Blogs LIsted Twice, In The Blogger Profile Or Dashboard

Occasionally, an oddity in our Blogger profiles will cause confusion - and offer some blog owners a opportunity to make a bad mistake. For some unknown reason, some Blogger blogs may be listed twice, in the dashboard or profile Blog List.

If you are one of these blog owners, seeing the same blog listed twice in your dashboard or profile, think before you act! Check the URL behind the blog title, for each entry - you'll see an identical URL behind both.

Seeing the duplication and only wanting a clean list, some blog owners will innocently delete one of the duplicates.

I don't need two of the same!

Since the two entries reflect the same blog, the owner will see the list go from two of the same, to zero of the same.

Now where is my blog?

Hopefully, the mysterious blog will now be present in the deleted blogs list, and can be un deleted.

1. Possibly, the blog can be un deleted - and will produce one entry in the blog list. This is the best result.
2. Less desirably, the blog can be undeleted, and will simply restore both duplicate entries to the list. This is the realistic result.
3. Undesirably, the blog won't appear in the deleted list - or can't be un deleted, even if in the list. This is the undesired (but still possible) result.

Do you feel lucky, punk?

Recalling a few previous reports of this oddity, I've observed that the problem spans GUIs - both the Classic GUI, and now the New (2011) GUI. I'm pretty sure that the problem involves the Blogger profile - the Classic dashboard (dark blue / orange) is where I first observed this, though I won't say that the problem is not also present for blog owners using the new Google profile (orange / white).

It's your blog, and your profile - so you are entitled to see what happens. I recommend just accepting the uncertainty - you won't be charged any more for having two blogs, than for having one.

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Ambiguity In Spam Detection

Occasionally, some bloggers report confusion over whether their blogs have been tagged as splogs, after receiving some odd email.

Your blog at http://myblog.blogspot.com/ has been reviewed and confirmed as in violation of our Terms of Service for: NONE. In accordance to these terms, we've removed the blog and the URL is no longer accessible.

The blog does not appear to be locked, nor does it's online status change. All that's seen is the ominous email notice.

The response from Blogger Support is slightly encouraging.

we have a bug in our system that has been sending those email inadvertently

So if you get this email, apparently you can ignore it. Your blog should remain online, and accessible as before. Check your dashboard - you should have administrative access, and no need to worry.

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Ambiguity Over The Social Networking Concept Of Blog

As I write in Your Blog Is Like You - Unique, the name of this blog is "bloggerstatusforreal", and its URL is now "blogging.nitecruzr.net" (it's also known as "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com"). There are many articles in this blog, and the articles are called "posts".

If you have a social networking account, like FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...), you may write a blog, to discuss a specific concern or interest which you may have. Both you and your friends may reply to your blog. If you have another concern or interest, you may create another blog for your account.

A FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...) blog, with many replies, is the equivalent to a Blogger (WordPress, TypePad, ...) post, with many comments. One FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...) account can contain many blogs, just as one Blogger (WordPress, TypePad, ...) blog can contain many posts.

All FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...) blogs, and other accessories and options are part of one account, and share one template and one base URL (your account name). A Blogger (WordPress, TypePad, ...) blog, likewise, shares one template and one base URL.

It's fairly simple to create a new Blogger blog. If you're used to creating blogs in FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...), you may be doing this, needlessly.

• Start from your dashboard.
• Click on "Create a blog".
• Select any available blog name (URL).
• Select a template.
• Start composing your first post in your new blog.

It's still simpler to create a new post for an existing blog. If you're used to creating blogs in FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...), you maybe should be doing this, instead.

• Start from your dashboard.
• Find an existing blog.
• Select "New Post".
• Start composing your new post.

With Blogger, you can have one blog - many posts sharing one template and base URL, and the many posts can share one common subject, or have many subjects. Or, if you like to organise your interests, you can have a different blog for each of your many interests, each with a different template and base URL. This is an option that is not provided by FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...).

Just choose what you need, and be aware of the possibilities that Blogger offers, that FaceBook (Friendster, Multiply, ...) does not.

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Following And Private Blogs

A frequently seen sign of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum, is the connection between Following and Private blogs (blogs designated "Only people I choose").

If I make my blog private, will people still be able to follow my blog?

Like many Blogger Help Forum questions, this one suffers from a significant amount of ambiguity.

