Design Your Blog, As You Develop Your Audience

Similar to starting a blog and immediately focusing on making money, we sometimes see people who start a blog, and immediately start designing the template, with custom features.

A beautiful, shiny design is useless, if your readers don't like it. Different blogs will attract different reader populations, who will respond to different designs.

Every Blogger blog is unique, because you are unique - and because you (hopefully) publish blogs that are all different from each other.

Different reader populations will respond to different features.

Depending upon what your readers are, they will respond to various unique features of any given blog. Find out who your readers are, and what they like, before you design your blog.

Start with any standard Blogger template, and with content, to attract readers. Work on getting traffic, from content indexed by the search engines.

Develop content, and get the blog indexed. Content leads to search reputation.

Publish informative, interesting, and unique content - and advertise the blog responsibly. And be patient. There are an infinite number of techniques which will give you better results.

Look at blogs with similar content, and see what works.

As your blog gets traffic, you'll learn of other blogs similar to yours - some of which are published by your readers. See what designs, features, and layouts interest your readers - and learn how to use those techniques.

A well designed blog can have a new template added, any convenient time.

You can modify your blog, including the design, without losing content or readers, any time it pleases you. That's the beauty of online, progressive publishing.

Start with content - and focus on getting readers. Work on the blog design, after you have content and readers.

NeoWorx, And The Redirecting NeoCounter Gadgets

This week, we're seeing the anxious query, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Is my blog for sale? I try to view my blog, and I see

This Domain Is for Sale

Have I lost my blog?

Fortunately, in most cases, the answer is "No, your blog is not for sale." - and "No, you have not lost your blog!".

In mid 2014, NeoWorx, the publisher of popular gadgets like NeoCounter, closed up shop. Back end code for their gadgets, installed on thousands of blogs and websites, had been served from their private libraries. Having closed their domains, the gadgets stopped working.

Initially, "neoworx-blog-tools.net" was purchased by a squatter.

The squatter apparently had hoped to capitalise on the traffic to the domain, provided by the blogs and websites that used the installed gadgets. In late 2014, the squatter gave up (or possibly, sold to another squatter), and "neoworx-blog-tools.net" is now showing a very plain parked page.

This Domain Is for Sale

Either the squatter made a profit on his purchase, by serving ads to the would be viewers of the host blogs and websites, and decided to cash in - or he lost his investment, and decided to cut his losses and move on.

In theory - and by early Internet rules of etiquette - anybody purchasing a domain that has accumulated traffic from the efforts of the prior owner, and expects to be receiving traffic from unwary people like our blog readers, should put advice on their home page.

Sorry, NeoWorx (publisher of NeoCounter and other blog / website accessories) is no more.

or

Looking for NeoCounter? Try their new website.

The advice, to at least accompany the ads displayed there, would provide a brief hint to the unwary reader, that what he sought (i.e., blog content - or a given gadget) is no longer available (as suggested by the first advice). If NeoWorx had renamed themselves, or been bought out, the second advice would have been useful.

The initial purchasers of "neoworx-blog-tools.net", in defiance or ignorance of etiquette, simply served a page full of ads, and no advice. The ads did not target the owners of the blogs and websites - they simply confused the unwary readers - and provided no hints of why they were there, instead of viewing the blog or website.

Subjected to waves of complaints from angry readers, the blog owners had earlier posted in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

Why is my blog directing to a page full of ads?

And we would examine the blog code in our browsers, find the gadget which references "neoworx-blog-tools.net", and instruct the blog owner to remove the gadget.

Now, instead of angry readers, who complain of ads, the blog owners suffer questions from confused readers, asking if the blog is being sold. And we continue to advise people to remove the misbehaving gadgets.

To the former owners of NeoWorx, and the subsequent domain owners:

Blogger blog owners are not cash cows.

We appreciate accessories, if you can support them. But please, don't produce gadgets that require your program libraries, run up huge volumes of traffic to your library domains, then sell out to spammers.

Here, we have one very real example why adding gadgets from third party developers may not always be in your best, long term interest.

Blogger Blog Readers Unable To Comment, Using OpenID Accounts Hosted By WordPress

We're seeing a scattered collection of reports, mentioning problems publishing comments, using OpenID authentication.

This problem appears to be related to the Blogger rollout of SSL support, for our blogs, which is currently in progress. SSL, or Secure Socket Layer, represents the next step in blog / website security - a step which the Internet community has been taking, for many years.

Blogger has been using SSL (aka "HTTPS" login), in their dashboard, for several years.

https://www.blogger.com

That's a secure Blogger login. The problem with Blogger using SSL in our blogs is that moving to SSL requires care, to avoid confusing our readers. Lack of care will subject our readers to the well known "mixed mode" warnings.

This site has insecure content.

Only secure content is displayed.

Firefox has blocked content that isn't secure.

These are several examples of what were normal, years ago, on many websites. Blogger does not want our readers subject to needless confusion, from these warnings.

Blogger blog owners have been asking, for years, that Blogger support SSL in BlogSpot (and our custom domains).

FaceBook upgraded to SSL, in 2013 - and saw problems with Blogger content.

Last year, FaceBook upgraded to SSL. Blogger blog owners, who were also FaceBook members, watched their Walls, which contained HTTP links to their Blogger blogs, show the "mixed mode" warnings.

The real issues begin to arise, however, when your application must include assets served by servers which also do not support SSL.

...

We’ve all experienced “mixed mode” warnings, with some browsers being much more annoying about them than others. "Mixed mode" means you requested a page over SSL, but some of the resources needed to fully render that page are only available over unencrypted HTTP.

Blogger is offering the option for us to upgrade our blogs, this year.

