Some blog owners and readers prefer to ignore recommendations in Chrome - and block cookies and / or scripts.
Blocking cookies can cause problems with many Blogger features - and blocking scripts will cause problems with both Blogger and with Google, and with various other websites.
If you want to use Blogger and Google effectively, you need to allow cookies to be installed, and to allow scripts to be run, on your computer.
If you cannot allow cookies and scripts for all websites, you can allow cookies and / or scripts on specific websites.
With Chrome, if you are willing to selectively allow specific websites to install cookies / run scripts, you should enable exceptions for those websites.
Start with the "Content settings" wizard.
Select "Block third-party cookies and site data", and / or "Do not allow any site to run JavaScript".
Add cookie exceptions, for specific websites.
Click on "Manage exceptions" under Cookies, to get the "Cookie and site data exceptions" wizard.
To add "google.com" as a cookie exception, paste / type "[*.]google.com", and select "Allow".
Click anywhere in the wizard window, to see the addition - then click "Done".
Add JavaScript exceptions, for specific websites.
Click on "Manage exceptions" under JavaScript, to get the "JavaScript exceptions" wizard.
To add "google.com" as a JavaScript exception, paste / type "[*.]google.com", and select "Allow".
Click anywhere in the wizard window, to see the addition - then click "Done".
Remember that cookie and script filter settings, in Chrome, may not be the only settings which you need to consider - and that many filters are subject to change, without your knowledge or approval.
For more detail about cookie and JavaScript exceptions, see Chrome Help: Manage exceptions. These are settings that you must determine and install - neither Blogger nor Google can make these changes for you.
Security conscious #Blogger blog owners may wish to ignore #Chrome recommendations, and block general permission for websites to install cookies and / or run scripts on their computers.
Some websites will not run properly, without cookies and scripts. If one is to use websites like Blogger and Google successfully, they need to be trusted - and Chrome must allow those websites to install cookies / run scripts.
We have a small but vocal group of blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, who report that they are unable to use Post Editor, to upload photos.
When trying, they get an errorDo you want to open or save resumable (1.61kb) from www.blogger.com?
Right now, it appears that the problem is common to older versions of Internet Explorer.
The blog owners willing to provide details, about their browser, appear to be using Internet Explorer V8 or V9.
It is possible that the owners having a problem with IE V9 are using Blogger with Compatibility View enabled - which effectively gives them IE V8. Noting that Internet Explorer V8 is considerably out of date - and is now not supported by Blogger - it's possible that the primary cause of the problem simply involves use of IE V8 (or V9 with "Compatibility View").
We have a Problem Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting details from everybody who is experiencing this problem.
While we wait for action by Blogger Engineering, everybody experiencing this problem is strongly urged to contribute their details to the Rollup Discussion. Problem diagnosis being as it is, any one person, contributing their details, might contribute the one essential detail that leads to successful diagnosis of the problem.
Alternately, you might consider upgrading Internet Explorer - or disabling "Compatibility View", for "blogger.com".
This week, we have a number of reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, from blog owners who like to monitor the Google+ +1 counts, for their posts, using the dashboard Posts list.
The ability to observe, at a glance, the +1 count for any given group of posts is useful - and popular with some folks. I use it, myself, with newer posts in this blog.
Unfortunately, my Posts list shows no +1 counts for recent posts, for some Posts lists.
It appears that pagination of the Posts list affects ability for any Posts list to have the +1 counts displayed.
In some cases, +1 counts will not display, for a paginated Posts list, on the first display page of the list. Subsequent display pages, seen by hitting the ">" button at the top, will show +1 counts for the posts.
In other cases, +1 counts will display, for a paginated Posts list, on the first display page of the list. Subsequent display pages, seen by hitting the ">" button at the top, will not show +1 counts for the posts.
Posts lists which are not paginated (have only one display page) do not seem to be affected by the problem.
Blogs with smaller "All posts" lists, and blogs with smaller Posts Label lists, may not show the problem - so not all blog owners will observe the problem. Also, owners of blogs which receive few +1s - and who do not use Google+ for posts distribution - will probably not observe the problem, either.
You may be able to examine this effect on your blog, by choosing Labels which have more, or less, than the number of posts compared to the Posts display page size (100, 50, 25, or 10) - and by changing the Posts display page size, to a different number.
