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Private / Deleted Blogs Have Limited Recovery

Too often, we see the report, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.
I can't login to my Blogger account!
or
My blog was just deleted!!
Neither of these problem reports are unusual - and generally, there are various control and diagnostic options which may be available, to help us recover control of the account or blog in question.

We see many different symptoms, in various problem reports.

  • I can't access my blog.
  • I can't find my blog.
  • I can't see my blog.
  • My blog was deleted.
  • My blog was stolen.

The various reports are based on the perception of the people making the reports - and each may be true or false. If false, the inaccuracy may be accidental - or it may be intentional.

Several different circumstances won't map easily to the symptoms reported.

Identifying the circumstances of a blog, "missing" from "My blogs", is the first step in solving many access / ownership / TOS deletions.

  • Deleted by Blogger.
  • Owned by another person.
  • Owned by this person, under another account.

All may be reported as "Not in My blogs" - but resolution will differ.

Research requires access, by an experienced helper.

Unfortunately, most online diagnostics require access to the blog or profile in question.

Access to a private blog or profile, by anybody other than a registered member or the owner, is not an option. This limits the ability to diagnose problems, or to recover access or control of the blog in question.

Similarly, deleted blogs can't be researched - except by using cached content, which can be retrieved, and examined. There are no Blogger tools, however, which can examine cached content.

Most online diagnostic tools, used to recover control of a Blogger account or blog, require access to the blog - and few helpers in Blogger Help Forum have access to the blogs with lost control.

Only a blog member can view a private blog. This makes research, of a private blog, impossible. With a private blog, the only tool usable is the Blogger: Forgot your username or password? wizard - and "Forgot?" does not work, with deleted blogs.

Similarly, a deleted post, in a private blog, must be researched by the owner. And again, lack of cached content - either in feeds or search engines - gives deleted posts research a limited possibility of success.

Only the owner can provide diagnostic details, in some cases.

Any access or blog display problems can only be researched by the owner, of a private blog. If the "owner" (or person reporting the problem) is willing to provide screen prints, some limited advice may be possible - but any detailed network or template research will be up to the owner.

  • Private blogs can't support blog ownership analysis.
  • Private profiles can't support profile analysis.
  • Deleted blogs can't support ownership recovery ("Forgot?").

Blog access recovery requires a combination of blog / profile analysis, and ownership recovery. If one or more of these techniques is unusable, recovery becomes less possible.

Similarly, blogs behind any interstitial warning or "robots.txt" restriction will present a research problem.

Anonymity, unless carefully maintained, is not a good idea.

These limitations are more reasons why anonymity and privacy - though allowed and encouraged by Blogger - is not always a good idea.

If you make yourself truly anonymous, or make your blog private - then have any problem with blog maintenance or management, or the blog is deleted by Blogger, you may be on your own. Blogger needs to support people who have access to their accounts, and who actively publish their blogs.

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