Updating A Text Gadget, On Your Blog? Be Careful!

The schizophrenic nature of the HTML / Text gadget continues to confuse some blog owners.

Recently, we're seeing claims about broken Text gadgets, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I hit the Save button, and nothing happens! Why is my Text gadget not working??

Too many blog owners are causing their own problem, because of confusion about the caption in the gadget update wizard.

The header of the HTML / Text wizard is the only visible difference, between the "HTML" and "Text" gadgets.

You'll see "Configure HTML/JavaScript" (for an HTML gadget) or "Configure Text" (for a Text gadget), as the gadget header. The rest of the gadget will be the same, for both gadgets - and this is why some gadgets, being updated, appear to be broken.

The difference between entering HTML, and Text - using either the "HTML" or the "Text" gadget - will be seen in the caption, to the far right of "Content".

The difference between entering HTML, and Text, is not relevant to the actual gadget being added or updated. This problem exists for both "Configure HTML/JavaScript" (for an HTML gadget) and "Configure Text" (for a Text gadget).

The caption will read either "Edit Html", or "Rich Text" - for both "Configure HTML/JavaScript" (for an HTML gadget) and "Configure Text" (for a Text gadget).

• If you want to add / update code (HTML / JavaScript), you will want the caption to read "Rich Text".
• If you want to add / update text (Rich Text), you will want the caption to read "Edit Html".

Examine the formatting toolbar, to the left of the caption, as you click on the caption, to understand this.

Here are 4 views, showing the same gadget:


This is the HTML gadget, in HTML mode.

This is the HTML gadget, in Text mode.

This is the Text gadget, in Text mode.

This is the HTML gadget, in HTML mode.


Why is this relevant to the problem, being discussed? Just this - HTML is simply fancy text, with tags (special keywords and symbols). The tags make the difference, between HTML and text.

When you enter HTML, the tags have to be entered properly, in pairs and in the right sequence. If HTML tags are not entered properly, you can have various problems with the blog, as displayed. One of the possible problems is the long known dropped posts / sidebar section.

When you enter HTML improperly, in "HTML" mode in post editor, you get various diagnostic error messages - and you are instructed to fix your tags. When you enter HTML improperly, in "HTML" mode in the HTML / Text gadget, the "Save" button becomes in operative - and you think that the gadget is broken.

When you enter Text, which contains HTML, and you enter the HTML improperly - and you are accidentally in HTML mode - you have a problem. Remember.

• If you want to add / update code (HTML / JavaScript), you will want the caption to read "Rich Text".
• If you want to add / update text (Rich Text), you will want the caption to read "Edit Html".

This is how the "HTML" and "Text" gadgets work.

If you add a Text gadget to your blog, the caption will read "Edit Html" when you are adding text. If you click on "Edit Html", you will see "Rich Text" - and you will then be in HTML mode.

If you enter rich text, in HTML mode, and the rich text includes HTML keywords and symbols, you will have broken HTML - and the "Save" button will be inoperative. And, you will have a "broken" Text gadget. This is one of several possible causes of problems seen when adding / updating the HTML / JavaScript / Text gadgets.

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Over The Top, Or Underneath?

People in Western nations have been arguing this topic, for years.

Should the roll be hung, with the paper falling over the top, or underneath?

Both choices have their logical reasoning.

When this question is politely debated, the discussion goes on endlessly - and when the question is freely debated, the discussion generally degenerates into ad hominem insults and name calling. It's likely that this question will never be answered, authoritatively.

Blogger has a similar question, resembling the toilet roll controversy.

Should new list items be added over the top (as the top entry), or underneath (as the bottom entry)?

Until this month, the only option, provided by Blogger, was "over the top".

Earlier this month, many blog owners reported problems updating their LinkList and List gadgets. Last week, the ability to update the gadgets was restored.

Having fixed the gadget problem, Blogger has also changed the new item position. Previously, new items were added to the lists, as the top entry, pushing everything down. Now, new items are added as the bottom entry.

This change is enraging some blog owners. Similar to the toilet roll issue, however, other blog owners are now happy.

Both sides, in the ongoing arguments, acknowledge that the other side exists - and would possibly settle for the other answer - if it was easier to rearrange list items.

