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

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

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

and

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

and

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

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

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

If somebody publishes a Google+ post, and shares the post to a circle that includes you, or shares a post publicly, you may see the post - if you are viewing a stream which includes them.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We're seeing a few problem reports, about ownership of comments, published against blogs using Google+ Comments, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Why can't I delete comments?

or

Why can't I reply to comments?

or

Why don't I get notifications of comments, posted against my blog?

These blog owners do not understand who owns the comments, when they are posted against their blogs.

With Blogger Comments, the comments are jointly owned by the blog owner and the comment publisher. With Google+ Comments, on the other hand, the comment publisher has sole ownership of a comment published - even if that comment references your blog. This ownership policy does not please all blog owners.

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

If you publish a Google+ post, and mention somebody else's blog or blog post (or website, in general), you own that Google+ post. That Google+ post is exclusively yours to delete or edit - and to set reply (aka "comment") permission. In your Google+ Settings wizard, you can set per circle permissions, who can comment on your public posts (or reply to your public comments, against a blog).

If somebody else comments on a post in your blog, they own that comment (Google+ "post"). That Google+ post is exclusively theirs to delete or edit - and to set reply ("comment") permission. In their Google+ Settings wizard, they can set per circle permissions, who can comment on their public posts (or reply to their comments, against a blog).

Along with confusion about comment ownership, there is confusion about comment visibility, with Google+ Comments.

If you see a comment from another person, published publicly or to a circle which includes you, it's still their comment (or Google+ post) - their reference to your blog is simply not relevant. Their "comment" permissions control your ability to reply to their comments - again, their commenting against your blog is not relevant.

1. You cannot delete or edit comments made by other people.
2. You cannot reply to all comments made by other people.
3. You cannot even see all comments made by other people.
4. Even comments which you can see, you may not be able to forward, or reply, depending upon per comment setting by the publisher.

Again, all of this applies whether or not the comment references your blog.

If you object to a comment, published to your blog, you can report that comment as "spam or abuse", just as any other Google+ member can do. With Google+, abuse reporting is a community activity. You have no need to "moderate" (either before, or after publishing) any comments, made against your blog - except when convenient.

Concentrate more on your blog, and less on comment spam.

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

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Blog Owners Report "isExperimental: Required field must not be blank" When Using Blogger

We're seeing a number of blog owners, reporting a new problem with their Blogger dashboards, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I am seeing an new error in the Live Preview section of the Template Designer.

The following errors were found:
isExperimental: Required field must not be blank

Upon examination of the URL window in the browser, the source of the problem is seen.

draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx#templatehtml

It appears that we are seeing one more reason why routine use of Draft Blogger is not a good idea.

People who are seeing the "isExperimental" error have only one choice - stop using Draft Blogger for template customisation.

Many of the blog owners reporting this problem have previously selected the option to use Draft Blogger, by default. When this is the case, returning to standard (non Draft) Blogger is not complicated.

• From the dashboard home page, next to the blog list, find the gear icon.
• Click on the gear, then on "Edit User Settings".
• On "Edit User Settings", and under "General", de select the option to "Use Blogger Draft".
• Log out of Blogger, clear cache, cookies, and sessions, restart the browser, and log back in again.

Having reset the redirect option (if necessary), always login using "www.blogger.com", instead of "draft.blogger.com".

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Clear Or Reset The Post Template Wizard

Many problems with post features or layout can be resolved by refreshing or resetting the post template, using the Template Editor.

Not all post display problems are caused by unwise use of the Template Editor - some problems may be part of the individual posts. The dashboard Post Template wizard, in Settings - Posts and comments, lets you add a template to the posts - in addition to the "post template".

The "Post Template" added content then appears as part of each new post, in the post editor window.

The "Post Template" wizard, which is frequently used to add fancy signatures and other accents to the posts, contains HTML code, like any other blog component.

If used improperly, the "Post Template" entered code can cause problems with the posts - just as any use of the Post Editor or Template Editor.

If you just added a fancy post signature or other custom feature or graphic to your posts, and you're now seeing problems with the newer posts, your first instinct might be to reset the post template. Before doing that, why not check the Post Template wizard, at Settings - Posts and comments, and verify what you're adding to your new posts?

If you have code in the "Post Template" box, click "Remove" and remove it. You can always copy the contents, to an old post for instance, before you Remove the contents - should you later decide to try again.

After Removing the contents of the "Post Template" wizard, test your changes by publishing a new post - and see whether the new post is any better than any recent posts, where you observed a problem.

If your new post is successful, you will have to go back and edit each post, by hand, that you published since you last edited the "Post Template" template. Remember also, to clear browser cache, and restart the browser, before checking your old posts for successful correction.

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Search Engines, And Private Blogs

Not every blog owner realises the relationships between private blogs, and search engine indexing.

Some blog owners think that private blogs can't be indexed, by the search engine robots. Given the way private blogs work, search engine access is not directly restricted - even though indexing activity is impeded.

