Make Your Blog Searchable - Where To Start

Making a blog searchable is the first step in getting search traffic, and readers, for our blogs - when we want them visible to the public.

Not all blog owners want their blogs visible to everybody. Complementing the ability to publish a blog, and have it visible only to invited readers, Blogger gives us the ability to make the blog invisible, to the search engines.

If we want readers for a blog, and do not have a private reader audience in mind, we first make it visible to the search engines.

The Privacy wizard, on the Blogger dashboard, lets us choose whether to make a blog visible to the search engines.

Start with the dashboard Settings - Basic page, and Edit the Privacy setting.

Select "Yes" for both options - if you want the blog indexed.



Select "Yes" for both options, if you want the blog indexed. This is how you start getting search traffic, and readers, for your blog.

• Add your blog to our listings?
• Let search engines find your blog?

And click "Save changes".

Having made the blog visible to the search engines, continue by publishing lots of informative, interesting, and unique content. Make it a blog that people will read - and that search engines will index.

If you prefer the blog to be invisible or private, on the other hand, select "No" for both options. Then continue by developing your private audience, as you like.

There are more settings - for owners who want to fine tune search engine access. Both the Blogger dashboard Settings - "Search preferences" page, and the "Google Search console" (previously known as "Webmaster Tools"), have a rich collection of settings, complementing "Privacy".

If you really want to fine tune these settings, look at the Settings - "Search preferences" page, and the "Crawlers and indexing" section - but read and heed the serious advice.

Warning! Use with caution. Incorrect use of these features can result in your blog being ignored by search engines.

You can read more advice in Blogger: Help people find your blog on search engines - and Webmasters: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide. And you'll find Webmaster Central: Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking and Webmaster Central: Search Console useful for personal advice, complementing Blogger Help Forum.

Since Webmaster Forums supports owners of static websites, as well as owners of Blogger blogs (and other blogs), not all Search Console / Webmaster advice and tools will be useful for Blogger blogs. Be selective when considering Webmaster instructions - and ask questions in Blogger Help Forum, any time you feel the need.

The "Privacy" wizard is where you start - and similarly where some blog owners should stop.

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The Blogger "Privacy" wizard, on the "Basic" Settings page, provides the start to getting a blog indexed by the search engines - when we want a blog indexed. Not all blog owners want their blog indexed - and that need makes the "Privacy" settings relevant.

Blogger Magic - Followers / Reading List Visibility

When we use Blogger Following, we create a link to our profile, from each blog that we Follow.

That's the primary purpose of Following - to see, and to be seen. We also create links from our Followers profile, to each Followed blog. That's the purpose of having a profile - to describe ourselves, by the blogs that interest us.

Everybody does not want other people knowing about every blog that we Follow, though. To let us Follow blogs without being seen, we can Follow anonymously - or hide a blog, from our profile on other blogs.

When we Follow a blog, we can choose to Follow anonymously, or publicly.

We can change the option, to Follow anonymously or publicly, when needed. If we Follow publicly, we can hide this blog, in our profile, on other blogs.

We can also hide blogs in Reading List, to keep the list manageable.

Change between Anonymous and Public Following.

There are two ways of changing between anonymous and public Following.

1. Use the Followers gadget.
2. Use the Reading List wizard.

Use the Followers gadget.

If you are Following a blog publicly, you'll have your icon in the Followers facepile (the icon cloud in the gadget). You can edit your profile, and Follow anonymously - or continue to Follow publicly, but with this blog hidden from other blogs.

Click on "Options", when you are logged in to Following, as yourself.

Then, click on "Site settings".

Or, if you are Following publicly, you can click on your icon, then "Settings".

Now, you have the Settings wizard, for this site.

Click on "publicly" - since you can see this, when Following publicly.

If you're Following publicly, you can choose to Follow anonymously - or continue to Follow publicly, but not include this blog on your profile.



If you are Following a blog anonymously, you won't have your icon in the facepile. If you want to now Follow publicly, and you are properly logged in, you'll still have "Options" - then "Site settings".

Use the Reading List wizard.

There are two Reading List management wizards - one for Blogger profiles, the other for Google+ profiles.

Changing Reading List, with a Blogger profile.

If you have a Blogger profile, you use the Blogger "Manage Blogs I'm Following" wizard - that you access from the Blogger dashboard.

If you have a Google+ profile, you'll use Google friend connect "Sites I've joined".

Start from the Blogger dashboard home page.

Click on the "gear" icon, to the right of "Reading List".

Some blogs are Followed publicly.

You can make any publicly Followed blog, Followed anonymously.

Just click on "Change to anonymous".

Some blogs are Followed anonymously.

You can make any anonymously Followed blog, Followed publicly.

Just click on "Change to public".



Changing Reading List, with a Google+ profile.

If you have a Google+ profile, you use Google Friend Connect: Sites I've joined. You can't click to this wizard, from the dashboard.

If you have a Blogger profile, you'll use Blogger "Manage Blogs I'm Following".

Start from "Sites I've joined".

Find the blog that's relevant - and click on "Settings".

Some blogs are Followed publicly.

This blog is being Followed publicly.



If you choose to Follow publicly, using a Google+ profile, you can choose to display this blog, as part of your profile - when your icon is displayed on other blogs. Alternately, you can Follow this blog publicly - but make it non visible, from other blogs.

To Follow anonymously, click on "Follow anonymously", and "Save".

Some blogs are Followed anonymously.

This blog is being Followed anonymously.

To Follow publicly, click on "Follow publicly", and "Save".

If you Follow publicly, you can choose to hide the blog from your profile. You'll be visible, on this blog - but your profile, on other blogs, won't point to this blog.



Hide and un hide a blog, in Reading List.

