The Real Blogger Status

This month, we are again seeing evidence of recent security changes by Microsoft . We see signs of continued frustration, in the process of publishing comments - and publishing posts, as part of the Import process. In the process of diagnosing an apparent comment publishing problem, I ventured into the comment publishing experience, yet again.

If you use a computer that runs Microsoft Windows, you may have been affected by Microsoft supplied updates , distributed 3 weeks ago. May 10 was the day termed "Patch Tuesday" - the day when Microsoft releases important security related patches , to its various Internet updated products. During the 3 weeks after May 10, we've seen a significant number of security related discussions, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . It appears that Microsoft updates, for May 2016, affect use of Blogger.

Last week, Blogger turned off their workaround from June 2015 , that was allowing Windows Live Writer, and other third party editors and auxiliary Blogger services, to access Blogger. All week, we saw various reports of problems, reminiscent of the problems that we saw in June 2015, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Yesterday, Blogger Engineering provided a status announcement . We would like to let all users of Windows Live Writer know that Microsoft has made the application open source and it’s now a different application called Open Live Writer ( you will need to download it here ). A few months ago, the Windows Live Writer and Blogger integration stopped working for a few days due to improvements in Google’s authentication systems. We agreed to keep the old authentication systems for a few more months but starting December 11th, they will be retired and Windows Live Writer will stop working. The Open Live Writer team is now working on making OLW use ClientLogin a...

It's important to use a supported browser, when using Blogger. Every different browser - and every different browser version - requires different code, to make heavily scripted products like Blogger operate properly on your computer. When you report a problem with using Blogger, one of the most essential questions that you can answer is What browser - and what browser version - are you using? This is not a formality - nor is it pedantic or snarky - it is a serious question , intended to help you to help us.

Some blog owners, who use Windows LiveWriter, may still be seeing the signs of the recent security update by Blogger . I get an error saying that it cannot log into remote server, and that my password/username are incorrect - although I have re-entered and they are correct. It appears that Blogger may have created a backdoor, to allow LiveWriter client access - which requires a new Google setting .

This week, we have a multitude of complaints about Windows LiveWriter, and similar third party editors, unable to login to Blogger. Blog owners who use LiveWriter, and similar third party products, to compose and publish posts, have reported authentication problems. I have used Windows Live Writer, to publish to my blog, for years. I now cannot publish, and the message I get is that the ID and password are not correct.

For several weeks, we've seen a steady stream of problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about the latest monolithic error in Blogger history. bx-hg9hg2 From several conversations with Blogger Support, it now appears that this latest error code (and a few similar ones) is related to Internet Explorer, and the use of Compatibility View . Apparently, Blogger Engineering has finally updated Blogger so it is compatible with Internet Explorer V11 - and having done so, has made it incompatible with V11 using Compatibility View.

Right now, we have several different problems, being reported in quantity, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . Image / video upload. Stats, and the "Don't track your own pageviews" option. Some specific bX codes, and miscellaneous network issues. Recently, the problems with image and video uploads were reported to Blogger Support - and eventually, we got a monolithic response Use draft.blogger.com. In other cases, we've been told Stop using Draft Blogger! The contents of Draft Blogger, and its differences from Production Blogger varies, at the convenience of Blogger Engineering.

In 2011, Blogger announced their new browser support policy . Starting next month Blogger.com will only support modern browsers. This change, while seemingly dismissive and terse, appears to be necessary . With some browsers, however, a two version (the newest version, plus the version in use right now) support policy will cause problems. Support for Internet Explorer updates will provide a challenge, for several reasons. Each new version of Internet Explorer includes many changes, which makes the new version extremely incompatible with previous versions. With the scope of the version changes being so broad, it takes Blogger Engineering longer to update Blogger code, to support the new versions. The longer it takes Blogger Engineering to update Blogger to support each new IE version, the more blog owners are likely to accept the new version onto their computers - and to find that they now can’t use Blogger, because it’s not supported. This month, Blogger Engineering, in addition ...

We're seeing a few browser related problems, possibly related to a recent update of Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer, reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken . I can't see my dashboard! and I can't upload pictures - all that I get is a blank box! and I am receiving messages, when I log in, that my Internet Explorer is not compatible with Blogger. Too many blog owners use Internet Explorer for using Blogger - and automatically accept updates, applied by Windows Update. Right now, Blogger Engineering is in the process of updating Blogger to work with Internet Explorer V11. This is not a minor task - with all of the many Blogger features required by the various blog owners and readers, all of which must be checked for compatibility with each new browser version .

