I've written a few posts about editing post content - and discuss clearing cache after editing, to see updates.
Generally, my posts reference cached posts content. Sometimes, blog owners need to clear cached feed content, in addition to / instead of clearing cached post content.
There is a difference between post content, and newsfeed content - and how both are cached. Newsfeed cache is not as frequent a concern.
When we provide instructions to clear cached blog content, we reference browser cache.
Clear cache - then restart the browser, and check again.
or maybe
Clear cache, cookies, and sessions (yes, all 3) - then restart the browser, and check again.
Posts, updated after published, may create a problem with the posts newsfeed.
In some cases, updated posts may create an "out of sync" condition with the posts newsfeed, as well as the displayed content.
If comparing post content and feed content is important, you need to synchronize the newsfeed with the posts. This will restart the newsfeed - and sync it with the posts.
- Deactivate the blog feeds.
- Publish a post - or delete a recently published post.
- Reactivate the blog feeds.
Activate / Deactivate the blog feeds, using the "Allow Blog Feed" wizard.
The "Allow Blog Feed" wizard, on the dashboard Settings - Other page, in the "Site feed" section, is used to activate and deactivate the newsfeeds.
Look for "Site feed", and "Allow Blog Feed".
"Site feed" is on the Settings - Other dashboard page.
Open the drop down menu, and note the current setting. If you have "Custom" selected, dig deeper.
There are a few selections, in "Allow Blog Feed". For consistent results, note what you have before Step #1 - and re select them after Step #3.
This blog, like many others in Blogger, is "Always Under Construction".
This post, like many earlier ones, was just published. Now, I plan to spend many long hours, reorganising and tweaking the content, phrasing, spelling, syntax - and correcting typos.
If you wish, you can subscribe to any of several posts newsfeeds - and compare the newsfeed content in each, with the displayed posts content. The older any post is, the more changes will be made.
The more revisions I make, the less this post, and the posts feed, will match when compared. Check it, for yourself.
Maybe one day, I will need the feed, in this blog, be accurately updated to compare more closely to the updated posts. Many of my posts double in size, even after post publish edits are "complete".
If you use email, and other feed subscriptions, to read new posts in this blog, you may be missing out on interesting details, added long after posts are published.
Newsfeed content is published once, as each post is published.
Post content may be out of sync with feed content, because post content and feed content is not updated at the same time.
You can update your posts, when you wish. Newsfeed updates are published when the posts are published - and the cached newsfeed is not updated, when you edit a post after it is published.
When you synchronise published posts content with displayed content, you generally clear browser cache. Newsfeed cache is not in the browser - so the latter instructions won't help with newsfeed cache.
That is the basic procedure for syncing the blog content, and feed content. You may have other concerns, though, that might complicate the above procedure.
The procedure is exciting - but painless.
I initially published this post, without any photos - and we see my Reading List, an hour ago.
And my Reading List, after I restarted my blog feed.
It took all of 5 minutes, including making screen prints of my Reading List - before and after, to restart the newsfeeds.
As always, I'll suggest that you Follow this post - and observe the changes. And watch for changes (unlikely) to the newsfeed.
Many #Blogger problems, when being diagnosed, start with advice to clear browser cache (maybe, cache, cookies, and sessions). Not all problems involved the published posts - some involve the posts feed.
You can't clear feed cache, as you can browser cache, because newsfeed content is not cached in the browser. You can, however, force a newsfeed rebuild, by restarting the newsfeed.
Occasionally, we see a blog owner in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger, asking about newsfeed formats.
Which is better, for my readers - Atom or RSS? How do I choose, what to provide, in my blog?
The competing newsfeed formats - Atom and RSS - have been a part of Internet life, for many years. Both formats have their devotees - and this is why there are two formats.
Both formats have their own advantages - and disadvantages.
You can change the URL of a FeedBurner source feed, to select Atom or RSS feed formats, from your blog.
You can use FeedBurner, or edit the blog template, to select a feed format.
Use the FeedBurner "Edit Feed Details" wizard, if you redirect your blog feed to FeedBurner.