Besides anonymity in Following, we can hide a blog, to make Reading List manageable.

So, be aware of the options for choosing private ("anonymous") vs public Following.

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When we Follow a blog, using #Blogger Followers, we have several options to control our visibility on different blogs. We can make ourselves fully or partially visible - or non visible.

Blogger Magic - Maintain Reading List Brevity

When you Follow a blog, the blog feed is added, as a subscription, to your dashboard Reading List.

This lets you read the blog content, conveniently, using the newsfeed. Separately from the Reading List, you can choose whether to have your personal Followers icon displayed, in the icon cloud on the blog display.

Besides maintaining anonymity in Following, you can hide any number of blogs, in the Reading List index, to make the index manageable.

You can display your Reading List, with the various blogs indexed in 3 states.

• Hidden, and not shown.
• Hidden, and temporarily shown.
• Visible.

Just learn to hover the mouse cursor in the right spot, to the left of the index entries, to change the state of the individual blogs.

Hidden or not, the blog content will continue to display, in the main Reading List display. Hidden blogs simply appear or disappear - as needed - in the Reading List index.

Here's an example of Reading List index entries.

Start from the Reading List section of the dashboard home page.

Here, we see two blogs that are being Followed, both visible.

To hide a blog, hover the mouse cursor to the left of a given blog name, and click on the down arrow.

To show all hidden blogs, click on the right arrow to the left of "Hidden blogs".

Now, all blogs are displayed - and the hidden blogs are indicated.

To un hide a hidden blog, hover the mouse cursor to the left of the blog name, and click on the up arrow.

And we again have two blogs, both visible.



The actual content of the Reading List display does not change - just the Reading List index, on the left.

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To help you use the #Blogger dashboard Reading List effectively, you have the ability to display or hide specific blogs in the index. This does not change Reading list content - just the index - and makes it easier to locate important blogs, repeatedly, in the index.

Removing Author Information From The Blog

Not everybody likes to be known, everywhere.

Some folks prefer to publish a blog, without their name appearing. Anonymity is a goal, for many blog owners.

Blogs using both Dynamic and non Dynamic (Layout, Designer) templates can be made anonymous - but different tasks are involved. Fortunately, both tasks are simple.

We've been advising how to achieve anonymity, with blogs published to non Dynamic templates, for many years.

Both the Author Name, and Author Profile below the posts, are removed, using the proper selections in "Configure Blog Posts". In the "Post Page Options", the second option (has a modifiable caption, which by default is "Posted by") can be de selected, to remove the name. The twelfth option, "Show Author Profile Below Post", can likewise be de selected.

With a blog published to a Dynamic template, the solution for this need is not obvious - but it's not complicated, either. Use the "Add CSS" wizard, in the Template Designer "Advanced" menu, and add one CSS rule.

.publish-info {display:none !important;}

I advise people to include blank lines before and after the rules being added. If there are other rules, previously added using "Add CSS", with blank lines, you won't necessarily need a second blank line - but you do need one blank line, between each different rule.

There are other tasks needed, to publish a blog anonymously - but removing the name from the blog is one of the most visible changes that you can make.

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The Account / Blog Recovery Instructions Don't Work!

Every day we see the complaints, of the hundreds.

Your instructions, for recovering access to my Blogger account, don't work!

And alternately, we see the anguish.

I can't login to my Blogger account, because my account is locked!!

And the final complaint, which is the most heartbreaking.

I can login, but my blog is not on my dashboard - and someone has filled my blog, with spam!!!

These are all reports about the same problem, in alternate universes.

Any time Blogger Engineering changes their account / blog recovery options, and cuts down on the numbers of one of the three, the other two will surely increase in number - because all three are symptoms of the same problem. People simply refuse to remember their account names and passwords.

There is one solution, which would be 100% effective, and drive the numbers of each of the hundreds, to zero.

Everybody, without exception, would simply remember their account name and password.

Were that to happen, Blogger Security could remove all "backdoor" accesses and recovery tools, and blog thieves would have to go back to Barista College, or Hamburger University. There would be no more stealing control of peoples accounts or blogs - save maybe by watching somebody in public, as they login.

The recovery instructions do work, for people who make some effort.

The recovery instructions do not work, because you, the blog owner, simply don't make enough effort to remember / retain control of your accounts, or to protect your accounts. And in some cases, you simply have protected your identity, to make you completely anonymous - and can't identify yourself, because you are anonymous.

Remember your login details, and be one of the millions who work on their blogs.

If you remember your account name and password - and do not ever let your account name and password be known in public - you will never have to worry about account / blog recovery. You would then be one of the millions who do not care about account / blog recovery, because they never need to use the recovery tools.

Be prepared to re authenticate, when you travel!

And if you travel, be prepared! Setup Google 2-Step Verification before you step out the door. And whether you travel, or stay in the same place, use your account, and publish your blog, regularly.

Millions don't worry. Become one of the millions. Reduce the numbers of the hundreds.

If you're learning this concept too late - as many are, periodically - start a new blog, and combine the old and new blogs, in a blog cluster.

Clearing Cache, Cookies, And Other Website Data

Most of us, as we surf the Internet, are going to surf some websites, repeatedly.

Everybody has favourite websites. When we surf the same website, over and over, some of what we do and see may not change a lot.

To keep us from wasting our time, and generating unnecessary network traffic, our browsers keep track of the websites that we visit over and over, save records of what we do and copies of what we see, and note what has changed. The website content, stored locally, is known as "private" data.

There are times when we need to clear "private" data. Note the different browsers - and the different menus and selections, provided by each browser.