We have a rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are attempting to diagnose the spread of the problem. If you find your blog affected by this oddity, and are able to answer a few questions, your input could be useful.
As always, I will respectfully request that you keep your replies, in the rollup topic, brief and relevant. And please read the first post in the topic, for instructions how you may participate in the diagnosis of the problem.
(Update 2015/03/09): This problem appears to be resolved.
Everybody who has owned or read a Blogger blog, for more than a week, surely knows about the infamous bX codes - and has probably asked how to fix one.
Some people have fixed one - but immediately, seen another. Others have seen theirs go away, then later discovered that the blog is broken.
Some folks see the errors as major problems, others minor annoyances.it's disheartening to see that the bx error code problems are still existing.
Not everybody realises that the codes are not the problems - they are simply a method to identify the problems. Many Blogger problems cannot be identified easily in language.
Many problems, many "solutions"
There are many known "solutions" for the codes, because there are many different problems, with many different causes. Here, we have 5 examples.- Some codes are caused by an inconsistency in private data. These codes can generally be cleared by "clearing cache, cookies, and sessions".
- Some codes are caused by over enthusiastic template customisation. These codes can be cleared by getting a new template, or restoring the template from backup, for the blogs that are issuing the code.
- Some codes are caused by bogus custom domain addressing, for the blogs that are issuing the code. These codes can be cleared, only, by correcting the DNS addressing, for the blogs that are issuing the code.
- Some codes are caused by trying to use an unsuitable browser. Right now, Blogger does not support Internet Explorer V11 These codes can be cleared only by using a different browser.
- Some codes are caused by dodgy Blogger code. These codes cannot be solved by blog owners or readers. The bX codes, in many cases, are simply from Blogger Engineering adding "break points" into their code, so they can diagnose a known problem.
Above, we see just 5 examples. There is one rule, which you may want to consider, when diagnosing bX codes.There are no rules, in diagnosing bX codes.
That is the plain truth.
History
Before they started issuing bX codes, Blogger would simply issue one universal error, that was incredibly annoying, to everybody seeing it.We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are unable to process your request at this time. Our engineers have been notified of this problem and will work to resolve it.
Replacing that error, with the unique bX codes, was so simple - and elegant. The program, that issues a bX error report, simply takes the address of the failure point in the Blogger code library, where an unacceptable condition has occurred, and hashes the address into a 6 character alphanumeric code. And there is the bX code. Yes, that simple.
Blogger keeps a database listing of bX codes that are currently active, and a running count for each code. When a given code becomes more noticeable than others, an engineer simply uses the 6 character code to locate the failure point in the Blogger code library, and diagnoses the cause of the error. Fixing the code will vary, depending upon the cause of the code.
A hypothetical example
If you add an extra "<div>" tag in your template code, using the Template Editor, it's possible that the Template Editor code may detect it, and specifically advise you.Don't add a "<div>" tag there!
In many cases, through, an extra "<div>" tag won't be noticed until you try to save the changes - or even until a reader views the blog under specific conditions. Either of the latter two cases may result in another bX code.
When you report your bX code in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, if other people have reported that same code, it's possible that we might have a known solution, ready for you.Don't add a "<div>" tag, there!
In many cases, though, you will be advised toRestore the template from backup - or get a new template from the dashbooard Template wizard.
In either case, though, the advice to get a backup or new template is not a solution - it's a workaround. The proper solution is for you to figure out what you did, that was wrong, and correct what you did.
In some cases, if we see enough of the same code, as we do now with the "bX-w7tr63", currently being reported in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue - we may advise you.Blogger cannot support you, using Internet Explorer, right now.
Internet Explorer V11 has too many internal changes, for Blogger Engineering to update the Blogger dashboard utilities, and remove all known problems. That may be vaguely similar to the problems where we alternately advise.Restore the template from backup - or get a new template from the dashbooard Template wizard.
In either case, we provide most advice based on feedback from other blog owners.
Reality
Be aware that each bX code may have a different solution. Be wary of advice that simply instructs. Most bX errors are temporary and will usually go away on their own.
You may read [FAQ] What Are The Mysterious bX Codes? and try clearing your cache and cookies.
Some errors may go away, on their own - but most require somebody to take some action. Not all that many are temporary.
The process of examining browser source listings for a blog, and of having a blog owner carefully examine blog template code, is an important part of diagnosing many Blogger problems.
