Skip to main content

A Blog, Not On Your Dashboard, Has Various Causes

We see many complaints, worded in various ways, about "missing" blogs, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.
My blog is not on my dashboard!
or
I logged in this morning, and I see
Create your blog now
You are not an author on any blogs yet ...
Help!
There are many reasons for these reports - and not all may be what they seem.

The causes of "missing" blogs vary widely, from blogs deleted by Blogger (or the owner) to blogs owned under another account (the claimant or a third party). Chances for recovery may vary, similarly.

A blog, when it is missing from your dashboard, may be deleted - it may be misplaced - or it may be stolen. In some cases, you may see the blog, on the dashboard - but not have options to do much of anything.

  • The blog is owned by another account, which you may control.
  • The blog was moved from your account, to another account.
  • The blog was deleted from your dashboard.
  • The blog is locked, for a security check.
  • The blog is on the dashboard, but with no useful options.
  • The blog is on the dashboard - but is not seen in "My blogs".


How many blog owners have never seen this bit of bad news?



If the Blogger account is locked, you may see this when you try to access the blog, using the URL.


The blog is owned by another account, which you may control.

You may have created an additional account, which you are now using - and overlooking the correct account, which owned or owns the blog.

Recovery will consist of identifying the owning account, then by recovering control of the blog, using "Forgot?". It will help, to know how to identify the current Blogger account, and / or the current Google+ account - and possibly, how to determine access level.

If the blog is locked, because of detected hacking activity, you will have to login with the right Blogger account - while using a blind login.

The blog was moved from your account, to another account.

Your Blogger account may have been compromised, and your blogs moved to an account which somebody else controls.

Here, chances for recovery are not good - as Blogger is legally unable to help you, with a stolen blog. If you voluntarily gave control to a friend, you have some chance of recovery - depending upon how good the friendship may be.

The blog was deleted from your dashboard.

Blogs may be deleted from your dashboard for many reasons - either by you (accidentally, or on purpose) - or by Blogger, for any of several reasons.

If you deleted the blog - and if you act promptly, you may be able to restore the blog - if you have access to the correct Blogger account, and if you did not choose "Delete permanently".

If Blogger deleted the blog for abuse, you will have to appeal the deletion. If Blogger locked the blog, because of hacking, you may have to wait, while the account and blogs are examined.

The blog is locked, for a security check.

Have you recently had to verify or unlock your Blogger account - change the account password, solve a CAPTCHA, and / or verify account ownership by providing various personal details?

This scenario is not always easy to diagnose - and it can affect more than one Blogger account. And it can happen, without you making any mistakes.

The blog is on the dashboard, but with no useful options.

In some cases, the blog may be listed on the dashboard - but have a very limited menu. The blog may be owned by an account which you own (but do not recognise) - or by another person.

Recovery will depend upon your ability to identify the owner - and your relationship with the owner (who may be you, or a different person).

The blog is on the dashboard - but is not seen in "My blogs".

In May 2017, Blogger removed the dashboard home page - and relocated "My blogs" to a pulldown list, which overlays the main dashboard menu.

People who have not learned of this change - and seeing the dashboard home page to only show the most recently updated blog - may not know about the dashboard "My blogs" pulldown menu. Some will report their observation as

My blog has disappeared, from my dashboard!

Confusion is normal, when recovering a blog.

One of the problems with "missing" blogs is that the symptoms are easily confused. Some missing blogs require careful forensic examination, to simply determine the situation - then more analysis, to determine a solution. Not all blog owners are patient enough to endure the examination and analysis process.

All of these possibilities may explain one more reason for some blog owners considering the account / blog recovery process to be flakey.

Comments

Unknown said…
I have an old blog I would like to delete. I assume Blogger deleted it from my dashboard because it has been inactive for so long, but if I put the URL in it still works. When I login to Blogger I see exactly what is in the first picture you posted here. It seems as though contacting them is impossible, and you just have to troubleshoot on your own. Any tips on how I can delete my old blog?
Nitecruzr said…
Hi Kathy,

Thanks for the question.

If this post - and linked posts - don't explain your problem, and the choices that you have, why not post in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, so we can diagnose your problem?

Maybe we'll get you an answer, maybe a correction for my posts. We'll not know, unless you pot there.

Popular posts from this blog

Adding A Link To Your Blog Post

Occasionally, you see a very odd, cryptic complaint I just added a link in my blog, but the link vanished! No, it wasn't your imagination.

Embedded Comments And Main Page View

The option to display comments, embedded below the post, was made a blog option relatively recently. This was a long requested feature - and many bloggers added it to their blogs, as soon as the option was presented to us. Some blog owners like this feature so much, that they request it to be visible when the blog is opened, in main page view. I would like all comments, and the comment form, to be shown underneath the relevant post, automatically, for everyone to read without clicking on the number of comments link. And this is not how embedded comments work.

What's The URL Of My Blog?

We see the plea for help, periodically I need the URL of my blog, so I can give it to my friends. Help! Who's buried in Grant's Tomb, after all? No Chuck, be polite. OK, OK. The title of this blog is "The Real Blogger Status", and the title of this post is "What's The URL Of My Blog?".