• If you have a problem when viewing your blog - or if you wish to immediately refresh your personal view of your blog, you should clear "cache".
• If you have a problem maintaining or publishing your blog - maybe when switching between Draft and Production Blogger, you should clear "cookies".
• Whenever you clear cookies, you should clear cache, also - so, if you have a problem when maintaining or publishing your blog, you should clear "cache, cookies, and sessions".

There are other reasons for clearing private data - but there are also reasons for not clearing private data, indiscriminately. It will be worth your time, to understand what and when you should clear - and not clear.

Normally, you would not, routinely, clear private data.

What if you use a publicly shared computer - maybe in a coffee shop or library? Or maybe, you carry your computer to a coffee shop or library? Do you want your private details - such as account names, passwords, even a list of what websites you surf - being available for other patrons of the coffee shop or library, after you leave?

Most of us do not want our private details, visible to any curious fellow patron - or maybe to our family either. But not all data is equally as damaging, if revealed to strangers, or to people who know us.

To help us keep our private lives private - yet not waste time or generate unnecessary network traffic, our browsers offer us the opportunity to save some content, and to delete other content - when we know what options are available to us.

• Cache.
• Forms.
• History.
• Passwords.
• Preference cookies.
• Session cookies.

Cache is simply locally stored copies of code and static pages, that you and other people, using the computer, might accumulate. Cache contains no sensitive, personally identifying material - other than (again) possibly identifying what websites you have visited.

If you share a computer with another person, identifying what websites you visited, and what websites the other person visited, will require knowing times each of you used the computer. There are no personal identifiers which indicate which of you visited a given website.

Forms contain online entered data, such as account names. Forms are slightly less sensitive than passwords, since they may contain large volumes of random data. Look at the boxes in the Blogger dashboard - those are all forms. Hidden in the forms, you may find an account name - or an email address. It's like asking how dangerous a needle may be, in a stack of hay.

History is a log, describing what websites, and website pages, that you have visited. History might be important if having people, other than you, know that you visit certain websites; other than the personal embarrassment possibility, history is relatively harmless.

Passwords are the most sensitive bit of data, that you can store on your computer. Someone extracting your passwords, on a per website basis, can use your account in each website, to operate as you. An online password is just as sensitive as the password (aka "PIN") that you might enter at an ATM.

Preference cookies (aka "cookies") are local storage of website relevant details. Preference cookies are miscellaneous settings, used to remember choices which you might make, when viewing a given website, repeatedly. Some browsers identify "preference cookies", and "session cookies", collectively, as just "cookies". Firefox, in various places, identifies "preference cookies" as "cookies", and "session cookies" as "sessions".

Session cookies (aka "sessions") are a cookie, designated by some browsers, as containing login identifiers, and other data relative to one website visit (but let you extend one "visit" to include multiple browser openings and closings). Firefox designates the Blogger login cookie as a session cookie. This is why, when I advise you to clear Blogger dashboard problems, I always specify clear "cache, cookies, and sessions".

In order of sensitivity, I would rank the above elements in a different order.

• Passwords.
• Forms.
• Session cookies.
• Preference cookies.
• History.
• Cache.

Look at cache, to start. Cache is locally stored copies of content, from remote servers. Other than inadvertently revealing our favourite naughty content, there is no danger in cache content being seen to other people. There are three scenarios, when we might want to clear cache.

• To clean up the computer, when it is running slower than normal.
• To provide an up to date copy of a website, immediately.
• When investigating a website login problem, such as a Blogger dashboard problem, which requires clearing cookies.

Cache takes up thousands as much space as cookies, and as passwords.

At the other end of the sensitivity scale, you find Passwords. My personal advice is to not store passwords, period. If you want convenience when accessing a website like Blogger, which offers long term login sessions - when you use a private and safe computer - simply don't log out, from Blogger. If you never clear session cookies, you never have to log out.

If you enjoy the convenience of online banking, on the other hand, you should always log out after an online banking session. If you never store passwords, for online banking, you never have to worry about clearing passwords.

In the middle of the scale, we find Cookies. A cookie is a small, encrypted file, which contains a single setting that lets us visit the same website repeatedly, without having to re enter something.

The Google login cookie (aka "session" cookie) lets us visit Google (and Blogger), and maintain our blogs, without having to login, over and over. This is the infamous "third party" cookie which we need, to use Blogger readily.

Cookies, since some provide login data, are encrypted. Open a cookie file, using a text reader, and see what is there (But do not use "Save" to close the text reader), if you wish to understand.

If you have a problem when viewing your blog - or if you wish to immediately refresh your personal view of your blog, you might clear "cache". If you have a problem with your Blogger dashboard - maybe when switching between Draft and Production Blogger, on the other hand, you would want to clear "cookies". Whenever you clear cookies, you should clear cache, also - so, if you have a problem when maintaining or publishing your blog, you will be advised to clear "cache, cookies, and sessions".

If you have inconsistent private data (cookies don't properly match cache or scripts), you may have to deal with one of the mysterious bX codes. When this happens, then clearing "cache, cookies, and sessions" may be one of the first things to try.

Note that not all problems involving "cache" or "cache, cookies, and sessions" may be solved by "clearing cache" or even "clearing cache, cookies, and sessions". Some problems may require corrected filtering. Also, not all problems, that involve cache, can be necessarily solved by clearing browser cache.

All of these are personal preferences, which I exercise - when using my own personal computer, in the privacy of my home. Other people may be more strict - or some computer owners may never clear anything. When using your computer outside your home - or maybe, when using a public computer - you may wish to be more careful.

My personal advice, for using a public computer, is simple.

• Never, except in an absolute emergency, use a public computer for online banking.
• Whenever finishing a session on a public computer, always clear all private data, and restart the computer.

Some short term use public computers, such as stand up terminals in libraries and shopping centres, are specially designed to reload the entire system configuration, and operating system, and wipe all "private" data, after each individual person has used the computer. If you must use a public computer, those would be the safest ones to use.

