The Real Blogger Status

Since Blogger released their improved Template Editor , blog owners have been reporting a new, transient problem. I click on "Edit HTML", and the editing display opens - but the HTML window remains blank. Generally, you may wait a few seconds, and the HTML window will fill with the content. With enough patience, you'll see the content arrive - eventually. Unfortunately, waiting won't always provide a solution.

We've been seeing reports from some frustrated blog owners, about problems with the limited access Google Apps accounts . I've reset my password numerous times and it still doesn't work. Even given the recently provided "bloggeradmin" username, and the standard Google account reset process , some blog owners still cannot access Google Apps to manage their Blogger custom domain published blogs. We do have one bit of hope. One such problem report, recently forwarded to Google Apps Support, was noted by a Google Apps Engineer with the advice We identified a recent change which may have affected the password reset flow for some users. We expect it to either be fixed or rolled out shortly. So, there is some hope for a few unhappy new domain owners. It's possible that this problem has been resolved, with Google Apps now using the new comprehensive Google login screen . >> Top

Sometimes, people lose control of their blog, with no ability to regain control - and simply want the blog deleted. How do I have Blogger delete the blog, for me, since I can't prove ownership? When advised that Blogger does not delete blogs on behalf of former owners, the next thought by the former owner is to have the blog deleted as abuse. What category of Abuse should I use, to have a previously owned blog, deleted? While not intentionally fraudulent, this approach is still misuse of the Abuse Reporting process .

We're seeing some odd problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about blog creation . I entered just the first letter of the name which I wanted, and I immediately saw Sorry, this blog address is not available. How am I supposed to create a blog, if all the names are taken? What intrigues me here is not that people see Sorry, this blog address is not available. It's that people don't ask the next question. How did it know what name I was typing, before I finished? How do you explain that you have to type the entire name, and have that name checked, before giving up, disappointed?

As referer spam continues to be reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , we see occasional signs of confusion. Some blog owners, knowing how to use WhoIs lookups and similar online utilities, to their advantage, are looking up the referer spam targets - and are reporting the targets to their registrars and hosts. What these blog owners may not realise is that not all apparent "customers" of referer spam "services" may have actually contracted to be featured in the services.

One of the details of referer spam , that intrigued me for a time, involved who was reporting the spam. Most - but not all - referer spam is reported by newbie owners . People who just setup a blog, and are anxiously waiting for their first readers outside their own country, are suddenly astounded Wow, thousands of people are reading my blog - from China and Russia! I am an international celebrity, in my first week!! The euphoria quickly vanishes, when told in the forums Nobody is actually viewing your blog from these sites - and nobody knows about these links but you, since only you can see your Stats logs.

As Google Apps updates their limited function ("bloggeradmin") account setup process, we see reports from confused Blogger blog owners. After I reset my password, I still get The username or password you entered is incorrect when I try to login, later! and I reset my password - and it changed my Blogger and GMail account - but I still can't login to Google Apps!! The Google Apps password reset uses a standard Google account reset process - and is subject to normal account reset behaviour. If you don't reset the right account, you won't be able to login, later.

With more Blogger blogs being updated to use Google+ Comments , we're seeing a few questions in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , about comment moderation. How do I moderate comments, with Google+ Comments enabled on my blog? This is a question for which there is no easy answer - and this is one of the least appreciated feature limitations of Google+ Comments .

This week, we're seeing a new stream of problem reports, from blog owners whose blogs are, once again, mysteriously redirecting their readers to unknown destinations . When I open my blog, it automatically directs to another search engine display. This appears to be yet one more gadget, willingly installed by many Blogger blog owners, which is now redirecting uninterested viewers. The target of the redirection, this week, is a parked domain website (ie, "search engine display") - for a product which was apparently installed, willingly , by the blog owners.

We're seeing a few recent reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , from owners of empty and / or new blogs, about spurious spam classification. Very few owners of empty or new Blogger blogs understand why their blogs should be classified as possible spam hosts, by the Blogger anti-spam processes. Most blog owners seem to think that only blog content is considered, in spam classification.

We are seeing an abrupt flood of reports from Blogger blog owners who have accepted Google+ Comments, in their blogs. It appears that Blogger has fixed the observed problem with the Comment Count not displaying - and has possibly at the same time, broken Google+ Comments, in general.

Some Blogger blog owners, having experienced the anxiety of custom domain setup , intend to carefully maintain their domain registration. We see a few queries, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , about domain registration renewal. How do I make sure my registration gets renewed? or How do I renew registration before it expires? or, possibly My blog now displays a search page! Have I been hacked?