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Access To Your Blogger Account, Using Google Login

Ever since the new, integrated 2014 Google login was provided for us, several months ago, some Blogger blog owners have been losing access to their blogs.

Problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, illustrate the confusion.
I can't login to my blog!
and
I can only use my GMail, not my Blogger, account!!
These are typical examples of the problems which come from misunderstanding the new login process.

Many times, we resort to extreme solutions, to login to Blogger.

Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, all 3 elements) - then restart the browser.

This advice, however, has drawbacks.

If you learn to use the login screen properly, you can avoid the confusion - and the drawbacks.

The new login screen makes it easier for us to remember our login accounts - and harder for us to accidentally use an inappropriate or non existent account.

The most recently used account is always displayed.

Once you use the new login screen for the first time, the account used for login is remembered - and displayed - every time following. If you want to use a different account, click on "Add additional account" or "Sign in with a different account", and add another account.

After you have intentionally added an additional / different Google account, your login screen will display the choice of each account previously added, and give you the option to select any one account, for login. If the account needed is not displayed, you use "Manage accounts" and add an additional account.

Login is blind - you have to choose what account you want to use.

When using the new login screen, remember that the Blogger / Google login does not indicate what account you must use, to access the dashboard for a specific blog. Since part of the technique for keeping our blogs secure involves not revealing the owning Blogger accounts, the blog being displayed will be irrelevant to what accounts you may use, when logging in to Blogger or Google.

Login, like many Blogger processes, is filter sensitive.

The new login screen, like every Blogger / Google authentication wizard, requires properly setup cookie and script filters.

GMail and non GMail based accounts are treated equally.

Finally, remember that GMail and non GMail based Blogger / Google accounts are treated alike, in the Google login screen. Just enter or select the proper account name (email address) and password, and you will be logged in to the corresponding Google account. And if that Google account is the owner of the Blogger blog, there you will see your blog, in the blog selection pulldown list.

Comments

Unknown said…
Thank you for the help. I hadn't had access to my other blog for years since blogger and blogspot merged, and I got it done with the info in your column. Thanks again. Why has Google been so inefficient handling this issue?
Nitecruzr said…
Don Juan,

I think what happened here is that Blogger Engineering or Security discovered some serious flaw, which they worked around, by shoving the CAPTCHA in place.

They had to add the CAPTCHA form to 3 separate comment forms - "embedded", "full page", and "popup window". And, they had variations within that - currently authenticated (or not), different levels of permissions ("anybody", "OpenID account", "Google account", and "Blog members"), and moderation (or not). That works out to at least 48 separate sections of code - and all of that code had to be developed and tested - and deployed on the same day, worldwide.

Considering all of the details, I don't really think they did a terrible job.

I suspect that they will be cleaning up the code, in the next few weeks. Watch this space, for updates.

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