The Real Blogger Status

Adding a FaceBook developed gadget is - or should be - just like adding any HTML / JavaScript gadget . Sometime, though, adding a FaceBook gadget just does not produce hoped for results. We see the problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . The gadget is blank! or The gadget does not update anything! The problems will typically involve gadget code - and the FaceBook Debugger wizard is unlikely to provide any help.

In a separate project, I was updating this blog - and in previewing my changes, I observed the familiar demur We're sorry. This gadget is configured incorrectly. ... In the sidebar, underneath "Follow Me". That sight made me wonder if the Followers gadget, when viewed in the live blog, would again work properly - when recently, I had begun wondering if the gadget would ever work, again . And, when I investigated, I found my musings were correct.

We have a number of problem reports, from various blog owners and readers, about email from Blogger, posted daily in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Some email, from different Blogger features and services, simply is not being delivered. The normal advice given is for the person reporting the problem to look in the "Bulk" / "Spam" folders, in the email client. Not all non delivered email is dropped into "Bulk" / "Spam". Some email is simply "bounced" - ie, returned to the sender. Since most Blogger email is sent from a "no-reply" email address (ie, "no-reply@blogger.com"), bounced email vanishes - and nothing is done to analyse its non delivery.

Last week, Google turned off the long deprecated Google Feed API . Among many Blogger features that were affected , were 4 identified gadgets. Feed Newsreel Slideshow Video Bar Several days after the API was turned off, Google realised their mistake, and turned it back on again. The Newsreel gadget, unfortunately, remains out of service - and we have seen many reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue .

This month, we have numerous reports of problems with the Popular Posts gadget, and its size being out of control. Some blog owners cannot get their gadgets to display as many as entries are selected - while others have more entries displayed, then are selected. And some report differing success with displaying "Last 7 days", or "Last 30 days", as opposed to "All time". One forum helper has suggested a CSS tweak, which may help in some cases - but not consistently.

Sometimes, a problem with a specific gadget or post, when displayed, can affect the appearance of the entire blog. We've known for years, about the mysterious dropped sidebar . Sometimes, we see similar problems, in other blog performance. Gadgets missing. Gadgets visible, but they don't work. Gadgets visible in the desktop view - but not the mobile view (or, vice versa). Posts that are unreadable - or worse, previously published posts, in that index page, that are unreadable. Both the HTML / JavaScript gadget, and the page or post, can be edited either as code ("HTML"), and as displayed ("Compose" / "Rich Text"). If you spend a lot of time in "Compose" / "Rich Text" mode, when editing gadgets, pages and posts, you may not know about "HTML" mode - or its dangers.

We're seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , mentioning problems adding or updating the HTML and Text gadgets. The most common symptom, when reported, is very simple. When I try to update the gadget, all that I see is javascript:void(0); In this case, we have to first explain that " javascript:void(0); " is not the problem - it's simply a symptom of the problem . Once we explore the problem itself, we see various possible causes. The base cause for problems with the HTML / Text gadget is simple - the script which processes gadget updates provides no diagnostics when detecting errors.

We're seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about broken TextList gadgets. I cannot add a URL, linking to the Title of my posts, using the "Configure TextList" wizard. The 'Add URL' option is missing from the "Configure TextList" wizard. Similar to the shared design between the "HTML" and "Text" gadgets , it appears that the "LinkList" and "TextList" gadgets shared features.

The schizophrenic nature of the HTML / Text gadget continues to confuse some blog owners. Recently, we're seeing claims about broken Text gadgets , in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . I hit the Save button, and nothing happens! Why is my Text gadget not working?? Too many blog owners are causing their own problem, because of confusion about the caption in the gadget update wizard . The header of the HTML / Text wizard is the only visible difference, between the "HTML" and "Text" gadgets. You'll see "Configure HTML/JavaScript" (for an HTML gadget) or "Configure Text" (for a Text gadget), as the gadget header. The rest of the gadget will be the same, for both gadgets - and this is why some gadgets, being updated, appear to be broken.

For over a week, we've had anxious blog owners unable to create or update the Text gadgets on their blogs. The "Save" button is not working, on my Text gadget! or maybe I see Javascript void(0) when hitting Save! Blogger actually fixed this problem, earlier this month - and it broke again, shortly afterwards. Not everybody understands that seeing "javascript:void(0);" is a symptom of the problem - not the problem itself. This problem, fortunately, has a reasonably effective workaround.