People are prevented from viewing a private blog, only because Blogger displays the private blog interstitial in front of the blog display.

This blog is open to invited readers only

It doesn't look like you have been invited to read this blog. If you think this is a mistake, you might want to contact the blog author and request an invitation.

Other than the presence of that display, access to the blog is not affected. This detail becomes important, for some potential readers who are accessing the Internet through some Local Area Networks.

Search engines are not directly affected by the private blog status - though there are interesting details.

• The blog description, when indexed, will contain the text of the interstitial notice.
• Private blogs do not publish newsfeeds - and with newsfeeds used to facilitate indexing, the indexing process is not as consistent as with public blogs.
• The dashboard Privacy setting, which generates an entry in the "robots.txt" file, is advisory only, to search engine robots.

The interstitial notice is authoritative to people, when viewing the blog.

The notice does not block robots. Robots are stopped only when they voluntarily accept the relevant settings in "robots.txt".


The text content of the interstitial advice will replace the blog description, in SERP displays.

This blog is open to invited readers only

Without an actual blog description, potential blog readers won't feel very encouraged to view the blog. Even when clicking on the SERP entry, the would be blog reader is still taken to the interstitial, and goes no farther.

This blog is open to invited readers only

Private blogs do not publish newsfeeds. Since the newsfeed provides the Blogger equivalent of the sitemap, a typical private Blogger blog has no sitemap - and search engine indexing activity is not as regular.

The settings in the "robots.txt" file, which specifies bots and access, is not authoritative. Acceptance of the "robots.txt" settings is left to the discretion of each different robot - and a robot which does not observe the settings can access any website.

A private blog can be indexed - though without free access by readers to a private blog, there will be less links referencing the blog - and less indirect search engine activity.

Less links referencing the blog leads to less indexing, by the search engines. Less indexing leads to less entries in SERPs, poorer SERP positioning - and relative lack of success when using search engine cache, to search the blog.

With a private blog, you'll be much more successful using a direct blog search.

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Choosing A Name For Your Blog - The Rules Are Simple

The first task in starting a new blog involves picking an available blog name (aka "URL").

The rules for picking a blog name are reasonably simple.

1. Pick a blog name.
2. If "Create a blog" gives you that name, it's yours. Continue with #4.
3. If "Create a blog" shows "Sorry!", pick another name, and continue with #2.
4. Setup your new blog.

Some folks need even simpler rules.

1. If "Create a blog" gives you the name of your choice, it's yours.
2. If "Create a blog" does not give you that name, you have to pick another.

Which ever rules you wish to go by, the "Create a blog" wizard has the final say.

There are several reasons why "Create a blog" may not give you the name of your choice.

Some people think that deleted and dormant blogs should be subject to different rules.

I see

Sorry, the blog at thenameofmydreams.blogspot.com has been removed.

Who do I contact, at Google, to have "thenameofmydreams" re issued, to me?

and

The blog at thenameofmydreams.blogspot.com has not been updated for over a year. Who do I contact to have it re issued, to me?

There are several reasons why a blog may have been deleted - and each reason produces different availability issues.

1. If you are (were) the owner, and you deleted it under 90 days ago, you are allowed to un delete it.
2. If you are (were) the owner, and you deleted it over 90 days ago, it is gone.
3. If someone else is (was) the owner, and they deleted it, they likewise have up to 90 days to un delete it.
4. If Blogger deleted it, the owner (you, or another person) has eternity to have it reviewed (and possibly, recovered).

Dormant blogs are simpler to discuss - since dormant blogs, in reality, do not exist. There are no requirements for posting frequency or volume.

If the name is made available by Blogger, then "Create a blog" will be able to assign it to you - if it is available, when you request it. If it's not made available, you can't have it.

Blogger Support said it, so simply.

Blogger accounts and Blogspot addresses do not expire. Therefore, we can't take away somebody's blog address to give to you.

If it's not available, they will not re issue it to you.

If you have a blog to start, pick an available name, today - and get started, today.

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The "Create a new blog" Wizard Is Not Prescient

We're seeing some odd problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about blog creation.

I entered just the first letter of the name which I wanted, and I immediately saw

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

How am I supposed to create a blog, if all the names are taken?

What intrigues me here is not that people see

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

It's that people don't ask the next question.

How did it know what name I was typing, before I finished?

How do you explain that you have to type the entire name, and have that name checked, before giving up, disappointed?

Maybe the "Create a new blog" wizard is too good, for its own good.

Too much transparency actually makes it harder, for some people, to use it properly. Having the name checked for availability, as typed, one character at a time, may be a bit excessive.

