When You Create A Blog, Only Type The Blog Name, To Check For Availability

Too many would be blog owners are unable to create a blog, because they don't understand how to check for availability.

I can't seem to type in a URL, without it saying it's not available.

Some people don't understand that you do not type a URL - you just type a blog name, when checking for availability.

This is the (BlogSpot) URL of this blog.

http://bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com

This is the (BlogSpot) name of this blog.

bloggerstatusforreal

If I was going to use the "Create a blog" wizard, and create this blog, I would type the name - "bloggerstatusforreal". If I typed the entire URL "http://bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com" - even if "bloggerstatusforreal" was available (and no, it is not ever going to be available), I should expect to see

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

It's that simple - only type the name, to check for availability.

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The Stats "All Time" Display, And The 2011 Numbers

Occasionally in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, we see a curious question, which is repeated.

My blog Stats display is missing a complete year.

The problem is actually right there, in front of all of us - if we look. We showed this last year - for 2010.

Look at the Stats Overview tab, and the graph at the top of the display.

There's December 2010!
There's January 2012!!
What happened to "2011"?


My suspicion is that it's a deliberate omission, to get the graph to fit in the limited horizontal space. How will they get "All Time" to fit in that space, as the Stats display gets older, and "All Time" covers more years?

That being the case, it should not be that much work to add a little "broken line" symbol in the border, somewhere between "Septermber 2010" and "May 2012". Look how smoothly the line flows, in my graph, right through 2011. What does the graph for your blog show?

Fast forward to 2015, and we'll know the answer.

Life is full of mystery. Why not just deal with this one, and move on?

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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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