Similarly, if you carry your own computer outside your home, you may be concerned with other people seeing what's on your computer, intercepting your network activities (if you use a public network), and / or stealing the computer. Depending upon which possibility concerns you, you might take any or all precautions, before carrying the computer out the door.

• Clear passwords (if you store passwords, locally).
• Clear history and cache (if you fear people browsing your computer).
• Clear all private data (if you fear theft).

Who knows what embarrassment (financial, and personal) you might save yourself, by thinking ahead?

If You Want To Keep A Secret, Don't Publish It

Have you ever heard the old saying

I had a friend, and I had a secret. I told my friend my secret - and now, I have neither a friend, or a secret.

Occasionally we see signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

I have a private blog! Why do I see my blog listed in Google?

or

I distinctly set my blog to be invisible! Why is my blog being indexed?

Not all blog owners know that neither the "disallow" statement, in "Robots.Txt" - nor the "noindex, nofollow" directives, in our blogs - are mandatory.

If you publish content on the web, chances are it is - or will eventually be - indexed somewhere, by some search engine.

Obedient search engines won't index content, when instructed.

Obedient search engine robots will observe the Google privacy directives, such as "noindex, nofollow" directives in HTML code, and the instructions in the "robots.txt" file. Not all robots are obedient, however.

There are many search engines besides Google - and not all search engines observe privacy directives.

The various robotic processes, which scan for abusive content, scan all blogs and websites out of necessity. Some archiving robots archive everything - not just content that's provided openly.

Many search engines share indexed content - obedient, or not.

Many search engines share data with other search engines, and / or retrieve data from other search engines. Even Google will index some sites, indirectly, that are not intended to be indexed.

Ownership and privacy laws vary - from country to country, and between Internet services. What you consider private (personal data), if you live in Germany, may be treated as common knowledge, by someone in Russia, or the USA. And if you report someone publishing your private data to Blogger / Google, you may get different treatment than from WordPress, or from an independent hosting service in China.

If you publish content, expect that it will be indexed.

If you want to keep a secret, do not publish your secret on the Internet. Regardless of whether you publish it to a blog with designated readers, using the Blogger dashboard Privacy settings, or even using a custom "robots.txt" file, your secret may be visible on any search engine - even on Google.

If you think the Internet is your friend, try publishing a secret there. You will learn the truth, eventually. And hiding your secret, after it gets out, will not be an easy task.

Loss Of Ability To Let The Reader Choose A Dynamic View Or Non Dynamic View, When Viewing The Blog

When the Blogger dynamic templates were first introduced, back in 2011, they provided choices.

Besides letting the reader choose, on the fly, which dynamic view to use, it was possible to let the reader choose whether to view the blog using a dynamic view - or a non dynamic view.

When dynamic templates were first introduced, they offered a dynamic view of the blog posts - and little else. Popular features like static pages were added later, and in pieces.

As the various pieces of the dynamic views became better defined, the need to switch between dynamic and non dynamic views became less essential - and eventually, some choices were eliminated.

If you look at the menu bar for this blog, you'll see a selection "DYNAMIC".

If you click on the "DYNAMIC" menu selection, you'll get a link to the "sidebar" dynamic view of this blog. At one time, this would have actually shown you this blog, using a dynamic template. Now, it leads you to a blank screen.

We asked Blogger Support recently, about the recently discovered inability to allow the reader to switch from a non dynamic view to a dynamic view, and were told that option had been discontinued, for "privacy reasons".

Apparently, some portions of the posts, when removed using the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard, were still displayed when a dynamic view was used. This caused problems for some blog owners, who had intentionally used a non dynamic view with personal details like author name removed from the posts. When they viewed the blog in a dynamic view, they found their name displayed, for all to see.

If anonymity is your concern, there are other techniques, which you may consider.

Another possible problem involved the blogs being simultaneously published using a dynamic template, and a non dynamic template. Last year, many blog owners reported various problems encountered, when their blogs were viewed using a dynamic template. It's possible that solution of the various problems involved simplification of code - including the ability to use either a dynamic or non dynamic view, at will.

Whatever the details, it appears that dynamic templates, and non dynamic templates, are completely separate options now. And as Blogger improves the dynamic templates in general, this should be good for all blogs.

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Help Me! I Can't Access My Blogger Account!

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.

Ask enough questions, and the details will come forth.

Help Me! I never bothered to remember my password - I used the Forgot Password wizard to reset my password every time I wanted to sign in to my Blogger account. My email address changed last month, my phone number changed last week, I can't get the email from the Forgot Password wizard, or the new Blogger Account / Blog Recovery wizard - and now I can't sign in to my blog!

As I have repeatedly advised folks, and previously pointed out in 2010, Blogger lets us maintain our blogs anonymously, and promises anonymous access and ownership for eternity. There is no magic token attached to our blogs, that let us conveniently email Blogger and ask for a second (or a third) back door access to our accounts.

If you can't access your Blogger account, you can't maintain your blog. Use the Forgot Password wizard, when you have access to the email account - or the new Blogger Account / Blog Recovery wizard.

And learn how to use the Google "One account" login wizard, properly.

Blogger wants to protect us, and our blogs, from attacks from people who claim to be us, but are not. Help them to protect our accounts, and our blogs - don't require that they gratuitously allow you access to your blog when you forget the password, and have no second - or third - back door access to reset the password.

Recovering Your Account Information - Improved

Blogger has long promised us that our blogs will be ours, forever, and that we are free to publish our blogs in privacy, if we so desire. Based on those promises, not all Blogger blog owners have made the right decisions, in retaining access to their Blogger / Google accounts.

