopupConfig(document.getElementById("HTML13"));'·target='configHTML13'·title='Edit'>(LF)
<img·alt=''·height='18'·src='http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_wrench_allbkg.png'·width='18'/>(LF)
</a>(LF)
</span>(LF)
</span>(LF)
<div·class='clear'></div>(LF)
</div>

Look for "quickedit" - and extract the "href" value.

//www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6231987187698503326&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML13&action=editWidget§ionId=sidebar-right-1

Be really careful here - extract the complete string, between the ' ... '.

Add "https:" to the front of the extracted value.

https://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6231987187698503326&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML13&action=editWidget§ionId=sidebar-right-1

And there is the exact URL needed, to access the Edit wizard, for the gadget, "HMTL13".

Now, to point out the "obvious".

• The URL will work, for the gadget on any blog, even if "Quick Edit" is not enabled for the blog - for a blog administrator.
• The URL will not work, for the gadget on any blog, even if "Quick Edit" is enabled for the blog - for a non blog administrator.
• Disclosure / possession of the URL poses no security threat to your blog - nor any benefit to a hacker. Try the link below, and see for yourself.
• Even if you are logged in as an administrator, the URL may not work - if "third party" cookies are not enabled.

The URL is simply a tool, which can be extracted, by anybody - and can be used, by a blog administrator (and only by a blog administrator), when properly logged in to Blogger.

Having noted the "obvious", your life can be a bit simpler, when instead of having to instruct someone how to locate and use the correct "Quick Edit" or Layout Edit link, to remove a problem gadget, you simply instruct them.

Login to Blogger, and click on the link below:
https://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=6231987187698503326&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML13&action=editWidget§ionId=sidebar-right-1.
Then click "Remove".

Now, extract and try a link from your blog - and see for yourself. Isn't that simpler?

Setup A Blog For A Google+ Page

The popularity of Google+ continues to grow. Some blog owners would like to have a Blogger blog publish to a Google+ Page, instead of their personal Google+ stream.

This is not difficult. You first make a new Google account, to own the Google+ Page.

Everything that follows is normal Blogger blog management. Don't overlook the details of blog management, though.

The process of making a Google+ Page a blog owner is not so complicated.

1. Add a password, to the Page.
2. Setup a GMail email address, for the Page.
3. Make the new Google account a blog owner.
4. Add blog and page relationships.
5. Add blog content, using the new(?) Google account.

Add a password, to the Page.

See Google My Business Help: Set up a password for your Google+ page, for this step.

In some cases, you may have been previously instructed to setup a Google account to manage the Page. If you already have a business Profile setup, skip straight to Step #3, and make the existing Google business account a blog owner.

Setup a GMail email address, for the Page.

Setup a new GMail email address, while logged in to your new account - if this has not already been done.

Make the new Google account a blog owner.

Once you have a new Google account with a unique email address, transfer control of the blog, to a Blogger account based on the new Google account. And make sure that your new Blogger account uses a Google+ profile.

If you want, put the blog under team ownership - though as always, know the risks of team ownership.

Add relationships between the blog, the Google account, and the Google+ page.

Add appropriate links, from the blog to the page, and back. And add the appropriate accessories to the blog - the Google+ badge, or maybe the +1 Button, are good, to start.

Then, add automatic sharing of posts - and maybe Google+ hosted comments. If you add the latter, be aware of one known peculiarity of Blogger and Google+.

Add blog content - while using the new Google account.

Finally, login to Blogger, using the new Google account. Then, start publishing content - and add value to your blog.

Anything you post to the blog, using your current Blogger account, will still be shared to Google+ under your personal profile. You need to be actually using the new account, to share to the Google+ page.

Be aware of possible complications, depending upon how you publish and share.

Sharing to a Google+ page is most reliable when you use the "Share" menu link, in the dashboard Posts page. Automatic sharing, and scheduled posting, may or may not produce the same results.

The Account / Blog Recovery Instructions Don't Work!

Every day we see the complaints, of the hundreds.

Your instructions, for recovering access to my Blogger account, don't work!

And alternately, we see the anguish.

I can't login to my Blogger account, because my account is locked!!

And the final complaint, which is the most heartbreaking.

I can login, but my blog is not on my dashboard - and someone has filled my blog, with spam!!!

These are all reports about the same problem, in alternate universes.

Any time Blogger Engineering changes their account / blog recovery options, and cuts down on the numbers of one of the three, the other two will surely increase in number - because all three are symptoms of the same problem. People simply refuse to remember their account names and passwords.

There is one solution, which would be 100% effective, and drive the numbers of each of the hundreds, to zero.

Everybody, without exception, would simply remember their account name and password.

Were that to happen, Blogger Security could remove all "backdoor" accesses and recovery tools, and blog thieves would have to go back to Barista College, or Hamburger University. There would be no more stealing control of peoples accounts or blogs - save maybe by watching somebody in public, as they login.

The recovery instructions do work, for people who make some effort.

The recovery instructions do not work, because you, the blog owner, simply don't make enough effort to remember / retain control of your accounts, or to protect your accounts. And in some cases, you simply have protected your identity, to make you completely anonymous - and can't identify yourself, because you are anonymous.

Remember your login details, and be one of the millions who work on their blogs.

