Comments "Lost", With Google+ Comments Selection

Besides the confusion about being in the right Circles, some Google+ comments can be overlooked, because of the comment view selector.

We see odd problem reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

When a friend mentioned she'd commented, I found that odd - because I couldn't find the comment anymore. It had shown up previously - but it was now gone.

The view selector is not so obvious, either. It's similar to the "Compose" / "HTML" buttons, in Post Editor.

Besides the view selector, we see another possibility for third party cookies, unwisely filtered, to cause confusion.

Displaying comments for a blog, with Google+ comments involved, requires determining the identity of the individual viewer. Viewer identity - much more specific than "blog owner" / "blog guest" - is required, to determine visibility of specific comments, published against a given blog.

Here's an example, using a post from my recipes blog.

12 comments - from Circles + Public.

Circles + Public, selected.

6 comments - from my Circles.

Circles only, selected.



Can you see the difference? Other viewers of the blog will see a completely different set of comments.

Here's a different example, from a forum topic.

The blog owner, signed in, sees a count of 27 comments.

The blog owner, not signed in, sees a count of 42 comments.



There's actually 3 possible different displays - each showing a different comment count, and a different list of comments.

1. Not signed in.
2. Signed in, looking at "Public" + "Circles".
3. Signed in, looking at "Circles" only.

One might expect #1 and #2 to be the same. In some cases, it appears that #1 displays a total comments count - though #2 and #3 display a count specific to the blog owner or reader. And I would not expect that one will actually see a precisely equal number of individual comments, displayed.

And if blog owner / reader access is affected by a third party cookie filter, both the comment count - and the list of comments displayed - will be smaller than what really should be displayed.

We now have a Rollup Discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, where we are requesting details from anybody experiencing mysterious loss of comments, If you are losing comments, please provide your details.

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Owners of #Blogger blogs that use Google+ Comments don't realise how much more important their personal identity is, when looking for comments, that should be displayed with the individual posts. Personal identity is further relevant, with the "Circles" / "Public" comment selector, a feature of Google+ Comments.

And determining personal identity is affected, when cookie filtering becomes involved.

Why Do You Publish A Blogger Blog?

One of the more intriguing questions, that we see in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, involves the Blogger / WordPress dichotomy.

Should I migrate my blog to WordPress, where they provide SEO optimized themes, and various plugins?

My answer to that question starts with the suggestion, that the blog owner should ask himself

Why do I publish a blog?

This question has many possible answers - but I will focus on two possibilities.

To me, the choice of Blogger vs WordPress starts with asking why the blog is being published.

Blogger blogs are personal websites - and provide the best results when published with informative, interesting, and unique content. People read Blogger blogs, because they are written by people, who have something to say - and the readers provide the SEO activity.

WordPress offers a cornucopia of SEO enhancements, from clever themes, to plugins - and support groups that encourage the novice owner to develop a blog with little to no content or planning.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I'll suggest that, if you wish to publish a blog with little to no original content, you should move the blog to WordPress - and make use of their SEO optimized themes, and various plugins. Leave Blogger blogs to people who actually have something to say.

But, that suggestion has a downside.

One day, Google will take the next step beyond Panda, and further emphasise content over clever marketing schemes, and traffic enhancement techniques. As that happens, people who build blogs and websites based on themes and plugins will find their blogs and websites getting less traffic from actual people.

As actual people tire of reading cleverly marketed blogs with no content or focus, the owners of these blogs will turn to more innovative techniques for getting traffic. Hopefully, the WordPress Support forums will be more sympathetic to the novice spammers who ask

Why was my blog deleted by WordPress?

or

Why does my blog not appear at the top of the search list?

Blogger blog owners can organise their blogs, dynamically - based on how they want to present the content, and how their readers can choose to read the content.

Help Blogger to encourage the spammers to move to WordPress - and the people who have something to say can continue publishing Blogger blogs.

Blogger Terminology - Blogs Vs Posts

Sometimes, we see odd confusion in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

I deleted my blog - can somebody help me restore it? I worked so many days writing it!

or alternately

I am trying to write a new blog, but it says my url has already been taken (by me).

If the first owner is kind enough to include the URL of the deleted "blog", we may use our favourite online diagnostic tool - and discover that the blog is still online, and not deleted! In the second case, we may find a new blog, with one post.

Investigating further, we discover that the problem here involves terminology. This article that I am writing, "Blogger Terminology - Blogs Vs Posts", is a post, which is part of my blog, "The REAL Blogger Status" (which right now is actually The ONLY Blogger Status - but that is another tale).

The terminology here is pedantic, to us - but it's very real, to the blog owner who has just deleted an important post. Or to the owner who has published one post - and now wants to publish a second (not blog, post).

A Blogger blog is a collection of pages and posts, under a common root URL.

A Blogger blog contains pages and posts.

You publish new posts (and pages), to a blog, to add indexable content. Both pages and posts will add value, given informative, interesting, and unique material.

So why do some people confuse blogs, and posts?

So what is the confusion, between blogs and posts? I've seen some helpers muse that social networks, like FaceBook, may offer the option to create a "blog" as part of your Wall. A FaceBook "blog", which is equivalent to one Blogger "post", becomes one more article that's part of the FaceBook experience - which is passed on by one's acquaintances.

People used to writing on FaceBook walls may be used to creating a "blog", which we simply call a "post". It's a simple mistake. Similar to "blog" vs "post", some blog owners confuse "pages" and "posts".

Call it a "blog" - or a "post" - your choice - just please don't work on it, unpublished!