Had I been creating this blog, long ago, as "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com", I would have typed "bloggerstatusforreal" - and the "Create a new blog" would have checked, one by one

• b
• bl
• blo
• blog
• blogg
• blogge
• blogger
• bloggers
• bloggerst
• bloggersta
• bloggerstat
• bloggerstatu
• bloggerstatus
• bloggerstatusf
• bloggerstatusfo
• bloggerstatusfor
• bloggerstatusforr
• bloggerstatusforre
• bloggerstatusforrea
• bloggerstatusforreal

And I will bet good money, that I would have seen

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

during much of the typing.

• b Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bl Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blo Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blog Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blogg Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blogge Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blogger Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggers Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerst Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggersta Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstat Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstatu Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstatus Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstatusf
• bloggerstatusfo
• bloggerstatusfor
• bloggerstatusforr
• bloggerstatusforre
• bloggerstatusforrea
• bloggerstatusforreal

Since I created this blog, long ago, as an imitation of "bloggerstatus.blogspot.com", obviously "bloggerstatus" was taken. Most likely, the shorter names were likewise taken.

Then again, even if "bloggerstatus" was taken, that does not say, for sure, that "bloggerstatu" was. Or "bloggerstat".

• b Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bl Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blo Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blog Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blogg Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blogge Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• blogger Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggers Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerst Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggersta Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstat Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstatu This blog address is available.
• bloggerstatus Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstatusf This blog address is available.
• bloggerstatusfo This blog address is available.
• bloggerstatusfor This blog address is available.
• bloggerstatusforr This blog address is available.
• bloggerstatusforre This blog address is available.
• bloggerstatusforrea Sorry, this blog address is not available.
• bloggerstatusforreal Sorry, this blog address is not available.

Yes, I actually checked, one character at a time - and that's what I saw.

The bottom line here is that you have to type - and check - availability, one character at a time. And, you have to be persistent.

What would have happened, if I had given up, immediately.

• b Sorry, this blog address is not available.

Dammit, all the names are taken!!

Well, you would not be reading "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com" now, would you?

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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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Blogger Magic - Managing The Pages In Your Blog

Some blog owners are never quite sure how to manage all characteristics of the Pages, in their blog.

From time to time, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see evidence of the confusion.

How do I hide the Home tab?

or

I can't rename my pages!

Some blog owners may know of one Pages management wizard, but not another. To the untrained, it may all seem like one big magic show.

There are actually 3 wizards, which let us manage the pages.

• The Configure Page List wizard (aka Pages gadget).
• The Layout wizard.
• The Pages wizard.

The Configure Page List wizard is accessed from the Layout wizard, by Editing the Pages gadget - or can be accessed from the blog face, using the QuickEdit icon, if QuickEdit is enabled. It has several functions, in managing pages.

• Change the Title of the Pages gadget, in the Layout wizard display.
• Hide / Show specific pages.
• Reorder specific pages, by dragging and dropping in the Page order wizard.

The Layout wizard is accessed from the dashboard. It has two functions, in managing pages.

• Provide access to the "Configure Page List" wizard, by Editing the Pages gadget.
• Relocate / restructure the pages list, by dragging and dropping the Pages gadget.
  • Drag the Pages gadget to the top of the blog layout, and it morphs into the tabs gadget.
  • Drag the Pages gadget into the sidebar, and it morphs into a linklist.

The Pages wizard is accessed from the dashboard. It has various functions, in managing pages.

• Hide / relocate / restructure the pages list, by changing the "Show pages as" selection.
  • Selected as "Top tabs", it relocates to the top of the blog layout, and morphs to the tabs gadget.
  • Selected as "Side links", it relocates to the top of the sidebar, and morphs into a linklist.
  • Selected as "Don't show", it disappears, and lets you develop your own page list gadget (or not).
• Reorder specific pages, by dragging and dropping in the Pages order wizard.
• Add pages, using the "New page" selection.
  • Selecting "Blank page", you can create a new static page.
  • Selecting "Web address", you can create a new dynamic page.
• Selecting "Edit" or "Delete" for a specific page beneath "Pages", you can
  • Edit the Title of a page.
  • Edit the content of a static page.
  • Edit the URL of a dynamic page.
  • Delete a page.

None of this is magic - though the differing abilities of the several different wizards may bring to mind the different members in a typical MMORPG team.

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The LightBox Image Display Option Stopped Working, Recently

Last week, the popular display option, Lightbox, used for showing full size images in Blogger blogs, stopped working.

Anxious blog owners reported that full size images are now being displayed in a normal browser window, with the browser back arrow required to return to the blog display - instead of the elegant black background overlay with the mysterious "X" which closes the overlay. The problem appears to affect all images in the blogs affected.

An immediate sampling of the forum problem reports suggested that it's likely that all Blogger blogs are affected. Since not all blogs may contain enough images, and be owned by people who are attentive enough, we are not seeing massive volumes of problem reports.

We did open a rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, where we are gathering a good sample of the blogs involved. To date, no obvious affinity has been discovered, in the over 100 responses posted.

Today, we have a mysterious suggestion, posted in a forum discussion, which may provide a workaround for the problem.

We are advised to add a brief snippet of code to the template.

