One of the most useful skills, when maintaining and publishing a blog, is backing up the content.
As you publish a blog, it's a very good idea to periodically backup the content - comments, pages, and posts. Sometimes, backed up content may save you hours of anguish.
Backed up content is not a waste of time or resources.
Backing up content - comments, pages (static pages), and posts (dynamic pages) is a very quick task - that consumes a minimal amount of resources.
Many people will benefit from a daily routine of backup. Backed up content can be used, in a variety of ways - if it is available.
Periodic backup of content is simple - and may save you much inconvenience.
Start from Settings - Other.
Click on "Back up Content".
Click on "Save to your computer".
Some operating systems may leave the browser, to save your content.
Click on "Leave".
Now, you use the file manager provided by your operating system, to select a file / folder, and actually save the file.
"Back up Content" is useful, in several tasks.
You'll find that daily backups uses a minimal amount of time, and computer resources. And even if you don't ever use the backed up content, you will be better off having it.
All of these tasks use the "Back up Content" wizard. Do this regularly - and you won't regret it. Just remember where you save the content. Setup one or more standard folders, on your local computer.
Using the "Back up Content" #Blogger dashboard wizard is a good task to do frequently - and regularly. It will save you a lot of time and trouble, if ever needed.
There are three possible dashboard wizards, used to recover a blog with a corrupt template aka "500 Internal Server Error".
- The Template Designer page.
- The Template page.
- The Template Editor ("Edit HTML") page.
With most blogs, one of the three can eventually be used, to install a clean, new template - and recover a blog that's offline because of the broken template.
Some blogs, unfortunately, cannot be recovered this way.
Some blogs have templates so badly broken, that no dashboard template wizard can be accessed - and used to restore the blog to operational status.
If there's no way to recover a broken blog by replacing the template, the next possibility is to recover the URL - and install a new blog at that URL.
- Create a new blog - with a clean, working, Blogger supplied template.
- Swap URLs between the old and new blogs.
- Export content from the broken blog - and Import to the new blog.
- Transfer / update Followers.
- Rebuild the template, and add gadgets.
- Provide notice to your Followers, readers, subscribers, and other viewers.
Create a new blog - with a clean, working template.
Use the dashboard "New Blog" button, and create a new blog. You'll only create the new blog, in this case, to recover the URL of the broken blog - so just use a random, non valued URL.
Choose a template similar to the one on the broken blog, from the dashboard Template page - and get your new blog online. Use a Blogger standard template, until you are satisfied that the problem won't continue.
Swap URLs between the old and new blogs.
Hoping that you can access the Settings - Basic ("basicsettings") page - first rename the URL Of the broken blog, to a second random, non valued URL. Then you can rename your new blog - created above - to the URL previously used by the broken blog.
Just Edit "Blog Address", twice, to swap URLs.
First, for the broken blog, to free up the current URL - then, for the new blog, to recover the current URL.
Now, your broken URL is back online, with a clean template - though without content.
Export content from the broken blog - and Import to the new blog.
Use the "Import & back up" wizard at the Settings - Basic ("othersettings") page for the broken blog, and export comments, pages, and posts. Then use the wizard for the new blog, and import the content just exported.
Transfer / update Followers.
If the broken blog uses Blogger Followers for community building, and you had a significant Followers community, the community will remain on the old, broken blog. This is the one down side of recovering a broken template using this technique.
Fortunately, the only specific problem is the effect upon the Followers community. The other half of Following - the blog feed - will be re established with the new blog, which will now have the desired URL being recovered. And the sooner you get the blog back online, the sooner you can rebuild / recover your Followers.
Rebuild the template, and add gadgets.
If you periodically back up the template, as you tweak it, this will be the easiest step in the recovery. Of course, since you are here because the template is broken, maybe you should rebuild the template, one step at a time. Try to not repeat the previous mistake.
Then add gadgets back, one at a time - and test carefully.
Provide notice to your Followers, readers, and viewers.
If you care about your community - Followers, readers, subscribers, and other viewers - a new post, briefly admitting to your mistake might be a good idea. You can even display your new post, as a Featured Post.
Sometimes, it's not possible to recover a broken #Blogger blog, using any of the Template dashboard pages, with a blog sidelined by a "500 Internal Server Error" broken template. If the URL has any value to you - or your viewers - you can recover it, using a new blog.
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It's always wise to backup the blog contents - and the template.
If you are publishing a blog, you may occasionally make a mistake. Being able to recover from a mistake, using backed up content, is always a good idea.
Blogger provides a dashboard wizard to backup the blog template - and a complementary wizard, to backup blog content - comments, pages, and posts.
Backing up a Blogger blog template is reasonably simple.
The template backup wizard is on the dashboard Theme page.
Start from the dashboard Theme page.
And click on "Backup / Restore".
Then click on "Download full template".
This will give you a standard file save wizard, that is used by your computer.
The file save wizard will depend upon the operating system.