If you don't use FeedBurner, you can edit the blog template, and manually change feed URLs. Note this will involve editing the post template, to change some links in the blog. This is not a recommended solution.
You may choose from 5 blog posts feed URLs, provided by this blog. You can do the same, with your blog.
Do you really want to select Atom or RSS this way?
FeedBurner has two services, that let you mix and match Atom vs RSS.
- SmartFeed dynamically serves the right choice - Atom vs RSS.
- Convert Format Burner lets you statically select one format, or another.
Using either service, FeedBurner selects the desired feed format for you - regardless which Original Feed URL you provide, in "Edit Feed Details". Just give FeedBurner the default feed URL for your blog " ... /feeds/posts/default" - and let FeedBurner do the work, depending upon the service that you select.
You activate either service from the FeedBurner dashboard "Optimize" tab. Note that you should choose only one service, for each FeedBurner feed provided.
Important: We recommend not using this service if you use SmartFeed. SmartFeed will override any Convert Format settings in order to make your feed compatible with all feed readers, whether they support Atom, RSS, or both.
"SmartFeed" selects the best format, dynamically.
For the best experience by all readers, SmartFeed will automatically provide the feed format favoured by any feed reader used - as each reader views your feed.
Translates your feed on-the-fly into a format (RSS or Atom) compatible with your visitors' feed reader application.
Enable SmartFeed - and let FeedBurner choose the best format, for each different feed reader being used.
"Convert Format Burner" lets you choose the format - and version.
If the choice of feed format (Atom, RSS) - and even choice of format version (Atom 0.3, Atom 1.0, RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0) - matters to you, you can use Convert Format Burner, and select a specific format and version.
Nine flavors of RSS and now two formats of Atom ... who has time to keep track of it all? FeedBurner does! Let us convert your feed to any of the format choices listed below.
Enable Convert Format Burner - and you choose what feed format and version gets served, to all feed readers.
You can have multiple feeds, and multiple FeedBurner outputs.
If you have conflicting requirements, you can always setup multiple different FeedBurner feeds - and use different feed service options, for different feeds. You can then provide each feed in a consistent display, using the "BrowserFriendly" service.
If you want to serve the right newsfeed format from a #Blogger blog, you can either tweak the code in the blog template - or you can use a #FeedBurner feed, and activate the "SmartFeed" or "Format Burner" service. Using FeedBurner is a simpler choice, than the template editor.
Private blogs affect other Blogger features - and the combination of results are inconsistent.
With dynamic templates, the private blog selection causes an inoperable display. Conversely, with Google+ Comments, enabling Google+ Comments disables the private blog (designated reader) selection - and vice versa, in the various Blogger dashboard pages.
The two interactions - and differing mutual exclusiveness - contribute to some interesting diagnostic sessions, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.
Intriguingly enough, when one of the known limitations with private blogs is diagnosed, some blog owners may treat the limitation as a personal insult.
Not all blog owners understand the technical limitations, with private blogs and other Blogger features. The limitations are based on simple technical interactions.
- Dynamic templates, and private blogs.
- Google+ comments, and private blogs.
Dynamic templates, and private blogs.
Private blogs do not publish blog newsfeeds. Dynamic templates require comments and posts newsfeeds, to generate the displays.
You can make a blog private - and you lose the "Dynamic Template" selection, in the dashboard Template page.
Some of the templates offered on the Template page, for a public blog.
Simple.
Dynamic Views.
Picture Window.
Awesome Inc.
Some of the templates offered on the Template page, for a private blog.
Simple.
Picture Window.
Awesome Inc.
If the blog has a dynamic template already, you can change to private access (edit Permissions, and designate readers), with no warning. The next time the blog is accessed, you will see the Spinner of Death.
My Dynamic Template test blog, set to Private.
Google+ comments, and private blogs.
When Google+ is used, no access to the Blogger permissions database is available. Since Google+ Comments are (or can be) Google+ stream posts, Google+ Comments can only support public blogs.
If you enable Google+ Comments, you will see a warning in the Permissions wizard - and you'll have no ability to Edit "Blog Readers".
Google+ Comments enabled. Learn more
If the blog is private already, you'll similarly see a warning on the dashboard Google+ page.
