The Real Blogger Status

Deleted blog recovery requests come in many forms. I can't access my blog! or My dashboard is empty!! or Somebody deleted my blog!!! A successful deleted blog recovery starts from the dashboard button or link, to "Restore" or "Review" the blog. When the blog was deleted by the owner less than 90 days ago , and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Restore" button will bring the blog back, as the owner watches. If the blog was deleted by Blogger / Google, and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Review" button starts the recovery process. If use of the "Review" button brings no results - or if there is no "Restore" / "Review" button at all, things get interesting .

Sometimes, blogs which are under legal action by Blogger / Google can be under action, simultaneously, for multiple, valid reasons. Occasionally, we get angry complaints, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I got a DMCA Complaint email from Google. My blog was deleted, my dashboard is empty, I got no email from Blogger - and ChillingEffects has no complaint detail. How do I get my blog restored? Since we don't review DMCA cases in Blogger Help - and with no dashboard or email records of a non DMCA deletion, the blog owner is left with no options.

Some blog owners don't understand the severity of DMCA violation citations. We see occasional naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken I got email After reviewing your account, we noticed that you have violated the terms of service frequently: http://www.blogger.com/go/terms . And where we have sent you several warnings about these abuses and offered you information about our policy towards repeat infringers, we were forced to disable Blogger service provided to you. Thank you for your understanding. - Blogger Team Why can I not login to Blogger, now? This blog owners, and too many others, do not understand about the severity of repeated DMCA / TOS violation, upon their Blogger / Google accounts.

Some blog owners setup blogs, then casually make their friends administrators, without considering the potential risk to their blogs. From time to time, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , we see reports by former blog owners, who have lost control of their blogs. There are several risks - and not all risks are apparent. Aggressive takeover of the blog, by one administrator. Unintentional self deletion or demotion, by the last active administrator. A team member, causing locking of a team blog. Any of these scenarios can result in inconvenience to the remaining administrators.

Even though being the victim of a hacking attack is not (always) the fault of the account / blog owner , the blog owner may have to bear some of the responsibility. Since hacking detection is a fuzzy process, it's not always going to be detected immediately. The previous article discusses what happens when Google does detect a hacking attack - and in some cases reacts too diligently. If Google is not able to detect an attack, in some cases, an attack may be successful.

Some blog owners don't understand the serious nature of repeated violation of TOS Policy, in Blogger blogs - and how offenses are handled, by Google. We've seen several reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , from blog owners who appear to be unclear about the consequences of repeated TOS Violations. I got email from Blogger, about my Blogger account. We'd like to inform you that we've received another complaint regarding a blog that you administer. Upon review of your account, we've noted that you've repeatedly violated the Terms of Service: http://www.blogger.com/go/terms . Given that we've provided you with several warnings of these violations and advised you of our policy towards repeat infringers, we've been forced to disable your Blogger service. How do I get my blog restored? This example appears to represent the final step, in a multi step policy.

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.

Blogger blog owners may have productive action, when their Blogger accounts are successfully hacked through an attack on their GMail accounts. GMail account owners can get detailed instructions on recovering a successfully hacked account, and on preventing future hacking attacks from being successful. Some of the instructions are specific to GMail use - but overall, Blogger account owners will benefit from their use.

Not all new Blogger blog owners understand why they are asked for their birthdate, when they setup a Blogger or Google account. Some folks see this as a violation of their right to privacy, and enter a fake birthdate. Some real serious privacy enthusiasts might enter "01/01/01", just to get through the setup process - maybe intending to correct it, later. Nobody entering "01/01/01", for one's birthdate, suspects that claiming such a birthdate makes them - in 2013 - appear to be 12 years of age. Unfortunately, 12 years is below the minimum age for owning a Blogger blog. Since Blogger / Google tries to protect the young people on the Internet from inadvertently exposing themselves - or their families or friends - to unknown dangers, people who may appear to be of insufficient age are subject to having their Blogger / Google accounts, and Blogger blogs, deleted or locked.

We have known, for a while, that every Blogger blog has to have at least one administrator . That rule is enforced by the Permissions wizard, which gives any administrator the choice to demote or remove any administrator, from the Permissions list - but only when there is at least one other administrator in the list. When the Permissions list is displayed, if there are at least two members with administrative authority, each administrator entry, in the list, has a link to demote or remove that member. If there is only one member with administrative authority, there is no such link - and that member can be neither demoted or removed from the list. As long as only the Permissions wizard is used, to demote or remove administrators, this article would be meaningless (see the above link). But, there is another way for administrators to be removed - and this occasionally leaves blogs with no administrator.

Of the many problem reports that we see in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , possibly the most ambiguous might be My blog was deleted. How do I get my blog back? The confusion, evidenced here, is normal - but overlooking the reason for the deletion can waste time - and delay or prevent getting the blog restored.

We've known for a while about the limited ability for Blogger to restore a deleted blog . Recently, we learned about a second, and possibly more severe, restore limit. Google Accounts: Deleting or restoring a Google account warns us that the ability to restore a deleted Google account is limited. If you accidentally deleted your Google Account, you can attempt to restore it by going to our password assistance page within a limited window of time after deletion. Without any authoritative source to quote, I am told that the "limited window" is less than a business week. If you delete your Google account, you have to have the account restored - not recreated - if you hope to regain use of your Blogger account - and (if necessary) have your blogs also restored. If this happens, you will need to act quickly - and hope that you can provide the necessary details , to regain control of your account and / or blogs. >> Top

People make mistakes - and that bare fact is the basis for so many interesting problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . If you made a mistake and deleted your Blogger account, maybe you're just now noticing that the blogs owned by the account have disappeared, also. Blog has been removed Sorry, the blog at mydeletedblog.blogspot.com has been removed. This address is not available for new blogs. Now, what to do?

A frequently seen sign of confusion in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? is the question How soon after deletion can I reuse a blog? And the answer is two part. Immediately, if you can just undelete it using the same account . Never, if you are trying to transfer the blog. Occasionally the response to that involves a complication. But I deleted the account, to make sure that the blog gets freed up. And now, the blogger gets no choice. You have to reactivate the account, because the URL is locked to that account. Now, the blogger has a four fold task ahead of him. If you just recreated the Google account, by creating a new account with the same email address, you have to delete the account just created . Re activate the original Google account, using Google Accounts: Contacting Support - I can't access my account . Select "No" for "Did this work?", and fill out the form that you see there. Alternately, re activate the earlier deleted Google account, using Google ...