The Real Blogger Status

Recently, we've been seeing queries from some anxious blog owners Why should I have to sign out a total of three, four, or more times? With blogs that use a template that shows the navbar, the owner may logout, using the "Sign out" link - but the navbar may continue to suggest that they remain loggedin. This problem may start with how we connect to Blogger, as part of the mysterious Internet cloud .

Every month in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , we see another blog owner, trying to import and publish. Why is it taking so dang long? I started yesterday - it's just spinning, and getting nowhere! This blog owner is not having a good time, importing posts.

We are seeing an increasing number of reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue , about problems accessing various dashboard features. Recently I have faced a problem on my blogs dashboard. The problem is Invalid Security Token Error 403 How do I solve this? This blog owner faces the latest variant of the long feared monolithic error, "403 Forbidden".

This week, we're seeing a noticeable increase in reports about problems with reading list content. People are, once again, reporting empty reading lists - and many deny the suggestion that computers used by the readers might have anything to do with the problem. Neither filtered cookies / scripts, nor using the wrong Blogger account, appears to be involved in some of this weeks problems. One account owner reported having cleaned her Reading List - and after having removed just one entry from the list, the Reading List content became visible, again. This suggests that the owner may be following too many blogs - or possibly, following one blog which recently increased feed size. Either could be true, based upon the common complaint. I didn't change anything! It just stopped working, last week, on its own!!

This month, we have a small flood of reports, from blog owners who are seeing the latest monolithic error. You have logged out from another location. Do you want to log in again? This error has actually been reported previously - but in smaller volume - for some time. It appears to be similar in nature to a previously reported problem, " Conflicting Edits ". The problem appears to possibly affect anybody who has logged in to Blogger - and it appears to be persistent, and has inspired imaginative measures, from some blog owners.

For some time, we've been seeing reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about blogs using blogs using dynamic views, which display incompletely , and lack specific features. Various blog owners have developed, and reported, a workaround to the problem, which involves using an unpublicised Blogger setting found in the template HTML code. This workaround sets a loading delay, known as Timeout . There are several different causes of the dynamic view problem - some varying by the different blogs, others varying by the blog viewers - and some, varying by the Blogger / Google infrastructure. None of the causes will be universal in effect. This will result in varying success, when using a static Timeout setting as a workaround for the problems.

Recently, we've been seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about blogs using dynamic templates, which display incompletely , and lack specific features. Various blog owners have developed, and reported, a workaround to the problem, which involves using an unpublicised Blogger setting found in the template HTML code. This workaround sets a loading delay, known as Timeout . The currently recommended Timeout setting will force a fixed delay on blogs using the workaround, which may not be 100% effective in all cases. The effectiveness may vary, according to the specific problems reported by the various blog owners.

We're been getting problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , from various dissatisfied blog owners , who chose a dynamic template for their blog. The problems reported involve various symptoms. Blogs displayed will lack various gadgets, in the slideout gadget bar. Some blogs, when customised, will display using default layout and template settings. Some customisations, applied recently, just won't show up . Various blog owners have discovered a solution, based on code present in newer dynamic templates. This solution has been publicised, in forum discussions - and in various blogs and web sites. <script language='javascript' type='text/javascript'> setTimeout(function() { blogger.ui().configure().view(); }, 1000 ); </script> The solution, as proposed, involves a very simple change - but the change won't be immediately, or permanently, 100% effective.

We're getting a few problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , from blog owners who chose a dynamic view for their blog. My layout has one colour - yet when I view my blog, it's another colour. The accessory bar is missing gadgets - and there are various tweaks missing. I tried updating, using the Template designer, unsuccessfully. When I finished updating, the preview looked good - but when I saved and viewed my blog, it was still incomplete. This blog owner, like many owners, may not understand the unique design of the dynamic templates - nor how the design affects what is seen by the readers.

Since Blogger released their improved Template Editor , blog owners have been reporting a new, transient problem. I click on "Edit HTML", and the editing display opens - but the HTML window remains blank. Generally, you may wait a few seconds, and the HTML window will fill with the content. With enough patience, you'll see the content arrive - eventually. Unfortunately, waiting won't always provide a solution.

Ever since Blogger became more aggressive with the distribution of their New Interface, we've been seeing more reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken about a frustrating problem. When I type in "www.blogger.com" - or try to pull up my dashboard - the website "thinks" for a minute, acts like it is going to load, then nothing is displayed. This is another way of describing an Internet symptom - observed from time to time - and generically known as the (dreaded) "white screen of death". The "white screen of death" is not unique to the New GUI - it's been reported in the forums, in the past, for various causes. It's possible that various design features of the New GUI are making it more likely to be observed, right now.