There are several details, relevant to the above question.

• Classically, people were said to "follow" a blog when they would periodically view it online, and / or view its contents using a newsfeed reader. People designated as Readers will be able to view a blog in the browser, though new posts won't be visible in a newsfeed reader.
• Blogger recently developed the Following program, to involve
  • Use of the newsfeed, automatically added to a Dashboard Followers Reading List, and Google Reader.
  • For blogs displaying the Followers accessory gadget, the ability to, temporarily, have ones icon displayed in the Followers gadget.
  • For blogs displaying the Followers accessory gadget, the ability to surf to others profiles, and from there to blogs published and read by the various Followers.
• The term "will be able" also deserves mention, as many blogs, recently made private, can still be viewed in the browser, and cached feeds can still be viewed in a newsfeed client.

Since right now, "private" blogs won't publish newsfeeds, the current literally correct answer to the above question is

No, people cannot Follow a private blog.

But (and there is always a but)

• Blogs made private can still display a Followers gadget, and people can have their icon displayed in the gadget. If having your picture displayed on somebodys blog satisfies you, then you may be happy Following a private blog, for a while.
• People can continue to read what's cached by their browser, and they will continue to generate hits in your visitor log.
• Some people will be able to view new posts in their browser, even if not designated as Readers.

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Waiting For The Tap On The Shoulder, Part 2

In my musings last month about spam blogs, and people victimised by spam blogs, I analogised the legendary college secret societies, and the impersonal and rude treatment of the unfortunates who did not get initiated.

eventually, those who don't get elected will open their eyes, remove the blindfold, and find herself / himself in a pitiful group of rejects, all waiting (hopelessly) for that tap. The tap that never comes.

Again, I'll note that I never got into either group.

I am not socially adept enough to even try out for such a group. Or maybe I simply had other priorities.

This month, we are seeing the unfortunates, gathered in Blogger Help Forum.

In college, there will always be those do-gooders who try to change peoples minds, and convince the secret society members to be more polite to the unfortunates. Maybe, they could have a party to thank them for trying.

These "unfortunates", this month, are spammers. They aren't worthy of our pity, or sympathy.

They are the reason why you had your blog locked, last week.

• If you had to wait, while your blog was offline and lost reader contact, and search engine reputation;
• If you had to endure another mention of the hated 4 step protocol (that you repeated 3 times);
• If your blog lost page rank because of duplicate content penalties;

these are the people that you should blame. Here, we will call these folks "turkeys".

Gobble, Gobble.

What's In The Boxes?

Every day, we see one or two queries from confused bloggers, about these boxes.

I type the URL in my browser, and get

No blog found.

or

Why doesn't it show more than what's in my blog?

or

I know the URL. I can see it on my dashboard even. But the search says that it's not there.

All of these observations are evidence of people who don't know what all the boxes in the browser are intended to provide.

When you view your blog, there are 2 to 4 boxes of which you need to be aware.

The accessories on any given blog will vary, according to wishes of the owner.
Depending upon what accessories are provided in any given blog, there may be more. Depending upon what browser you have, there may be less. And depending upon what browser you have, the label, position, and size of any of these boxes isn't predictable. But, the boxes will be there.

• Browser Address Box. This is the most important box visible. This is where you are supposed to paste or type the URL of your blog, another blog, or any website, to browse to the blog or website.
• Browser Search Box. This is a browser accessory, provided by some browsers, so you don't have to load the web page of the major search engines. Here, as on the search boxes on the various web pages, you paste or type the search that you want to do.
• Navbar Blog Search Box. If you haven't disabled the navbar, here you can paste or type keywords which will be used to search your blog, directly - without requiring that your blog be indexed by the search engines.
• Blog Search Gadget. This will be any search gadget added to a blog by the owner. This could be a version of the navbar blog search, or a version of the browser search box, but against different search engines.

The navbar search (with the navbar visible) is the only predictable accessory.
Except for the navbar blog search box, there is no way to predict if, what, or where any of these boxes will look like or appear. The labeling, positioning, even whether a box is included, are all a matter of personal preference. Some personal preference is of the blog owner, other is of the blog reader / owner of the computer used for browsing.

In some browsers, the address box and search box are combined, with browser code interpreting (more or less reliably) whether a URL or search terms have been entered. This causes confusion when the person used to any one browser uses a different browser - or maybe the same brand browser, on another computer.