Google+ Comments are unsupported on non-public blogs and blogs marked as containing adult content. Learn more
So Google+ Comments, and private blogs, are mutually exclusive, on the dashboard - though Dynamic Views and private blogs are not, with intriguing result.
Why won't my blog load? It was fine, yesterday!
And when the blog address is provided with the problem report, we can see the problem.
Learn More.
The option to designate permitted readers, for a #Blogger blog, affects other Blogger features. Not all blog owners know about or understand the limitations that exist.
Some Google products contain features that have limited usefulness, when applied to Blogger blogs.
FeedBurner has a feature, "Password Protector", which may be useful, to newsfeed readers that support HTTP authentication. Within FeedBurner, we have the "Email Subscriptions" service - which does not support feed authentication.
Your readers will be required to use newsreader or aggregator software that supports authentication to view your feed.
Some Google, and non Google, services will have a problem, with a FeedBurner protected feed.
Newsfeeds, published by Blogger blogs, are supposed to be publicly accessible.
A blog with designated readers will not produce a newsfeed. Blogger does not support authenticated newsfeeds.
To use Password Protector, look on the FeedBurner dashboard, under the Publicize tab, for "Password Protector". Enter a Username and a Password, and hit "Activate". But don't do this, without knowing the downsides.
Password Protector uses a single username / password combination. All blog readers will use the same username.
FeedBurner warns us of possible problems, caused by this service.
Important: This service prevents our Email Subscriptions service from delivering email updates from your feed, and it will also password protect your feed's content when redisplayed using our Headline Animator graphic. This graphic itself becomes password protected, which is undesirable if you wish to use it to promote your site/feed. Therefore, we recommend not using Headline Animator or Email Subscriptions, and this Password Protector service, with the same feed.
From what I can see, Blogger Reading List may ignore the authentication requirement. People may use Reading List, and view the blog feed, redirected through FeedBurner - even if not authorized.
We know, however, that email subscriptions will not work, with a protected feed. Looking at an HTTP trace of the feed from my test blog http://techdict.nitecruzr.net, we see a symptom of the problem, with this option.
http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default
http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://techdict.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=AUTO
Sending request:
GET /feeds/posts/default HTTP/1.1
Host: techdict.nitecruzr.net
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7834.70.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/49.0.2623.112 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.28.121
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·302·Found(CR)(LF)
ETag:·W/"32e869db-18a9-4ccf-8ad9-dbded29f2b25"(CR)(LF)
Date:·Wed,·27·Apr·2016·15:04:06·GMT(CR)(LF)
Content-Type:·text/html(CR)(LF)
Server:·blogger-renderd(CR)(LF)
Expires:·Wed,·27·Apr·2016·15:04:07·GMT(CR)(LF)
Cache-Control:·public,·must-revalidate,·proxy-revalidate,·max-age=1(CR)(LF)
X-Content-Type-Options:·nosniff(CR)(LF)
X-XSS-Protection:·1;·mode=block(CR)(LF)
Location:·http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChucksTechWorld(CR)(LF)
This appears to be just a redirected blog posts newsfeed, targeting a FeedBurner published feed.
Here, we see a normal redirected blog posts feed.
But what happens, when we try to open the feed?
http://www.rexswain.com/cgi-bin/httpview.cgi?url=http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChucksTechWorld&uag=Mozilla/5.0+(X11%3B+CrOS+armv7l+7834.70.0)+AppleWebKit/537.36+(KHTML,+like+Gecko)+Chrome/49.0.2623.112+Safari/537.36&ref=http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html&aen=&req=GET&ver=1.1&fmt=TXT
Sending request:
GET /ChucksTechWorld HTTP/1.1 HTTP/1.1
Host: feeds.feedburner.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; CrOS armv7l 7834.70.0) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/49.0.2623.112 Safari/537.36
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close
• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 172.217.0.14
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·401·Unauthorized(CR)(LF)
WWW-Authenticate:·BASIC·realm="FeedBurner·feed·ChucksTechWorld"(CR)(LF)
The "HTTP Viewer" service does not support feed authentication (and only works with "HTTP:" protocol). And, we see the result.
