The Real Blogger Status

Some new blog owners put a lot of effort into designing a shiny template with lots of features, but omit blog content - or spend time carefully tuning their blogs. Eventually, they will add content, to the blog. Later, they may discover reality. This looks like crap! or Why do I have no readers? Different blogs, with differing content, may look better using different templates. And some sections of the dashboard should be left alone.

Almost 2 years ago, motion picture actor Paul Walker and Roger Rojas decided to joyride, take a spin , in suburban Los Angeles California. What followed was $500,000 + destruction, at speed exceeding twice the posted 45 MPH. Driven in an industrial / office complex , the street legal race car - his buddy Roger at the wheel - left the road, and wrapped itself around a tree. It takes money to own, and to race, a super car - like a Porsche Carrera GT, that took Paul's life. It takes no money, however, to own a super web application - like a Blogger blog.

Similar to starting a blog and immediately focusing on making money , we sometimes see people who start a blog, and immediately start designing the template, with custom features. A beautiful, shiny design is useless, if your readers don't like it. Different blogs will attract different reader populations , who will respond to different designs.

We see various questions about getting advice and non standard accessories / code, from blogs and websites advertised outside Blogger / Google control - generally in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Why can't I see my blog? Every time I click on "View blog", I get a face full of ads! and Where can I get accessories, gadgets, and templates for my blog?? and How do I know what accessories, gadgets, and templates are safe, for my blog? and Why did Blogger lock my blog, as a malware host? All of these folks are discussing the same issue - blog content security. Some are asking properly , before they cause their problems - but others are not .

Too many blog owners, when they setup a custom domain for their blog, do not consider the details. We see signs of the problem, too often, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . Can someone give me step by step instructions for setting up a custom domain with xxxxxxx registrar? I contacted xxxxxxx customer service - and they told me a lot of things I didn't understand! Would it be easier just to transfer the domain to GoDaddy? The short answer here would be Yes, it would be easier just to transfer the domain to GoDaddy. Unfortunately, that answer is not completely correct - and the correction may leave you with a broken domain.

It's so simple to setup a Blogger blog, and publish posts . A "stock" Blogger blog takes maybe 5 minutes to setup, and half of that involves choosing an available blog name , and writing your first post. Generally, after you have published a few posts, you should start to think about the fun stuff - such as making the blog more attractive, or about getting more readers. And now, you have a chance to learn, about blogging in general, and about Blogger blogging specifically. And if you want to learn, Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? is a great place to start. Just keep an open mind. Learn how to ask for advice, accept advice, and ask intelligent questions about advice provided . Please, when you ask for advice, don't start with I need more traffic to my blog. Please make simple instructions, as I don't want to learn anything - I just want a checklist. or I want my blog published to a working custom domain. I bought my domain from Domains-R-Cheap, and it d...