Use Two Browsers, When Working With Multiple Google Accounts

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.

• Accessing non Blogger applications, like Google Apps.
• Recovering account / blog control.
• Transferring control of a blog.

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.

That simple advice 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.

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

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!

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.

Fortunately, many 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.

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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 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 were to update a post, or the template, with bad HTML, you'd 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, the blog owner is left looking at

javascript:void(0);

until he hits "Cancel" in confusion.

The HTML / Text gadget has been observed to have various problems, which prevent changes from being properly saved.

• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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All Mobile Computers Are Not Created Equal

We've seen a few questions about comments, supposedly published - but vanishing, when using a mobile computer, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

This symptom, as reported, reminds us of the long ago reports of "vanishing comments" - but using desktop computers.

At least one of the folks who isn't able to comment said she was attempting to do so from her mobile phone. Is Blogger now losing comments from mobile devices?

The answer here is not quite so ominous, though the situation is still frustrating - to both the blog owner, and the various visitors.

Blogger comments are offered in three "desktop" computer styles, selected by the blog owner.

• Embedded, positioned below the posts.
• Full screen, on a separate page.
• Popup, in a separate, miniature window.

Each of these choices have their own special advantages and disadvantages, which vary in relevance, according to the blog reader population.

On a "mobile" computer - and with the "mobile" template enabled, there is yet a fourth style.

• Embedded, in a special "mobile" dialogue.

The comment entry process, in general, involves at least four distinct steps.

• Authentication. Where required by the blog owner, and / or preferred by the blog visitor, the visitor may provide personal identification.
• Entry. The comment is entered, and edited.
• Preview. The visitor can view the comment, as entered, before actually publishing it.
• Verification. Where required by the blog owner, the visitor solves a puzzle, aka "CAPTCHA", to prove that he/she is not using an automated script.

Entry and Preview goes back and forth, at the preference of the comment publisher, until satisfied.

Depending upon the "mobile" computer and template in use, any of the four comment entry styles may be a problem, for any of the four steps identified. If you are familiar with the comment entry process, in general, consider the various controls and objects involved - and when each object is presented to the visitor, attempting to publish a comment.

Consider three different possible ways of presenting the various controls and objects, involved in publishing comments.

• Everything "visible" simultaneously, with the display zoomed out so everything is visible. On anything but a large screen tablet, you would probably need a magnifying glass, to read the captions, instructions, and labels.
• Everything "visible" simultaneously, but with most objects off screen, until each is needed. Scrolling is done using finger gestures, not using scroll tabs - and it's never obvious where any "missing" objects may be, at any time.
• Everything visible in sequence, one step at a time. Extra controls, to move forward and backward in the sequence, are required. To someone not familiar with the comment entry process, in general, some controls may not be obvious.

None of these three options provide perfect solutions. Even being experienced in the commenting process, I have found no obvious excellent choice, when using a "mobile" computer.

Besides the various control and display issues discussed above, consider the effects of cookies and scripts, which may or may not be supported by any given "mobile" computer - and layered security, which is a challenge, on every computer. Both may be a special problem, on "mobile" computers.

Until "mobile" computers are developed, with controls and displays equal to (better than) to those of "desktop" computers, I suspect that there will always be problems with commenting on "mobile" computers - just as there are problems with use of "mobile" computers, and with commenting on all computers, in general.

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Why Do We Need Four DNS Servers?

Occasionally, we see a perplexed blog owner asking a popular question about custom domain setup.

Does my domain really need four servers?

Some even seem to think that newer domains, with less readers, can get by with less - even one - servers.

Won't one server do - at least, for newer blogs? Theoretically, yes. But not one server is going to be 100% reliable, or last forever. Every computer ever made, like every human born, will die, one day.

Your blog (and your domain) depends upon DNS, to resolve its address. Address resolution is an essential part of helping your computer connect with the computer where your blog is stored.

If you specify just one server for your domain, and that one server goes down, your domain will be out of service - to the people depending upon that one server.

The named DNS server "ghs.google.com" is a redundant server array.

www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

We use a "CNAME" to reference "ghs.google.com" - and we can't always use a "CNAME". Most registrars will not let you use a "CNAME" to resolve the domain root.

Google provides the 4 x "A" addressed server set, to resolve the domain root - when you wish to simply redirect the domain root to one of the aliases. Most domain owners will redirect the root to the "www" alias - though you are allowed to redirect to any one alias, at your discretion.

Google provides four mutually redundant individual servers, each responding to a specific IP address, for custom domain clients to access in a round robin sequence.

If any one server in the array of four becomes overloaded or goes out of service, and doesn't respond to a DNS query, the DNS resolver, on any client computer, will try the next server defined - if there is another server provided. If your domain provides just one server to resolve its address, and that one server goes down, your domain goes out of service. Your readers will see, yet again

404 Server Not Found

But wait - - there's more. Since Google provides four servers, and only one is out of service, they won't regard that as a major emergency. They still have three servers online - and nobody is losing sleep. Except, of course, you.