It's possible that this feature will be useful, with feeds that are used outside Blogger (noting the Reading List ability). If you're publishing a Blogger blog, however, you're not likely to get any useful result.
Owners of #Blogger blogs, which use the FeedBurner "Password Protector" service, may find that the service delivers less protection - and some interference - other than the service name suggests. It would probably be best to avoid use of this service.
Whenever you have a problem with FeedBurner - or need to change details, the "Edit Feed Details" wizard is an essential tool.
It's a very simple display - just 3 data elements - but it's a pretty useful 3 elements, if you use FeedBurner with your blog..
The FeedBurner "Edit Feed Details" wizard is an essential tool, when researching a FeedBurner problem.
Start from the FeedBurner "My feeds" display - and select a feed in the list.
"Edit Feed Details" is at the top of the feed dashboard.
Start from the feed dashboard.
Click on "Edit Feed Details".
And there is the "Edit Feed Details" display.
Here, you can view, and edit:
- Feed Title.
- Original Feed URL.
- FeedBurner Feed URL.
Feed Title.
You can change the feed title here - or in the service settings.
Optimize - Title/Description Burner lets you change to title used in the feed itself. Publicize - Email Subscriptions - Email Branding lets you change the title used in the email based feed service.
You may want to check the blog title, also.
Original Feed URL.
If you change the URL of your blog, or want to use a different blog, you can use the FeedBurner Feed URL ("Original Feed") to make the change transparent, to everybody who Follows your blog using a FeedBurner service. The original feed URL may change - but the FeedBurner Feed URL does not have to change.
If you're using FeedBurner to redistribute your blog feed by email, use the Post Feed Redirect setting, in the Blogger dashboard, to redirect to this FeedBurner feed. Then, this FeedBurner "Original Feed" should be sourced from the original blog feed.
FeedBurner Feed URL.
Besides changing the title, you can change the feed URL ("Feed Address"), if you need.
Simple changes / powerful results.
These are simple changes - that can have powerful results.
An example, using this blog.
Here is how this blog, using a Post Feed Redirect, is setup to publish to a FeedBurner redirected feed.
Blogger blog URL:
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/
Blogger blog feed URL:
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default
FeedBurner "Original Feed":
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default
Blogger "Post Feed Redirect URL":
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging
FeedBurner "Feed Address":
http://feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging
The Post Feed Redirect.
FeedBurner Feed Details.
Any #Blogger blog owner who uses #FeedBurner to distribute / modify content of a newsfeed, or an email subscription, needs to know and use the "Edit Feed Details" dashboard wizard. The ability to change the feed title, the blog feed URL, and / or the FeedBurner feed URL, at will, makes this a useful wizard.
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/oUYseDHCerU/discussion
We see occasional confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.How do I let my readers subscribe to my pages?
A static page, by definition, does not produce newsfeed content. This is one original purpose for the static pages feature, in Blogger blogs.
You can publish posts, to any non home page, as you wish - and create a dynamic page.
From a label based dynamic page, you can publish a labels newsfeed. Then, you can publicise your label feed.
Any feed based accessory gadget - such as a "feeds" gadget, a "Subscribe to my blog" gadget, or even a "Subscribe to email from my blog!" gadget will use a labels feed, as well as a posts feed. A label search produces a subset of the posts - and a labels feed is simply a subset of the blog posts newsfeed.
If you want specialised content on a page, separate from the main page - and you want to distribute your content using a newsfeed - make a dynamic page based on a label. That will give you the feed that you need.
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.
One long known mystery, reported from time to time in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, involves the dashboard Reading List, and panic from disappearing entries.Where are the blogs, in my Reading List?
Some Blogger blog owners and readers can spend days setting up their Reading List complement - and see their work vanish, in seconds.
One of the reasons why this problem has not been solved is that it is not reported in consistently high volume, and has no obvious pattern. Another is that many people who use the Reading List - as opposed to a third party NewsFeed Reader - are not of the highest in technological skill level, and do not have the patience to provide coherent and relevant details about the problem.
From my observation of forum problem reports, I suspect that there are at least 3 different problems, which cause this intermittent Reading List scenario.
