The Real Blogger Status

Many popular accessories start with raw HTML / JavaScript code, from different third party services. One of the advantages of publishing a Blogger blog is the abundance of available accessories . With Blogger being in the top 3 of Internet publishing platforms, every third party service wants customers who publish using Blogger. There are plenty of abusive or malicious accessories , that should not be installed, even when offered - and there are ways to best install the accessories, that can be safely installed.

People who setup a post for future publication, and who work on the post for hours or days, may overlook the final step in scheduling a post. To create a scheduled post, there are 3 steps that are essential. Create and edit content. (D'Ohh!). Set "Schedule", with a future date / time selected. Press "Publish". If you spend hours or days repeatedly editing and Saving your changes, it's possible that the final step may elude you. And this may explain, to some folks, why their scheduled posts don't publish.

Too many would be blog owners are unable to create a blog, because they don't understand how to check for availability. I can't seem to type in a URL, without it saying it's not available. Some people don't understand that you do not type a URL - you just type a blog name , when checking for availability.

Some owners of newer Blogger blogs spend time reading their Stats logs, and worry that their "All time" pageview counts don't always go up - they go down, too. Why do the counts go down? Is there one number, that I can believe? They don't understand that with Stats, you need to look for trends - not absolute readings. In the beginning, fluctuations are more obvious, and trends are less obvious. Thanks to the referer spam war , and to normal visitor activity , even the "All time" numbers will go up and down - for newer blogs, which have less genuine and constant visitor traffic. And the constant rise and fall is scary - until you get used to it.

In terms of questions which seem, to me, to be on the level as the legendary question Who is buried in Grant's Tomb? the question, asked by some folks in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? How do I setup a new blog? would seem to be at the top of the list. But, it's not necessarily so, for everybody.

One of the oddest problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken comes from blog owners who only want their blog to be found, in search engine results . I started a blog 6 months ago. I spent a week getting my blog publicised, it started showing up in search engine results, and all was well. 6 months later, my blog shows up nowhere, it's like it doesn't exist. What happened to my blog?? These blog owners do not realise that a position in any page of the search results is not permanent.

One confusion, which we see in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken regularly, concerns blog owners and their understanding about search engine functionality. I can't find my blog! This is frequently more completely expressed as I can't find my blog, listed in a Search Engine Results Page, when I search by URL (blog title, some other obscure detail ...)! Equally as mystifying are people who report I typed in the name of some obscure porn concept, and found my blog listed. Why is my blog listed with porn? This problem is partially caused by some browser producers, who confuse us by combining the browser address and search windows . There are other reasons for the confusion, too.

Comment moderation, with native Blogger blogs (published to BlogSpot or externally) is pretty simple, with very few choices and no options. You can, if you choose, moderate before the comment is published . You can do similarly, later (after the comment is published). In either case, you can either allow the comment to be published (or remain), or choose to not publish (or delete) the comment. Optionally, moderate before the comment is published. Publish the comment. Don't publish the comment. Moderate after (if) the comment is published. Delete the comment. Don't delete the comment. Pretty limited options? Admittedly so, but still they are a more realistic solution than trying to block commenters or visitors .

We see the plea for help, periodically I need the URL of my blog, so I can give it to my friends. Help! Who's buried in Grant's Tomb, after all? No Chuck, be polite. OK, OK. The title of this blog is "The Real Blogger Status", and the title of this post is "What's The URL Of My Blog?".