With blogs published to dynamic templates, neither source listings, nor template "Edit HTML", contain as much useful information, as with blogs published to non dynamic templates. Dynamic templates reference scripts, that are hosted in external libraries - and that cannot be updated or viewed.
The idea of having templates that were less customisable was originally supposed to encourage people to work on post content, and increase stability of their blogs - not create instability.
One of the original reasons for having the dynamic templates was to have templates that would encourage blog owners to work more on content - and less on style.
Dynamic templates were designed for less customisation - and increased reliability.
Having the less customised templates would, hopefully, have made the dynamic templates more reliable. Unfortunately, Blogger chose to add features to the dynamic templates, to make them more popular.
The "infinite scrolling" feature of the dynamic templates impressed people, who decided that "infinite scrolling" would be useful for their blogs - but without having noted that dynamic templates have less options for customisation.
People, who like the existing dynamic templates features, demand more features for them. And, they cause more problems, for themselves - since many of them lack the ability to diagnose their own problems.
Eliminate general blog problems, by re publishing to a non dynamic template.
Any time a blog problem is diagnosed, and the problem involves a blog that uses a dynamic template, it's a good idea to start by re publishing the blog to a non dynamic template. Try to diagnose and eliminate any general blog problems, before tackling problems caused by tweaking of dynamic templates.
Just go to the dashboard Template wizard, and choose any non dynamic template - then "Apply to blog". Then, reset the post template (if the posts are involved, in the problem).
Publishing to a non dynamic template lets us use standard diagnostic tools.
With the blog published to a non dynamic template, you (the blog owner) can use the Template Editor to examine general (non dynamic) template CSS, HTML, and / or XML code. Also, you (and any helpers) can use a browser "View Source" window, to examine the rendered blog code.
If you diagnose a problem with non dynamic code, you can edit and correct any problems found. Once that is done, and you are satisfied that there are no non dynamic template related problems, re publish the blog to a dynamic template - and diagnose any remaining problems.
As always, template backups are strongly advised.
If you decide to make any changes to the template code, as always, I advise that you backup the template - before and after making changes. Whenever you detect a problem, recover the template to the backup taken before the changes, and see if this fixes the problem noted.
We have numerous problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about a problem with the "Deleted blogs" section of the dashboard.I can't restore my deleted blog!
andI can't request spam review!
These owners are concerned, because the "Restore" and "Review" buttons appear to be broken. Nothing happens, when clicked.
Right now, we are starting immediate manual spam review, for blogs deleted as suspected spam hosts, when properly requested by the owner.
People who have "intentionally" deleted their own blogs, and who want to restore, may not be able to easily do that. There is no manual "restore my blog" process, that is appropriately part of Blogger Support Forum.
There are an array of cases, which can result in deleted or locked blogs. Only one case requires spam review.
Any other case leaves the owner waiting, needlessly, for Blogger Policy Review to return a verdict that they can't review a blog that was not deleted as a suspected spam host. Blogger Policy Review works from a normally long queue - and with the currently broken buttons, it's an even longer queue.
Without use of the buttons, ownership verification starts with the owner supplying a screen print of "Deleted blogs". The screen print is inconvenient for both the owner - and for the helpers in Blogger Support Forum, who must carefully verify that spam review is necessary. This happens only when the owner is able and willing to cooperate, and provide a usable screen print.
We now have a Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting demographic and technical details from each blog owner reporting inability to use the "Deleted blogs" buttons.
This malfunction has been reported to Blogger Engineering, for their resolution. Since we are at end of year, and the holiday season, it's unlikely that the problem will be resolved this year.
While we wait for their action by Blogger Engineering, everybody experiencing this problem is strongly urged to contribute their details to the Rollup Discussion. Problem diagnosis being as it is, any one person, contributing their details, might contribute the one essential detail that leads to successful diagnosis of the problem.
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We're seeing an occasional report from blog owners, trying to access the Blogger dashboard, using Firefox.I am trying to update my blog, and I get an error WARNING UNRESPONSIVE SCRIPT
A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, open the script in the debugger, or let the script continue.
I'm using Firefox, and I need help here!
This has been a problem, for a few years - just a very low volume has been reported.
Mozilla Support has acknowledged the problem.This error is telling you that Firefox thinks that a script may be running out of control and would make Firefox hang if nothing is done. The script could be something on a web page you're accessing, in an extension you installed, or even Firefox itself.
