The Real Blogger Status

Some bloggers seem to treat dynamic Blogger blogs like static web sites. They design their blogs so specific blog posts are consistently presented as part of the main page view. They overlook the basic design of blogs, where the main page simply contains the most currently published posts. This attitude is merely eccentric, except in cases like the current controversy about Auto Pagination . I have chosen to display 12 posts, because mine is a listing of twelve exact posts which i update daily. I now have only nine of the posts showing regardless of how many - 12 or 50 or 500 - that I preset to display. I need them all to show, because I daily print out this entire list in an MS Word booklet format - and without having the entire blog display, I can no longer do this. This is merely one example of the bloggers who are having trouble accepting the reality of Auto Pagination , and the consequently segmented archives, labels, and / or main page displays.

The Mercedes brand automobile is a marvel of efficiency, engineering, and safety (so I've heard). It's designed for comfort, and for speed. If you drive one in Germany, where it is designed and built, you can even enjoy its comfort at speed - whatever speed you desire - perfectly legally. Get on the Autobahn , get in the fast lane, and use your headlight flashers when you approach someone from the rear. Keep an eye in the mirror, for someone using their flashers at you - and be prepared to move over, when someone uses their flashers. In this country, Mercedes owners (and other drivers) have to obey the speed laws, just as everybody else does. Try telling the policeman My car is safe at 90 MPH. I'll pay extra fuel tax, and use the premium lanes - and I can go 90 MPH, because I want to go 90 MPH . and see what response you get.

Possibly the hottest issue this week, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , is the Auto Pagination feature , which was introduced last week . Auto Pagination automatically helps people to limit the sizes of their archive / label / main pages , as downloaded from Blogger servers. Before the Blogger post editor "Jump Break" solution was provided, there were at least 3 known variants, for auto summarising posts. One was provided in Blogger Help: How can I create expandable post summaries? ; and at least 2 others were provided as third party suggestions. It's possible that any of these 3 variants are present in some blogs, where the owner has not seen fit to remove them, in favour of deploying the "Jump Break" in new post editor.

The latest significant change to Blogger - Auto Pagination - is causing some concerns in the blogger community. Early reports were focused on inability for readers or search engines to find all posts I need to display 12 posts on the every page. Please give a way to disable auto pagination. Not everyone needs this feature. and Auto Pagination doesn't help me! As you can see in my blog, "Auto Pagination" doesn't help. I need at least 45 post in my front page. Doesn't help people reading my posts. Can anyone help me with this? are probably among the more objective problem reports seen this morning. Looking at the problem reports in detail, we can see at least 3 classes of problems. People with blogs with classic templates , who need to move to layouts and use "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts". People who are using "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts", and simply perceive the need to decide their own page size. People who are seei...

For Christmas (End Of Year) 2009, I went back to Virginia again, for a brief visit. What I found, besides the snow (and there was too much of that) were some positive notes. The State Of Virginia USA really is moving into the future . For us Californians (Yes, I consider myself a Californian) they now have a Frys Electronics, a Trader Joes (2 of them in the Richmond area!), and an In-N-Out Burger (No, they don't have that yet!). OK, I'll settle for 2 out of 3. The point is, Virginia really is moving ahead, into the future. And this month, some bloggers are feeling the need to do that. Two changes in Blogger - Auto Pagination , and the approaching end to FTP Publishing , will both hasten the end to classic templates, and make the move to layout templates more natural. Owners of blogs with classic templates have, for a long time, been asking about how to get "Newer Posts" / "Older Posts" links for their blogs. That's not a feature that can be provid...

One of the long awaited features in New Blogger (2006) was the ability to restrict access to your blog. Designating your blog as private, to be read by authorised parties only, was a much requested feature. Blogger uses your Google account to identify you, and verify that you are authorised to view any blog (including yours). And that causes occasional concern - fortunately unnecessary, in this case. Seeing your Google account, which coincidentally may be the same as your email address, as you peruse your blog, is a bit scary.

As Blogger rolls out their (vastly improved) Beta blog template, the problems arise . Now, I have been part of many roll outs of software and hardware, and problems are normal. So the Blogger Beta, though it may seem catastrophic to most Bloggers (the unpaid employees , I mean), these problems are not unusual. What is unusual though (at least compared to the real business world), and what has fueled many posts in The Real Blogger Status, is the silence . An example of the frustration and uncertainty felt, by many Bloggers, is this bit of genius , which I quote in its entirety. An actual fictitious conversation at google.... Tech 1: Hey lets update blogger with a new beta! Tech 2: Yeah that would be fun...should we test it first or just make it live on the web? Tech 1: Hmm...lets just make it live and watch all our faithful bloggers panic. Tech 2: Haha...man you have a sick sense of humor, but I like the idea. Oh and while we are at it, lets ignore their emails as well. Blogger Staff...