Use "Quick Edit" To Bypass The Dashboard Menu

One very useful Blogger feature is the option to bypass the Blogger dashboard - to edit the various gadgets, and existing blog posts.

The feature, termed "Quick Edit", provides two different icons, generally visible to the proper recipients, with the option enabled, on the published blog.

• The "Quick Edit" "pencil" is visible to administrators and authors, in the posts toolbar, to the right of the "Email Post" icon. This will generally be in one of the post footer lines.
• The gadget "screwdriver / wrench" icon is visible to administrators, to the lower right of each template gadget (except for "Blog Posts").

Though the "screwdriver / wrench" icon is more visible, that icon has no name, and no selection option in the Blogger dashboard. And, there are more mysteries.

The "Quick Edit" option is selected using "Configure Blog Posts", as "Show Quick Editing".

Most blog owners enable "Quick Edit" on their blogs, routinely.


What I see, of the"Search Me, Direct" gadget, in this blog.


The Quick Edit icon, that I see. You should not not see the icon, when you view this blog - but you may see it, on a gadget in your blog, when you view your own blog.


You enable "Quick Edit" from the dashboard Layout page.
Though the option affects visibility of the "screwdriver / wrench" icons, in the blog template, there is no dashboard Settings selection. It is only selected as a post template option, in "Configure Blog Posts".

The "Configure Blog Posts" wizard is accessible only by Editing the "Blog Posts" gadget, from the dashboard Layout wizard. There is no "screwdriver / wrench" icon which allows access to the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.

Names used to identify the "Quick Edit" icon may vary.
Adding to the mystique here, residents of Europe may term the "wrench" as a "spanner". Long ago, some blog owners referred to the "screwdriver / spanner / wrench" icon as "dragonflies".

Both the "pencil" and "screwdriver / wrench" icons may or may not be consistently visible. Both icons have been known to be invisible / non functional, with improperly configured cookie or script filters.

The icon may be visible, even when not operational.
And thanks to caching, a blog owner may see either the "pencil" or "screwdriver / wrench" icon when logged out of Blogger - and mistakenly conclude that the public, in general, is able to access the Dashboard or Post Editor for his blog, and change blog options or edit posts. Having logged out, then clicking on any visible icon - or clicking on a carefully configured link URL, we can verify that no illegal access is possible.

And some blog owners, thanks to an intriguing terminology variation, may refer to the "pencil" as an option for editing a "blog".

All that said, use of the Quick Edit URL - with Quick Edit enabled or not - can be very useful, in removing gadgets properly identified.

A Deleted Blog Can Only Be Recovered By The Owner

Deleted blog recovery requests come in many forms.

I can't access my blog!

or

My dashboard is empty!!

or

Somebody deleted my blog!!!

A successful deleted blog recovery starts from the dashboard button or link, to "Restore" or "Review" the blog. When the blog was deleted by the owner less than 90 days ago, and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Restore" button will bring the blog back, as the owner watches.

If the blog was deleted by Blogger / Google, and the owner is able to login to the right account, the "Review" button starts the recovery process. If use of the "Review" button brings no results - or if there is no "Restore" / "Review" button at all, things get interesting.

If a deleted blog leaves behind a dashboard "Review" button, the review process can be started.

There are two purposes for the dashboard "Restore" / "Review" buttons.
The "Review" button provides 2 functions.

1. Provides a way for the owner to start the automated review of a deleted blog.
2. Provides verification that the person reporting the deleted blog is the legal owner of the blog - and enables the manual review to be started, if the automated review is unsuccessful.

If there is no "Review" button, neither the automated or the manual review can be started.

• The person reporting the deleted blog is not the owner.
• The person reporting the deleted blog is unable to login to Blogger, using the right Blogger account.
• The blog was not deleted, for a reason which requires a manual review.

A dashboard screen print helps the helpers start the recovery process.
Anybody needing assistance, beyond advice how to use the "Restore" / "Review" button, is expected to provide a screen print, showing either

• A "locked account" error display.
• A dashboard "review request submitted" display.
• An empty dashboard, with the familiar "You are not yet an author ..." caption.

If the person reporting the deleted blog is able to provide a screen print, showing the familiar "locked Blogger account" error display - with the "contact us" link at the end, a manual review of the blog is not useful. The owner is then expected to click on "contact us", and request account review.

The automated spam review is the first step to restoring cloned blogs.
If the dashboard has the "Review" button, the owner can request automated review. Having supplied a screen print showing the "automated review request submitted" display, then waited the required 1 - 2 business days for the automated review to be conducted, the owner can, at her / his option, request manual review.

Without dashboard verification, triage can't continue.
If neither screen print can be supplied, there is no benefit to requesting manual review.

• The person reporting the deleted blog is not the legal owner.
• The blog does not need spam review.

In either case, Blogger Policy Review will reject the review request, and the "owner" will be no closer to having the blog recovered.

The review process must be initiated by a blog owner.
If the person reporting the deleted blog is not the legal owner, she / he must either contact the legal owner for action, or use the correct Blogger account - and request an automated review, from that account. A manual spam review cannot be requested, from a Blogger account that is not the legal owner of the deleted blog.