• You can only move one item, at a time.
• Each time you move one item one row, you have to move the cursor, and hit the arrow one more time, to move that same item one more row.
• If you overlook the need to move the cursor, you sit there and watch the same item move up, then down, as you hit the same screen spot over and over.
• Then you move to the next item, and you move it one row.
• You cannot "wrap" the moves. An item at the bottom, and needing to be at the top, has to be moved one row at a time, to the top.

I have seen similar function wizards, with different design.

• The GUI uses a single pair of Move Arrows, and selector boxes for each item in the list.
• You select the items to be moved - then you hit the move arrow once, to move the selected items up, or down.
• If you need to move the selected items more than one row, you hit the move arrow again - but without having to move the cursor.
• By selecting all items, excepting the one that needs to moved to the top, you can move everything selected down one row - which moves the newly added item up to the top in one click.

Given the ability to "wrap" the move - ie, hit the down arrow once, to move an item from the bottom to the top, either choice ("at the top", or "at the bottom") could satisfy more people. But this is an enhancement, that can be only provided by Blogger Engineering.

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Custom Domain Instability Caused By Using Unacceptable Servers

A few blog owners become confused by the necessary configuration of the domain root, when setting up their custom domains.

Some blog owners, who do not have a good understanding of DNS principles, make mistakes when setting up the domain root (aka "naked" domain). From good intentions (trying to ensure that the domain performs better or differently), their naivete may actually make the domain perform worse - or not at all.

With more blog owners unable to buy a domain through Blogger, and forced to setup their own DNS addresses, this will become an increasingly critical issue.

Blogger designed the custom domain feature to use "A" / "CNAME" referral, instead of DNS / frame forwarding.

The most obvious referral configuration - dual "CNAME" aka "symmetrical" DNS - is not supported by all registrars. Some registrars refuse to allow "CNAME" definition of the domain root, by policy.

To make custom domain publishing more globally usable, Blogger provided an alternative to dual "CNAME" referral - a hybrid configuration which uses 4 x "A" referral, for the domain root. This configuration is also known as "asymmetrical" DNS.

Asymmetrical DNS uses 4 Google servers, accessed in a round robin sequence, to define the domain root.

mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

Round robin DNS is pretty simple. Each server in the set is queried by the DNS client on the readers computer, in sequence, until one server responds. The first responding server is required to provide a suitable answer. If the first responding server provides an unsuitable answer, the DNS client has no alternative but to display yet another version of

Server Not Found
Error 404

Google uses the 4 servers to provide quadruple redundancy. One server is designed to handle the entire workload, at any time - with 4 servers, and each server running at 25% of full load. If any one server has to be temporarily taken out of service, they still have 3 servers - with each server running at 33% of full load.

During scheduled maintenance - and with triple redundancy, even two simultaneous emergencies (with 2 servers out of service, unscheduled) will not cause an immediate, major problem. This allows Google Engineers to schedule routine network maintenance as mutually convenient for everybody in their group - even considering the global need for Blogger services, on a 3600 x 24 x 7 x 56 basis.

There is one weakness of round robin DNS. All servers, in the set, have to be equally capable of performing reliably. A naive blog owner, including any additional or different server, in the set, risks having one server, responding to the round robin access - but providing an unsuitable answer.

mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 50.63.202.39
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

What is 50.63.202.39?

ip-50-63-202-39.ip.secureserver.net (50.63.202.39)

50.62.0.0 - 50.63.255.255
GoDaddy.com, LLC GO-DADDY-COM-LLC (NET-160-153-0-0-1) 160.153.0.0 - 160.153.255.255

GoDaddy uses forwarding - not referral - to direct traffic. Here, some (not all, and not always) prospective blog readers see

Server Not Found
Error 404

Some blog owners make a second mistake - which compounds the first mistake.

mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 50.63.202.39
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME mydomain.com.

Here we see the "www" alias - which is what 95% of your direct traffic accesses - using the domain root for obtaining the address. Add to that the bogus server (in this example, "50.63.202.39"), and you will get a lot of complaints about sporadic connectivity problems.

Server Not Found
Error 404

This is so simple - if you only believe.

mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.32.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.34.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.36.21
mydomain.com.  3600 IN A 216.239.38.21
www.mydomain.com. 3600 IN CNAME ghs.google.com.

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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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All Template Changes Won't Always Be Visible, When The Blog Is Published

Not all blog owners appreciate the differences between using the various template wizards, and what they will actually see, once the blog is published.

The confusion about the various template wizards, and what is actually seen, expressed in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, is numerous.