Whatever you wish to call it, please don't spend days editing it, before Publishing. Terminology aside, losing days of work is not a trivial concern. The lament described above is very real, for too many blog owners.

Also, don't create a "duplicate" blog, to publish a new article - add a post (or a page) to the existing blog.

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.

InterPersonal Conflict - Defamation Vs Impersonation

As blogs are being increasingly used by ordinary people, to make their mark in the world, they are also being used by people to annoy or assault others, mock others, and other attacks of varying severity.

In Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, we regularly get questions like

How do I get a stalker's defamatory blog removed?

or

How long does it take to resolve an impersonated blog complaint?

or

Someone has created a fake blog using my name - how do I get Blogger to remove this, or do I just sue?

With these questions posed, the first thing that we need to do is identify the difference between Defamation and Impersonation.

Understand the difference between defamation and impersonation.

• Defamation (libel, ridicule, slander, trash talk) is a civil offense. The offended party will need to get a lawyer, initiate a lawsuit, and / or get a court order requiring specific action by Blogger / Google.

  US domain sites such as Google.com, Blogger, Page Creator, etc. are sites regulated only by U.S. law. Given this fact, and pursuant to Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, we do not remove allegedly defamatory material from U.S. domains. The only exception to this rule is if the material has been found to be defamatory by a court, as evidenced by a court order.

• Impersonation (identity theft, masquerading), on the other hand, is a TOS Violation.

  Impersonating others: Please don't mislead or confuse readers by pretending to be someone else or pretending to represent an organization when you don't. We're not saying you can't publish parody or satire - just avoid content that is likely to mislead readers about your true identity.

You report TOS violations using the Blogger "Report Abuse" wizard. Problems which do not constitute predefined TOS violations are personal issues, which you have to resolve on your own, and using your own funds.

You use Blogger Help: Report a Terms of Service Violation, where you have selections for both Defamation, and Impersonation, among others. Selecting Defamation, you'll get the above advice.

Given this fact, and pursuant to Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, we do not remove allegedly defamatory material from U.S. domains.

What will happen, as the CC TLD aliases are deployed for more countries, remains to be seen.

In either case, you should probably start by hiring a lawyer. Blogger and Google, being based in the USA, will decide the case, impartially.

Understand rights, responsibilities - and limitations.

Be aware of personal rights and responsibilities, and the limitations, before you start.

• Yours.
• The party with whom you are disagreeing.
• Blogger / Google / Any other web site host.

Be aware of Blogger / Google legal guidelines.

• Blogger Content Policy.
• Blogger Terms Of Service.
• Google Terms Of Service.

You can make a complaint, but be aware of Blogger / Google's concerns. Just as they don't want you unjustly persecuted, they don't want a third party to be so, either.

You may check Blogger Help: Report inappropriate content - and Blogger Help: Harassment and bullying content on Blogger, for some suggestions, however.

The Two Templates

Your Blogger blog uses two different yet related HTML / XML templates, in formatting and displaying your posts.

The blog template defines objects that are consistent for the entire blog - and the post template defines objects that are consistent for each post (though the content of each post will vary, from post to post). You can change the blog tempate, when you wish.

The post template, when the blog is published, becomes part of the blog template - but the two are maintained separately. This lets you change your blog template (and the page layout) without affecting the post template (and the posts layout), and vice versa. When Blogger makes changes to post related features, they change post template code.

The blog template is configured using the dashboard Layout and Template pages.

The blog template is configured using the dashboard Layout page - or the Template - "Edit HTML" Template Editor.

You can add / arrange objects on the page, and re locate any object that you want, anywhere on the page (with a few exceptions), using a GUI drag and drop process. Wherever you drag it, the object becomes part of the page, and displays in that location on the page. And when the page is displayed, the object in question is displayed there, with one copy of each object / page.

When there are problems with any of the blog content except the posts themselves, and the problem can't be resolved by editing a widget or using the Layout "Edit HTML" wizard, the blog template is possibly corrupt - or probably just out of date.

Third party developers don't have access to the latest Blogger post template code. If you install a third party template, you frequently get out of date post template code - and broken comment / post features.

A corrupt / out of date blog template is, most easily, resolved by getting a new template.

When you have a corrupt blog template, if you didn't back the template up previously, you'll have to use the "Pick New Template" wizard, and get a fresh copy of your template. Or copy it and paste it into the "Edit HTML" window. Note that each widget includes a quickedit function (the "screwdriver / wrench" icon), which is also part of the blog template.

The post template is configured using "Configure Blog Posts".

The posts template is configured using the "Configure Blog Posts" widget in the dashboard Layout wizard. You can arrange (but can't add) objects using the GUI blog posts widget. If you want to add an object to be part of the posts, and display with each post, you either add it into each post manually, or using the (Settings - "Posts and comments") Post Template "Edit" link.

The Post Template Editor (please, do not confuse this with the "Template Editor") uses HTML code, not GUI - and it works for new posts only.

When there are problems with the posts, and the problems can't be resolved by editing the posts using the post editor, the post template is possibly corrupt. This can sometimes result from unwisely applied tweaks, made by the blog owner.

A corrupt post template is resolved by refreshing "Blog1", using Template Editor.

When you have a corrupt / out of date post template, you have to refresh the post template. This requires that you reset gadget "Blog1", in the Template Editor.

Any time you install a third party template, you should refresh the post template. Third party template developers have their own product development schedules - and will not reliably have access to the latest version of the post template.

Note that the post template also includes the post quick edit function (the "pencil" icon), the comments, and the labels - all elements which are different for each post.

Be sure to backup the template, before and after refreshing the post template.