<script src='http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/jsbin/2321381434-lbx__fr.js' type='text/javascript'/>

The snippet in question is added to the very end of the template, using the "Edit HTML" option, in the dashboard Template wizard, after </body>, and before </html>.

</script>
</body>
<script src='http://www.blogger.com/static/v1/jsbin/2321381434-lbx__fr.js' type='text/javascript'></script>
</html>

I added this snippet of code to the template for this blog. I don't use a lot of images in this blog - but you may examine one previous post, where you will find a picture. If you click on that one picture, you will see the full size image displayed in Lightbox format - which was not the case, earlier today.

The code snippet in question is hosted in "blogger.com", so it should be safe. And, it's not difficult to add - or to remove. That said, I have no idea if it may conflict with other code - so anything is possible. It is marginally more reliable than third party code.

I've done no further testing of this fix, so I'll await your feedback. You may comment here - or in the rollup discussion.

Deleted / Locked Blogs Have Several Causes, And Various Resolutions

Many blog owners are occasionally confused, by the effects of several Blogger / Google security processes, when they are simply trying to login to Blogger and work on their blogs. We see the agony, daily, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

The side effects of the security processes are similar - and depending upon various owner specific details, can be easily confused for each other. The possibility of confusion requires careful initial analysis, when we are faced with an angry blog owner.

My blog was deleted, by Blogger. How could they do this? I do not publish spam!

This is a typical problem report, which can reflect any one of the processes, each requiring different action in the forums.

There are various Blogger / Google security / TOS enforcement processes, each of which will cause a Blogger account and / or blog to be unavailable for full access, at any time.

• DMCA Violation looks for copyright and similar violations.
• Hacking detection looks for automated attacks against our Blogger accounts and blogs.
• Malware detection looks for malicious code installed in our Blogger blogs.
• Porn classification looks for blogs with adult content, and with unacceptable advertisements (aka monetised porn).
• Spam blog classification looks for Blogger blogs which contain spammy material or use spammy techniques.
• Repeated offenses can have gradually increasing severity of action taken.
• Owner deletion or rename may be confused with spam classification.
• Team blog ownership will affect blogs owned in common, by that team.

Each different process has a different effect on the Blogger account and blogs owned - and requires different attention by the blog owners, by the forum helpers, and by Blogger Support and Google Security.

DMCA Violation

Accounts and blogs can be deleted, for progressive DMCA violations.

The DMCA violation process originated with complaints made by the major entertainment industry content enforcement organisations, citing theft of "intellectual property" which they control. In the USA, this would involve the "MPAA" (Motion Picture Association of America), and the "RIAA" (Recording Industry Association of America). I have been told that similar content enforcement organisations exist in other countries.

In more recent events, private citizens have been known to use the DMCA Violation complaint process, for miscellaneous copyright violation reporting.

DMCA Violations have a formal complaint and appeal process.

Hacking detection

Blogger / Google network monitors are constantly analysing account login activity, and looking for signs of brute force password hacking. When hacking activity is discovered, the Blogger account - and all blogs owned by the account - are deleted and locked, pending account verification by the owner, and blog integrity checking by Google Security.

The blog owner, after changing the account password, solving a CAPTCHA, and / or verifying account ownership by providing various personal details, is left waiting for the blogs owned by the account to be examined for signs of abuse by the hacker. Until the blog(s) are returned to online status, they appear in neither the "Deleted blogs" or "Locked blogs" dashboard lists. The owner, even when logged in to the right Blogger account, simply sees the dashboard advice

You are not an author on any blogs.

In this case, neither the blog owner nor the forum helpers can do anything useful, except wait, anxiously - possibly, with no notice provided. The blog being offline may not be immediately observed by the owner - and this may cause more confusion.

Malware detection

Blogger robotic processes are constantly checking the various blogs, looking for malicious blog accessories, components, and scripts. When a blog is subject to "Malware" classification, the blog will appear in one of two dashboard lists, in sequence.

1. Initially, the blog will appear in the "Deleted blogs" list. While the blog is in "Deleted" status, the blog owner will be able to do nothing, except request "Restore".
2. Once the owner has requested "Restore", the blog is undeleted, and placed into the "Locked blogs" list. While the blog is in "Locked" status, all authors can access the blog to remove malware - but the blog remains offline, to all viewers. Once all malware has been removed from the blog, the owner can "Request Unlock Review".

If the blog remains in "Locked" status for over 48 hours, the blog owner may report this in the forums, and may request a manual review. The forum helpers, and online viewers, will generally see the blog displayed as "TOS violation".

This blog is in violation of Blogger Terms of Service and is open to authors only

Adult Content / Porn Detection

Blogger will soon classify and delete blogs with "adult content", which host advertisements to commercial porn sites. Like spam classification, this will probably involve both false negatives and false positives.

