We see periodic signs of confusion, about publishing a blog to a dynamic template, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.My blog seems to load - but it just sits there, spinning gears!
orThe dashboard Template wizard tells me that dynamic templates are not available, for my blog!!
These are two blog owners who are not aware of the requirements of the dynamic templates - and who can't figure out why they see the Spinner of Death when loading the blog.
Most people know that private blogs cannot be published to a dynamic template - but not everybody realises that this is not an arbitrary or capricious restriction.
Whether you publish your blog as Private or Public - if you do not publish a Full Posts newsfeed, a dynamic view won't work.
Dynamic views retrieve blog content from the posts newsfeed - and without a full posts newsfeed, a blog can't be displayed in dynamic view. This may be one more reason why Blogger eliminated on the fly switching to dynamic views.
The comments section, similarly, retrieves content from the comments newsfeed. If the posts newsfeed is properly set, and the comments newsfeed is not, you (and your readers) will see the spinner of death when clicking on "Add a comment".
Look at the dashboard Settings - Other page. In the "Site feed" section, look at "Allow Blog Feed". You should see "Full". Anything besides "Full", for comments or posts, will eventually be a problem.
Allow Blog Feed: Full.
If you don't see either "Full", your blog (and any comments) can't be displayed, using a dynamic view. Neither "Short", or "Until Jump Break" can be used, with a dynamic view.
For a dynamic template blog, no other setting will do.
It's that simple. Without Full Comments and Posts newsfeeds, you cannot publish a blog using a dynamic template.
Either use the Template wizard, and select a non dynamic template - or use Settings - Other, and enable a Full feed.
When the Blogger dynamic templates were first introduced, back in 2011, they provided choices.
Besides letting the reader choose, on the fly, which dynamic view to use, it was possible to let the reader choose whether to view the blog using a dynamic view - or a non dynamic view.
When dynamic templates were first introduced, they offered a dynamic view of the blog posts - and little else. Popular features like static pages were added later, and in pieces.
As the various pieces of the dynamic views became better defined, the need to switch between dynamic and non dynamic views became less essential - and eventually, some choices were eliminated.
If you look at the menu bar for this blog, you'll see a selection "DYNAMIC".
If you click on the "DYNAMIC" menu selection, you'll get a link to the "sidebar" dynamic view of this blog. At one time, this would have actually shown you this blog, using a dynamic template. Now, it leads you to a blank screen.
We asked Blogger Support recently, about the recently discovered inability to allow the reader to switch from a non dynamic view to a dynamic view, and were told that option had been discontinued, for "privacy reasons".
Apparently, some portions of the posts, when removed using the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard, were still displayed when a dynamic view was used. This caused problems for some blog owners, who had intentionally used a non dynamic view with personal details like author name removed from the posts. When they viewed the blog in a dynamic view, they found their name displayed, for all to see.
If anonymity is your concern, there are other techniques, which you may consider.
Another possible problem involved the blogs being simultaneously published using a dynamic template, and a non dynamic template. Last year, many blog owners reported various problems encountered, when their blogs were viewed using a dynamic template. It's possible that solution of the various problems involved simplification of code - including the ability to use either a dynamic or non dynamic view, at will.
Whatever the details, it appears that dynamic templates, and non dynamic templates, are completely separate options now. And as Blogger improves the dynamic templates in general, this should be good for all blogs.
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We've been observing problems with commenting on blogs using the inline comment form ("Embedded below post"), ever since Blogger changed the inline form, many months ago. First, we observed an overall problem with cookie filtering and the embedded comment form. Later, a more subtle problem with using the CAPTCHA form with embedded comments was discovered.
Now, we're seeing a similar problem, with the new dynamic templates, and the embedded comment form. This problem may not be any more obvious, to some blog readers, than the preceding problems were.
I've been providing advice, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, for various blog owners whose readers cannot comment, for some time.
Many problems which involve commenting start with content filters.
Generally, the problem is simply caused by overly optimistic cookie and script filtering. Resolution of the problem may involve changing comment form type, for blogs with certain reader populations.
Dynamic templates appear to present other challenges with commenting.
This week, I tried posting test comments in various blogs that use the dynamic templates, as a default view. There are several possible challenges here.
- Main page view may not inform the casual reader that comments are permitted.
- Local rendering of blog content may be a problem, on some computers.
- The mechanics of the dynamic template post overlay may cause confusion.
- Different dynamic views may provide more or less of a challenge.
Main page view may not inform the casual reader that comments are permitted.
Main page view, in the dynamic template, may confuse the reader. Main page view, for blogs not using the dynamic templates, will provide a link below each post, "nn Comments" ("nn" stating the current comment count).
With the reader clicking on the link, the individual post page will be presented, with the browser positioned at the top of the embedded form below the post. The reader will not be immediately aware of the display change - but may simply see the comment form, displayed before his eyes.
The dynamic template equivalent of main page view will show just a snippet of the post, or the complete post - but with no mention of Comments, anywhere. To have any chance of posting a comment, the reader must know to click on the post, and view the post in the overlay.
