Post Editor Problems With Blog Owners Using Internet Explorer V8

We've been seeing a steady stream of problems being reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from blog owners unable to use post editor.

The symptoms are varied, in detail.

• Some can't get the cursor active, in the window.
• Others can't use the Preview option.
• Still others can't Publish.

The primary symptom, seen by many, involves yet another mysterious bX code.

In many cases, this problem has been forecast, for some time - and the blog owners should blame only themselves. Many of these blog owners are using - or trying to use - Internet Explorer V8, to maintain their blogs.

Last year, Google warned us that this time was coming.

We support the latest version of Google Chrome (which automatically updates whenever it detects that a new version of the browser is available). We support the current and previous major releases of Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version is released, we begin supporting that version and stop supporting the third most recent version.

Google stopped supporting Internet Explorer V8, in 2012.

As previously announced, Internet Explorer 10 launched on October 26, 2012, and as a result, we discontinued support for Internet Explorer 8 on November 15.

Recently, as part of an update to post editor, Blogger used code which is incompatible with Internet Explorer V8. As they continue to update Blogger, to remain compatible with newer browsers, they will continue this policy.

As time progresses, more blog owners, trying to use IE V8, will find problems with Blogger - with the problems not answered by Blogger Support. Blog owners using IE V9 or V10, in compatibility mode, will also see these problems.

If you are using Internet Explorer V8, you are way overdue for a browser upgrade. If your computer uses Windows XP, then you need to replace or update your computer. As an alternative, consider using Chrome or Firefox for all Blogger activity.

The solution, for this problem, requires your action.

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Identifying The Frog - And Other Image Oddities - On The Blog

An occasional sign of confusion, seen occasionally in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, starts with a simple statement.

There's a frog on my blog!

Those of us who know about third party templates know what's up, here. Given the right browser, you can find the problem, in a couple minutes.

Some third party template providers use separate, third party image hosting services, for serving the graphics used by their templates. Some of the image hosting services, unfortunately, limit their bandwidth. When a given image, that they are serving, exceeds a given amount of bandwidth in a day, or maybe a month, they stop serving the image - maybe the background or another decoration - and they replace it with their logo.

One of these "replacement" logos is the well known PhotoBucket Frog.

If your blog uses one of the more popular templates, provided by the third party service, your readers will find out about it - and you may find out from them.

Why is your blog so plain - and why are there frogs all over the face?

And there is your blog - with no background, and with the frog images.

If you have Firefox, you can use the Media tab in the Tools - "Page Info" wizard. The Media tab displays a quick inventory of all images used, in any web page. Each image is represented by a URL, and a thumbnail. Just open the Media tab, with your blog (and the frogs) displayed, and scan down the list. When you see the frog, look at the URL - and there's the source of your problem.

Then pick another template - maybe a standard Blogger template - and make your blog pretty, again.

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