Spam detection

Blogger robotic processes are constantly checking the various blogs, looking for signs of spam activity and content. When a blog is subject to "Spam" classification, the blog will be displayed in the "Deleted blogs" dashboard list. The owner can do nothing, except request "Restore".

If the blog remains in "Deleted" status for over 48 hours, the blog owner may report this in the forums, and may request a manual review. The forum helpers, and online viewers, will generally see the blog displayed as "Removed".

Blog has been removed
Sorry, the blog at xxxxxxx.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

Repeated Offenses

We have recently noted that repeated TOS Violations, involving DMCA, Malware, Porn, and Spam, are being dealt with in increasing severity.

Owner deletion or rename

Mistakes made by the owner can be confused with Spam detection. When a blog is deleted by the owner, it will appear in the dashboard "Deleted blogs" list for up to 90 days. During the 90 days, the owner (or a team member, when applicable) may "Restore" the blog. After the 90 days expire, the blog will be removed from "Deleted blogs", and will be unrecoverable. Besides being unrecoverable, no other details have been determined.

If the blog is renamed (published under a different BlogSpot URL), the external symptom may be similar to deletion by the owner.

Blog has been removed

Sorry, the blog at myblog.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs.

In this case, the blog will be listed in the dashboard "My blogs" list, under the right Title. The owner needs to setup a stub blog, pointing the readers to the new URL.

Team Ownership

Any blogs owned by a deleted / locked Blogger account may simply disappear from the dashboards of other team members. If the Blogger account is not restored / unlocked, the blogs owned by that account - including any team owned blogs - may remain deleted - and inaccessible to everybody.

The Confusion Accumulates

Because of anonymous blog ownership, loss of account control, team blog ownership, and use of inactive or non existent email addresses, any account / blog which is deleted or locked for hacking (actively / as a victim), malware, and / or spam may not be easily discovered or recovered by the owner. These issues cause further confusion and frustration.

These scenarios may appear, to the untrained eye, to be signs of fraudulent, malicious, and / or petty actions by Blogger - and are loudly claimed so by spammers with their own agenda. None of these accusations are true - the above processes simply represent Blogger and Google attempting, in the best possible way, to protect everybody against the various hacking, malware, porn, and spam attacks which are constantly in progress.

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Benefits Of The New Dashboard Based Spam Review Request Option

The improved spam review option has been available, on our dashboards, for slightly less than 2 months. For all it's usefulness, it appears that some blog owners see the new option as just another bit of red tape, which prevents them from publishing their blog. We see suggestions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, periodically.

Can't you just submit my review request now, without making me wait another 2 days? Is my dashboard review request really necessary?

Unfortunately, the better the dashboard based spam review option works, the more this confusion should be expected.

Long ago, we had a "Deleted Blogs" link on the previous Blogger dashboard. That link, and the hidden list, were obscure - and explaining how to find the "Deleted Blogs" list was not a job for the weak or impatient. When a blog owner would post in the forums

Why was my blog deleted? I am not a spammer!!

we would typically reply, immediately, with the notorious Spam Appeal Guidelines - then later, cooperative blog owners would see

Your appeal is forwarded to Blogger Support ...

In order to speed up recovery of the less spammy blogs - and shorten the restore wait time for all deleted blogs, Blogger Engineering added the dashboard based "Restore" button. The new button serves two functions.

1. For blogs deleted by Blogger, that are marginally spammy, the blog owner can request an expedited review.
2. For blogs deleted by the owner, less than 90 days previously, the owner can easily restore his own blogs, as convenient.

The new button serves several groups of people, in various ways.

1. Owners of less spammy blogs benefit by expedited restore. When successful, they see their blogs possibly restored on that same day, without their spending any time in the forums.
2. Owners of marginally spammy blogs benefit by regular review and restore, from a shortened queue - since some blog owners will use the expedited queue.
3. Blogger Support can spend less time with the marginally spammy queue, and produce quicker turnaround - yet spend more time examining the truly spammy blogs.
4. Only the genuine spammers will not benefit from the new review queue.

This produces a Win - Win - Win - Loss (sorry, Spammie) scenario.

The blog owners who get their blogs back in a few hours probably won't post in the forums, and praise the improvement - they will be busy re publishing their newly recovered blogs. We may see more oblivious spammers, because Blogger Support will able to spend more time examining truly spammy blogs - which should encourage Blogger Engineering to tweak the automated spam classifier, into digging deeper into the Blogger Blogosphere. So we should expect to see more posts in the forums, for a while.

Why was my blog deleted? I am not a spammer!!

And, it's possible that not all deleted blogs will be listed by the "Deleted Blogs" wizard.

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Blog Readers Report Inability To Remove Blogs From Their Reading Lists

We're seeing an occasional report, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about inability to manage the Reading List, using the dashboard "Manage Blogs I'm Following" wizard.

Clicking on the dashboard "gear" icon to the right of "Reading List", one should expect to see a list of Followed blogs, in the familiar menu. In some cases, what is seen will be bad news.