Google will repair or replace their one down server, when it is convenient to them. Maybe that will be next week, when their DNS server technician gets back from vacation.

Is that not convenient to you? Sorry.

With an asymmetrical configuration, you may not publish to the domain root. Your only valid choice is to publish to "www.mydomain.com", and select "Redirect mydomain.com to www.mydomain.com". If you publish to "mydomain.com", you will eventually see

Another blog is already hosted at this address.

or

Blogs may not be hosted at naked domains.

If you want to publish your blog to a custom domain using an ASymmetrical configuration, always publish to "www.mydomain.com", not to "mydomain.com". If you want to publish to "mydomain.com", you'll have to use a Symmetrical DNS configuration, and risk losing services hosted by your registrar. If you go with the first option, you will need all 4 servers - if you want a reliable and supported custom domain.

If your registrar or hosting service does not support 4 x "A" DNS addresses setup, you may want to use a (free) third party DNS host. Now, here's hoping that your registrar allows easy configuration of third party DNS service.

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Team Blog Ownership, And Abuse Classification

We see some people, posting in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, who have problems with blogs under team ownership, and abuse classification.

My blog was deleted as spam but I don't spam! BTW, one of the other administrators of my blog recently had his Google account blocked.

We've observed, a few times, that team blog relationships create interesting complications, with various Blogger issues - and this appears to represent yet one more complication.

In most cases, when a Blogger account or blog is deleted or locked, the owner of the account or blogs affected should see an online notification, and / or receive email informing of the action taken.

There are several reasons why notification - email or online - may not always be provided.

• Blogger accounts, based on bogus or inactive email addresses, will not provide email notification.
• A person who uses multiple Blogger accounts, accidentally or intentionally, will only see the dashboard for the account currently logged in.
• An owner of a Blogger account, recently unlocked after detected suspicious / unusual activity, will see only an empty dashboard, when logging in.

The team blog ownership relationship appears to provide one more reason for lack of notification.

• Administrators of blogs under team ownership may not see notification, when one of the team members has a Blogger account deleted or locked.

Both Blogger accounts deleted for non repentant abusive activity, and Blogger accounts locked when suspicious / unusual activity is detected, appear to present this complication, with blogs under team ownership.

When a Blogger account is deleted after the owner repeatedly produces TOS violations, all blogs owned by the account are apparently deleted. It's possible that, when a blog is deleted, team ownership issues are overlooked in the blog deletion process - and the blog simply disappears from the dashboards of the other team members. It's also possible that this is a predictable group action - comparable to affiliate network detection.

When a Blogger account is locked after suspicious / unusual activity is detected, all owned blogs simply disappear from the dashboard of the owner. Blogs owned by a locked account are under automatic security review, with no appeal by the owner being possible. Team administrators are unlikely to have any alternative appeal opportunity, for a blog under review when an owning account is locked.

The latter two scenarios represent two reasons why, if we see the complaint in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken

My blog has disappeared from my dashboard, and is not online!

One initial question should be

Was the blog under team ownership?

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Team Blogs, And Confusion About Blogs Locked After Detected Account Hacking

We've been discussing deleted blogs, resulting from Blogger accounts locked after suspicious account activity is detected, for some time.

Recently, we've seen a variant on the account lock / deleted blogs problem.

I made one of my friends an admin for my blog. When Blogger deleted His Blogger account and his blogs, they deleted my blog also.

Here, we see the possibility of detected hacking, affecting other members in a team blog ownership.

If someone sets up a blog, then invites his friends to be administrators, everybody on the team becomes equal owners. This can also happen when one person maintains two or more Blogger accounts - whether accidentally or intentionally.

That's the definition of a team blog - and it's one known problem with team blogs. This case shows us another problem with team blogs.

If somebody on the team has a Blogger account locked for detected hacking, all blogs owned by that account are taken offline, for security checking. Any blogs owned by that account are going to simply disappear from the dashboards of all owners - because all owners produce the same security risk, to any owned blogs.

When a Blogger account is locked, review of blogs owned by the account starts after the account is unlocked. If the team member with the locked Blogger account doesn't get the account unlocked, the blogs owned can't be reviewed.

Once again, we see why it's a good idea to only have active team members, as blog owners.

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Diagnosing The Mysterious bX Codes

One of the most misunderstood features of Blogger blogs is the mysterious bX codes.

Every day, we see the frustration

It says there's something wrong and I should give this "error code" so Blogger can fix it. What should I do? Where can I send the "error code"?

When you get a bX code, there's not a lot you can do, to directly diagnose the problem.

Excepting for diagnosing bX codes related to custom domain issues, your first step is to use Google Search, and target the complete code

bX-sp4hmm

Then see if someone else has reported that exact same code

bX-sp4hmm

.
After you use Google Search, you can help narrow down the problem - and maybe encourage other people to do the same.

You can identify which portion of your Blogger activity contributes to your observation of any specific bX code, using a differential analysis.