Many problem reports. from frustrated owners, are seen, daily, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

My email address changed some time ago, and now, I can't login to Blogger and update my blog!

Last year, Blogger made several changes to their account recovery policies and procedures, which made this subject, for many blog owners, a critical and painful issue. Now, Google is making an organised effort to reduce the pain, by improving their account recovery tool.

There are two tools which you may wish to try, when you cannot login directly, to your Blogger account.

• Blogger: Forgot your username or password?
• Google: Having trouble signing in?

Google re designed account recovery, in 2012.

Recognising the frustration caused by some recent changes to the Blogger / Google login, and to various account recovery procedures, Google recently improved the design of their account recovery tool. Formerly labeled

• Account Recovery: Forgot your password?

We now have

• Google: Having trouble signing in?

The newly designed wizard covers both Google account un deletion, and account recovery, transparently. It won't provide recovery of all Google services lost when the account was deleted, however.

The wizard has three initial selections.

• I forgot my password
• I forgot my username
• I'm having other problems signing in

I forgot my password

Immediately when selecting "I forgot my password", you'll be asked to provide the username of your Google account, labeled "Email address". As noted, this may be either a GMail address - or any non GMail email address.

To reset your password, enter the username you use to sign in to Google. This can be your Gmail address, or it may be another email address you associated with your account.

Having hit "Continue", expect to see a CAPTCHA. Successfully solving the CAPTCHA, you'll be presented with three options. Each of these options requires proper advance registration, by the blog owner.

Choose how to get back into your account.

• Get a verification code on my phone.
• Answer my security question
• Get a password reset link at my recovery email

I forgot my username

Immediately when selecting "I forgot my username", you'll need to provide the account recovery email.

Please enter the recovery email address you provided when creating your account.

Having entered the right email address, you'll next (surprise!) get to solve a CAPTCHA, and then receive the welcome news.

An email has been sent to xxxxxxx@yyyyy.zzz containing all Gmail usernames associated with that address.

Please make sure xxxxxxx@yyy.zzz is your recovery email address. If it is not, you will not receive an email containing your username.

Here, once again, we see the advantage of not remaining completely anonymous.

I'm having other problems signing in
Immediately when selecting "I'm having other problems signing in", you'll be asked for your Email address.

Enter the username you use to sign in to Google. This can be your Gmail address, or it may be another email address you associated with your account.

Having provided an email address (big surprise!!), you'll be asked to solve a CAPTCHA. Finally, you'll be provided the Google Accounts: Problems signing in to your account article, with additional selections.

Please select your issue:

• I forgot my password
• I think someone else is using my account
• I forgot my username
• I know my username and password, but I can't sign in
• I can't reset my password via SMS
• I use a Google Apps account
• I'm having trouble with 2-step verification

Here we see a wide assortment of options, all carefully provided to allow genuine Blogger blog owners to recover access to their Blogger / Google accounts, while preventing malicious hijacking. This should complement the separate Blogger blog access recovery wizard. You'd be wise to try at least some of these options, before asking for assistance, in a public forum.

The automated tools are necessary, to protect our accounts and blogs from people seeking to misuse the recovery process, and steal control of our accounts and our blogs.

Recovery works best with "lost access" accounts - "stolen" accounts will differ.

Now, you'll want to note that these wizards help you recover control of a Blogger / Google account that you simply have lost access. If your GMail / Google account has been successfully hijacked, you're going to need different corrective measures, for recovery and future protection.

Please note that both tools provided by Blogger / Google will work more reliably, with a blog that was not transferred improperly, from one Blogger account to another. And plan the recovery process, don't be caught unaware of the new recovery verification procedures.

Your Blogger Account: Anonymity Vs Security

One of the most frustrating problems with Blogger accounts involves the conflicting goals of anonymity and security.

1. We are allowed to publish a Blogger blog in complete anonymity. Blogger acknowledges and supports that need.
2. Anonymity comes at a price. Should you succeed in intentionally becoming completely anonymous, then forget the account name or password, there will be no way for Blogger to help you to recover access to your Blogger account.

Every week, we get reports from people who can't access their blogs because they changed their email address without proper planning, or they don't know which account owns a given blog. And some time ago, we dealt with a small flood of reports from people whose Blogger accounts - and blogs - had been stolen, using some devious hacking techniques.

Blogger and Google have added additional options for account authentication.

Considering the need to prevent account and blog hijacking, yet allow people to be able to recover account access after changing email address, this is a righteous advance. The options may not please people who value anonymity, though.

Blogger / Google has added an additional account verification option, Two Step Verification.

2-Step Verification improves your chance of successful account recovery.

Two-Step Verification will improve the chance of your being able to recover account access, if you forget the account name or password.

For those unable or unwilling to accept 2-Step Verification, and where tracking cookies are not regarded as a devious plot, Blogger uses demographic authentication. First seen by people who travel being asked to prove identity, demographic authentication appears to be used when you need to recover account access, or when you login from a different computer.

2-Step Verification may not be acknowledged by everybody as a major advance.

For people who have had their Blogger account hacked and blogs stolen, or people who fear this fate, demographic authentication may be seen as a positive direction for Blogger / Google to take, For people who fear "big brother" and the never escapable cameras and total lack of privacy, an authentication process which tracks each of us, as we login, may be seen as privacy violation.

We will be recognised, demographically, by computer, by geographic location, and by Internet connection. This may substitute for, or enhance, 2-Step Verification.

Two Step Verification - which uses your cell phone or home phone as a verification token - will not work, for everybody.

• It requires advance action. By the time you realise that you have forgotten the account name / password, and you cannot use the backup email address to reset the password, it's too late to register your cell or home phone.
• If you value anonymity, you may not want your activity tracked.
• If you value anonymity, you may not want Google to have your cell or home phone number, stored in their databases.