And, they provide a rather well defined procedure for diagnosing the problem.Some problems with Firefox are caused by extensions, themes or hardware acceleration. This article will help you determine whether one of these is causing your problem and, if it is, describe how to make Firefox run normally again.
If you follow the troubleshooting procedure, you'll observe that the focus is on add-ons and extensions. The non responding problem will generally be solved by disabling programs which provide protection by examining each script, on a one by one basis. You'll end up disabling any filters, that prevent the Blogger dashboard scripts from loading and / or running.
In this case, you'll be better off knowing what security products are resident on your computer, and in your browser - and possibly, what changes have been made, recently.
Once again, this is not a problem that Blogger Engineers can fix, on their own.
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This week, we're seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, mentioning a badly shortened dashboard Reading List.
When I want to read the list of the blogs I follow, I can only see 1 blog, instead of the usual 30. When I click on "Show more", nothing happens.
A brief affinity analysis, of current forum reports, suggests that the affected blog owners are using Draft Blogger.
One of the little realised issues with the Reading List is that access to your Reading List requires that you be identified, to Blogger, as you.
If the "One Entry" in your Reading List display is the Blogger Buzz blog, that would suggest that you are not being properly identified. Blogger Buzz is a part of every Reading List, automatically, and can't be removed. If you are only seeing Blogger Buzz, then you, the specific owner of your Reading List, are not being identified.
Reading List content is complex - and subject to various local computer and network problems. Many problems can't be resolved, by Blogger Engineering, alone.
Given the normal instructions to revert to use of Production Blogger, several blog owners have reported success.
I just switched to Production Blogger - and there's no problem now!
This blog owner has just found himself experiencing the latest Draft resident bug.
To determine whether you are in Draft or Production Blogger, when you have this problem, examine your Profile URL, after you login to Blogger. An example (with a hypothetical URL):
Draft: https://draft.blogger.com/profile/04234326634594848875
Production: https://www.blogger.com/profile/04234326634594848875
See the difference?
Once again, I'll suggest that you use Draft Blogger to work around specific problems - and when the specific problem, affecting you, is resolved, switch back to Production Blogger. The sanity, that you save, may be your own.
Since the most important part of almost all Blogger blogs is the posts, the "Blog Posts" gadget is an essential element in the template. Sometimes we have to remove the gadget though - maybe the gadget is corrupt - or in odd cases, we may have a duplicate "Blog Posts" gadget.
In either case, the solution is known, and is quite simple.Remove (the / one) "Blog Posts" gadget.
Unfortunately, not everybody, needing such advice, is able to do this. People using the Template Editor in the New Blogger GUI (2011) may find, to their frustration, that removal of a "Blog Posts" gadget isn't permitted.
Sometimes, when we advise someone to remove a "Blog Posts" gadget, we find the advice not well received.It won't let me do that!
orI get a bX code, when I try to save the change!
Apparently, somebody who designed the New GUI Template Editor decided that removing "Blog Posts" just isn't a necessary option.
Right now, if you're going to remove "Blog Posts", you have to switch back to the Classic GUI.
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For several days now, we've seen various reports from anxious Blogger blog owners, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, lamenting the lack of detail information in their Stats logs.My Stats logs does not show the page views for particular posts.
This is just one example, of the many ways that blog owners perceive, and report, the ongoing problem.
If you look at the Stats Overview or Posts display, for any blog with any popularity, in the "Now" or "Day" time range, you'll likely see the well known adviceNo stats yet, check back later.
When initially reported, this was only visible in the "Now" time range. Now, the effect is seen in "Day", and for some, less consistently trafficked blogs, in "Week" also. The effect is visible, consistently, in both the Classic GUI (brown / dark blue display), and the New GUI (2011) (brown / orange on white display).
This problem is apparent, for most blogs, in the "Posts" tab.
Most blogs with consistent traffic will show this affecting only the detail Posts lists. The "Now" and "Day" Posts lists, as noted, show "No stats yet, check back later.". The "Week", Month", and "All time" Posts displays show the Posts lists from before the problem first occurred. Both the Posts names in the lists, and the pageview counts for each post listed, are frozen.