This week, we're seeing a few concerned blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , asking about a mysterious SECURITY WARNING popup box, on their blogs. Like the earlier concern about the transparent boxes covering the blog , this appears to be another broken FaceBook Connect gadget.

In February, we observed that various blog owners were reporting problems with updating label and link lists . We setup a problem rollup in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , where we observed a small but significant number of reports from unhappy blog owners, unable to update the gadgets on their blogs. Last month, Blogger Support supposedly resolved the reported problem, and the volume of problem reports dropped significantly. The problem, however, has not been eliminated.

We're seeing a steady flood of problem reports about various Blogger blogs that have developed a mysterious transparent box, covering some portion of the blog surface when displayed. Some blogs display the box for all views, others for main page view only, and still others for specific individual posts. The box may be visible at the top of the page or in the middle - and may scroll with the screen, or may remain fixed relative to the display. In many cases, it blocks important blog content, and / or prevents clicking on crucial links. Initial observations, during the immediately previous 2 - 3 days. referred to a "FaceBook or similar Social Networking gadget". Digging deeper, and looking closely at reported cases, we can look for the problem itself.

Possibly encouraged by less than positive reviews , Blogger has recently enhanced their dynamic templates . Dynamic Views are a set of templates that make it easy and fun to explore a blog. As you might expect, we’ve made the gadgets interactive too. Instead of appearing in a panel that consumes valuable real estate on your blog, gadgets now appear in a dock that slides in and out as you move your cursor over them. Now, at least some of the gadgets in the sidebar will be visible to your readers, when they visit your blog, as viewed using a dynamic view.

For several weeks, we've been seeing a light but steady stream of reports from blog owners unable to update various template gadgets, on their blogs. This blog, personally, has the full page Topics Index , which needs to be updated with half a dozen newly created labels. In some cases, the "Save" button may appear inactive or dim; in other cases, the owner will see the "Saving..." status endlessly displayed, while the wizard appears to "hang".

As I've mentioned before, generally in consumer related issues, a "2 for 1" offer is something that you enjoy, The "2 for 1" offer is not always the case , for Blogger blogs. This week, we have owners of private blogs, who report that their blogs, which previously displayed the "About Me" gadget, now show a "Contributors" gadget. The issue of the "About Me" gadget being replaced by the "Contributors" gadget is not arbitrary though.

Blogger wants bloggers to participate in social networking. They have encouraged this, for a long time, using the "Email Post Links" icon. Recently, they improved on the latter option, with a small set of buttons for sharing posts in the most popular social networking platforms. Now, our readers can have the option to easily share our posts using Email, Blog This!, Twitter, Facebook, and Google Buzz. The new "Share Blog" Buttons are a part of the post template. Just like every other post template component, they are selected using the " Blog Posts " gadget in " Page Elements ". Blogs with older templates may not have the required post template code, to make this option work. If you use "Blog Posts", enable the Share Buttons, and still don't see the new buttons on your blog, reset the post template . Remember to backup the template , before and after making this change. >> Top

The gadgets ( previously known as widgets ) are the template components that can be manipulated using the " dashboard Layout " wizard. The post template is the most commonly used gadget (found in virtually every blog) - but it's not the only gadget.

Do you see the Followers gadget in the sidebar here? See the "Sign in" link at the top of the gadget (if you're not signed in to Following), or the "Invite your friends" link at the bottom of the gadget (if you are signed in to Following)? Move your mouse over either link, and watch the browser status bar (generally, the lower left of the browser window border). When you move the mouse pointer over a normal link, you should see the URL of the link. In this case, you see javascript:void(0); A lot of blog owners don't understand the reason for this, and think that the blog is broken, or maybe hacked. I can't publish any posts on my blog, or moderate any comments. At the bottom of the page I get an "Errors on page" message, and if I hover over certain areas of my dashboard, I get the "javascript:void(0);" message.

In a Layouts template, the ability to add and delete page elements (gadgets) is one of the neatest tasks in maintaining your blog. Sometimes, a page element added can't be deleted later. You can edit a page element either from the blog itself (if you have enabled Quick Edit), or from the Page Elements wizard . When you edit an element, it should have a button to "Remove Page Element". The button isn't always there - and this generally happens when the gadget is locked.