Why aren't my changes to the template being saved?

This question is expressed in a number of ways - and has a number of causes.

There are a number of causes of template problems, in general.

• Some problem are caused by Blogger Engineering, as they manage the Blogger application.
• Some problems are caused by the blog owners, as they use (and yes, misuse) the Blogger application.
• Some problems are simply caused by the perception of the blog owners, and will never be resolved, to everybody's expectations.

If you're viewing this blog using a desktop / laptop computer, with a "normal" browser, and you can find the "View Source" control, take a look at the source for this page. Compare what you see there with the display in the Template "Edit HTML" wizard (and allow for some confusion, when using "Edit HTML").

• If you have a "normal" browser, and are viewing this blog in a "Designer" / "Layout" template, you'll see a lot of the same code, in both "Edit HTML" and "View Source".
• If you have a "normal" browser, and are viewing this blog in a "Dynamic" template, you'll see very little of the same code, in both "Edit HTML" and "View Source".
• If you have a "normal" browser, and are viewing this blog using a redirected "mobile" browser view, you'll see very little of the same code, in both "Edit HTML" and "View Source".
• If you're using a "mobile" computer, you probably won't even have an option to "View Source".

The bulk of the options in the Template "Edit HTML" wizard, in the "Layout" wizard, and in the Template Designer, are intended to change the "Designer" / "Layout" template views. The three wizards have much less effect, against the "Dynamic" / "Mobile" template views.

If you tweak the CSS settings in "Edit HTML" or the Template Designer - or if you change the layout using "Layout" or the Template Designer - you may not see all of the changes reflected in either a Dynamic or Mobile view.

Sometimes, this is because you have already tweaked the template improperly, preventing the wizard from saving your latest changes. Other times, it may be simply because the Dynamic and Mobile templates are not designed to let you tweak the settings in question.

We've also seen vague suggestions that having the mobile template active can cause the Template Designer font and style selections to be non operational. Font settings, made using the Template Designer, won't be saved and won't appear in the blog, when published. Right now, we're unsure whether the Live Preview window updates reliably.

And recently, uncontrolled customisation of the blog accessory complement, and of the dynamic template code, have caused instability in network access, when viewing blogs using dynamic views.

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Template Designer Upgrades Require Supporting Updates To The Individual Blog Templates

This week, we're seeing a small flood of problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken about problems with the Template Designer.

Every time I change something, I have to refresh the page in order for it to show up. It won't "Save" when I try to save the layout changes. It just says "Saving..." at the top of the page and fades away, but doesn't actually save any changes.

Many problems involve changes made to the template, using the Designer, which aren't being saved - or are broken when saved. Most of the people reporting these problems have made changes to the template, previously - some are so experienced at making changes, they can't believe that their latest changes could ever have problems.

Interestingly, this history of changes is not a coincidence - and it's likely that some of the changes helps to cause these problems.

Take a look at the template code in your blog, some time. You'll notice a lot of code which doesn't look like CSS, HTML, or XML. Some of it is code which supports the various blog features that are adjusted or configured using the Template Designer.

Many template features involve two sets of code.

1. The Template Designer wizard, part of the Blogger dashboard, is common code used by all blog owners.
2. The blog template, post template, and / or widget template, is part of the individual blogs. Some template code does nothing but support the Template Designer - and let you configure your blog layout,

Every time Blogger Engineering adds or updates template features, they have to make changes to both sets of code.

Blogger Engineering does not edit each individual blog, after they upgrade the Template Designer. They make changes to the master template code - and their changes replicate into the individual blog templates. These changes replicate much more consistently, when the individual templates have not been changed.

The more custom a template is, with changes applied by the blog owner or in a third party template, the less likely it is to properly update, to support each succeeding Template Designer update. Any time Blogger Engineering updates the Template Designer, to add a new feature, or maybe to support a new browser version, their updates may require changes which are not properly applied to all blogs - and the Template Designer stops working, in some blogs.

When the Template Designer stops working, the usual recommendation is to refresh the post or widget template - or maybe to upgrade the blog template - and things start rolling again. And the blog owner goes back to tweaking the template, until something breaks again.

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Schizophrenia And Custom Domain URLs - October 2012

Now that the custom domain publishing feature is back online again, there remains one feature of custom domain publishing to be restored to the Blogger dashboard.