Now, Blogger is upgrading, so our blogs may (optionally) support the SSL protocol - and not confuse FaceBook members, who post links to our blogs. To avoid the "mixed mode" warnings, which would confuse our readers, they are upgrading all Blogger processes, including OpenID authentication, to support SSL.

The Blogger upgrade has exposed a WordPress inconsistency.

Just as FaceBook upgrading to SSL helped to cause Blogger to upgrade, so is Blogger upgrading to SSL exposing an inconsistency in WordPress use of SSL, for OpenID authentication.

The problem in my case (and maybe in others as well) seems to be that https://yourblog.wordpress.com is send for verification to the OpenId server. This is what I could figure out from the URL. If you than manually replace HTTPS with HTTP, it works.

This comment suggests that WordPress, which in general is using SSL security, has an OpenID server that has not been upgraded.

WordPress needs to check their OpenID servers.

So now, Blogger has to wait for WordPress to fall into step, consistently. Until WordPress upgrades their OpenID server, people who want to use a WordPress OpenID account, to comment on our blogs, will have to select "OpenID", instead of "WordPress" - then enter the WordPress OpenID URL, as

HTTP://whatever.wordpress.com

And wait for WordPress to upgrade their server.

Interstitial Warnings And Cookie Filters

Along with problems with comments and unwanted CAPTCHA forms, we're seeing some reports about problems with persistent and unwanted interstitial displays, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

The interstitial display, and its use of cookies, is similar to the new mandatory anonymous comments CAPTCHA form. If your identity can't be determined, or your decision to view a blog can't be remembered, an interstitial warning is displayed - just as the CAPTCHA form is displayed, when your readers are preparing to comment.

Interstitial warnings require cookies, both to identify you, and to remember your decisions.

• In front of a "private" blog, where you have to be identified, to determine your relationship with the blog.
• In front of a blog that contains (or is reputed to contain) objectionable material (naughty pictures or such), to remember your desire to view the blog, and your decision to continue.
• In front of a blog that is (or appears to be) published off site, to remember your desire to view the blog, and your decision to continue.
• In front of a blog that has been blocked, for TOS violation, or maybe for hosting hacking content, where you have to be identified, to determine your relationship with the blog.

If the cookie can't be read, the interstitial code will try again.

If a preference cookie can't be read after being created, the blog display may force you to try again, and re display the interstitial warning. If a session cookie is not accessible to the blog display, the reader gets treated as someone not logged in.

In neither case, does the reader get to go to the next screen, and view the blog.

Both session cookies, and preference cookies, are vulnerable to "third party" cookie filters.

• A preference cookie is created under "blogger.com", where the interstitial runs.
• A session cookie is created under "google.com", where you login.

These are third party cookies, being read under the blog published URL.

Both types of cookies are read under "blogspot.com" - or under whatever custom domain, or whatever country code alias, is being used by the blog, as displayed.

Whether a cookie is needed, but non existent - or needed, but can't be read - the result is the same. The reader is unable to continue, and does not get to view the blog, when necessary.

If the computer has a cookie filter, the cookie won't be read.

If a reader is subject to a filter that blocks "third party" cookies, and a preference or session cookie is needed, the reader will be unable to continue. This is a condition that Blogger Engineers cannot program around, because it is part of the security code, in the browser.

Thanks to the Google "One account" login, as Blogger is made a way of life to more of a reader population who have no interest in maintaining security on their computer, these issues will become more problematic.

Comments And Cookie Filters - October 2014

The new, mandatory CAPTCHA form, for blog readers wishing to comment anonymously, has been in service for just under a week.

We're seeing a variety of problems, reported in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, by blog owners and readers alike.

Long ago, for blogs with readers who were not really comfortable with maintaining security on their computers, we would recommend changing comment form placement.

The full page (or the slightly less preferable popup window) comment form was more usable, with readers who do not know how to properly maintain cookie and script filters. With recent changes in Blogger and Google, all Blogger comment forms are now vulnerable to inappropriate filters.

• Use of the Google "One account" login creates login cookies under "google.com" - not "blogger.com".
• Publishing blogs to custom domains - not "blogspot.com" - makes cookie access "third party".
• Referencing blogs from countries subject to country code aliasing - not as "blogspot.com" - makes cookie access "third party".
• The new, mandatory commenting CAPTCHA form, part of all Blogger comment form placement options, makes cookie access very important.

All of these issues, considered together, makes proper third party cookie filtering even more critical, than it has been, in the past - and makes new Blogger features more problematic.

The Google "One account" login, at "google.com", is now used by many blog owners and readers - instead of the Blogger native login, at "blogger.com". When the "blogger.com" login was used, cookies created under "blogger.com" were not as vulnerable, to cookie filters.

Whether used under "blogspot.com", or whatever country code alias or custom domain is in use (for the embedded comment form) - or under "blogger.com" (for the full page and popup window comment forms) - login cookies created under "google.com" (by the Google "One account" login) are vulnerable to "third party" cookie filters.

Blogs published to custom domains are becoming more and more popular. All blogs published to custom domains, which use the embedded comment form, are vulnerable to "third party" cookie filters.

Blogs referenced under country code aliasing are becoming more normal. All blogs subject to country code alias redirection are vulnerable to "third party" cookie filters.

The new, mandatory commenting CAPTCHA form needs to access the Blogger / Google login cookie - so blog readers, who are logged in to Blogger / Google, will not be subject to the CAPTCHA. The embedded, full page, and popup window forms are equally vulnerable to "third party" cookie filters, given the above discussed issues.

Thanks to the Google "One account" login, as Blogger is made a way of life to more of a reader population who have no interest in maintaining security on their computer, these issues will become more problematic.

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