A differential analysis won't necessarily fix a bX code - most bX codes represent problems that originate deep within the Blogger code base. It may, though, help Blogger Engineering to identify the source of the problem.

Your details, added to similar reports by other blog owners, could make the difference between a problem that gets fixed in a couple weeks - or in a couple hours.

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Click On The "X" (If You Can Find It - And If You Mean To Do It)

The custom domain publishing form, in the dashboard Publishing wizard, causes confusion.

Occasionally, we see evidence of the confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I need to cancel my domain - but Blogger won't let me!

or

I clicked on my dashboard, and now my blog isn't published to my domain!

These blog owners, and more, are perplexed by the Publishing overlay form, displayed for a blog published to a custom domain.

The custom domain overlay, in the dashboard Basic - Publishing wizard, is very elegant. The overlay design is similar to forms used by Blogger and Google+, to display photos.

The "overlay" form is appropriately designed, for its use. The form follows the function - and reflects the status of the blog. For all that, it's diabolically subtle.

The normal display, for a blog published to BlogSpot, is a simple box, containing the current BlogSpot URL - and an "Edit" link, used to change the published BlogSpot URL. If this blog were still published as "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com", for instance, I would see

bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com Edit

Clicking on the "Edit" link, I would get the wizard, to re publish the blog under a different BlogSpot URL.

The display for a custom domain published blog overlays the normal BlogSpot URL box. With this blog published as "blogging.nitecruzr.net" (but still retaining the BlogSpot URL "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com"), I see a simple box.

blogging.nitecruzr.net Edit X
bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com redirects

This simple box "overlays" the previous box.

bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com Edit

This justifies the use of the "overlay" design, I suspect.

If I want to return the blog to the "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com" published URL, I have to simply click on the "X", to the right of "Edit". The "overlay" box closes - as the blog is re published, to the BlogSpot URL.

It's that simple.

• When I can see the "X".
• When I understand what the "X" is intended for.
• When I intend to return the blog to the BlogSpot URL.

At other times, not so simple - not so obvious to everybody - and not so appreciated.

If you were to request assistance, in the forum.

How do I publish the blog back to BlogSpot?

The answer should be very simple.

Click on the "X".

How elegant - and how non useful. In strict online etiquette, it's rude. Since you are requesting assistance, it's possible that you don't see the "X" or do not understand its function.

To avoid causing more frustration, I provide some detail.

Click on the "X", to the right of the "Edit" link".

To make sure that I am instructing you properly, I first must make sure that the blog is properly published to the domain. I request verification of what you are seeing.

Please provide a screen print, showing the Publishing wizard, in the dashboard Settings - Basic display.

Later seeing the properly produced screen print, which indicates the blog properly published to the domain, I can then reply, confidently.

Click on the "X".

Such is life, in the Blogger elegance.

And, if you "accidentally" happen to click on the "X" without meaning to do so, your domain promptly (within limits of cache expiration) goes offline, as the blog only responds to a BlogSpot URL.

Oh yes, the "Edit" link, visible when the blog is published to the domain, does lead to an essential function - the ability to select the option.

Redirect nitecruzr.net to blogging.nitecruzr.net

Again, not always a good idea.

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Confusion About Your Blog Feed, Not Updating Properly In Gadgets On Other People's Blogs

One of the stranger confusions, seen occasionally in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, refers to the posts feed, from our blog, displayed on other people's blogs.

I just published a new blog post - but it does not show up on my friends blogs. Is there a problem, with my feed?

When we investigate, the blog feed shows no problem. We display the feed in the browser, and compare with the blog main page - and everything on the main page is in the feed. It just does not show up on our friends feed gadgets.

So, what's the problem here? Were we imagining a problem? No, it's not imagination.

When we view a blog or website, what we see is subject to caching, on our computers.

Our browsers don't waste time (and bandwidth) downloading content from every blog or website we may wish to view, without checking what's in cache - in our browsers, on our computers, and elsewhere. If the blog or website in question has not been updated since we last viewed it, the browser just shows us our cached content.

With a Blogger blog, and our need to view the main page, what's in cache is simply the blog, as displayed on the main page. If no post was published or updated since we last viewed the main page, what we see is the main page, from cache. Simple enough.

Since the content of the gadgets is not cached separately, any updates to the gadgets only gets displayed when we view a blog from a Blogger server. Any gadget updates - such as newly published posts, from our blogs - will only be displayed after the blog owner publishes a new post.

If we publish posts daily - but our friends only publish weekly - we're going to see our updates displayed weekly. That's not a problem with our blogs, with our blog feeds, or even with our friends blogs - it's just how cache affects us.

To diagnose the problem, we can clear or refresh our cache, and see if that makes our friends blogs "update more regularly". This strategy is subject to limitations, though.

• If we clear cache, this will make all of the blogs and websites load directly from the servers (not just Blogger).
• We may be subject to caching, which we can't control.
• Whatever we do, to force our feed to update, on our friends blogs, when viewed from our browser, will have no effect on what our friends viewers see, when viewing our friends blogs.