If you remember your account name and password - and do not ever let your account name and password be known in public - you will never have to worry about account / blog recovery. You would then be one of the millions who do not care about account / blog recovery, because they never need to use the recovery tools.

Be prepared to re authenticate, when you travel!

And if you travel, be prepared! Setup Google 2-Step Verification before you step out the door. And whether you travel, or stay in the same place, use your account, and publish your blog, regularly.

Millions don't worry. Become one of the millions. Reduce the numbers of the hundreds.

If you're learning this concept too late - as many are, periodically - start a new blog, and combine the old and new blogs, in a blog cluster.

Adding Gadgets To A Dynamic Template

We all know the limitations of the dynamic template - how you can't easily edit dynamic template HTML code, or add gadgets.

Long ago, you could link a dynamic and non dynamic view of the blog, and let your readers use the sidebar, and the many gadgets there, in non dynamic view - and switch back to dynamic view, for the comments and posts. That ability was taken away, earlier this year.

And some gadgets, that you are used to seeing on a blog using a non dynamic template, have not been made available on dynamic templates.

That doesn't mean that you have to give up completely, however, on adding the gadgets that you need. Thanks to the ability to embed gadgets in static pages, and to add pages to a dynamic template, you can have a static page, on a dynamic template, that contains many gadgets, of your own choosing.

Blogger has been working on the dynamic templates - and they do add features, occasionally.

With a working Pages gadget on the blog, add a static page, containing the gadgets of your choice. Then, make sure that your new static page is selected, under "Pages to show".

Checkout the blog, and make sure that the new static page, and the Pages gadget, works as expected. If you're doing this while using a non dynamic template, go back to the Template wizard, and re select the dynamic template.

With the blog once again using a dynamic template - and if you added / relocated the Pages gadget into the Tabs section of the template, you should now see the static pages, indexed in the linkbar, just below the title section of the blog. Now, find the new static page - and checkout the new gadgets, embedded in the page. You can see my new "Contact Me" gadget, in my "Musings" blog.

This still won't let you add every gadget (some XML based gadgets can't be added directly, to a static page) - but it should give you a few more possibilities.

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Don't Password Protect A Blogger Blog

We see the signs of naivete, periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.

How do I require my readers to enter a password, to keep my blog safe from public view?

This blog owner does not understand the realities of setting up a private blog.

Long ago (very long ago), a computer system might have "private" files, and a shared password, known by everybody, for each file. Nowadays, a private Blogger blog uses team blog access - or team blog ownership - and each team member gets to choose her / his own Blogger account, with a password that he / she decides to use (and hopefully, remember).

Having a group shared password is fine, for a small group, where nobody leaves. What happens when somebody leaves the group?

Group shared pass codes are fine - until the group changes.

Have you ever worked in an office, where the doors are protected by a tumbler key set - or maybe combination push buttons? That's a shared password system. What happens when somebody leaves the group? Every door has to be re keyed - or the locks have to be changed.

What if the blog owner has to change the password for the blog, because somebody shared the password with a stranger - or somebody just left the group? Have you ever gotten to work, and found that your key - or assigned push button combination - doesn't work?

Have you ever had to wait for the department secretary to get to work, and give you a new key, because they changed the locks last week, while you were out of town? Have you had to anxiously search your email, looking for the message from the manager, providing the new password (here's hoping that you can get online, and your computer / phone has a freshly charged battery)?

Personal pass codes promote individual responsibility.

The personal account / password approach is so much more supportable - and it promotes responsibility. Have you ever had the manager ask everybody who came in over the weekend, and left the office in a mess?

With everybody using a common physical key, to open the door, there is no telling who comes and goes. Using individual passwords - or preferably, a card key system - you can audit employee presence, and encourage responsible attendance.

Use personal Blogger / Google accounts, for better security.

Using a personal account / password is so much better than a group shared password. Don't waste time trying to protect your blog, behind a shared password script. Just make the blog private, and designate members - and let each member choose their own account / password, for blog membership.

The Blogger Dashboard, And Non Responding Scripts

We're seeing an occasional report from blog owners, trying to access the Blogger dashboard, using Firefox.

I am trying to update my blog, and I get an error

WARNING UNRESPONSIVE SCRIPT

A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, open the script in the debugger, or let the script continue.

I'm using Firefox, and I need help here!

This has been a problem, for a few years - just a very low volume has been reported.

Mozilla Support has acknowledged the problem.

This error is telling you that Firefox thinks that a script may be running out of control and would make Firefox hang if nothing is done. The script could be something on a web page you're accessing, in an extension you installed, or even Firefox itself.

And, they provide a rather well defined procedure for diagnosing the problem.

Some problems with Firefox are caused by extensions, themes or hardware acceleration. This article will help you determine whether one of these is causing your problem and, if it is, describe how to make Firefox run normally again.

If you follow the troubleshooting procedure, you'll observe that the focus is on add-ons and extensions. The non responding problem will generally be solved by disabling programs which provide protection by examining each script, on a one by one basis. You'll end up disabling any filters, that prevent the Blogger dashboard scripts from loading and / or running.

In this case, you'll be better off knowing what security products are resident on your computer, and in your browser - and possibly, what changes have been made, recently.

Once again, this is not a problem that Blogger Engineers can fix, on their own.

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