We are unable to load your FriendConnect data at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please try again shortly.

Upon trying again, the same error is frequently seen, repeatedly.

Some frustrated blog owners report that this problem has affected them, for some time.

This has been an issue for months. I need to be able to remove blogs I no longer wish to Follow - especially those which do not have a Friend Connect gadget.

This is not a heavily reported problem - but the blog Followers who cannot remove blogs, especially when faced with spam in the unwanted blogs - will not see this as a minor problem.

We have observed that, in cases where Blogger: Manage Blogs I'm Following (from the "gear" icon) does not perform, you may try Google Friend Connect: Sites I've joined. The latter may work, when the former does not.

Using the latter wizard, you may have to sign into Google again, after clicking on the "Settings" link for the blog / website in question. Having signed in, you may have to click on "Settings" a second time, to get the "Settings" pop up window.

If the "Settings" popup window does not appear - or does not display or operate properly, you may need to check your cookie and script filters.

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Some Blog Owners Reporting The Template Designer Changes Do Not Update On Their Blogs

For several weeks, we're been seeing various reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, mentioning problems with template updates, being made using the Template Designer wizard.

The reports are not so widespread to indicate a complete malfunction - but neither can we dismiss the problem, as being unique to one browser, one template type, or one particular update pattern.

It's likely that we are looking at a number of problems, aggregated and compounded, into one common symptom.

I cannot Save changes in Template Designer.

With a problem report like this, some examining of the details may be appropriate.

The Template Designer wizard, which is a component in the Blogger Dashboard, is a complex and sophisticated collection of menus and utilities, which runs on the blog owners computers.

Like most Blogger code, the Template Designer is subject to the effects of other programs, and various security settings - which may be installed or set on each individual computer, with or without the understanding of the blog owner and / or computer owner. In some cases, the blog owner and computer owner may be different people.

If you are seeing a problem with the Template Designer, when trying to update the layout on your blog, there are several tests which you can make, which may help to isolate the problem.

• Try making the same updates, using another computer.
• Try making the same updates, using another browser on your current computer.
• Try setting up a new blog, with the same template, and make the same updates to the new blog.

If you're able to make one or more of the above alternate updates, that will help to eliminate some, or many, alternate suspects, as the cause of your problem. If other people are reporting this problem, their results from the above tests may or may not correspond with yours - because their base problem may differ from yours.

Right now, we're seeing seven different causes of these problems.

1. Changes made by Blogger Engineering, to support new browser versions and browser updates, and to provide new template features.
2. Changes inherent in new browser versions, made by the browser vendors.
3. Third party browser add-ons, installed by the owners of the various computers.
4. Security settings, inherent in new browser versions and third party add-ons.
5. The cumulative effects of various template tweaks, both made using "Edit HTML" and the Template Designer itself.
6. Unrealistic expectations of blog owners, about effects of Template Designer settings, against all templates provided by Blogger.
7. Unrealistic expectations of blog owners, about effects of Template Designer settings, against templates not provided by Blogger.

Of these possible causes, only #1 (and possibly #2 and #6) are the sole responsibility of Blogger Engineering. The blog owners (and computer owners) must assume some partial responsibility for #2 - and sole responsibility for #3, #4, and #5. The blog owner, and the developer of any custom, third party template, must jointly assume responsibility for #7.

Recently, Blogger Support acknowledged the problem, in part.

Some users have reported that the Apply to Blog button in the Template Designer is non-functional for some Dynamic View templates.

We also have a Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, where individual details are being provided by various blog owners.

Right now, we're starting to suspect that some "problems" are actually caused by the blog owners, who are simply not aware that not all changes made, using the Template Designer (or the Layout or Template "Edit HTML" wizards), are designed to update all templates used in viewing our blogs.

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The Dashboard Spam Review / Undelete Option Can Be Used To Your Advantage

Recently, Blogger added an improvement in the spam review process, to help shorten the review cycle. Blogs that are deleted or locked, as suspected spam hosts, are now listed on the dashboard, behind a "Deleted blogs" / "Locked blogs" button or link. Each blog, deleted or locked by Blogger, can be submitted for an automated review, by using the "Restore" button next to any blog listed.

Not all blog owners see the benefit of the new option. Some owners think this represents yet one more hurdle, in the endless protocol.

I just want my blog restored! Can you please just forward my review request, without the red tape?

Many blog owners don't realize the benefits of the dashboard based spam review request wizard.

• Many blogs, with review requested by the dashboard link, can be reviewed, and restored, within 24 to 48 hours.
• Blogs restored after dashboard based review request don't require the owner to spend time in the forum, requesting review.
• Blogs restored after dashboard review request don't require Blogger Support to spend time conducting a manual review.

Use of the expedited, dashboard based review process shortens the review process for everybody.

There's a special benefit during weekends. Blogs submitted for manual review will sit in the review queue for at least 48 hours, when no Blogger staff are available to conduct the review. And that 48 hours starts only after the review request is forwarded to the Blogger Support review queue.

