The Real Blogger Status

We see some blog owners deciding to change their custom domain URLs - and discovering an unexpected limitation, in re indexing the blog, under the new URL I received email from Google, advising that my previous domain is pulling up a number of 404 errors. I've noticed that these are for individual blog posts. When you change one custom domain to another, you may not see the domain re indexed, transparently.

Some blog owners - weary of the restrictions, and lack of options and features, decide that WordPress is not part of their future - and are moving to Blogger. An important part of changing from WordPress to Blogger publishing is the process of moving the existing blog content. You can import WordPress content into a new Blogger blog - or use an existing Blogger blog. If you are migrating a WordPress domain to Blogger , you'll want to transfer the content, first.

Google Domains describes their view of the domain transfer process, in Google Domains Help: Transfer a domain out . The transfer process supports different transfers. From a person with an account at one registrar, to another account at that same registrar. From a person with an account at one registrar, to an account at a different registrar. From one person, to a different person, at that same registrar. From one person, to a different person, at a different registrar. As a project, I found it best to define, size, and assign the complete transfer process in 6 tasks. The project can be adjusted for a domain served by any sending registrar - and targeting any receiving registrar - based upon formalities required by each registrar.

Occasionally, we see the question My domain is expiring soon. Will the blog be visible, after the domain expires? And this answer is not so obvious. If the blog remains "published" to the domain, the blog will redirect to a dead domain. Your readers may see a screen full of ads - or they may see Site not found. What they see will depend upon ISP / registrar policy.

The process of changing one custom domain URL to another is similar to the task of changing the BlogSpot URL . The risk of identity theft is not as great, when you change a custom domain. You will continue to "own" any previously used domain, even when unpublished - but the risk of technical error is just as real. If you care about blog accessibility, you will plan this process , with some care.

Sometimes, you have to re publish your blog, to the domain. Maybe, you want to change the BlogSpot or domain URL, or change the blog - or maybe the previous publishing did not complete, properly. If the blog is currently published to a non BlogSpot URL, you can't just publish it, again. You have to start by publishing the blog back to a BlogSpot URL, before you can again publish the blog to a non BlogSpot URL. Given the right planning, and understanding of the tasks involved, you can do all of this in a couple minutes - less time than it will probably take you to read these instructions.

Every domain transfer - from one owner to another, or one registrar to another - starts with obtaining then providing the EPP code for the domain. The EPP code is an ownership certificate, similar to the mysterious second "CNAME" , used by Blogger to verify domain ownership. You get the code from the current registrar - and pass the code to the new owner or registrar. Whether you are moving your domain registration from Blogger to another registrar . or maybe moving from another registrar to Blogger , passing the EPP code to the new registrar is essential, in having the potential registrar accept registration.

Similar to concerns about using a Google custom domain outside Blogger , we have concerns about using an existing non Google custom domain with Blogger. One of the advantages of the Blogger custom domain feature is that it gives you the option to publish a Blogger blog to an existing domain . The existing domain can be part of a WordPress hosted website, a website hosted by your ISP, or by any registrar - as long as you have access to a domain dashboard (aka "zone editor"), and can add the required DNS addresses. If the need to use the Blogger blog in the domain is strong enough - and if the existing registrar does not provide dashboard access, or the necessary addresses - you may be able to transfer domain hosting, to a more suitable registrar.

From time to time, we see questions about using a Blogger / Google custom domain, with publishing services outside Blogger / Google. Some Blogger blog owners want to combine their Blogger blogs, with non Blogger blogs and websites - and others want simply to move their blogging activity to non Blogger services. And a few think ahead, and wonder how adding or moving to another service will affect the ability of their existing readers to find their blog, and / or their ability to get new readers. As with using a Blogger blog with an existing non Google domain , this is not a simple project - and to do this properly will require research - and well informed decisions. Some assistance can be provided by Blogger or in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger - and other portions of the project will require advice or instruction from the support groups for the new service.

With both custom domain publishing, and Google+ hosted comments, becoming more popular, it is inevitable that the two subjects would interact. One key difference between Blogger hosted comments, and Google+ hosted comments, is how they associate with the host blog. Blogger hosted comments link to the blog - but Google+ hosted comments (aka Google+ stream posts) link to the URL. Any time you change the URL of your blog , you will lose Google+ hosted comments - from your blog. The Google+ stream posts, however, are still out there - and they still link back to your blog.