In terms of Blogger problems, which occur seemingly randomly and have no obvious user solution, I can't think of too many that bring more dread into peoples hearts than 403 Forbidden That message is actually where I started this blog - many, many years ago . It's come up, in discussion, several times . The message "403 Forbidden" is literally a response by a computer somewhere, saying that you are not permitted to access this computer . For Blogger / Google customers, it generally has a slightly different origin.

The Followers gadget is a Blogger / Google accessory that has a long history of problems. In April / May 2011, we had numerous reports from blog owners, whose Followers gadget was visible to nobody, either themselves or their guests. Nobody can see my Followers! Blogger fixed that problem - but the problems, like some battery powered toys, just keep coming, and coming.

We've been looking at problems with logging in to Blogger , as reported in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , for some time. In 2010, we explored a problem with the "Remember Me" option . In 2011, we had a new twist on the login problems - inability to logout from Blogger. I cannot sign out of my Blogger account, to access a different Blogger in account. Blogger keeps returning me to the same account.

Recently, we've been seeing a few reports from blog owners, who are unable to access their dashboards I can view my blog, but I cannot see, or get to my dashboard. It loads forever and then tells me there is a 502 Server Error. or When logged in to Blogger, I cannot access www.blogger.com and my dashboard. This is not a complete outage, and no affinity is known. We have a Rollup Discussion in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , where we are soliciting details from people affected. If you are seeing this error, please help us to help Blogger Support, and provide some details. URL of the blog. Location (city, province / state, country). ISP providing connectivity. How severe is the problem? Is it a total, or intermittent, outage? When was the problem first observed? When was the problem last not observed? Your details about your experience with this problem may provide key diagnostic clues, so be as complete and precise as possible. If you are trying to access a s...

Bloggers in Singapore are reporting inability to access Blogger blogs published to non BlogSpot URLs, and cite apparent (false) malware detection For the past week, I can't seem to view my website from my home! It says- Our systems have detected unusual traffic from your computer network Right now, this appears to involve customers of MaxOnline / Starhub, and to only involve access to blogs not published to BlogSpot (custom domain publishing). If you are in Singapore, and you are experiencing a problem accessing any Google service and see the above quoted error message, can you please provide details. Your IP address. If you do not know your IP address, you may use either of the following: IP-Address What is my IP Address Please verify the scope of your outage, using my standard 5 link connectivity test . >> Top

One of the most frustrating problems reported occasionally in in BHF: Something Is Broken comes in very terse langauge. I can't access my blog. or slightly longer I can't access any blogs .or possibly I can't access Blogger. In situations where the blog owner, and / or any number of blog readers, are cooperative, and able to take a few minutes to perform some simple tests, we can conduct a Affinity based analysis - or possibly an Affinity / Differential Analysis.

We are seeing reports that some bloggers in Pakistan, who are customers of PTCL Broadband, are logging in to Blogger and are being presented with the dashboard for somebody else's account. Specific details, about ability to actually use the other dashboard, are not clear. One blogger has reported that other Internet services, such as Facebook, are also affected . Facebook has blocked access from the PTCL address blocks involved in the problem. More detail is available in Further PTCL Broadband Blues . >> Top

Over the past weekend, numerous bloggers in various areas of North America (Canada / USA) have reported an problem Blogger is currently unavailable when trying to login to Blogger / access the dashboard, and to publish posts. The problem is most frequently reported by bloggers in the MidWestern regions of Canada / USA, but has been reported in Canada as far west as British Columbia. In the rollup discussion , Blogger Support provides a status Thanks for your patience and help everyone. This is now fixed. Some idea of the scope of the problem might help Blogger focus on the problem a bit. If you are observing this problem, some details would be good. What ISP do you use? Where are you located (City, State, Country)? A PathPing or TraceRt log might be useful. >> Top

Various bloggers in India - the majority being customers of Reliance Telecomm - are reporting inability to access Blog*Spot, with no reported problems accessing Blogger or Google in general. The problem appears to be geographically uniform across all of India. We have a Problem Rollup question in Blogger Help Forum, where the epidemiology of the problem is being explored. Some bloggers appear to be able to regain access, by using different DNS servers from the ones supplied by their ISP. This is a possible workaround, though it may not be a good permanent solution for several reasons. Several bloggers have reported contact with Reliance Tech Support, though the depth of commitment by Reliance TS, to solving the problem, is unknown. To help identify and verify the epidemiology of the problem, please state diagnostic details as clearly as possible. Your location (City and State, please). The name of your ISP. Is your problem with accessing Blog*Spot, Blogger , Google, other d...