It's likely that each problem is caused in part by the people, who depend upon the Reading List to follow blogs published by them, and by other people. Some people also publish their own blogs, while others only read blogs, using their own Reading List - and this can complicate both the diagnosis, and resolution, of the problems.
At least some of the reports of "My Reading List has disappeared!" involve three long known problems - each problem caused, in part, by the Blogger account owners who use the Reading List.- Cookie / Script Filters, which prevent the Reading List code from identifying the reader, and displaying the personal Reading List.
- Multiple Blogger accounts, where an account owner sets up their personal Reading List while logged in to one account, and later uses a different Blogger account, with no personal Reading List setup for that account.
- Load Timeout is a problem with the Reading List assembly process, similar to timeout by the Dynamic Template assembly process.
The cookie / script filtering issue is similar to another long standing problem - Blogger Comments, particularly using the Embedded comment form. Third party cookies, which carry the identity of the person logged in to Blogger, being filtered and unavailable to the Reading List generation code, lead to the empty Reading List display. The Blogger Comments problem, like the Reading List problem, seems more common to people with lower tech skills set.
The cookie / script filters issue may also involve people who access the Internet through countries subject to country code alias redirection. People who live in the UK may not consistently update their security filters to permit cookies or scripts from "blogspot.co.uk", as they do for "blogspot.com". People who live close to international boundaries may not be aware of the vagaries of geolocation, and how their country code alias redirection may be affected, from day to day.
Another filter issue may involve recently updated filters. Thanks to ever changing security needs, and frequent unannounced updates by many security product vendors, a filter which worked yesterday may not work today. People unaware of the intrusive nature of security updates won't think to check the update log for any security product.
The empty Reading List problem can be caused by aggressive cookie / script filters, as is a similar problem - inability to remove specific blogs from the Reading List.
The multiple accounts issue is common to almost every Blogger feature. Ever since Blogger added the "Create an account" link to the Blogger / Google login screen, people have been setting up multiple Blogger accounts. Some people setup multiple accounts accidentally, and others do so on purpose.
If you combine the "Create an account" link with the ease of setting up a non GMail based Blogger account, you see that many people who don't use GMail can easily setup a new Blogger account without realising what they are doing. The owner of a new account, newly able to login, finds an empty dashboard. People who use the Reading List, purely to Follow other peoples blogs, will not be interested in the empty "My blogs" list, and will simply observe the lack of entries in the Reading List.
Other people setup additional Blogger accounts intentionally, to host different blogs under different accounts. People who intentionally segregate their blogs may not understand the similar personal nature of the Reading List.
Cookie / script filters can also block the contents of the Google "One Account" display from being properly generated - and may similarly contribute to creation of multiple accounts. The "reflexive action" design of the "One Account" display also contributes to use of the wrong account, in multiple account situations.
Both aggressive cookie / script filtering, and use of multiple Blogger accounts, can lead to lack of proper identification of the Blogger account owner - and to an empty Reading List.
The load timeout issue is similar to Dynamic Template load timeout. If you have any interesting assortment of feeds, in your Reading List, clear cache, cookies, and sessions, restart the browser, and login to Blogger. Immediately, scroll to the bottom of the screen, and watch the Reading List on your dashboard.
The list will, initially, be completely empty - then suddenly, it will fill with some number of posts, instantaneously. This is the same way a blog displays, in a dynamic view.
The various feeds in the Reading List have to be merged, so the individual posts can be displayed in proper sequence - in the same way that the components of a dynamic template display are assembled. This will make the Reading List display vulnerable to intermittent local and network problems, as the dynamic templates are vulnerable.
Different client computers will be differently vulnerable to load timeout, because of details like differing reading list content, individual network problems, and individual local computer problems. Reading List load timeout will have the same effect as Dynamic View load timeout - no display. This will be a truly intermittent problem.
Besides the inconsistent and intermittent load timeout, we'll see consistent errors, like the empty Reading List - and the mysterious lack of ability to remove Reading List entries.