On my computer, the file save window is "Save file as". Your computer operating system might have a similar wizard - or it may be different.
Other than choosing file and folder (your choice, on your computer) for backing up the template content, you just sit back and let the backup work. Don't wait too long though - a few seconds is all that it should take.
Understand how and why to backup.
Just don't backup blindly - or for the wrong reasons. To be useful, a backup needs to consider how to restore - and why you might restore.
Any backup is more useful, if you plan how and why you might need to restore.
As you develop a #Blogger blog, making regular backups of the template is always a good idea. Everybody makes mistakes - and recovering from a template coding mistake is a lot easier, if you're able to restore a previous template copy.
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/-7808eOAZ7c
Blog owners who need to export blog content are reporting confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.I'm trying to export my blog, but when I click "Settings > Other", there is no "Export" option!
Not all blog owners realise that the "Export" wizard is now "Back up".
Changes in functionality may perplex blog owners, too.
There are various ways to use "export" and "import" features, that may involve Blogger, and non Blogger content hosts.
Not all content will transfer, equally well - whether a Blogger or non Blogger host is involved, as either the source or target. The Blogger blog owner, using "Import & back up", will be responsible for resolving any differences.
"Import & back up" is now used to export and import Content (pages, posts & comments).
"Import Content" is used, as previously.
"Back up Content" is the former Export wizard.
"Import Content" is used, as previously.
When you import content, consider the multiple possibilities of XML files.
- Archive / Backup comments, pages, and posts.
- Archive / backup templates.
- Publish newsfeeds in Atom and RSS.
Observe the nature and source of any XML file, whenever importing. "Import Content" will work best, with comments, pages, and posts backed up from Blogger.
- It may, or may not, work with content Backed up ("Exported") from other content hosting services.
- It may, or may not, work with templates, Backed up from Blogger or from a third party source.
- It won't work, with newsfeed content - or other XML data files.
And, as always, be careful when using the "Automatically publish ..." option, any time you import content.
"Back up Content" is the former Export wizard.
"Backup Content" will be most useful, when used to Import content to another Blogger blog. It may, or may not, work to Import content to another content hosting service.
"Backup Content" is most useful, when you plan how to use the content being backed up. And you will benefit, from regular use.
When moving content from, or into, another hosting service, note limitations.
Every content hosting service - Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, and many many others - will have their own data management policies. A backup / export file, created under any one service may, or may not, work under another service.
If you experience problems, you'll be arbitrating diagnostics provided by the source and target tech support groups - whatever you can find. You will be the point person, in dealing with any problems that involve multiple hosts.
Moving content between services is not a project for the beginning Blogger blog owner. It's similar in complexity to using a Blogger custom domain outside Blogger.
The recent redesign of the #Blogger dashboard "Export / Import" wizard, at Settings - Other, has perplexed some blog owners.
Not everybody knows that "Backup" is the same task as "Export". And few blog owners understand the complexities of using XML type files, with different sources and targets.
We're seeing a few reports, this week, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about blogs with broken templates.I tried to log on to my blog, and it shows up an error message. I've done it several times on different browsers, but no change: the error code is bX-uukqqu.
It appears that the "bX-uukqqu" is from the owner attempting dashboard access. Trying to view the same blog, I see the ubiquitous "bX-v2vqfh".
Both codes reference blogs which show up, in an HTTP trace, with the monolithic message "500 Internal Server Error" - and tells us that this is one more blog with a broken template.
If you, the owner of a blog with a broken template, can access the Template dashboard page, you may be able to recover the template.
Some blog owners report that adding a Template Backup / Restore has helped to resolve their own bX code / "Error 500".
- Backup the template ("Download full template").
- Get a clean Blogger standard template.
- Restore the template ("Upload" the template that you just downloaded).
If you're lucky, your version of the "bX-uukqqu" (dashboard) / "bX-v2vqfh" (public) can be resolved, by a quick template download then upload.
You may need direct access to the Template page, bypassing the dashboard menu - though if you can view the blog, the "Design" navbar link will provide you that ability. If you can't access the Template page at all, you may be able to clear some bX codes, by using the Template Editor aka "Edit HTML".
If any of this works, your blog will be back in service. If not, you will at least have a backup copy of the template.
If the template is still broken, you now have three choices.
- Leave the blog as it is now, broken - until Blogger Engineering finishes diagnosing and fixing the actual cause of the template corruption.
- Get a fresh new template. When Blogger Engineering finishes diagnosing and fixing the actual cause of the template corruption, you can try restoring the template copy that you just backed up.
- Try a persistent solution.
And whether this works - or not - or even if you can't use it, right now, you can have a template backup. And one day, this backup may be useful.
A few Blogger blog owners, reporting bX codes when trying to access their dashboards, have found that accessing the Template page directly, then doing a quick back / restore, may clear the bX codes. This suggests that Blogger Engineering is beginning to test solutions to the ubiquitous "Error 500" broken template problem, that have been afflicting blog owners for some time.