For people who understand the risk of having ones Blogger account hacked - or who want to provide an additional option for account recovery when necessary, however, this is a solid option.

Your Blog Is Forever - But Requires Your Effort

Some blog owners misunderstand the apocryphal promise from Blogger to us

Blogger accounts and Blog*Spot addresses do not expire.

From the tone of some questions in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, some blog owners seem to think that Blogger promises us unending service, without requiring any effort on our part.

We need to think of Blogger blogging as a partnership, between Blogger and us. Blogger is a business - and some principles of business apply to how they treat us.

In our constant stream of demand for features and service, as owners and readers of Blogger blogs, we need to remember that Blogger (and Google) are a business. Various principles of business will occasionally apply, in their policies. These policies may not, necessarily, be responsive to our immediate and personal needs - though they may support the overall needs of Blogger, in general.

• Due diligence. Some Blogger policies may be necessary to support the Blogger customer community, in general.
• Due process of law. Some Blogger policies may be necessary to support the rights of other individual Blogger customers.
• Return on investment. Some Blogger policies may be necessary to support Blogger as a business.
• Personal Responsibility. Some Blogger policies may be necessary to allow us to maintain our Blogger blogs, and personal computers, to support our personal needs.

Due diligence. Blogger may make some decisions in order to protect themselves, and their customers, in general. Blogger may refuse to disclose personal information about us, if we cannot prove our identity. Even if we cannot accept, or understand this policy, Blogger may maintain this policy to better support the Blogger community, in general.

Due process of law. Blogger may refuse to respond to our personal demands, to protect the rights of other Blogger blog owners. They may not delete blogs which we don't own, purely because we complain that the content of some blogs may say bad things about us.

Return on investment. Blogger may refuse to support us, when we have not made any similar effort to assist them to support us. If we require service, that requires much effort from them, and provides no benefit to the Blogger owner community in general, we may not get support immediately - or at all.

If we ignore our Blogger accounts and blogs, for many years, our accounts and blogs will be there waiting for us. Our access to our accounts and blogs may be restricted, however - and Blogger Support may not fulfill our personal needs.

If we ignore their warnings about coming changes, we may not be supported after such changes are finally implemented.

Personal Responsibility. Blogger cannot support our blogs, and our use of our personally owned computers, when our personal decisions compete with their policies. Our use of different browsers, varying local security policies, and of different non Blogger products in our blogs, require us to take personal responsibility.

As owners and readers of Blogger blogs, as of similar Internet services, we have to take ownership of our personal decisions, similar to many Blogger policies. We cannot demand more of Blogger, than we do of ourselves.







http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2012/02/your-blog-is-forever-but-access-to-and.html
Your Blog Is Forever - But Access To, And Support Of, Your Blog, Requires Your Effort
Your Blog Is Forever - But Requires Your Effort

Deletion Is Not Alternative, If You Cannot Authenticate

Some supposed blog owners, unable to login to their Blogger accounts because they forgot the Blogger account name or password (or never bothered to remember either), try to compromise.

They figure that, if they can't regain access to the blog, then Blogger will be willing to simply delete the blog - and everybody will be happy. They appear to have overlooked the repeatedly stated policy, which promises us that our blogs will be ours, as long as we wish to own them.

The problem is, blog deletions are as sensitive to illegal action as account recovery - and illegal actions are a very real threat to our blogs.

Blogger exercises due diligence, in requiring proper authentication for Blogger account recovery.

Blogger can't delete a blog, any more freely than give control of a blog.

Any requested deletion, of any supposedly owned blog, must be no less controlled.

Blogger promises us

Blogger accounts and Blog*Spot addresses do not expire.

This means that our blogs will not be deleted, or transferred to the control of another person, without careful validation of the person requesting the deletion or transfer. If the other person cannot prove rightful ownership of the blog in question, Blogger is not legally entitled to delete the blog, any more than they are entitled to transfer control of the blog.

We are permitted to own and publish our blogs, without any minimal required activity, and without any required proof of our real life identity. We are entitled to publish our blogs when we see fit - and are entitled to come back to our blogs after any length of time - if we are able to authenticate ourselves.

Blogger lets us publish, at any rate we prefer.

Blogger will not harass us when we are inactive, whether or not anybody else offers to publish to our URL with more vigour. Neither will they give anybody else control of our blogs, either to publish - or to delete. Similarly, they won't give me - or you - access to somebody else's blog, or harass somebody else.

If you find yourself unable to access your blog, and delete it on your own, try using the improved Google account recovery wizard, before asking that Blogger delete your blog for you.

In limited cases, the Google tool Removing Content From Google may be useful. Finally, concentrate on making your blog or website more useful, and organically improving your reputation.

Why Does Blogger Use Email, To Identify You?

One of the most constantly seen discussions, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, involves people who have forgotten their Blogger account name or password.

Generally, it's a rather simple task to recover access to one's Blogger account, should you forget / lose access to any one Blogger authentication token.

The Blogger Forgot your username or password? wizard will send, upon request, an account recovery email message, to the email address associated with the Blogger account needed, for any active and online blog. Just provide the blog name, read the email, and follow instructions.

Unfortunately, not all Blogger blog owners can always use email based account recovery.

Some blog owners, when advised to recover access to their Blogger blog by opening the account recover email message, are still unable to recovery access to their Blogger accounts.

Excuses abound - and there are so many different excuses, provided in the problem reports.

There are several reasons for using Blogger / Google email account based account names.

• Account name uniqueness, benefits Blogger / Google.
• Identity verification, benefits Blogger / Google.
• Name retention, benefits the account holder.

