Owners of private blogs have, periodically, lamented the lack of options for distribution of comments and posts. We've seen a few queries, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.
How do I let my readers subscribe to my private blog?
There's no good answer, to please everybody, here.
You can't use EMail, FeedBurner, or Reading List, for sharing private blog content. FeedBurner requires the blog comments / posts newsfeeds - and private blogs don't produce newsfeeds.
If you need to distribute content from a private blog, you'll have to use BlogSend.
Private blog post subscriptions require the dashboard "BlogSend" feature.
You'll have to use "BlogSend" to provide email subscriptions, for private blogs - and that limits you to 10 subscribers (1 who should be you). That's the "Email posts to" option in the dashboard Settings - Email page.
"BlogSend" aka "Email posts to" is the only option, for private blogs.
You can try to email specific posts, from a private blog.
You can try to use the Blogger post footer "Email Posts" feature.
Just enable the "Email Post Links" option in "Configure Blog Posts". You cannot enable "Show Share Buttons" - but you can enable "Show Email Post Links".
Use "Configure Blog Posts" from the dashboard Layout page.
Look under "Post Page Options" for "Show Email Post Links".
With the option enabled, and the icon visible, it's still a no go.
D'Ohh!
There's still no social sharing of private blog content.
Note the advice for "Show Share Buttons".
Sharing is available only for public blogs.
You can't share blog content, outside Blogger, if the blog is private. That protects private blog owners, from having their confidential posts distributed to the world.
We can't share content from private blogs, using EMail, FaceBook, Google+, Pinterest, or Twitter.
If you publish a private #Blogger blog, you cannot email or share comments or posts. Your only option will be BlogSend aka the "Email posts to" dashboard option.
Blog owners have been requesting the ability to position various post content items above the post body, for years.
We've seen reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about problems moving Comments, Labels, Share Bar, and others.
Several years, "Arrange Items" was upgraded to allow Labels to be moved above the post body. That option was provided briefly - then removed later.
Depending upon what items are currently in a specific location, moving other items into - or out of - that location may or may not be successful.
The "Arrange Items" wizard is not magical.
Code for each item, which can be moved, has to specifically support repositioning into any one of the target boxes.
Any item move may, or may not, be successful. Various details may affect success.
- Item being moved.
- Item current location.
- Item target location.
- Other items in the same current location.
- Other items in the same target location.
- Post template status - customisation, etc.
Frequently, when a problem with "Arrange Items" is reported, the blog owner is trying to target a position above the post body.
Diagnosing a post template problem, which involves arranging items, can involve any of these details. Not so many blog owners want to re arrange items - and even less want to arrange items above the post body - so there is not a lot of experience with diagnosing these problems.
Success - or failure - may involve several scenarios.
In some cases, the drag and drop operation, in "Arrange Items", may not accomplish anything. The owner may drag the item into place - and watch as the item perversely moves itself back, to where it was.
In other cases, the move may appear successful. The item may seem to move, and stay where is is dropped.
The owner may Save - then refresh blog display, and see the item still where it was. Opening "Configure Blog Posts", the item may or may not be displayed where it is now - or where it is wanted.
In some cases, the item may be moved successfully - and some other item, in the original or current location, may stop working.
We have seen all of these problems reported. Frequently, there is only one course of action.
- Reset the post template.
- Start over.
In many cases, resetting the post template is the only way to repair a problem caused by moving an item to where it should not go. With the template reset, the owner will have to choose whether to try again - and risk a repeat, of the same problem.
Moving #Blogger post template items, from one location to another, is not always successful - and sometimes causes problems with other blog content. Attempting to move items above the post body is a frequent cause of problems.
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One of the most visible changes, to the blog display, involves properly setting main page size.
You change the posts count using "Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page - or "Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard. Both let you set the main page display limit.
You can limit main page size by days with posts, or by total post count.
Main page size is your choice, for your blog - but think of your readers, waiting for a typical main page display to download.
Many don't have extreme bandwidth, nor are the Blogger servers overly robust. When your blog, or even a single post, takes 2 or 3 minutes to load, your blog may need tuning.
Main page size is one key setting, in encouraging reader activity, and in improving search engine relationships.
- "Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page.
- "Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.
"Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - "Posts, comments and sharing" page.
"Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.
There are alternate techniques, for changing main page size - use of a dynamic template, with endless scrolling - and segmenting the blog using pages. And adding Jump Break, to the posts, lets you make the individual posts smaller.
Also, note that only main page size can be limited. Archive retrievals and label searches use a fixed 20 posts / display page.
