Blogger Accounts, Inadvertently Created

Occasionally, someone reports an odd problem with a Blogger account, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

I changed the email address on my account, and when I logged in again, it said that I had no blogs. Now, I can't manage my blogs. Help!

or

I have two blogs, but I can only see one in my dashboard! When I log onto the older one and click on the "dashboard" link, it takes me to my new blog.

These complaints come from blog owners who don't realise that your email address is part of your Blogger (Google) account in two ways.

1. As the account name.
2. As a contact mechanism.

This is only a potential problem - as long as the email address never changes.

There's no problem - as long as the account stays as it is when created, and as long as the email account associated with the account name stays active. Sometimes, a blog owner will get a new email address (new ISP, new job, new school).

We ask people to always update their Blogger email addresses, when they get new email. The blog owner will think right - and will change the email address in the Blogger (Google) account.

The contact email address (#2 above) will change, but the account name (#1 above) will not change. Alternately, the blog owner will click on the wrong link, when logging in. And occasionally, a cookie or other security setting will contribute to this problem.

Mistyping the email address, when accepting membership, is a problem.

Another problem is called a "typo". When the new member types the email address, sometimes he / she will get it wrong. And since no verification is sent - let alone verified - the new member now has a new Blogger account.

Fortunately, the blog owner who sent the invitation should get a mysterious email message.

The purpose of this message is to inform you that your invitation to xx...@gmail.com was accepted, but using a different email address.

And the different email address will be the new account name, created by the new blog member.

With a new email address, incorrectly changed, the problem becomes real.

Oblivious of the possible problems, the blog owner will try to login using his new email address as the account name, and will be told

The email you provided does not exist.

and below that

Don't have a Google Account?
Create an account now.

Here is where much confusion started, long ago. I'm not convinced that the new login process is any better.

If the blog owner gets the account name wrong, and sees "Create account", what do you think will happen?

And, here we are at "Create your Google Account", 2015.



Now, a new Blogger account is created - and maybe a new blog, too.

Now somewhat confused

I know this is the email address.

the unhappy blog owner selects "Create account", creates an account with the right email address (or whatever he's allowed), and logs in.

Now, he has what he should have done in the first place, except for one major detail.

The blog(s) are still owned by the old account.

Now, he sees an empty dashboard, with the advice

You are not a member of any blogs. Create one now to start posting!

and below that

Create Your Blog Now

Even more confused, the blog owner may even create a new blog, under his new account.

This can be resolved - with patience and understanding.

Now, he has become a very unhappy blog owner. This problem can be corrected, but a bit of work is required.

1. Understand the above scenario.
2. Use Blogger / Google tools, and identify all accounts that you've setup.
3. Ensure that the dashboard view that you see is up to date, by clearing cache, cookies, and active sessions, and restarting the browser.
4. Starting from the unwanted Blogger (Google) account (generally the one with the original email address), transfer ownership of the blog(s) to the wanted account (generally the newly created account with the new email address).

If you're here because you just deleted the blog - and you can't un delete because you have multiple Blogger accounts, you have a similar, and equally frustrating procedure in your immediate future.

The new (2014) Google "One account" login will continue the confusion.

As of July 2014, and with the New (2014) Google MultiLogin wizard, the confusion continues.

But the process of correcting the problems starts with understanding how the problems occurred, in the first place. That sometimes requires introspective thinking, and the lack of that is frequently why you end up reading this, and similar evidence of confusion.