If you rename a non Blogger hosted website - and you retain ownership of the previous domain (or re publish a website within the same domain), you can redirect traffic from the old URL to the new URL, for some websites, using the ".htaccess" control file . Some Blogger blog owners, used to setting up ".htaccess" based redirection for non Blogger websites, have renamed their blog - either from one BlogSpot URL to another , or maybe from a custom domain URL to another URL . Finding the links in the blog now broken, they wonder. How do I setup .htaccess for the old URL? This is an option that Blogger does not provide.

Not all blog owners are certain of the relationship between the blog URL, and usefulness of the utilities in Webmaster Tools . If you're using Webmaster Tools with your blog (and this you really should be doing), you'll notice that the tools, as provided, reference the URL of the blog. If you change the blog URL - either as a simple BlogSpot rename , or when re publishing to a custom domain - you need a new Webmaster Tools entry. And, you'll need to retain the old Webmaster Tools entry.

The custom domain publishing form, in the dashboard Publishing wizard, causes confusion. Occasionally, we see evidence of the confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . I need to cancel my domain - but Blogger won't let me! or I clicked on my dashboard, and now my blog isn't published to my domain! These blog owners, and more, are perplexed by the Publishing overlay form, displayed for a blog published to a custom domain. The custom domain overlay, in the dashboard Basic - Publishing wizard, is very elegant. The overlay design is similar to forms used by Blogger and Google+, to display photos. The "overlay" form is appropriately designed, for its use. The form follows the function - and reflects the status of the blog. For all that, it's diabolically subtle.

One of the saddest answers given in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken starts with the naive query My domain registration expired last month, and my blog is now offline. How do I redirect the domain back to the blog? The answer here is simple, and does not provide a lot of promise , to the blog owner. If possible, you may be able to publish the blog back to BlogSpot - but the blog will have to be re indexed from the beginning. Once the domain registration expires, you cannot use the domain address for reputation or traffic source. Any search engine hit entries, to the domain URL, will be 404 - and there is nothing that you can do, if you no longer own the domain .

Sometimes, when you have a Blogger blog, published to a non BlogSpot URL, you may need to repeat the publishing process. Maybe, you want to change the BlogSpot or domain URL, or change the blog - or maybe the previous publishing did not complete, properly. If the blog is currently published to a non BlogSpot URL, you can't just publish it, again. You have to start by publishing the blog back to a BlogSpot URL, before you can again publish the blog to a non BlogSpot URL. Given the right planning, and understanding of the tasks involved, you can do all of this in 5 minutes - less time than it will probably take you to read these instructions.

As custom domain publishing becomes simply one more feature to add to your Blogger blog, some blog owners decide that the domain that they are using, right now, is not to their liking. Fortunately, with a Blogger blog, the process of changing your domain to another is not complicated - hoping that you have the right tools, and make the right decisions. Buy (as required), and setup , a new domain URL. Publish the blog back to BlogSpot. Publish the blog to the new domain. All that considered, there is a fourth step which many blog owners manage to overlook - until long after they have completed the third.

We've been exploring the issues of Custom Domain Publishing for many years. The problem of custom domain database corruption , also known as Another blog is already hosted at this address. is one of the most commonly observed symptoms, with custom domain publishing problems. The most common cause of the "Another blog ..." symptom is broken database pointers. In the past, the broken pointers have been associated with various Google Apps controlled services. Ad Services. Google Sites. Start Page. Now that Custom Domain Publishing is a mature feature in Blogger, there's a newly seen trend, in problems reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . Blogger Blogs.

One problem, occasionally seen in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , involves blog owners preparing to re use their custom domain for publishing their website - and who now need to publish their Blogger blog back to BlogSpot. I need to reuse my domain for my website - but when I try to re publish my blog, I keep seeing Another blog is already hosted at this address. How can I get my blog back online? When we look at the domain, and the DNS addresses, we see the domain pointing to the website, already. And this is where many custom domain publishing problems start.

The New Blogger GUI (2011) has been available for just over 6 months - and we see new confusion about using it, daily, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? . How do I cancel my custom domain redirect, in the New GUI? This is one specific question, that's been asked, recently. The answer to that specific question is actually right there, in front of us - we just don't see it.

If you enjoy single deck card games, such as the magic trick of Three Card Monte , you probably depend upon an unbroken rule. All cards, in a deck, are unique. There can be only one Queen Of Spades. Some blog owners don't accept this rule, when setting up their custom domains. How do I use two domains, with one blog? This question is vaguely similar to swapping domains between one blog - and there is where some confusion starts. I bought a second domain for the blog - and the first domain stopped working!