If the blog does not need abuse / spam review, it will be a waste of everybody's time to request a manual abuse / spam review.

The abuse / spam review request starts with the owner, able to login to the proper Blogger account. The owner then provides a screen print, documenting legal ownership of the blog, and the need for a manual review. Without the screen print documenting ownership and need for review, an abuse / spam review will not be requested.

A Blog Will Always Have At Least One Administrator

Almost daily, we see a confused query in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken

I lost ownership access to my blog. Can Blogger restore my access?

Not every blog owner realises that the Permissions wizard has a safeguard, ensuring that every blog will always have at least one administrator. Anybody who is the former owner is now a member of a team blog - and at least one other team member is an administrator.

The ownership transfer process involves 4 steps, out of necessity.

1. Invite a new member (if necessary).
2. Wait while the new member accepts the invitation (again, if necessary).
3. Make the new member an administrator.
4. Remove the old administrator (if necessary).

Each step can be executed immediately, or with any amount of elapsed time after the previous step, at your convenience.

Look at the Permissions wizard for your blog, some time. If you are the only administrator, you will see your name, with no ability to delete or demote yourself.

A team blog will have author status selectors.

If you own a team blog, you'll have a selector for each of the team members who are authors, allowing that member to be promoted to administrator status.

A team blog with multiple administrators will have administrator status selectors.

If the team blog has at least 2 administrators, each administrator will have a selector, allowing any administrator to delete or demote any administrator. As an administrator demotes any administrator to an author, the entry for that new author will have the ability for that author to be again promoted to administrator.

A blog with only one administrator will have no administrator status selector.

Whenever you are the only administrator, your member entry will have no ability to delete or demote. This prevents you from having a blog with no administrator.

Of course, as noted elsewhere, when the blog has at least 2 administrators, any administrator can be deleted or demoted at the decision of any other administrator. Also, team status is not checked when accounts are deleted.

If you are demoted, only an administrator can promote you.

The bottom line here is, if you suddenly find yourself without administrative access to your blog, the advice that you will get will be to

Ask one of the blog administrators to restore your status.

To prevent blog theft, only another administrator can restore your status.

Make A Team Blog And Keep The Members Separate

Occasionally, we see a confused query

How do I allow access to my blog, and keep my GMail account private to me?

or

How do I have my friends using my blog, and each person use their own name in publishing posts?

These are people who do not understand the concept of team blogs.

Team blogs use a separate Blogger / Google account for each member, they do not require everybody to share one Blogger / Google account. You add each team member as an Author, in Settings - Permissions. When you do this, note two cogent details.

1. Each blog is limited to 100 Members (Authors + Administrators + Owners), in total.
2. You can invite members, using the email address that you know. People can accept membership using what email adddress (Google account) they wish. People may be able to accept multiple member entries, which may affect the 99 author limit.

If either of those two details are a problem to you, perhaps you should look at Content Management Systems. A CMS may give you more control over access to your blog.

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What Access Do You Have To Your Blog?

Occasionally, you see bloggers becoming confused about what access they have to their blog.

I can look at the Edit Posts menu, but there are no posts listed.

or

I can't access the Template Designer (edit the template, add users to the blog, ...).

These are bloggers who are confused over a blog where they are an Administrator, vs a blog where they are an Author.

Let's look at my dashboard, and at a pair of blogs which we see there.


Here's my dashboard. Among the many entries, you'll see one blog listed where I am an Author, and a second where I am an Administrator. Let's first look at a blog where I am an Author.


Let's look at "Edit Posts".

I'm an Author in this blog, and I haven't created any posts. There are plenty of posts in the blog, just none that I've created. I have no access to any posts that I haven't created.


Let's look at "Settings".

I'm an Author in this blog, so all of the Settings that I have are Email and Permissions.

The Email access gives you the ability to setup your own Mail-to-Blogger entry. The Permissions access lets people who have previously accepted Guest ("Author") membership in a blog to remove themselves, without having to contact the blog administrator.

Let's next look at a second blog, where I am an Administrator.


Let's look at "Edit Posts".

I'm an Administrator in this blog. Look at my Edit Posts menu.


Let's look at "Settings".

I'm an Administrator in this blog. Look at my Settings menu.


Let's look at "Design".

I'm an Administrator in this blog. I have a Design section (For a Classical blog, this would be "Template", but there would be lots less tabs under "Template".).



If you're not seeing either of the above, or you're seeing access as an Author, where you should be seeing Administrator, you lost access to your account or your blog.

• First, verify that you are the primary administrator / owner of the blog.
• You may have inadvertently created a second Blogger account.
• You may have tried to transfer control of the blog from one account to another, and made a mistake.
• You successfully transferred control to an administrator who should not have been trusted.
• You may have any of several different connectivity or security issues on your computer or network, which prevents you from accessing your account or your blog.

Unfortunately, these problems may be your responsibility to resolve, as you alone have the responsibility for retaining access to your blog, and for your own connectivity to the Internet.

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