In some cases, we may just have to shrug our shoulders, and get to work on our blogs. And wait, patiently, for our friends to work on their blogs.

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Confusion From The Message "You have logged out from another location."

This month, we have a small flood of reports, from blog owners who are seeing the latest monolithic error.

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

This error has actually been reported previously - but in smaller volume - for some time. It appears to be similar in nature to a previously reported problem, "Conflicting Edits".

The problem appears to possibly affect anybody who has logged in to Blogger - and it appears to be persistent, and has inspired imaginative measures, from some blog owners.

The basic error condition, "You have logged out from another location.", has actually been around for many months.

Advice from Blogger Support staff, as occasionally provided, is reasonably simple.

If you are still receiving this error please clear and cookies, refreshing the page and log-in again.

Observing a lack of consistent success, from the latter advice, I recommend a more deliberate procedure.

1. Check cookie and script filters.
2. Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (all 3).
3. Restart the browser.
4. Click on the link below, to login to Blogger.

https://www.blogger.com

However one attacks the problem, when seen, it's not producing a lot of happy blog owners. Unfortunately, until Blogger Engineering permanently fixes the underlying problem, the temporary solution requires action by the blog owners affected.

If you follow the above advice, and continue to see this error, I suggest that you try a combination of affinity testing and of differential testing - then report the problem and a summary of your diagnostic tests, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

The anger expressed by some blog owners, repeatedly seeing "You have logged out from another location.", appears to resemble what was seen after the Blogger melt down of May 2011. That problem started during the week of May 9 - 13, when Blogger blog maintenance was impossible for over a week.

I, myself, am used to seeing this message - once or twice a week. I almost always have one or more browsers logged in to Blogger / Google, with various tabs opened to Blogger, FeedBurner, GMail, Google Groups, and / or Webmaster Tools.

With multiple tabs opened to various Google applications, it's a fairly simple (though not enjoyed) task to simply close all Blogger tabs, open one new tab targeting "http://www.blogger.com", and watch as the login session present under FeedBurner, GMail, Google Groups, and / or Webmaster Tools, refreshes into the newly opened Blogger tab.

The problem this month appears to be more persistent than my personal observations - and supposedly continues even through browser, and computer, restarts. Follow the above advice, please - then report your observations in detail. And please, be patient with the helpers who respond.

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The Mysterious URL Hashtag Suffixes

From time to time, we see evidence of anxiety, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Why do my posts have hashtag suffixes?

and from some, more anxiety

How do I know what hashtags to add, when referencing my posts?

These two blog owners don't understand the purposes of the suffixes.

Third party post linking services, like AddThis and LinkWithin, add the hashtags, to give them the ability to track access of the posts - in a blog which uses their service to link the posts.

Use of the hashtags is not required, simply to access the posts. In fact, including the hashtags, outside the context of the service providing the post links, could interfere with the service's ability to consistently track use of their product.

AddThis provides a reference Why is there an extra string after my url after putting your codes?.

They're there so that we can collect analytics when someone copies the URL out of the address bar instead of going through our sharing tool. It shouldn't affect people linking to your site and can provide insight into what content is the most popular on your site.

Essentially, the hashtags are not needed for accessing the posts in the blog. If you add the hashtags when referencing the posts outside AddThis, you may be creating false tracks of AddThis use. If you care about consistent reporting within AddThis, you probably should not add the hashtags to any of your own code.

Leave the hashtags to the internal portions of AddThis, LinkWithin, or whatever third party post linking service that you're using. AddThis even provides an option, to eliminate the hashtags completely.

If they're not wanted or are causing issues, you're free to disable address bark sharing tracking.

and

More information about address bar sharing analytics is available here: http://www.addthis.com/help/address-bar-sharing-analytics

Stop worrying about details which don't affect you - and get back to work on blog content.

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Dynamic Template Instabilities Have Multiple Causes

For some time, we've been seeing reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about blogs using blogs using dynamic views, which display incompletely, and lack specific features.

Various blog owners have developed, and reported, a workaround to the problem, which involves using an unpublicised Blogger setting found in the template HTML code. This workaround sets a loading delay, known as Timeout.

There are several different causes of the dynamic view problem - some varying by the different blogs, others varying by the blog viewers - and some, varying by the Blogger / Google infrastructure. None of the causes will be universal in effect. This will result in varying success, when using a static Timeout setting as a workaround for the problems.

The current workaround for the problem - changing the Timeout setting - will have immediate success with some blog owners, partial or temporary solution with many, and no solution with others.

The inconsistency will come from the various causes of the latency - and from the variety of symptoms being reported. The latency is the cause for development of the Timeout tweak.


There are three details which cause latency, and which result in missing dynamic view content, of varying effect.

• Complexity of blog content - unique to each blog.
• Computer and network issues - unique to each different client computer.
• Server and network issues - unique to the Blogger / Google networks and servers which support dynamic templates.