Unfortunately, not all Blogger blog owners appreciate those advantages - and some actively avoid them.

If you want to own or publish a Blogger blog, read a private blog, or comment on some Blogger blogs, you have to have a Blogger / Google account. For your convenience, you can have a Blogger / Google account name that's based on any mutually suitable email address.

If you don't want to use a single, active email address - or if changing your Blogger account, each time that you change email accounts, is not convenient - you won't be forced to use your active, current email address. You can use any available non GMail email address, for an account name - though there are advantages, in choosing an account name, carefully.

You can have as many GMail or non GMail email accounts, as you wish. However, keeping track of your email accounts is your responsibility - and only your responsibility. Blogger cannot support or track your multiple identities.

If you choose to not use your active, current email address in your Blogger account, and you ever forget the account name or password, please do not write into Blogger Help Forum: How Do I? and ask

What's my email address? Can I have a hint?

or

Can somebody please send me email to my current address?

Blogger Support cannot, legally, help you, in this case. When you're told

No.

please, don't complain.

Your Blogger Account: Privacy Vs Account Recovery

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see questions about publishing a blog, anonymously.

How do I publish a blog, without having my identity revealed?

One of the best techniques for keeping yourself anonymous is to use different Blogger / Google accounts, for different blogs. But, there's a downside to that technique.

I can't regain access to my blog, because I don't remember the email address!

Sometimes, it's a bit more embarrassing.

I can't regain access to my blog, because I don't remember the GMail address!

And here, we see blog owners who took the need for secrecy a bit far.

Regardless of whether a Blogger account is based on a GMail, or a non GMail address, backup access - should one forget the account name or password - uses the email address.

You can't maintain anonymity, if you ever have to reveal your email address.

If you want to publish your blog without revealing your identity, that's fine - Blogger permits this - and even supports your need. In order to support this need, though, you have to allow them to refuse to disclose any personal details.

Neither the account name - or email address, should you forget either, can be disclosed, without revealing your identity.

If you maintain email account access, you can always recover Blogger access.

One of the reasons for using one's email address (Gmail, or non GMail) as your Blogger account name is so you won't forget the account name. If you forget your email address, you'll have worse problems than just inability to publish your Blogger blog.

You need your Blogger account based on an active email address.

Unfortunately, if you choose to use one "email address" to read and send your email, and a second "email address" (whether bogus, or genuine) to publish a Blogger blog, you are not as likely to remember your Blogger account name. That's a decision that you have to make. If you want to publish your blog anonymously, don't expect Blogger to gratuitously break your anonymity, later.

If you forget an identity detail, you must break anonymity.

In this case, you're going to have to hope that you can supply your email account hosts - either GMail, or non GMail - with enough personal details (anonymity not possible, now) so they can restore your email account, and / or recover access to your Inbox - and you can open the Blogger account recovery message, and regain access to your Blogger account.

If you'e forgotten the backup email address of the active account, again, don't expect Blogger to tell you what you need to remember. Now, you'll have do do some research, and hope that you can find the forgotten email address mentioned in email, in one of your remembered accounts - or maybe in a friends email account.

You'll have problem with a deleted / locked account or blog, without email.

This scenario will be intensified, when a blog is deleted for any of several different reasons - possibly including accused DMCA Violation.

There is one valid reason to have multiple email addresses.

There is one reason to maintain two (or more) email addresses. If you have a small business, or you communicate through your blog using email, don't use your Blogger account email for casual contact with the public.

Here, using two (or more) email addresses makes sense - but maintain Blogger account names and email addresses, constantly.

Use Google Two Step Verification, for extra protection.

At any rate, if you're able to recover access, this time, consider using Two Step Verification, for future protection. Especially if you travel.

Blogger Is Not Blocking Access To Your Blog

I've explained the issues about Blogger account maintenance, and blog access, so many times.

I've described it as possession being the law, or as reading between the lines, or even as responsible practice - and some people just don't understand these issues. Some people try to describe their problem, when they have a problem, as Blogger unlawfully stealing their possession.

Blogger won't give me access to my blog - do I need a court order to get access to my blog, and to my content?

At first glance, they have a point - Blogger has to give us access to our blogs, or they cease being our blogs. If you look closer though, there's a flaw in that reasoning.

Blogger lets you publish a blog, without identifying yourself legally to them, as long as you retain control of the blog.

To retain control, you have to access a Blogger account that owns the blog. You have two methods of access, to any Blogger account - a front door, and a back door.

1. The front door: The account name (email address when setup originally), and the current password.
2. The back door: The email address currently associated with the account, and access to that email address.

If you lose both the front door and the back door, you can't access the Blogger account, and you can't control the blog. If you lose access, don't blame Blogger for your loss of access.

Blogger is not preventing you from accessing your blog, and doing whatever you wish, with your blog - as long as you can prove that it's your blog. Blogger will assist you, when possible, to access your Blogger account, and your blog.

When you make it impossible, as when you lose both the front door and the back door, they can't assist you. If they can't assist you now, they will still hold the blog, patiently, until you are able to prove that it's your blog.

Your blog is still there, waiting for you to access it. It will remain there, waiting for you to access it. Blogger is not preventing you from accessing your blog.

The Need To Comment, Anonymously, Has To Remain A Possibility

Not all blog owners understand the need for people to post anonymous comments, against our blog posts. Periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we see the naivete expressed by some.

How do I find out who is posting anonymous comments to my blog?

These people do not understand the need for anonymous commenting.

You, as a blog owner, have the ability to select the level of authentication, to be required of anybody preparing to post a comment to your blog. For "Who Can Comment?", we find the selection list

1. Anyone - includes Anonymous Users
2. Registered Users - includes OpenID
3. Users with Google Accounts
4. Only members of this blog

People who wish to comment anonymously, yet provide a "Name" / "URL" to link back to their Blogger profile, or their blog / website, may do this at their discretion. Anybody doing this provides no guarantee of being genuine, however.