With the individual post visible in the overlay, the reader must know to scroll to the very bottom of the overlay. With the design of the single post overlay, this involves explicitly scrolling to the very bottom of the screen - again, not an obvious procedure. At the very bottom, one will find the simple caption.
Add a comment
Clicking on the caption, and / or scrolling again, the reader finds the embedded comment form.
With the Classic Dynamic View selected (either by the blog owner, or by the reader), there is no overlay used. Even so, there is another possibility for confusion.
When there are no comments published to a given post, one will see the link "0 comments" or "Add a comment". Clicking on the link, one will scroll to the very top of the comment form.
Depending upon the size of the display, the bulk of the comment form will remain invisible - and again, the need to scroll just a bit farther won't be immediately apparent - and the would be commenter will again go away, in confusion.
Local rendering of blog content may be a problem, on some computers.
Since the dynamic template is being rendered in real time by the readers computer, each display may not refresh, immediately. If the readers computer is busy, or low on resources, the display may not be immediately updated.
There is no indicator in the dynamic view, that indicates to the reader that the display has a pending update. The reader may not observe the delay - and may casually think that there is no comment form available for the page or post.
After entering the comment into the box, selecting the appropriate authentication, and hitting the "Post Comment" button, the reader will be presented with the CAPTCHA form. Options for the second and third steps will vary, at the pleasure of the blog owner.
Again, depending upon how busy the computer is, the CAPTCHA form may be presented immediately - or may require that the reader again scroll to the bottom.
The mechanics of the dynamic template post overlay may cause confusion.
Finally, after the CAPTCHA (when required) is successfully solved, and if comment moderation is being used, the reader is shown the well known (and not always observed) advice
Your comment will be visible after approval.
If, during any of the above steps, the readers computer not rendering the next display promptly, the reader may become confused and close the overlay. The next step will involve the reader communicating with the blog owner (when the owner is fortunate enough).
I wanted to leave you a comment, but your blog doesn't accept comments. What the &*^^% are you doing with the blog, this month?
Different dynamic views may provide more or less of a challenge.
These effects may be more obvious with views that display the complete post in an overlay, and with longer posts.
The Classic and Sidebar views display the complete posts in a more conventional style - and the comment form is more visible. With shorter posts, that fit within the browser window, the comment form is more visible.
Look at one post, from my Musings blog.
My blog, with a short post, displayed using Standard view.
My blog, with a short post, displayed using Classic view.
My blog, with a slightly longer post.
Not all dynamic views will present the "Add a comment" link, as easily displayed for the readers, for all posts on all blogs.
And once again, we have another issue for Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.
My readers cannot comment on my blog!
And, another mystery will fill the forums.
Owners of some #Blogger blogs may observe that reader commenting is not as active, having recently published to a dynamic template. There are a variety of reasons for the change in activity.
The new dynamic views, a truly innovative feature recently developed for Blogger blogs, are still receiving mixed reviews.
Not everybody, able to use them, likes them - and not everybody, liking them, is able to use them. The reasons behind the decisions to use them - or not use them - are fascinating, when examined in proper context.
The most restrictive reason comes from their most major feature - the blog, when displayed, gets the post content from the blog feed, and is published locally on each client computer.
This excludes two groups of blogs - those published with no feed, or with a partial feed - and those published privately. As noted many times, a private blog will not publish a newsfeed.
Depending upon readership, some blogs may have potential readers who are overly concerned with computer security.
In either case - with a blog not publishing a full newsfeed, or with a computer owner who filters web content too strictly, the would be blog viewer sits there, watching the turning gears, instead of reading the blog.
Besides the technical restrictions of private blogs and unavailable newsfeeds, and of computer security, Blogger has made a strategic decision, and disallowed these templates with "Adult Content" blogs.
In addition to the unavailability for some blogs, there are several major design deficiencies - and some deficiencies may be resolved sooner than others.
Besides the use of the blog feed published on the individual computers, the blog, as displayed, is significantly lighter, because the blog feed contains only text and pictures. Various features, important in many blogs, are omitted or restricted - possibly, by design.
- Imaginative text formatting, and other HTML tweaks, in the posts.
- Embedded scripting, in the posts and the template.
- HTML, scripted, and XML, accessory gadgets, in the various sections of the template.
- The ability to add or reposition various features in the post template.
- The various owner designated sections of the template.
- Lack of ability to display the comment form, consistently, may cause a reduction in reader comments.
- The ability to measure and monitor visitor activity.
- The ability to display a post archive index.
- The ability to use an owner designated Jump Break.
- Use of other recently developed features, such as the Lightbox image display.
- The ability to display the Pages index as a menu bar.
- Easy ability to edit the Pages menu, and to add and remove dynamic pages.
- The various option settings in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard will have no effect. The post template is not a distinct element, in dynamic templates.
For a more obvious demonstration, you may display this blog, in dynamic view. For several of the reasons enumerated above, I'll not make dynamic views the default, for this blog.
The good news is that the dynamic templates are easy to apply, and they are easy to remove - both permanently and temporarily.