Complexity of blog content is the only detail which can be consistently resolved, by a change in the Timeout. As any dynamic template blog becomes more complex, increasing Timeout improves the chance that all blog content - including gadgets and template customisations - will be packaged before the blog is viewed. Each blog owner will be responsible for evaluating the need for this workaround, on an ongoing basis - based on current blog complexity.

Computer and network issues causes problems, that may be partially resolved, by the blog owners. Each blog owner can make the Timeout relevant to the known audience. Any blog, with an audience known to have problems, can be tuned by the blog owner, as necessary. Each blog owner will be responsible for evaluating the need for this workaround, on an ongoing basis - based on the needs of the majority of the known blog viewer audience.

Overall load on the Blogger / Google networks and servers causes problems that cannot be consistently resolved, by the blog owners. It's possible that some portion of the latency problem is regional in nature - in that Blogger / Google resources may not be evenly allocated, world wide, to support dynamic template use. Blogger / Google will be responsible for evaluating the need for this solution - based on current complaint level and load on network resources.

Any action taken by Blogger / Google will present a challenge, for several reasons. Note the problems discussed here are unique to dynamic views - because of the unique design of the dynamic templates.

• The Timeout setting will have a global effect, for each blog with a problem - even though the problem may not be global.
• As more blog owners resolve their immediate problems, by increasing the Timeout, this will put more load on Blogger / Google resources.
• As more blog owners report their immediate problems solved, this will encourage still more blog owners to use dynamic templates, and to try increasing the Timeout on their blogs.
• More blogs using dynamic templates will put still more load on Blogger / Google resources - and this will necessitate still more Timeout increases.
• Some blog owners, using computers or Internet service particularly susceptible to causing the symptoms, may try the basic workaround ("500"), which may not produce results - and may falsely conclude that their symptoms are not caused by the problem. A few owners may persistently try "1000", or "2000" or higher - and may eventually observe an improvement - while other owners may not.

The only long term solutions to this problem lies with Blogger / Google. Blogger / Google has two options.

• Halt or restrict customisations of dynamic templates.
• Tune their network resources better, to make latency less of an issue.

The latter option will require supporting action, by blog owners and readers.

• People who view blogs using dynamic templates have to tune their own computers and networks, so they do not contribute to the problem.
• Some blog owners may have to accept reality - that their reader audience simply can't be properly served, given the level of customisation required by their blog design.

The bottom line is that some blogs will never be properly served, if the owners insist on using dynamic templates, and customising uncontrollably. Blogger / Google cannot provide the universal solution.

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Dynamic Template Instabilities Have Multiple Symptoms

Recently, we've been seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about blogs using dynamic templates, which display incompletely, and lack specific features.

Various blog owners have developed, and reported, a workaround to the problem, which involves using an unpublicised Blogger setting found in the template HTML code. This workaround sets a loading delay, known as Timeout.

The currently recommended Timeout setting will force a fixed delay on blogs using the workaround, which may not be 100% effective in all cases. The effectiveness may vary, according to the specific problems reported by the various blog owners.

Problems reported by blog owners, which involve dynamic templates, center around several distinct areas.

• Absence of comments, displayed after the posts.
• Absence of multiple gadgets, in the popout sidebar.
• Absence of Pages entries in the display header bar.
• Absence of Posts ("No Posts Found"), with blogs heavy on photos.
• Absence of template tweaks, applied using "Add CSS".
• Absence of template tweaks, applied using "Edit HTML".

Each of these different symptoms will be caused by different needs, in publishing a blog - and the different symptoms will be observed by owners with different technical skill level.

Absence of multiple gadgets, in the popout sidebar is probably common to most blogs, as most blogs have more than one accessory gadget. Blog owners reporting this problem may be of very low technical skill level - and will likely have problems applying the workaround.

This problem may be more common than problem reports would imply - as not everybody with a blog, with this problem, will observe the unusually short accessory tab when the accessory bar is docked.

Absence of comments, displayed after the posts will be observed by blog owners who focus on comments, as part of their networking strategy. This will generally involve the more popular blogs (with lots of comments, making their absence more noticeable). Blog owners reporting this problem may be of low technical skill level - and may have problems applying the workaround.

This problem may be more common than problem reports would imply - as not everybody with a blog, with this problem, will observe the absence of comments, displayed after the posts. Some owners, with blogs which receive less comments than others, may not even care.

Absence of Pages entries in the display header bar will be reported by blog owners who have setup a complex structure of dynamic and static pages, and a Pages index to index the pages. The blog owners reporting this will have medium skill level, with the ability to use the Pages wizard. These owners may not necessarily have the ability - or desire - to use the Template Editor effectively. Some of these owners may have problems applying the workaround.

Absence of Posts ("No Posts Found"), with blogs heavy on photos, will be visible in blogs using "Flipcard", "Snapshot", and similar views. Blog owners reporting this problem may be publishing photoblogs. These blog owners will be those who spend a lot of time providing photos - and who may not notice other symptoms, like missing header or sidebar features. These blog owners may be of low technical skill level - and may have problems applying the workaround.

