The Real Blogger Status

One interesting question, that we see from time to time in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger , is about owner activity and "dormant" blogs. Many people would like to publish to an inactive Blogger address - but Blogger supports the current owner right to anonymity and privacy - and to keep their blog, until they want to give it up . One of the challenges, in this case, may be identifying dormant blogs.

The process of changing one custom domain URL to another is similar to the task of changing the BlogSpot URL . The risk of identity theft is not as great, when you change a custom domain. You will continue to "own" any previously used domain, even when unpublished - but the risk of technical error is just as real. If you care about blog accessibility, you will plan this process , with some care.

Renaming a blog is not difficult - but it can produce unwanted side effects. We've seen a few problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I renamed my blog, last year - and I have had no new visitors, since then! or I looked at the old URL, and it's got my posts, and lots of spam! These blog owners did not plan the renaming process.

Every month, we see a concern about content theft or impersonation, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . I deleted my blog last year! Now, I see it online again, using my name - but it's not in my dashboard! or I renamed my blog, last month! Somebody else is publishing it, this month!! These former blog owners have discovered the unpleasant reality of never ending spammer activity. URL recycling (a feature begged for, by many), plus blog content and feed caching (a reality, with most blogs), can lead to spammer harvesting and resurrection. And in some cases, to identity theft.

We see confusion, from time to time, about label searches in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue . Why don't my labels work, consistently? or Why don't all of my pages work? Looking at a blog with the problem, we'll frequently see lack of consistency in label case - some labels appear in lower case ("label"), some in upper case ("LABEL"), some in sentence case ("Label"). This might seem like an insignificant personality issue - but it's not.

Setting up a new blog can be frustrating - for those who have planned the subject of the blog so carefully, that only one blog name will satisfy. We see the frustration, almost daily, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger . How do I contact the owner of "mydreamname.blogspot.com"? or The blog at "mydreamname.blogspot.com" isn't in use. Can Blogger issue it to me? Neither of those questions will end well, for the would be owner who can think only of publishing to "mydreamname.blogspot.com".

Thanks to a recent decision by the European Courts, many people are claiming the right to delete their blogs, and to have the search engines stop indexing their blogs. Some people believe that this newly defined right entitles them to recover control of their blogs, published long ago, with access (account name and password) long forgotten. A few such people even have blogs owned by "legacy" Blogger accounts, never converted to Blogger / Google accounts. Nobody has the right to unilaterally take control of a blog that may belong to somebody else. If you cannot prove yourself to be the owner of a given blog, Blogger Support should not provide to you control of that blog. Whether you want to delete a blog, or to change the content, you have to prove ownership of the blog .

Every week, we see the anguished cry of blog owners, who don't have access to maintain, or publish to, their blogs. Help me! My email address changed last month, I dropped my phone into the sink, and now I can't sign in to my blog! If you look at the fine print, you see the full story.

The first task in starting a new blog involves taking an available blog name (aka "URL"). The rules for picking a blog name are reasonably simple. Pick a blog name. If "Create a blog" gives you that name, it's yours . Continue with #4. If "Create a blog" shows "Sorry!", pick another name, and continue with #2. Setup your new blog. Some folks need even simpler rules. If "Create a blog" gives you the name of your choice, it's yours. If "Create a blog" does not give you that name, you have to pick another. Which ever rules you wish to go by, the "Create a blog" wizard has the final say .

We're seeing some odd problem reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about blog creation . I entered just the first letter of the name which I wanted, and I immediately saw Sorry, this blog address is not available. How am I supposed to create a blog, if all the names are taken? What intrigues me here is not that people see Sorry, this blog address is not available. It's that people don't ask the next question. How did it know what name I was typing, before I finished? How do you explain that you have to type the entire name, and have that name checked, before giving up, disappointed?

Some Blogger blog owners, trying to setup a new blog, discover the hard way that other people are trying to do the same thing. When I try to use "Create a blog", I keep seeing This name is not available. or Blogger is saying it's available - but as I begin to register, it says that it has already received a request for this name. Other blog owners discover that the competition between Blogger blog owners, when using " Create a blog ", also applies to "Buy a domain". And worse yet, "Buy a domain" involves competition with would be website owners outside Blogger / Google.

Like creating a blog , the task of renaming your blog involves one very important step - choosing an available blog name. When you rename your blog - as in change the blog address - you have to pick a name (address) that's not in use . Both creating a blog, and renaming a blog, suffer from one key detail - you can't identify an available address before you get started.

One of the more intriguing issues, seen in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , involves people unable to recover control of their blogs . I recently changed ISPs, and now I can't login to update my blog. Occasionally, this issue becomes more complicated, because the blog is deleted - and the owner can't request that it be restored, using the automated review request wizard. Sometimes, the would be blog owner may to try to bypass the current blog recovery policy , by claiming special circumstances. The blog has been deleted. I received no suspicious activity or password change notification emails, or emails of any kind related to my blog. What is the story here? Can blogs just disappear from the Blogosphere, without the involvement of the blog owners - and be unrecoverable?

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.

We see signs of panic, periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about blogs deleted as suspected spam hosts. My blog was deleted for spam 2 months ago. I need my blog restored, this month, as I don't want to lose it! This is a common misconception, about spam deletions, and the mysterious 90 day limit .

We see signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , from blog owners concerned with malware / spam deletions, and with other unexplained disasters in Blogger. How do I backup my blog, to protect the contents against unfair spam deletions? Not many concerned blog owners realise the first principle of backups, known by any experienced network administrator. Never plan a backup, without first planning the restore. How you backup your blog depends upon several details. What problem do you expect, to require a backup? How do you plan to recover, from a problem?

We are currently seeing frustration, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , about new blog creation. Would be new blog owners have various concerns I can't create a blog - the "Create" button is grey (inoperative)! or It keeps saying Verifying availability when I enter a blog name!! or even It said This blog address is available. until I hit "Create blog!" - then it changed to Sorry, this blog address is not available.

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken , we see signs of people who don't understand the concept of unique Blogger identities - or contrarily, Blogger identities which won't be unique. I can't publish my blog to the name that I want. or Another blog is using the same name as mine! or Someone is impersonating me!!

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Periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? , we see a hopeful query. How do I claim the brand name URL for my clients blog? Many merchandisers are unaware of the simple Blogger / Google policy Blogger accounts and Blog*Spot addresses do not expire. Another way of saying that would possibly be first come, first served .