Many forum based review requests are recognised, by the helpers, hours - or days - after the forum topic is posted by the blog owner. The forum based latency causes frustration for everybody, and further delays the forwarding of the request. And some review requests can be processed only when key Blogger Support personnel are available.

Use of the dashboard based spam review request makes it easier for everybody. And this helps the forums run smoother - and more blog owners and readers can be helped.

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Improved Spam Review / Undelete Option In Blogger

One of the more positive changes in the "New GUI" involves an improved ability to find, and correct, deleted and locked blogs.

Finding deleted / locked blogs, under earlier versions of Blogger, was always a challenge - both for the person looking for the necessary display - and for the people trying to instruct how to find the necessary dashboard display.

In the current Blogger dashboard, one simply logs in and looks for the "Deleted Blogs" button - right beneath "New Blog", when the blog owner has any self deleted blogs, or any blogs deleted or locked by the Blogger abusive blogs classifier. Clicking on "Deleted Blogs", we see a list of blogs - with either an "Un delete" button (for self deleted blogs), or a "Restore" button (for spam classifier locked / deleted blogs).

Neither the "Restore" or "Undelete" button produce an immediate or universal result - both are still subject to previous limitations.

• The "Restore" button leads to the "Review Request" dialogue - and to the actual spam review - still subject to the opinion of Blogger / Google spam experts.
• The effect of the "Un delete" button is limited to blogs which can be un deleted.

It is simply now far easier to find the spam review / un delete mechanism, than it was under the previous GUI.

If your blog was deleted by you - or deleted by Blogger for hosting malware, you should be able to hit "Restore", and the blog will be restored while you wait. If the blog was deleted or locked by Blogger for suspected spam hosting, you will probably have to solve a CAPTCHA - then wait 24 to 48 hours, while the blog is reviewed. In the long run, you will probably find this extra effort will be worth your time.

In some cases, the owning Blogger account may be locked, following unusual account activity - generally, brute force password guessing attempts, in an effort to hijack control of the account and any owned blogs. After submitting an account restore request and / or changing the account password, the blogs owned by the account will be restored - generally 24 to 48 hours after the account is restored. This is a normal, and unavoidable, result of Google, protecting your account and blogs from hacking activity.

Just be aware that not all blogs will be listed by the "Deleted Blogs" wizard.

Please be aware of the limitations of the restore process. This process serves blog owners who have been spuriously classified. If you request restore - and Blogger confirms that you are a spammer - you will be best advised to start over, or to find a different platform for publishing.

If you do start over, you should be very careful, and avoid making the same mistakes - lest you be subject to more strict punishment. Spammers simply are not welcome, in Blogger / Google - sorry.

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Blog Owners Report Mysterious Blogs Added To Their Dashboard Blog List

We are seeing a small but steadily increasing stream of problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from Blogger blog owners, wondering where these mysterious blogs, being added to their dashboard "My blogs" list, are coming from.

Is anyone else experiencing random blogs being added to their dashboard? I login, and I notice that many blogs have been made - and they're all with names that are just a jumble of letters and numbers, but no posts. All of them lead to the same blog though.

Here's a random list of the names of 7 such blogs, which were recently created in the "blogspot.com" name space. If you wish to examine these blogs, and these have not yet been deleted by the Blogger anti spam processes, I strongly advise that you use a proxy server, or similar isolation technique. Never examine any hacking / spam attack component, unprotected.

yyxfkfgpiy
x24xd2wtu1
4o4fq0rqp9
26djmc3xyh
m9s5tdor2l
h62wo5uthr
bsojvu43gk

Some blog owners are seeing dozens of these mysterious blogs. Adding to the confusion, a couple owners have even thought that their legitimate blogs have been replaced. Fortunately, what is happening is that the legitimate blogs are still there - just not visible in the noise.

When queried for details, many owners report having received, and accepted, an offer involving FaceBook, and the suggestion to "Change your colors". Apparently, if logged in to both Blogger / Google, and FaceBook, this mysterious "FaceBook app" will simply setup quantities of BlogSpot hosted spam blogs, frighteningly reminiscent of blogs created as part of the long ago observed Russian Business Network spam blog farms.

Each blog created has the same initial content - a display, with the offer to "Change your FaceBook colors". The link to accept the offer then leads to a non Google website, which installs the malware, which creates the mysterious spam blogs, in mass quantity. For your examination, here is one example spam blog - which may or may not currently be online, using a proxy server link.

http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://yyxfkfgpiy.blogspot.com/

We don't yet know what, if anything, is being installed on the computer used in the blogs creation - nor how malicious the virus is, when installed on one's own computer. Our advice is simple - avoid becoming a victim. If you are receiving invitations for this service, it's possible that your FaceBook friends, supposedly sending the invitations, are the current victims. If you ignore the offer, you should be safe.