Absence of template tweaks, applied using "Add CSS" will be reported by blog owners who carefully applied appearance and style tweaks, using the Template Designer. The blog owners who apply these tweaks will have medium technical skill level, and the ability to use the "Add CSS" feature in the Template Designer. Some of these owners may have problems applying the workaround.

Absence of template tweaks, applied using "Edit HTML" will be reported by blog owners who customised the blog appearance, using the Template Editor. These blog owners will be of the highest technical skill level. These owners should have no problem applying the workaround.

With the assortment of problems to be fixed by Blogger Engineering, we will likely see each problem worked on, separately. As each problem is solved, we'll likely see new problems become more visible - and existing problems become more urgent, in the eyes of the blog owners.

The number of different possible symptoms, in combination with the number of possible causes of the problems, will create an apparently infinite number of differing complaints - and inconsistent visibility of the problems. Blogger Engineering will be busy, for a while, resolving these problems.

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Dynamic Templates, And Network Problems - #2

We're been getting problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from various dissatisfied blog owners, who chose a dynamic template for their blog.

The problems reported involve various symptoms.

• Blogs displayed will lack various gadgets, in the slideout gadget bar.
• Some blogs, when customised, will display using default layout and template settings.
• Some customisations, applied recently, just won't show up.

Various blog owners have discovered a solution, based on code present in newer dynamic templates. This solution has been publicised, in forum discussions - and in various blogs and web sites.

<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'>
      setTimeout(function() {
        blogger.ui().configure().view();
      }, 1000);
</script>

The solution, as proposed, involves a very simple change - but the change won't be immediately, or permanently, 100% effective.

The solution, being publicised by various blog owners and forum helpers, involves a very simple change, using the template editor.

Once you have a secured a back up of your blog template, click on Edit HTML and you will see the html editor come up. Scroll down to the bottom of your template to where you see code that looks like this.

<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'>
      setTimeout(function() {
        blogger.ui().configure().view();
      }, 0);
</script>

Change the 0 to 1000 so it looks like this.

<script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'>
      setTimeout(function() {
        blogger.ui().configure().view();
      }, 1000);
</script>

Click on Save Template.

Here, as always, I will strongly recommend that you backup the template, twice - before, and after, you make this template change.

This solution - changing the Timeout setting - will have immediate success with some blog owners, partial or temporary solution with many, and no solution with others.

The number of possible causes of the problems, in combination with the variety of possible symptoms, will create a visibly infinite number of differing complaints - and some complaints will continue, even with the workaround applied. Blogger Engineering will be busy, for a while, resolving these problems.

Once again, I'll suggest that you consider the functional and historical reasons for existence of the dynamic templates. Consider exercising some restraint, when customising your blog. Be part of the solution.

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The Mysterious Pages Index Gadget

We get occasional reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about a broken Pages gadget.

I created a new page - but when you click on the link, you get bounced back to the Home page!

When you look at the blog with the problem, it's easy enough to verify the report - just look at the URL behind the link, for the most recent page created. Indeed, it points straight to the Home page (base URL for the blog).

When this happens, there is a very simple workaround. Just create another page, identical to the problem entry.

Thinking of the past 4 years since the Static Pages feature was added to Blogger, I am betting that I have seen this report maybe 2 dozen times. That is, just enough to know that this is a problem - but nowhere enough to detect any pattern.

• BlogSpot vs custom domain.
• Template Name.
• Template type ("designer" / "layout" vs "dynamic").
• Position of Pages gadget ("Tabs" vs "Sidebar").
• Geographical location of owner.
• Dynamic vs Static page entry.
• Number of pages.

I have not yet seen any obvious affinity, with this problem - mainly because it's reported too infrequently.

If your blog is affected by this oddity - and you feel like taking the time, I'd like for you to first try resetting the "Pages1" gadget, similar to resetting the Post Template aka "Blog1". If that does not produce an improvement, then try the workaround - add an additional page, identical to the broken one. See if that solves the problem.

If the additional page works better, then you can delete or hide the previously created (broken) page. My apologies to you, if the problem page is the 19th (or possibly the 20th) static page.

If you're here, looking for help with this problem, and it is now 2016 (or later), my congratulations to you for finding your way here.

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Dynamic Templates, And Network Problems

We're getting a few problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from blog owners who chose a dynamic view for their blog.

My layout has one colour - yet when I view my blog, it's another colour. The accessory bar is missing gadgets - and there are various tweaks missing. I tried updating, using the Template designer, unsuccessfully. When I finished updating, the preview looked good - but when I saved and viewed my blog, it was still incomplete.

This blog owner, like many owners, may not understand the unique design of the dynamic templates - nor how the design affects what is seen by the readers.

The complexity of a Blogger blog is not truly appreciated by anybody, until possibly when a blog has to be backed up or re built.

