The Real Blogger Status

Recently, we've been seeing a number of reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , from people suddenly unable to login to Blogger and maintain or publish their blogs. It appears that more and more private network owners are converting their email and office applications suites, to use Google Apps / Docs. This gives the various employers and schools the ability to block people, using their email, from also using extraneous / unnecessary services like Blogger and YouTube - and encourages the employees and students to spend their time more productively. People with Blogger accounts, that are based on the converted email domains, are seeing problems accessing their blogs.

Recently, we've been seeing a number of reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , from people suddenly unable to login to Blogger and maintain or publish their blogs. It appears that more and more private network owners are converting their email and office applications suites, to use Google Apps / Docs. This gives the various employers and schools the ability to block people, using their email, from also using extraneous / unnecessary services like Blogger and YouTube - and encourages the employees and students to spend their time more productively. People with Blogger accounts, that are based on the converted email domains, are seeing problems accessing their blogs.

Since 2009, I've been explaining the intricate relationships between Blogger accounts, email addresses, and Google accounts . One of the challenges of logging in to Blogger or Google involves account names and passwords, that may be shared with an email account that is the basis for the Blogger / Google account name. Non GMail based Blogger / Google accounts initially share an account name / email address with the source non GMail email account. If you change a non GMail email address, the Blogger account name will not change. If you delete a non GMail account, the Blogger account is not deleted. Finally, even with shared account names, the passwords between the email account, and the Blogger / Google account, are not automatically shared. With a GMail / Google based Blogger account, on the other hand, both the account name and password will be shared - since it's the same account. If you delete a GMail / Google Blogger account, the Blogger account - and all owned blog...

Some Blogger blog owners, having overlooked the reality of custom domain renewal , discover their mistake too late. We see various queries, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , about domain registration, after it's too late. My blog now displays a search page! Have I been hacked? or maybe My blog is showing content that my kids should not see!

Google has been providing single login access, to (almost all) Google services, for many years. Properly maintained, we can have one Google account, which lets us access all services, using one login. The single login approach is a convenience, when all of the services, which we use, are part of the same Google account. The single login approach becomes a challenge, when some of the services, which we use, are part of different Google accounts . As owners of Blogger blogs, there are some scenarios, where we have to deal with two different Google accounts simultaneously. Accessing non Blogger applications, like Google Apps . Recovering account / blog control . Transferring control of a blog . When we have to deal with two Google accounts, simultaneously, the single login approach becomes a problem.

We see occasional signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , about custom domain publishing. Can I publish to a custom domain - and still use the Blogger dashboard? and Can I publish to a custom domain - and keep my comments and posts? and Can I publish to a custom domain - and avoid TOS restrictions? Some blog owners seem to see custom domain publishing as more than it actually is.

In some cases, the earlier provided procedure , for accessing the limited access domain administrator account, may not work, for your Google Apps domain. If you have trouble with providing both the account name and password, you will need to reset the password using the Google administrative reset. Instead of the wizard at " accounts.google.com ", you will need the administrative reset wizard, at " https://admin.google.com ". A Google Apps administrative account reset uses the same set of initial displays, as the previously discussed limited access account reset - and it offers the same opportunities for confusion . Be prepared to add the appropriate Google account (whether GMail, or non GMail based) to the login menu, as necessary.

In the not so distant past, explaining how to login to Google Apps was a painfully tedious process. If I wanted to login to the Google Apps account for this domain, "nitecruzr.net", I would construct a URL in the browser address window (or use a bookmark) https://www.google.com/a/nitecruzr.net/ServiceLogin The URL for your domain would be different - and explaining the difference was frequently a nuisance, in the login sequence instructions. When explaining how to login to a recently created limited access Apps account , I would focus on the account reset process . For this domain, "nitecruzr.net", I would access the account reset wizard as http://google.com/a/cpanel/nitecruzr.net/ResetAdminPassword or possibly http://google.com/a/nitecruzr.net/ResetAdminPassword Again, your URLs would differ. Maintaining separate bookmarks, for each different domain, was a time sink. With the new Google Apps integrated account login, all of that has changed.

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.

We've been seeing reports from some frustrated blog owners, about problems with the limited access Google Apps accounts . I've reset my password numerous times and it still doesn't work. Even given the recently provided "bloggeradmin" username, and the standard Google account reset process , some blog owners still cannot access Google Apps to manage their Blogger custom domain published blogs. We do have one bit of hope. One such problem report, recently forwarded to Google Apps Support, was noted by a Google Apps Engineer with the advice We identified a recent change which may have affected the password reset flow for some users. We expect it to either be fixed or rolled out shortly. So, there is some hope for a few unhappy new domain owners. It's possible that this problem has been resolved, with Google Apps now using the new comprehensive Google login screen . >> Top

As Google Apps updates their limited function ("bloggeradmin") account setup process, we see reports from confused Blogger blog owners. After I reset my password, I still get The username or password you entered is incorrect when I try to login, later! and I reset my password - and it changed my Blogger and GMail account - but I still can't login to Google Apps!! The Google Apps password reset uses a standard Google account reset process - and is subject to normal account reset behaviour. If you don't reset the right account, you won't be able to login, later.

Some Blogger blog owners, having experienced the anxiety of custom domain setup , intend to carefully maintain their domain registration. We see a few queries, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , about domain registration renewal. How do I make sure my registration gets renewed? or How do I renew registration before it expires? or, possibly My blog now displays a search page! Have I been hacked?

The literal cause of the error "Another blog or Google Site is already using this address." is that the Google Sites service is mapped to the address in question, in the Google domain services mapping database. Some help articles published on the Internet imply that Sites mappings are the only cause of this error. This misconception creates some of the confusion associated with the error. Sites is not the only service in the services mapping database - but it is the only service with web address mappings. The Sites service contains both service address, and web address, mappings - and both mappings can cause this problem. This oddity creates complexity, and makes a linear check list impossible, when using Google Apps to clear the error - as well as diagnosing the error, in a typical dialogue in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken .

Of all of the problems that are typically reported, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , surely the most frustrating has to be Another blog or Google Site is already using this address. or possibly Key already exists for domain ... One of the reasons for the frustration is that this is not a descriptive error - it's more of a symptom - and this symptom has a number of causes . Since many Blogger blog owners don't understand the principles of problem solving, the solutions for this error may not be obvious.

The Google domain services database lets one or more Blogger blogs, and / or various Google services, be packaged as part of a domain - giving your organisation its own virtual web server. Google Apps is used to manage this virtual web server, as you install and un install various domain services. Sometimes a domain, newly setup in Google after the domain has been purchased from a registrar, will have one or more addresses unexpectedly mapped to various Google services. This will be inconvenient to the blog owner, who may wish to use a given URL for a Blogger blog.

Ever since Google ended its free Google Apps accounts , we've been seeing reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about problems encountered when setting up a new Google Apps account, to administer a newly purchased custom domain. Every time I try to login to Google Apps, using instructions in the email message, I get Server Error: We could not process your request at this time, please try again later.