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THis month, we have several reports in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue from owners who make backup blogs.Why was my blog deleted, by Blogger, as spam?
Some blog owners innocently create multiple blogs, to back up their main blog.
Unfortunately, having multiple blogs with the same content may make the blogs look like a spam blog farm - and Blogger detects and deletes spam blog farms.
I've been advising blog owners, for years, that Blogger blogs need informative, interesting, and unique content, to survive as Blogger blogs.
Scraped blogs - whether you scrape your own, or another person's - are a bad idea.
The general focus on "unique" is intended to discourage scraping. Blogger Help: Spam, phishing, or malware on Blogger discusses spam blogs.Spam blogs cause various problems, beyond simply wasting a few seconds of your time when you happen to come across one. They can clog up search engines, making it difficult to find real content on the subjects that interest you. They may scrape content from other sites on the web, using other people's writing to make it look as though they have useful information of their own. And if an automated system is creating spam posts at an extremely high rate, it can impact the speed and quality of the service for other, legitimate users.
In the past, Blogger has been focusing on blog owners who steal the work of other blog owners, ie, "scraping" - or who copy by permission, ie, "syndication".
Blogger Content policy defines scraping more explicitly.
Examining Blogger Content Policy, we see the problem expressed more vividly.Spam: Spam takes several forms in Blogger, all of which can result in deletion of your account or blog. Some examples include creating blogs designed to drive traffic to your site or to move it up in search listings, posting comments on other people's blogs just to promote your site or product, and scraping existing content from other sources for the primary purpose of generating revenue or other personal gains.
Having backup blogs can look like "blogs designed to drive traffic to your site or to move it up in search listings". This is a technique, used by spammers. Why bother to write content? Just use some of the clones, as clones - both to backup each other, and to boost search engine results.
Duplication of content, online, hastens classification as spam.
Backing up a Blogger blog actually duplicates Bloggers efforts. Blogger / Google stores content - ie, your blog - in a cloud of servers, worldwide. If any one server goes out of service, the others are there, to provide immediate backup. You will, likely, never even notice if any one Blogger server goes down.
Alternately, a blog owner might backup a blog because of the spammer publicised unfair blog deletion policy. Here, the blog owner is playing into the spammers hands. If backup blogs were permitted, spammers could publish their spam blog farms with impunity.
Here, what the blog owner wants to plan for by having duplicates, unfair deletion, actually hastens the unfair deletion. This will happen, even if you make the "backup" blog private.
Classification of duplicate content, as abuse, isn't spurious.
If you think about it, a blog classified as spam, because of multiple clones, isn't actually spuriously deleted. If your blog gets a spurious classification, as a possible spam host, you have to appeal the classification. Creating a new blog, with identical content, just makes you look like a non repentant spammer - and increases your vulnerability.
If you want to retain comments and posts, export to an offline file. Just don't spread duplicate content across the Internet.
Occasionally, we see evidence of wistful thinking in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.How do I make an exact copy of my blog, to another URL?
This should be a simple enough task - but it's not.
Before planning to clone a blog, using exact content, design, and layout, one should always bear in mind the search engines, and the possibility that both a clone may be subject to search engine duplicated content penalty - which may affect both blogs. Search engines want to index one copy of everything. When there are multiple copies of a given post on the Internet, all copies must be treated with suspicion.
When planning any cloning operation, we must consider the essential elements of a blog.- Accessories and Gadgets. There is currently no easy way to copy XML based accessories from one blog to another.
- Blog Address. This is unique for each blog, and cannot be cloned. All blog content, which refers to the blog address (URL) must be updated. Internal links must be edited, to point to other articles within the target blog. External references to the blog may or may not need to be updated, to point to the new address.
- Comments and Posts. Blog "articles" written by blog members and visitors can be copied from the source blog to the target blog, using the Export / Import wizards. Note one known caution, which should be observed when Importing content.
- Layout and Template. The blog template can be copied from the source blog to the target blog, using the Template backup and restore wizards.
- Blog Reputation. As with any new blog, this will start from scratch. All external links and references - whether the search engines, or the user community in general - must start from zero. This will be vaguely similar to the process of renaming a blog - with the exception of the reputation of both the source and target blogs, as noted above.
Some people, mindful of the inability to copy an XML based accessory / gadget, will suggest extracting the HTML rendered equivalent, from a blog source listing - then creating an HTML gadget in the target blog, using the extracted HTML from the source blog. This is a possible workaround, with several downsides.- This will be a manual and repetitive process, one gadget at a time.
- Any gadgets, copied this way, will be based on HTML, and can't be maintained using an XML wizard.
- The content of any gadgets, copied this way, will be static.
One specific accessory, Followers, is a part of both the source blog, and the Followers community - the collective profiles owned by all of the Followers. The Followers gadget simply cannot be copied, from one blog to another.
Other than the exceptions of the Accessories, and of the Followers community and gadget, almost any Blogger blog can be cloned - with the proper planning and understanding.
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