There are many components of a Blogger blog - not just the comments, posts, and template.

• Accessories.
• Comments.
• Decorations.
• Gadgets.
• Posts.
• Layout / Template.
• Third party hosted accessories and tweaks.
• URL.

With a non dynamic ("Designer" or "Layout") template, the blog is packaged for viewing, from the many components, on the Blogger servers. When you get a page of a blog, on your computer, it's already packaged - and what you see is immediately ready for viewing.

With a dynamic template, the comments, the posts, the template, and the various other components all arrive separately from the various Google and non Google servers, which provide the blog content - and the blog page is packaged, for viewing, on your computer.

If any piece of the package does not arrive at your computer as soon as the other content, the blog page is packaged, from what is available - but it's going to be missing pieces.

This is why some folks see the posts without the tweaks applied using Template Designer - or the layout lacks a key improvement made using "Edit HTML" - or maybe the accessory bar is short. A piece of the package did not arrive, before the packaging was complete - and the blog was displayed, incomplete.

The alternative would be to have the packaging process wait longer - but how long do you want to wait? What happens if your computer (or your reader's computer) cannot connect to one key Blogger server, to download that one essential component?

How long should a moron wait, before giving up, and asking for details? Or at least clearing cache, and restarting the browser, before trying again?

Packaging a blog page, on the reader's computers, has benefits - and drawbacks. If you occasionally see an inconsistency in your blog, imagine your various readers, with some seeing your tweaks and others seeing only a basic (Blogger standard) template - and you never knowing what everybody is seeing.

For best results, you need to keep the dynamic views simple.

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(Update August 2013): We have a workaround to the problem - but the workaround is not going to be 100% consistently effective. The lack of consistency is going to be especially noticeable, because of the several different symptoms being reported.

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Blog Content, And Confusion About Blogs Locked After Detected Account Hacking

One Blogger mystery involves the varying periods of blog unavailability, after hacking activity is detected.

My blog just disappeared from my dashboard - and no, it's not listed under "Deleted blogs"!

When the owner mentions the notice about "suspicious" / "unusual" account activity, or having unlocked the account (by solving a CAPTCHA, receiving a phone message, changing the password) - and is advised to wait "24 to 48 hours" - many ask the obvious.

Is "24 to 48 hours" really accurate?

In reality, the legendary "24 to 48" hour time period is only a ball park figure - and both Blogger / Google, and the blog owner, contribute to the uncertainty.

The well known advice to "Wait 24 to 48 hours", after a Blogger account is locked for suspected hacking activity, is only an estimation of the waiting time, which the owner may have to endure. This is account / blog integrity verification.

There are several factors which can contribute to the accuracy of "24 to 48 hours" (which maybe should be stated as "one to two business days").

• Availability of essential Blogger / Google personnel.
• Current hacking activity level, and ongoing Blogger / Google workload.
• Blog content, which complicates hacking payload analysis.

We've referenced the first two factors (personnel, and hacking activity level) in the well known Blogger FAQ How long will it take?. The third involves detail which only the blog owner can provide. Many blog owners contribute to this uncertainty, in the development of their blogs.

There are several types of content, which hackers like to add, to blogs temporarily under their control.

1. Advertising - and similar shiny accessories.
2. Custom code - and various template tweaks.
3. Links to other blogs - and to websites outside Google address space.
4. Team memberships - and multiple blog owners.

All of these features, also added by the owner - and allowed (and encouraged) by Blogger - can require extra effort as a blog is validated, after detected hacking activity.

Blogger / Google security experts, in examining an account / blog, must look for features possibly added by the hacker. Security experts have no immediate knowledge what was added by the owner, long ago - as opposed to by a hacker, more recently.

Any advertising, custom code, external links, or team memberships, intentionally added by the owner, will contribute to time spent validating blog integrity.

• Leave a setting or tweak added by the hacker - and the blog remains a security risk, when returned to service.
• Remove a setting or tweak added by a blog owner - and the blog becomes broken, when returned to service.

Neither is desired, by the blog owners - nor by Blogger / Google.

More accessories and tweaks == more time spent by security experts == more time the blog remains offline, while the owner waits in uncertainty.

This uncertainty, added to delayed deletion caused by cache latency, leads to mystery.

All of this brings to mind the old adage.

KISS

Keep it simple, stupid.

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Comment Spam And Referer Spam Has Various Purposes

One of the most intriguing subjects discussed in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken involves the seemingly purposeless spam which torments us in our comments and our Stats logs.

I see this random garbage on my blog - and the sites advertised are complete junk. Is there any actual reason for this?

Interestingly, both nice blog spam (in our comments), and referer spam (in our Stats logs), have purposes - though with the continually varying content used in both, it all looks very much like random garbage.

If we analyse the content, structure, and volume of the various spam attacks, we can see patterns - and an understanding of the overall purpose of the spam.

Both our comments - and our Stats logs - are continually assaulted by seemingly random and useless noise, in large volume. This is similar to the random spam which attacks our email.