This blog shows no effect in pageview counts, outside the Posts detail lists. I've carefully examined the graphs for "Now", "Day", "Week", "Month", and "All time", in both the Classic and New GUI, for this blog - and I don't see any count discrepancies. Your observations may agree or disagree - and I await your comments.
We have a Rollup discussion, in Blogger Help Forum.
We have an ongoing rollup discussion, in Blogger Help, where the scope of the problem is being discussed. My original perception of the problem began as we explored the latest wave of referer spam; I am today trying to determine if the two events are related.
An earlier outage may be related to this problem.
We also had an interesting 2 hour outage, a week ago, where no Stats data (counts, or details) was available for the previous week - and some blog owners are wondering if that issue is related. We have no references for the latter episode, as we escalated that problem in real time, and Blogger Support was able to fix it, immediately.
That problem was complete (as noted, both counts and details were available), it was immediate (it showed on all Stats displays for the previous week, retroactively), and it was total (the immediate nature and effect on the forums made it an obvious BloggerFire). This problem, according to my observations, is neither.
(Update 18:00): Blogger Support has fixed this problem.
Today, we're seeing a significant number of reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from worried blog ownersMy blog reloads in peoples browsers, and causes high pageview counts!
andMy blog crashes my readers browsers when loading!!
When a resource monitor is run while the reported blogs load, you can watch memory usage increase rampantly, as the main page of the blog, in question, loads.
Various conversations in Webmaster Central Help suggest the code associated with the Google +1 Button, which is part of the Share Button array, that's an optional part of the posts, as being involved in the problem. Some folks have noted that deselecting the "Show Share Buttons" in the "Blog Posts" gadget has provided a workaround to the problem, on the blogs noted.
It's also noted that many of the blogs in question have one or more posts which contain YouTube movies, or similar Shockwave Flash accessories. If your blog is suffering from this problem, and you don't wish to remove the Share Buttons from your blog, you may find removing any YouTube movie content to provide an alternative workaround - at least as a diagnostic procedure.
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In a disturbing repeat of problems experienced earlier this month, we have reports of blogs redirecting again, this time to "freegadget2014.blogspot.com".
For those of you experiencing this assault upon your blog, see the FAQ My Blog Has Been Hijacked - What Do I Do? for current diagnosis and removal techniques. Note that the gadgets noted this week, as earlier, appear to resist removal, so you'll probably need to use "Edit HTML", and delete the offending code.
(Update 2010/03/23): Blogger Support has taken ownership of the problem.Our team is working to sort out these affected gadgets from our side, and hope to have this fix out shortly.
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Sometimes, you have to tell people something twice, before they will listen to you. This month, the "Buy A Domain" wizard has that problem.
As always, start from Settings - Publishing, and select "Switch to: • Custom Domain". If you were buying "mydomain.net", for "What address would you like your blog to have?" you should simply enter "mydomain", select ".net", then hit "Check Availability". This month, if you do that, you will seeThere was an error processing this form. Please try again.
URL should end in a valid domain extension, such as .com or .net.
In this case, you must enter "mydomain.net", then select ".net". The ".net" bit is validated, too. If you enter "mydomain.com", then select ".net", you'll get the same error.
Strange, but true.
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In the "Western" world, and for the young of heart, there is one very special day of the year, celebrated by (almost) everybody - December 25, aka "Christmas".
While this was once (and still is now, for many) a religious holiday of great importance, for many young people it is important as a secular holiday - you get presents. For celebrants of both the religious and the secular versions of Christmas, this is a time of joy.
But, there's a sadness here too. Not everybody that I know always gets everything that they would like to get, even for Christmas. The lack of unlimited funds makes Christmas a time of anguish and depression, for some people.
Some folks, legendarily described as "bad", might traditionally get a lump of coal instead of presents.
In the Blogger world, Christmas comes irregularly and without notice. In a recent Blogger Christmas, we were given a new version of the post editor, with a greatly improved ability to upload and arrange photos. That improvement was eagerly awaited by many bloggers, for a long time.
The latter "present" arrived without an assumed second present, accompanying it. The new post editor lacks a spell checker - and this has been noted, many times. Unfortunately, many bloggers don't appreciate this, and decide that Blogger is intentionally mistreating them.
Bring back the spell checker!!!
is a cry seen regularly, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.
Instead of seeing a glass that's half full (finally, improved photo management), the bloggers see it as half empty (no spell checker). They just fail to accept the fact that Blogger can't provide all required changes at the same time.What did you get?I got a lump of coal.