It's possible, too, that this attack is enabled by the massive attacks of seemingly purposeless spam comments, being published on various blogs.

If you are concerned about this situation, you might want to check all of your blogs for unfamiliar code - then review your current protection, and even consider using Google 2-step verification.

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Attempting To Remove Old FTP Published Blogs From Blogger Account Corrupts The BlogList

Recently, we've seen a few reports from unhappy blog owners who used to publish blogs using FTP, who tried to delete the FTP published blogs from their Blogger account, and now can't access their dashboard bloglist - or even login to their Blogger accounts successfully.

I recently tried to delete an old FTP published blog from our account, I hit the "delete blog" button, and I get error code bX-dm6o9e. When I try to access my dashboard, I get the same error.

The option to publish a Blogger blog to remote, non Google hosted, server space - known as FTP Publishing - ended several years ago. Now, people attempting to clean up their blog list, and trying to remove old, FTP published blogs will find a problem. We note that the dashboard utilities, in general, can still be accessed, using the navbar links - or the quick edit post links.

We have a Problem Rollup discussion, where we are requesting diagnostic details from victims of this problem.

1. Have you tried using the Classic or the New GUI - or both?
2. Does your Blogger account use a Blogger, Google, or Google+ profile?
3. What's your Blogger Profile URL?
4. Is the blog being deleted in existence, on the remote server?
5. Does the blog being deleted have current and valid DNS addresses, pointing to the contents?
6. What's the URL of the blog being deleted?
7. What browsers have you tried using? Do you get the bX-dm6o9e error from each browser?

If you are experiencing the bX-dm6o9e code, please answer the questions as best you can, to encourage Blogger Engineering to identify and correct the cause of the problem.

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Comments Posted, Using Google / Google+ Profiles, Use "noreply" Email Addresses

Recently, we've noted a number of complaints about Blogger commenting, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken

.My comments all use a "noreply" email address, instead of my actual email address. How do I have people email their replies to my comments?

These are people who have updated their Blogger accounts, to use a Google or Google+ profile. Neither Google or Google+ profiles provide the option to

Show my email address

It appears that, with the deployment of the new Google / Google+ profiles to Blogger, Google is making yet one more attempt to convince us to network using Google+ - and keep our email addresses to ourselves. If you moderate or monitor comments to your blog, you may have recently noticed many non anonymous comments labeled with a common email address of "noreply-comment@blogger.com", instead of personal email addresses.

People who intentionally wish to expose their email addresses in their comments will need to revert their Blogger accounts to the Blogger profile. If this is a concern for you, go to your dashboard. From the menu attached to the gear icon at the top right, select "Revert to Blogger profile", and you'll have your Blogger profile back. Then edit your profile, select "Show my email address" under Privacy, and you'll be back to sharing your email addresses in your comments.

It's likely that the noreply email addresses are being offered to keep many bloggers from, inadvertently, exposing their email addresses to email mining techniques. In remembering the long ago discovered "nice blog" spam, it's possible that "nice blog" spam was originally developed to help the spammers gather email addresses.

All that an imaginative spammer has to do is to post a "nice blog" comment, select "Email follow-up comments to me" - then watch as the Inbox fills up with follow up comments from bloggers, willingly giving up their email addresses to every stranger also selecting "Email follow-up comments to me", in that comment thread.

The people willingly providing their email addresses, to the world in general, are perfect targets for hackers later trying to brute force access to the Blogger accounts, using their email addresses.

If you decide to revert to a Blogger Profile for posting comments - or even if you don't - consider using Google 2-Step Verification, to protect your Blogger / Google account from hacking.

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Where's The Dashboard?

We see this confusion, a couple times a week, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.

Where is the dashboard?

In the Classic Blogger GUI, the display which contained the "Blog List" (at the top), and the "Reading List" (at the bottom) was labeled "Dashboard". Many people also called the "Settings" / "Template" screens for the various blogs, linked from the Blog List, the dashboard.

The New Blogger GUI has no page with the label - and no links "To The Dashboard". The Navbar (another unlabeled feature) has two links - "Design" and "New Post" - which lead to different dashboard sections, when you are appropriately logged in to Blogger. And, the "B" logo at the far left of the navbar will, similarly, take you to the Blog List / Reading List.

The Blogger Dashboard is simply the "Blog List" / "Reading List", and all attached utilities which you, the owner, administrator, or author, access, as you manage the blog.

• Change various blog settings.
• Control the post template.
• Publish and edit posts.
• Edit the blog template.
• Add, delete, and reposition accessory gadgets.

It's similar to driving in The United Kingdom. Each major highway there is named for the neighbouring town, where it leads. If you drive from Town "A", to Town "B", the street in Town "A" will be signed as "Town B Road". When you look at the street signs, and you see that you are now on "Town A Highway", you will know that you are now in Town "B".

When you see the blog utilities, that you seek, then you are there.

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