I could show this blog, in my browser - that would show this blog, in my browser.
I could add a picture here, of my browser, on my computer. But, that would simply be a picture of my browser, and would only confuse you. I arrange my browser to suit my preferences and taste - and just as surely as I know that everything which I write in my blog won't interest everyone, I know that how I arrange my browser won't interest everyone, either.

The navbar is intended as the single most predictable object on the screen, when viewing Blogger blogs.

Not all blogs even display the navbar.
Unfortunately, some blogs are setup with the navbar hidden, which prevents use of the navbar blog search. To compensate for this, some blog owners will add a blog search gadget.

Search gadgets, for Blogger blogs, come in a variety of designs. A browser search gadget may be the equivalent of the browser search window, of the navbar blog search window, or even may be customised so you can't tell what it does.

Then there is the direct search, vs the indexed search, to consider.
Besides understanding the blog search box (whether navbar or blog based), we need to note a major difference between searching content directly - and searching indexed content.

• Both a browser search box and a blog based custom search box will involve a search engine, which uses cached copies of every indexed blog and web site. The cached copies will be subject to search engine latency, causing discrepancies similar to SERPs referencing main page view.
• Blog direct searches, such as the navbar search box, and some custom search boxes, which will search the blog now, based upon what's in the blog, now.

If you changed the URL of your blog, it needs to be re indexed.
If your blog was just published to a custom domain, the blog will need to be re indexed under the new URL. You can accelerate the re indexing process, if you make some effort.

All of these details cause confusion, among many blog owners.
Considering all of these details, it's not surprising that there would be confusion, when people surf strange blogs and / or use strange browsers, maybe on strange computers. Possibly, by knowing the details, we can diagnose the questions from the confused bloggers.

Waiting For The Tap On The Shoulder

I'll be honest here. I was a nerd in college (and I am one even now).

So this story is one that I've only seen in movies - neither I, nor my friends, got even this far.

College Secret Societies
Some of them have no name even. There are no published entrance rules - membership is by invitation only, and rules are communicated by word of mouth. And the initiation process starts like this:

• The prospective members are blindfolded, and led to a dark room.
• The prospective members are put into a circle, in silence.
• The prospective members wait, for what will happen, they are told nothing.
• Periodically, one prospect will feel a slight tap on the shoulder. In silence, he / she will be taken by the hand, and led into another room where they will join the elite.
• And eventually, those who don't get elected will open their eyes, remove the blindfold, and find herself / himself in a pitiful group of rejects, all waiting (hopelessly) for that tap. The tap that never comes.

Now maybe you should be advised that this article is a rehash of one that I wrote long ago, about a more pleasant and positive experience.

The subject of this narration is the spam detection problem of this week. So, here are my words of wisdom about this mess.

This problem is caused by criminals - spammers who are publishing thousands of spam blogs, daily.

They make dozens of clones of your blog, by scraping the content from your blog, pasting it into their blogs, and adding the spam content to just a few of their blogs, at any time. Blogger can't tell the difference between the spam blogs without active content, and your blog. So all of the blogs that look like your blog - including your blog itself - get locked.

If you are not a spammer, look at the next guy (also reporting the problem), because it's likely that he is one. And when you get concerned about how long it's taking Blogger to restore your blog, if your blog is not a splog, place some blame on the spammers, and the thousands of splogs that have to be locked, then reviewed, daily.

Anyway, the only thing that makes this even endurable is the thought of the spammers who have lost their blogs this week. Many of them are gathered in Blogger Help Forum, reporting their blog loss. Some of those gathered in BHF are not spammers - and that is what will give hope for everybody gathered there.

Now Blogger, being the "secret society" in this analogy, will restore a few blogs - the ones that were not splogs. But they will not be posting a big notice.

The following blogs were determined to be spuriously locked, have been restored, and we apologise to their owners.

and conversely

The following blogs were righteously detemined to be splogs, and will never be restored.

Nope.

Blogger will walk around silently, and tap the owners of the spuriously locked blogs on the shoulders. Those owners will wake up one morning, and their blogs will be back, operational.

The spammers will be the ones waiting, until they figure it out on their own, that they will never get the tap. They will wait all night, then slink home in silence.

BooHoo.