The Real Blogger Status

All good things must come to an end. So did the first year of my Google Domains registered domain. Fortunately, renewing took but a few minutes.

The Google Admin Console (formerly known as "Google Apps" desktop) is an essential tool, for many Blogger custom domain publishers. Any blog owner, who purchased a domain from Google before the introduction of Google Domains, may need access to the Admin Console. It's used to change payment or renewal details, to change domain settings - or possibly, to transfer control of the domain outside Blogger / Google.

Recently, Google Apps redesigned their desktop GUI. Now, it's easier to maintain auto-renew settings for your custom domain. Of course, "easier" may not be the same as "more initially obvious". Along with the GUI redesign of Google Apps, Google changed payment procedures for domain registrations.

As custom domain publishing becomes more popular with Blogger blog owners, it's inevitable that people outside the USA would start using it, routinely. Questions about payment options are seen regularly, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? . How much does a domain cost? This used to have a simple answer . $10 US, charged against a major bank issued credit card. With the internationalisation of Blogger, the answer becomes significantly more complex.

Some owners of blogs purchased through Blogger, using " Buy a domain ", get nervous when the yearly anniversary of their domain purchase approaches. My bank changed my credit card number - will I be able to pay for my domain's registration? and Will my domain be renewed? and I don't want my domain any more. Can I get a refund on the rest of the year? The Blogger / Google Apps domain setup process is so well integrated, that many domain owners never have to worry.

An occasional sad story, from people trying to purchase a non BlogSpot URL for their blogs, results from lack of preparation before using " Buy a domain ". I had my domain all chosen, but when I entered my credit card number, the card was declined. I straightened out the credit card problem with my bank - but now, I get We found an existing order for this domain. Help me! Generally, when this happens, we have the blogger clear cache, cookies, and authenticated sessions , and restart the browser. But this uncertainty is unnecessary, if you have a working credit card ready for use, before you start the purchase process. Paying for your new domain is a major part of the purchase process, so plan and prepare.

Almost all features of Blogger One Button Publishing are free - though not entirely from an altruistic decision by Google. One of the few Blogger features that is not free is the ability to publish a blog to a non BlogSpot URL, also known as "custom domain" publishing . Even though custom domain publishing is not free, it's not a feature from which Blogger / Google directly receives income. The cost for a custom domain registration goes directly to the registrar - and for very real services . The need for payment creates the need for some decision by the blog owner, when purchasing the domain.

Sometimes, you have to tell people something twice, before they will listen to you. This month, the "Buy A Domain" wizard has that problem. As always, start from Settings - Publishing, and select "Switch to: • Custom Domain ". If you were buying "mydomain.net", for " What address would you like your blog to have? " you should simply enter "mydomain", select ".net", then hit "Check Availability". This month, if you do that, you will see There was an error processing this form. Please try again. URL should end in a valid domain extension, such as .com or .net. In this case, you must enter "mydomain.net", then select ".net". The ".net" bit is validated, too. If you enter "mydomain.com", then select ".net", you'll get the same error. Strange, but true. >> Top

Having written my referential guide Troubleshooting Your Custom Domain Problems , I have seen more than a few questions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken that are solved by use of the guide. Maybe you can avoid use of that guide, if you plan ahead of time .

With the current state of Custom Domain Publishing , and the bX codes that have become so common as of late, we're seeing some unhappy bloggers. People are getting ripped off it seems like. BLOGGER WHAT IS GOING ON! and I bought my domain from GoDaddy and it doesn't work! I want my money back!! But, as has been mentioned before, once you buy the domain registration, it's yours, and you don't get your money back . If you buy the domain using the "Buy A Domain" wizard, the domain is registered to you, and you get email from Google Apps, it's your domain. If the Blogger script doesn't succeed in connecting the domain URL to your Blogger blog (BlogSpot URL), the domain is still yours. Ditto if you buy the domain from GoDaddy and the DNS isn't setup for you. You take your Google Apps email, sign into eNom or GoDaddy, and correct the DNS. Once the DNS is setup, you can publish any web site that pleases you to your domain. Maybe you can't publis...

The Blogger "Google Custom Domain" product, which gives bloggers a much requested ability to use a non-BlogSpot URL with a Layouts template, was first offered over a year ago, in January, 2007 . I've been writing about Custom Domains ever since - the basic procedure of setting one up, and about the problems involved , and even about the many improvements that it's received .

When you buy a new automobile in the USA, there's a consumer protection clause in most finance plans. This protection is called "right of recession". When invoked properly, it gives you, the consumer, the choice of terminating the purchase up to 3 days following your signing on the bottom line. Many retail stores give you the choice of returning some (not all) items purchased in their store, when accompanied by the right contents and documentation, for full or partial refund of purchase price.

Now that Google Custom Domains are becoming more polished, and people can see their usefulness, many bloggers who are less technically savvy are wanting one. Having more web presence than the plain old "myblog.blogspot.com" is probably the dream of many. To encourage this, Blogger recently added the " Buy A Domain For Your Blog " wizard. Like all Blogger wizards, it has its advantages and its disadvantages.