If you look at enough comment and Stats log spam, you will start to see patterns - and reasons for the spam. The spam, though apparently random in content, is not purposeless.

First, some warning may be appropriate.

1. If you wish to examine the sites advertised in comment or referer spam, learn to use a proxy server.
2. Unless you are a computer security expert, with a properly protected (or intentionally sacrificial) computer, do not surf these sites advertised, using an unprotected computer. Avoidance is the best way to protect yourself.
3. If you do, even inadvertently, surf a comment or referer spam site, quarantine and scan your computer as soon as convenient. If you must surf the sites advertised, while unprotected, diagnosis is the next best way to protect yourself (and others around you).

Examining the comment and Stats based spam diagnostically, you'll see various purposes behind the spam.

• Spam delivery. It is called "comment spam" / "referer spam", after all.
• Malware delivery. This is the secondary purpose, known by many people - and the reason why I provide the above advice.
• Attacks against third party, non spammers. Various third party blogs and websites, who do not subscribe to the service, may be maliciously targeted, by some spam.
• Strategic malware delivery. Some malware may be packaged in portions, delivered through multiple attacks.
• Filter poisoning. Some spam may be simply intended to overwhelm the malware / spam detection systems.
• Email address mining. Some very special comment spam, which I call "Nice Blog" spam, is a very imaginative email address mining technique.

The best way to identify comment and referer spam may be to simply follow the various forum discussions - and observe which spam techniques are reported by multiple blog owners, being assaulted in identical style. As the old saying goes,

If it quacks, it's probably a duck.

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The Mysterious "Deleted blogs" Dashboard Link

Occasionally, we see signs of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Where is the "Deleted blogs" link?

or

How can I recover my blog, if there's no link on the dashboard??

These blog owners don't understand that "Deleted blogs" only appears, when there are deleted blogs that can be recovered.

Not all blogs, having vanishing from the dashboard, will be recoverable by the owner.

• A blog deleted / locked after hacking activity was detected won't be recoverable.
• A blog owned under another Blogger account won't be recoverable.
• A blog that does not exist won't be recoverable.

If the Blogger account owns no blogs that are recoverable, there won't be a "Deleted blogs" link on the dashboard.

If the Blogger account owns other blogs, that are not currently deleted, those blogs will be listed. If the Blogger account owns no recoverable blogs, the blog owner sees a monolithic message

You are not an author on any blogs.

In some cases, the blog owner will be advised to clear cache, cookie, and sessions - then restart the browser, and login to Blogger. In other cases, the solution will be to wait 24 to 48 hours, and check again. Just don't waste time looking for a link that may not be there - and try to understand why the link may not be there.

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Confusion Over Accounts Locked For Suspicious / Unusual Account Activity

One of the more intriguing tales of Blogger blogs, currently being explored, involves blogs mysteriously deleted by Blogger.

My blog just disappeared from my dashboard - and no, it's not listed under "Deleted blogs"!

In some cases, the owner knows more than is implied, from the obvious wording of that problem report.

As Blogger / Google continues to improve the hacking / malware detection and removal process, they are making the recovery of accounts locked for "suspicious" / "unusual" activity easier - and more transparent. The increased transparency may, in some cases, cause mystery.

Diagnosing the many mysterious blog disappearances, currently being reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, may involve what the blog owner does not report - as much as what the owner does report.

Blogger / Google is constantly refining the hacking detection / recovery process, to both improve the possibility that any activity will be detected, and to make it easier for the victims of the hacking to deal with the recovery process. As they make it easier for the owners to recover the accounts locked, they make it less likely that the owners will mention the locked account recovery, when later reporting the blogs, mysteriously missing from the dashboard.

In some cases, the blog owner will provide vague clues, which refer to an immediately previous account unlock.

• Required to change the account password.
• Required to provide a phone number - and receive either a text or voice message with a recovery code.
• Required to solve a CAPTCHA.

All of these clues can be relevant to a locked account, or to various other anti-hacking / anti-spam activity by Blogger / Google - and can be overlooked as a locked account symptom, when stated in a forum problem report.

In other cases, the only clue provided will be that the blogs in question are missing, and not listed in any dashboard list - "Deleted blogs", "Locked blogs", or "My blogs". In cases where we've simply reported missing blogs for malware / spam review, to Blogger Support, we're later advised to instruct the blog owner to recover the account.

Since immediate review of any blog cannot be always guaranteed by Blogger Support, it's to everybody's benefit that we request clues to verify the problems being reported. Unfortunately, the questions asked may not always seem relevant to some blog owners, unhappy about the mysterious loss of their blogs - even though they may contribute to the problem, inadvertently.

And thanks to the possibility that not all blog owners may even get a notice when their accounts are locked, owners with multiple accounts may not even realise that a given Blogger account is locked. These owners find out that a given blog has been deleted, only after it goes offline and expires from cache. This will make some blog owners even less cooperative, when asked to provide diagnostic details about their problems.

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