But for a simple blog setup, just limiting main page size is the first step to showing your readers that you respect their need to view your blog, without excessive waiting.
One of the simplest changes that you can make to a #Blogger blog, to make it easier to view, involves setting a reasonable main page size. This helps your readers view the blog, in main page view, without a lot of waiting.
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Some blog owners would like their readers to view the entire blog in one page.
A small blog, with very limited size, can theoretically fit on one page. If you intend to publish a blog with any future, and page rank, you will have to publish content periodically - and the size of the blog will increase, steadily.
And eventually, thanks in part to main page limitation by auto pagination, older posts in your blog will be forced into archive pages.
For a blog with any future, and publishing activity, there are four possibilities for main page size.
- Segment main page, limiting post count.
- Segment your blog, using virtual blogs.
- Use a dynamic template, and "continuous scrolling".
- Use a non dynamic template, and Jump Break - and accept archiving.
Segment main page, limiting post count.
One of the simplest ways to make your blog reader friendly is to limit main page size, using a post count limit. This won't work as a final solution, however, if you're planning to publish the blog with any regularity.
Segment your blog, using virtual blogs.
If you can break your blog into multiple subjects, you can use a Pages tabbed index to access each different subject. You can fit each different subject, possibly using Jump Break, onto one page.
To complement the virtual blogs, you can have a static main page - providing a "welcome" message, and / or indexing the virtual blogs.
Use a dynamic template, and "continuous scrolling".
For public blogs, a dynamic template, with continuous scrolling, may provide a solution. Dynamic templates, unless you a very comfortable with editing the blog template, will never offer the accessory and customisation possibilities of non dynamic templates, however.
With a dynamic template, you won't be able to use Jump Break - though some dynamic views may provide a summarised main page view.
Use a non dynamic template, and Jump Break - and accept archiving.
Careful use of Jump Break will let you limit the size of the main page. If you continue to publish posts - which is necessary for a blog with any future - you will eventually have posts displayed on archive pages.
For best results, design the blog structure - and the posts structure - consistently, and accept archiving and pagination.
Some #Blogger blog owners would like to display all post content in one page - and ignore page display size. They do not realise that not all blog readers want to read a blog with an unlimited page size, all at once.
We're seeing a few reports of bX codes, that are not solved by simply resetting the template - and do not involve the mysterious "500 Internal Server Error".
In some cases, the blog owner may see a bX code when trying to use "Configure Blog Posts", or another Layout gadget wizard. If the blog itself can be viewed, and Template HTML Editor is usable, the bX error may come from use of a "0" Alpha color setting.
Blogger Engineering is aware of the problem, and has suggested that a fix is being developed. While we await the necessary fix, we may need to work around the problem.
The suggestion by Blogger Engineering is that we use a "Transparent" option, instead of "0" alpha value.
It seems that this issue is triggered by color variables with a value that has zero alpha, e.g. 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)'.
Some gadgets, and template sections, have the "transparent" selection in their color setup. Not all have this option, however. Some template CSS rules are not so easily edited.
The problem here is the "rgba" 4th value of "0" - ie, the "alpha" "0" value. The simplest solution is to change the "0" to a non zero value - without changing the "rgb" values.
The simplest solution, to get "Configure Blog Posts" or any other affected gadget usable, may be to use Template Editor, and change the values, directly. Look at every CSS rule, that has an "rgba" setting - and look for a 4th value of "0".
- For "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" - Change to "rgba(0, 0, 0, .1)".
- For "rgba(255, 255, 0, 0)" - Change to "rgba(255, 255, 0, .1)".
- For "rgba(255, 255, 255, 0)" - Change to "rgba(255, 255, 255, .1)".
A transparency setting of ".1" should be visually close to "0" - and should get the blog in question back online and updatable. And after Blogger Engineering fixes their gadget / template editor code, to accept the "0" value - and if the ".1" creates a noticeably unacceptable condition - this can be corrected, when necessary.
It's possible that this error, being seen, is part of a larger problem. You may need a persistent solution.
Some #Blogger bX codes, being seen in the forums right now, do not appear to involve terminal template corruption, and the mysterious "500 Internal Server Error". Some bX codes can be easily corrected, when they involve a "0 alpha" value (a CSS color rule involving an "rgba" setting).
When the Template Editor is usable, a simple search and replace for "rgba(nn, nn, nn, 0)" to "rgba(nn, nn, nn, .1)" may be sufficient to correct the error.