All of the above issues are caused, in part, by the Blogger account owners. Blogger Engineering has worked for many years to solve the problem of cookie filtering and commenting, in vain. I suspect that they have also worked on the Reading List display problem, with similar result.
As long as people use their own computers, with security components of their own choosing - and neglect to consistently use the same Blogger account - Blogger is never going to solve the problem of the empty Reading List. The panic will never go away.
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.
Some Blogger blog owners don't know how to setup a sitemap, for their blog.
Setting up the sitemap, for a website, is a major process - and takes time. Every time you add a page to a website, the sitemap has to be updated - or how do your readers find the new page?
Alternatively, you can use a sitemap builder service, which builds the sitemap. This gives you a file, hosted by the sitemap builder service. Will the sitemap builder service be in business next week?
In either case, you take your sitemap file, and upload it to the blog. Every time you add a page, you update the sitemap, then you upload the updated sitemap. Every time - or the new page remains unindexed, until you do.
(Update 2014/11/04): Blogger is now providing an automatically generated, dedicated sitemap, to replace the newsfeed sourced sitemap - and an automatic "robots.txt" update. There is no need for a custom sitemap - nor to update "robots.txt".
With a Blogger blog, you designate the sitemap, using Google Webmaster Tools, referencing the URL of the posts newsfeed.
You can substitute any custom sitemap, if you wish, but this will be at your own risk - and you can develop your own installation instructions.
Once done with the Webmaster Tools sitemap wizard, you are free to work on the visible parts of the blog. Every time you publish a new post, the post is updated into the newsfeed, and becomes part of the sitemap.
The next time a search engine bot hits the blog, it picks up the new sitemap - and indexes the new post.
Combine the automatically and immediately updated sitemap, with more time spent updating the blog, and you get happier readers, and better search engine reputation. That's a win - win.
If your blog gets very large, you can add a new sitemap segment - at your convenience - for every 500 posts.
Why spend time manually updating a sitemap, with every new post (and worry about a file, hosted by someone who may or may not stay in business)? Use the posts newsfeed (hosted by Google), and work on the blog content.
Occasionally, a bewildered blog owner will write into Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, and askHow do I completely remove a post? I deleted a post - but my readers still could read it, in Google Reader!
Some owners are not clear about the nature of post deletion, and the blog feed.
One of the solutions for recovering a deleted post is to retrieve it from Google Reader. Even if you have not subscribed to the blog feed, you can, at any time, subscribe, and retrieve the text content of any previously published post. This solution works because once published, a post will remain in the blog feed for eternity.
Until the post is published, it's in Draft status. As soon as the post is published, the published copy goes into the blog feed. If you immediately revert the post to draft status, the post disappears from the blog main page (subject to clearing browser cache) - but once published, the post remains cached in the feed.
As long as the blog exists, and the blog feed exists (the blog remains public, and the feed is enabled), all previously published posts will remain cached in the blog feed. It may be possible to reset the blog feed - though both of these solutions should be examined carefully - for how your existing readers might be affected.Depending upon local caches of feed content, the blog feed may, or may not, be reset for everybody, with either procedure.
This is both good, and bad - but it is simply something that you can't change, easily.
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Now that the new dynamic templates have been available for several weeks, and people are actually using them on their favourite blogs, some folks are disappointed that they can't use them.I'm trying to install the dynamic template on my blog, and I'm seeingSorry, dynamic views aren't available for this blog.
Why me? What did I do wrong??
And these people simply have no idea how the new templates work - and why they don't always work.
Previous templates, whether Classic, Layout, or Designer types, served the formatted content of your blog, as posts applied to the template, page by page, from the Blogger servers. Since the blog content is served page by page, from Blogger, auto pagination is required to protect the Blogger servers from overload by single, large blogs, which generate irregular and large amounts of network and server load.
Blogger Dynamic Templates are a very innovative approach to web content, where the dynamic templates use the client computers as local web servers. Check out my test blog, and watch what happens. What you see is a few seconds of the orange gears turning, while your browser downloads the dynamic template code. This code is reused, when you view any Blogger blog that uses a dynamic template.