This month, we've seen more than a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about various Blogger dashboard problems. Both the Overview and Post Editor dashboard sections seem vulnerable to problems - typically described as bX code terminations . Many of the people reporting problems admit that they are using Internet Explorer V8. For some blog owners, the choice of staying with IE V8 is not an option. Get everyone to use Chrome, and don't support those using IE V8. Win XP works fine. Everyone can't get new computers or operating systems, every time some new software comes out! Unfortunately, Windows XP was sunsetted, by Microsoft, some time ago - and IE V8 is the last version of that browser that will run, on Windows XP. Windows XP and IE V8 may be "good enough" for now - but time is running out, on both.

We have recently seen a few reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , concerning the New GUI display, which is broken for some blog owners. When I login to Blogger, the interface doesn't display properly. Everything is shifted and some buttons appear to be missing. The reporting volume, mentioning this symptom, is low - but it's not random, or zero.

This week, we are seeing various reports from people who are reporting different problems with Blogger - all problems which were associated with security issues in the past. In the past couple days, we've seen several reports of problems with Commenting, and with Stats - both problems which were known, in the somewhat distant past, to be caused by filtering of cookies and / or scripts .

This week in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , we're seeing another round of frustration coming from blog owners who use Internet Explorer I can't see my Followers. and I keep getting logged out, when I try to access my blog! and I can't publish to my blog - it just keeps spinning!! and The Template Designer never loads - all that I see if the big "B" in the middle of the screen!!! All of these reports, combined with understanding of what last Tuesday was , to users of Microsoft products, hints of yet another problem with layered security on our computers , and another set of Microsoft Security Updates. Some blog owners, oblivious of the details involved, will require immediate, and detailed attention to their problem. Just tell me, in nice simple terms, what settings I should check or change! Here is where the security analysts, and the Geek Computer Repair experts, need to step up to the plate, and educate the computer owners - so they do not keep pain...

Some time ago, Microsoft deployed the latest version of their browser, Internet Explorer Version 9. Blogger blog owners and readers alike are starting to use IE V9 on their computers - and recently, we've started to see hints in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , indicating that Blogger may not be up to date in allowing for its unique requirements. Since I loaded Internet Explorer 9 on my computer, my Stats sits loading ... forever. and I can't publish any more. It just sits there spinning! In retrospect, and were I not professional in my advice, I would simply say I told you so!

For most blog owners, the formatting of the Stats display is a model of efficiency. For each display (Overview, Posts, Traffic Sources, Audience), when looking left to right, we see a display that's pretty tightly limited to 75% screen width, when the display size is adjusted to 100% screen height. That's maybe 10% wider than the post editor display, with both post editor and Stats leaving the well known white space on the right. Legendarily - and I can't think specifically where I could quote this trivia, the Blogger wizard displays, such as Post Editor, Settings, and Stats, are limited this way so blog owners won't be forced to size their browser windows to 100% of screen width. See how neatly the horizontal width of the Post Editor display is sized? And here's the Stats display, with similar "white space". Oddly, a few blog owners have been reporting, recently, that they are being forced to scroll left to right, to see the entire Stats display...

In the jungle, when the big ape speaks, everybody listens. In the computer jungle, Microsoft is the big ape. Yesterday, the big ape burped. Yesterday was the second Tuesday of the month , aka "Patch Tuesday". And Microsoft issued a patch array that was described by one Microsoft MVP as "brutal". If you (or your readers) suddenly start seeing problems using Blogger, or accessing blogs, you might want to carefully consider what changes were recently made to your computer (your readers computers). It's possible that patches being made available this week , in many cases automatically (and without concern by the computer owner), may cause interesting problems. All problems are not caused by Blogger . Really. >> Top

Many times in the Blogger Help Forum , we see bloggers angrily complaining Why does Blogger not work now? It worked yesterday! What did Blogger break today? and sometimes, we will see a trend of multiple bloggers complaining of the same problem. Generally, and given enough bloggers with the same complaint, Blogger Support will investigate, tweak some code, and things will get back to normal. The latter scenario doesn't happen immediately, though, nor does it happen consistently.