Blogger, like The Real Blogger Status, releases changes, progressively. If you got a lump of coal last Christmas, be good this year - and hope for something better next Christmas.
Christmas 2009 came and went, and some folks are paying the bills this month. Christmas 2010 will be here, in another 9 or 10 months.
Christmas never comes soon enough, for kids. It doesn't come any sooner, when you wait for it, with anxiety, either. Spell checker for the new post editor is coming - though it, too, won't come any sooner if we keep asking about it.
This week, we have yet more reports of the chronically present old friendConnectException: Connection timed out.
for bloggers publishing by FTP.
So far, the reports of this problem seem to be associated with server space provided by Aruba.
If you are suffering from this problem, please provide diagnostic information:- The blog BlogSpot URL (if applicable).
- When was the blog setup in Blogger? (If the blog was published immediately by FTP, say so).
- The blog domain URL.
- When was the blog setup for FTP publishing?
- The name of the server hosting company.
- The Blogger FTP server setting (name or IP address of the server), in use right now.
- What operating system, browser, and version of Java do you use?
- Where are you located, and what ISP do you connect through?
If you have other blogs that are not having a problem publishing, the same information may be relevant too. Remember, we're looking for a solution for your problem, so be generous, and precise.
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I'm a desktop / network support technician, and I enjoy troubleshooting problems with other peoples computers. I prefer that my own computers remain trouble free (of course, that won't always be the case). I can apply my skills in desktop / network troubleshooting to the tasks involved in troubleshooting problems with Blogger, and Blogger blogs.
So, consider this. Blogspot / Blogger hosts millions of blogs, and has many more millions of worldwide customers reading those blogs. You send in a complaint to Blogger Support, about your blog, or your connection to Blogger / BlogSpot, and your complaint goes into a long queue. And if it's just YOUR problem with YOUR blog, or YOUR connection, that's where it will likely stay. Problems affecting multiple blogs, and problems affecting multiple Bloggers, or customers, will always get higher priority. That's common sense.
So, if YOU notice a problem with YOUR blog, or with YOUR connection, it's up to YOU to do some initial troubleshooting. Now, as a desktop support technician, I preach diagnostic procedure. Constantly.
Note: This article is a Blogger specific adaptation of Solving Network Problems - A Tutorial.
Here's where multiple observations is essential. If you see a problem with your blog, do any of your friends see the same problem? Do you see the same problem with your friends blogs?
You also have to understand the concept of cache, which partially explains why not everybody sees a problem with your blog at the same time.
Now the customer, and server, population for Blogger is immense. Blogspot uses thousands of servers to host the millions of blogs that they have. So the fact that your friends may or may not see the same problem on your blog, or you may or may not see the same problem on your friends blogs, is not in itself definitive of a worldwide Blogspot problem. But it can help us develop a procedure for diagnosing your problem.
There are several major items involved in any problem.
- The content (the text that you typed into your post, or the template) for your blog might have (gasp) coding errors. This will affect everybody who views your blog, until you fix your mistakes. And, if you haven't done this yet, backup your blog. NOW.
- The database where your blog is stored might be corrupt. This problem may affect other blogs, and other Bloggers. It will affect other folks viewing your blog, if they don't have a good copy already cached on their computer. If your problem is not part of a major outage, republishing your blog, which takes the source text (item #1) and rebuilds the blog into a web page, may resolve this.
- The server which serves Blogspot content to you may be having problems. This will affect your ability to view multiple blogs. Other Bloggers using this same server will have the same problems. With 4500+ servers, it's possible (but not likely) that you may know somebody else sharing your server. If your problem is not part of a major outage, clearing cookies and changing your server may resolve this.
- Your computer, or your network, may have problems, or some characteristic of your ISPs service may cause a problem with a Blogger server. I work with these sort of problems, and know how tricky they are to diagnose. This will affect you only, or others in your area too. It may, or may not, affect your access to multiple blogs.
- The cache of your blog, and other blogs, on YOUR computer, may contain bad content from any previous existence of any problems. This should only affect your computer, though any other computer may have similar problems.
- If both you and your friends see a problem with your blog, there's a good chance that any fixes that affect only you won't have too much effect. Here you need to concentrate on items #1 - #3, from the above list.