The very popular Blogger dashboard option to redirect the domain root (aka "naked domain"), to the "www" alias, may not be reliable - or even available.

Too many people report

I can't redirect the naked domain - I can select the option, but the next time I look, the box will be un checked.

and

My "www" alias works just fine - but the domain root now returns a "404".

Fortunately, there are alternative solutions to provide the naked domain redirect.

There are 3 ways to redirect the domain root to the primary ("www" - or any alternate selection) alias.

• Registrar Domain Manager forwarding.
• Blogger Publishing redirect.
• Google Apps "Domain settings" redirect.

The Registrar Domain Manager provides, for some blog owners, the currently most obvious alternative to the Blogger Publishing redirect - but it is not the simplest to use. Depending upon the registrar, and the nature of the domain manager / DNS servers, this procedure may not even work.

Some registrars will recommend simple DNS or frame forwarding to the BlogSpot URL - and this "solution", we know from experience, will not work at all. One problem here will be spurious spam classification, caused by what looks like an offsite redirect of the domain root.

The Blogger Publishing redirect option, which currently may not work consistently, is normally the most obvious alternative. This is, however, the preferred option, in custom domain publishing - and re publishing - procedures.

A less obvious option, the Google Apps "Domain settings" redirect option, is currently the best solution. For any newly purchased domain - as well as for domains purchased directly from a registrar, it's possible (though currently, with some effort) to setup a Google Apps domain administrator account. Next, use the "Change how your naked domain is redirected" screen, and change or recycle the domain root redirect.

Which ever alternative you chose - or made to work, the domain root should now redirect to the alias of your choice.

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Blog Control And URL Availability Hacking - Four Sides Of The Same Story

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see various queries about our blogs, and how to gain or regain control.

• How do I get a blog, which is attacking me (impersonating me, insulting me, publishing my secrets), removed from Blogger?
• How do I claim a dormant URL?
• How do I recover control of my blog?
• My blog is now under somebody else's control! How do I get my blog back?

In some cases, all of these queries are simply one more attempt to gain control of a blog, or a URL. As we gain experience in reading between the lines in Blogger Help Forum, and as Blogger Support gains experience in researching blog histories, we can start to see patterns, and signs of multiple attempts to assume control of the blog - or the URL - in question.

Many blog or URL hacking attempts start quite innocently. Two of the more common ones are quite naive, and completely separate, tales.

• Some people want to recover control of their blog, after having forgotten the username / password.
• Other people want to start a blog - but find that the desired URL is not available.

Some people, denied recovery of the blog, because they can't prove ownership, will try another tactic.

I'll tell them that the blog was stolen from me. Surely if they think the blog was hacked, I can get it back, since I used to be the owner!

People trying to gain control of a dormant blog will likewise use their imagination.

If I get the blog deleted as spam, I can grab the URL. Surely a Dormant blog is just another type of Spam, in Blogger!

Unfortunately, these techniques have been used, already - and have resulted in still other tales of anguish.

It requires the wisdom of Solomon - and the patient persistence of Gil Grissom - to sort through the problems reports. Claims

I just graduated from college, and I can't use my email address to recover the password!

and

I just woke up from a 7 year coma, to find my family blog under control of a hacker!

and let us not overlook

My friend just died. Can I please have control of the blog, so I can put a notice to all of his friends, on the blog?

and

I never updated my Blogger only account to a Blogger / Google account - and I never got any email, warning me of the impending change!

All of these tales have enormous human interest - and seem to justify mercy for the plaintive requests.

Unfortunately, these stories - and others like them - are not always what they seem. What we sometimes see are the other side of the story.

• Attempts to steal control of an active blog.
• Attempts to gain control of the URL which would be perfect for their new blog, if only the URL was available.
• Attempts to probe and reveal the identity of a blog owner, who is guaranteed anonymous blog ownership, by Blogger policy.

So, if you beg and plead for attention

None of these tools help me, in the least. Can I please speak to a live human, so I can explain my special need?

Please, do not be surprised to be directed to read about why Blogger Help is the only contact, and why you absolutely must prove ownership of the blog, before being given control. And even the ultimate insult, you must provide a copy of the death certificate plus get a court order, as you grieve for the loss of your friend or loved one.

The bottom line here is that, if you intend to publish a Blogger blog, it is your responsibility - and only your responsibility - to maintain control of your blog. You are an adult (or are presumed to be one) - and you have responsibilities, as an adult.

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