Once the dynamic template code has been downloaded, your computer simply retrieves the raw text of the newsfeed from the blog being displayed. Newsfeed text is far lighter than formatted blog posts, as served by Blogger from Classic, Layout, or Designer template blogs. Also, the newsfeed text is downloaded on a page by page basis. The overall effect is far less load on the Blogger servers and the Blogger / Google network - and eliminates the need for auto pagination.
Also, dynamic templates, which provide less options, are more stable - and require less support resources, which is necessitated by blog owners who are more concerned with accessories and style, rather than content. Use of third party accessories, and extensive tweaking of the blog layout, are two major causes of instability of Blogger blogs, using a dynamic template.
For all of its simplicity, reduced support resources, and the reduced load on the Blogger network and servers - and yes, reduced load on your network too - the dynamic templates have serious limitations.- The careful formatting of your posts - including fancy, relevant, fonts and other features - isn't available. Newsfeed text, which you can see in a copy of this blog, for instance, contains very few formatting options.
- The dynamic templates only work for blogs with a full feed. Blogs with a disabled blog feed - or a partial blog feed - can't use them.
- Since the dynamic templates require the blog feed, they can't be used on private blogs.
So, the new, dynamic templates aren't for everybody - or even for everybody who are willing to overlook the currently known design deficiencies. For public blogs which don't require extensive formatting and special retrieval options, though, they offer definite possibilities.
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A frequently seen sign of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum, is the connection between Following and Private blogs (blogs designated "Only people I choose").If I make my blog private, will people still be able to follow my blog?
Like many Blogger Help Forum questions, this one suffers from a significant amount of ambiguity.
There are several details, relevant to the above question.- Classically, people were said to "follow" a blog when they would periodically view it online, and / or view its contents using a newsfeed reader. People designated as Readers will be able to view a blog in the browser, though new posts won't be visible in a newsfeed reader.
- Blogger recently developed the Following program, to involve
- Use of the newsfeed, automatically added to a Dashboard Followers Reading List, and Google Reader.
- For blogs displaying the Followers accessory gadget, the ability to, temporarily, have ones icon displayed in the Followers gadget.
- For blogs displaying the Followers accessory gadget, the ability to surf to others profiles, and from there to blogs published and read by the various Followers.
- The term "will be able" also deserves mention, as many blogs, recently made private, can still be viewed in the browser, and cached feeds can still be viewed in a newsfeed client.
Since right now, "private" blogs won't publish newsfeeds, the current literally correct answer to the above question isNo, people cannot Follow a private blog.
But (and there is always a but)- Blogs made private can still display a Followers gadget, and people can have their icon displayed in the gadget. If having your picture displayed on somebodys blog satisfies you, then you may be happy Following a private blog, for a while.
- People can continue to read what's cached by their browser, and they will continue to generate hits in your visitor log.
- Some people will be able to view new posts in their browser, even if not designated as Readers.
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Occasionally, we see queries from bloggers who are unsure what anonymous Followers are.How do I know when someone Follows my blog anonymously?
andHow do I block anonymous Followers?
When someone Follows a blog publicly, he / she gets two things:- A subscription to the blog newsfeed, in the Following Reading List, and / or in Google Reader.
- An entry in the Following community for the blog.
When someone Follows a blog anonymously, she / he gets one thing:- A subscription to the blog newsfeed, in the Following Reading List, and / or in Google Reader.
If you Block someone from Following your blog, you remove their entry from your Following community. Newsfeed subscriptions, though, are universally open - if a feed is available to anybody, it's available to everybody. Your anonymous Followers, as well as your Blocked Followers, can read your newsfeed - just as any reader who wishes to subscribe, without using Following.
If the blog feed is routed through FeedBurner, anybody subscribing to the feed can be counted. If you have a visitor meter installed on the blog, anybody viewing the blog using a link from the blog feed (called "reach" in FeedBurner statistics) will be logged through the visitor meter. Short of FeedBurner or a visitor meter, you won't know anything about anonymous Followers, or about Blocked Followers.
A Blocked Follower appears in your Following community (in the "Blocked" list in your dashboard). An anonymous Follower is simply anonymous, and appears nowhere.
And, just as you can't track an anonymous Follower, you can't Block an anonymous Follower.
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