- On the other hand, if you have multiple friends viewing your blog (and here is one example why having friends is a good thing), and nobody but you sees any problems, items #4 and #5 are more likely suspects.
- If some friends see problems, and others don't, it's still more likely that the problems involve items #1 - #3.
- If you see problems with your friends blogs, and your friends see those same problems, it's likely an outage at Blogspot. Maybe Blogger Status will acknowledge the outage. Don't hold your breath, but look there anyway. File a Blogger Contact Report, but again, don't hold your breath.
OK, let's translate the above sermon above into a usable procedure.
- Check Blogger Status. Check Real Blogger Status (here). It's possible that the problem has been noted already. Check the online Blogger databases - Blogger Help, Blogger Known Issues, and Blogger Status. Check the online forums - Google Blogger Help, and Blogger Forum.
- Check Recently Updated Blogs, which lists all blogs updated in the immediately previous 10 minutes. The number of updates enumerated there may confirm or deny any suspicion of a widespread publishing problem. If any doubt, check in another 15 - 20 minutes (open another window), and compare the 2 lists.
- Note that both Blogger Status and Real Blogger Status provide Atom and / or RSS feeds. If you use Syndication / Atom, you may find this convenient. Or, you can Follow this, and other, blogs, for a more convenient subscription.
- Are you, and your friends, having problems viewing your blog, and other blogs? If the problems are just yours, or if they involve multiple blogs, pray, then troubleshoot the cache. If you see an improvement, clear cache and cookies on your computer. If this helps you, let your friends know, and have them do the same (if they are affected).
- If your friends see the same problems with your blog that you see, chances are that the previous step won't fix things by itself. Did you just post something, immediately before the problem was noted? Go back and verify what you just changed. Correct the problem, if necessary, and republish. If you get an error from publishing, proceed to the last step.
- Did you make a change in the blog content, from executing the previous step? If so, clear your cache.
- If you have executed all above steps, and you or your friends still see problems, then it's time to seek collaborative analysis.
- Try to file a report with Blogger Support, observing their current (and dynamic) problem resolution policies. Wait for the botmail.
- Reply to the botmail, objectively pointing out that none of the suggested references - none of the online Blogger databases, or the online forums, offer any help.
- File a description of the problem, what you've done to date, and the botmail problem number (if any provided), at Blogger Forum and at Google Blogger Help.
- Look in the forums for others with your problem, or for any helpful suggestions. Let others know that you are having this problem. Note any correspondence with Blogger Support, and note your problem number. Provide useful diagnostic information about you, your computer, and your Internet service. Links between your thread in one forum, and any others, are not a bad idea either.
- Check back in Blogger Forum and at Google Blogger Help, for comments to your posts, regularly. Be prepared to answer questions. Crosspost updates to the other forum.
- If any of the above steps help you diagnose or resolve the problem,
- Say a prayer of thanks to the deity of your faith.
- Backup your blog. Having a local mirror of your blog can be very useful.
- Sign my GuestBook, or alternately, leave me a comment. Knowing that this blog is of use, or not, motivates ongoing additions and improvements.
- Post back in the above mentioned forums, and close any open threads. Become part of The Solution.
If you're having a problem, don't just drop it on Blogger Support. Involve Blogger Forum and Google Blogger Help, too. Update all 3 groups, regularly, when suggestions are made by any others. Be patient and persistent.
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Frequently, when Blogger makes a change to their databases (and possibly to your blog), the change will require changes to the code that gets run from your computer (or your readers computers).
Some of the code run from your computer is in the cache on your computer (and likewise on your readers computers). And remember that the content of the cookies on your computer may affect how the code is used.
If a change that Blogger makes includes both a change to the Blogger database, and to the Blogger code run from your computer, the code cached on your computer will be out of date, and may cause problems.
Maybe the Blogger code on your computer (cached yesterday) is processing your Blogger blog, which includes a new option (added today). The code sees the new option, and not knowing what else to do, ends its progress with a bX- code. That's your computer (running the Blogger code) saying
Hey! What should I do now?
So when you have a problem, like maybe seeing a new bX- code, and Blogger has just made a database change, sometimes they will suggest that you clear both cache and cookies, and restart the browser. That's not Blogger making you jump through hoops, that's them asking you to help them to help you. And there's no "secret key sequence" that let's you "bypass the error code screen", as some trolls try to tell you.