If you allow "anonymous users" to comment, then people who wish to comment anonymously need to be assured that their privacy will be respected. You can gather demographic data about your blogs visitors - and you may infer specific details about individual commenters - but the relevance of that policy will be limited by the precautions exercised by your commenters.

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Our Ability To Blog Anonymously Is Confirmed

In a recent statement in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, Blogger has confirmed our right to publish our blogs anonymously.

Our policies aren't pro-stalker, they are pro-respecting the privacy of user information. We simply can not release information without due process.

Since this is a legal issue, you'll have to follow appropriate legal channels. Sorry we don't have an easier answer at this point, but I hope you can understand where we are coming from in terms of the importance of respecting privacy.

The promise of anonymity is an important reassurance for those who wish to publish blogs, without fear of being identified.

Anonymous blog owners can only be identified based on proper court order.

Only properly issued governmental court orders will result in blogger identification. We also note a previous advice.

we do not give out contact information for the owner of a blog

If you require the identity of any blog owner, get a lawyer, and / or an order from a judge. Or, do some detective work, on your own.

Blogger Support will not contact an owner, based on your request.

Blogger Support cannot unilaterally take your word as justification of your need to contact the other party. In addition, they cannot consistently contact all blog owners, when necessary.

You may publish a blog, in complete anonymity - but prepare for the risks.

And if you, as a blog owner, desire complete anonymity, there are more ways to protect your identity. However, please recognise that anonymous blogging requires that we accept responsibility - and always prepare for challenges, if the blog is ever deleted.

Recovering Your Account Information

Blogger promises us that our blogs will be ours, forever, and that we are free to publish our blogs in privacy, if we so desire.

They do this by protecting our Blogger accounts behind Two Factor Authentication. Both the name of our Blogger account, and the password used, are our secret to keep.

Since both the account name and the password are secrets, you can't just write to Blogger Support one day and say

I forgot my account name - can you tell me what it is?

When you setup a Blogger account, you provide an email address, which will be used for recovering forgotten account names and passwords.

If you forget the account name, or need to reset the password, you can use the Forgot your username or password? wizard.

"Forgot?" has two options, which you use depending upon what you know.

The "Forgot?" wizard gives you two options, and sends a recovery email message accordingly.

• Recover access to an account. Provide the account name (the email address that you provided when opening the Blogger account), and the email goes to to the primary email address for that account.
• Recover access to the blog. Provide the URL of the blog in question, and the email goes to the owning account(s) for that blog.

There are several interesting details, with the "Forgot?" wizard.

• The wizard works only for BlogSpot URLs. If the blog is published to a non BlogSpot URL (as a custom domain), you will need to provide the original BlogSpot URL.
• The wizard works for all BlogSpot URLs - regardless of the Country Code alias which affects the blog owner. Whether the owner is in Canada (and seeing "xxxxxxx.blogspot.ca"), in Mexico (and seeing "xxxxxxx.blogspot.mx"), or in the USA (and seeing either "xxxxxxx.blogspot.com" or "xxxxxxx.blogspot.us"), you use only the "xxxxxxx" BlogSpot name, in this wizard.
• The wizard works only for active URLs. If the blog is deleted, either by you or by Blogger, you won't be able to recover access.
• You will only get the recovery email, when you login to the recovery email account. You have to use an active email account, for recovering your login information.
• Blogger will not tell you the email address, since the account name / email address is kept a secret.
• Blogger cannot tell you anything, if you have intentionally obscured your identity.

In cases where the account was last used under Old (Pre 2006) Blogger, the Claim your blog wizard may be used - but note that Legacy accounts are no longer supported, in general.

"Having trouble?" complements "Forgot?".

A third possibility would be the Google Having trouble signing in? wizard. You may also find Google Accounts: Secondary Email Address to provide relevant - if not welcome - advice.

In any case, your personal identity is kept a secret from others - as other folks identities are kept a secret from you. If you don't have access to the email account that's associated with the Blogger account, you don't get the email. That restriction leads to interesting scenarios - such as mysterious email received from the Forgot Password wizard, caused by desperation.

Whether you use either "Forgot?" wizard, when you open the email and login to Blogger as part of the authentication process, be sure that you provide / use the right Blogger / Google account. Alternately, clear cache, cookies, and sessions - then restart the browser - before executing either wizard. Do not claim or recover the blog, to an unknown or unexpected account.

Recovery is easiest done, using two browsers.

Account recovery will involve accessing two accounts, simultaneously - and is best done using two browsers.

It's possible that understanding the relationships between Blogger accounts, email addresses, and Google accounts may reduce your need to continue. If your account is based on a non GMail email address, you may wish to consider the special relationships.

Your next possible solution is to try using the Blogger "Forgot your password?" wizard. If "Forgot?" does not provide you enough clues, you're entitled to ask Blogger Support for help - but you need to understand the limitations of their ability to help.

If you choose to ask for help, consider making an effort to recover access to your GMail account, or to your non GMail account, as necessary. And when you check your email accounts, GMail or non GMail, check carefully.

Having recovered the account, you should be able to find the blogs previously owned - and possibly un delete them - starting from the "Deleted blogs" dashboard list.


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Some blog owners lose access to their #Blogger accounts - either forgetting the account name / password, or letting the blog go dormant and requiring demographic authentication when trying to access later. They expect that Blogger will just send them an access token, without verifying that they are the rightful owner.

They fail to observe that Blogger wants them to continue publishing their blog - and does not intend to let unknown parties have control of it, through failure to require verification of identity.