We see daily evidence of confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about photo hosting.How much space do I get for photo storage?
andWhat happened to the pictures on my blog?
and Why does my blog look weird now?
Some of these questions come from photos (pictures) hosted by Google, others from photos (pictures) hosted outside Google - and the uncertainty about hosting leads to confusion about the problems.
We've been exploring various issues with Picasa, aka Google photo hosting, recently.- Identifying Picasa problems.
- Interference involved in setting up other Google services.
- Loss of Picasa accounts.
- Storage limitations involved in Picasa hosting.
Similar issues exist with photo hosting outside Google - and blaming Google for problems which they don't cause (except, as they provide a service like Blogger, which permits use of non Google services) is not a productive use of anybody's time. Non Google services like Flickr, ImageShack, and PhotoBucket each have their own limitations and policies.
One interesting problem with photo storage, seen occasionally, comes from third party template providers and hosting of background images used in the templates. Loss of a background image, even if it does not result in multiple views of the infamous ImageShack Frog when bandwidth limits are exceeded, can cause problems with blog layout.
There are advantages, and disadvantages, of using Google and non Google photo storage. If you publish a Blogger blog, you're entitled to use any choice which pleases you - but you, as the blog owner, need to be aware of the choices, and possible consequences.
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For some time, blog owners would note mysterious problems with photos on their blogs, in various ways - depending upon the browser in use.
Some blog owners and readers would report a mysterious red "X", others a big, blank space - and still others would see nothing at all, not even a space. The only common symptom would beMy pictures have vanished!
Recently, photos hosted under Picasa changed that vague symptom, by displaying two "place holder" icons, depending upon either of two commonly diagnosed problems which had caused the missing photos.
Photos hosted under Picasa, and subsequently being either deleted or made private, are now being replaced by either of two diagnostic icons when referenced.
This improvement will go a long way to resolving much confusion about missing photos (including photos uploaded to the blog using the "Insert image" wizard in post editor), which has long been a source of despair in the Blogger community.
If your photo has been deleted, you will see this icon - an exclamation point inside a triangle.
If your photo is now private, you will see this icon - a dash inside a circle.
These icons are simply the new symptoms of a problem - they are not the problem itself.- If you just made your Picasa photo album private, maybe when setting up your Google+ account, you can correct the problem easily enough. Just login to Google, use Picasa, and make the photos public, again.
- If you just deleted the photo album, when setting up your Google+ account - or maybe trying to save storage space on your camera / phone, you may be able to recover the deleted photos.
- If you just deleted the Picasa photo album, by having deleted the Google account, however, you are out of luck. Picasa does not provide any un deletion options.
- If these are not your photos, and you are linking them from somebody else's Picasa album, you are likewise out of luck.
However, at least you can now detect - and diagnose - the problem, when your photos are hosted by Picasa.
We see occasional reports of problems with photo orientation, from various blog owners posting in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.Why are my photos displayed horizontal, when they should be vertical?
Presumably, if someone's photo was taken with her standing, the blog owner does not want the photo showing her lying on her side.
Modern cameras store meta data with each photo, recording information about how the photo was taken.
This information is called "Exchangeable Image File format", or EXIF, data. Along with the information about date / time / exposure ("aperture" / "F stop" / "shutter speed"), some cameras store whether the photo was taken, with the camera held horizontal or vertical.
Some cameras store the "horizontal" / "vertical" information - then, the Blogger post editor "Upload image" wizard picks up on the orientation, and re orients the photo, depending upon it having been taken "horizontal" or "vertical". If the photo was intentionally rotated, the blog owner does not want the photo rotated again.
There are several possible resolutions for this problem.- Use a different camera. Some cameras do not contribute to this problem.
- Per the comment below, see if the camera has a setting to disable autorotation.
- Use a photo editor such as IrfanView, and strip out the EXIF data, before uploading. Without the EXIF data, the "Add image" wizard won't reorient the photos.
- Use a photo editor such as IrfanView, and rotate the photo again, before uploading.
- Log in to http://www.picasaweb.com, using your Blogger username and password. Find the album, then the picture, that is rotated and open it. Edit the picture - rotate the image, then save it.
During the past few days, we're seeing a few reports in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, from owners of blogs that use an image in the header, instead of or in addition to, plain text, claiming changes in the appearance of the header. The exact problem report varies - that the image has been resized, has shifted in position, has become pixelated, or has simply disappeared.
We have a rollup discussion, where we are requesting details from each person observing this problem in their blog.- What is the URL of the blog?
- What exact symptom are you observing, that's a problem?
- Does the blog use a Blogger or third party template?
- Does the blog use a Designer or Layout template?
- Has the blog been configured for a Dynamic template?
- How did you setup the image, that is in use on your blog? Did you use the Layout "Configure Header" wizard, did you upload the image using the post editor "Insert image" wizard, or other?
- If you used the "Configure Header" wizard, which Image / Placement options did you select?
- From your computer.
- From the web.
- Behind title and description
- Instead of title and description
- Have description placed after the image
- Shrink to fit
- Can you find the image on your computer? If so, what is the name of the file, as uploaded? Is it a .bmp, .jpg, .png, what?
- When you setup / uploaded the image, what browser (name and version) was used?
- What browser (name, and version) are you using, right now, where the problem is visible?
If you can provide details, please do so as best as you are able, either here or in the rollup discussion.
In cases where the URL of the image in use can be edited, you may be able to work around your problem, by editing the precise URL. It appears that images hosted by Picasa, which are currently stored in a variety of sizes (which you may see when you use "Insert image", for instance), are now selected in a different way, when you do not explicitly select the right size for your purpose.
Look at the image at the top of the screen. If you were to look at it's URL, you would see:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2C5RmwbU8URBRB_n_HzNYhK2r3KBzHNIRCjjnOPDDcP5FSddfRh9bKZ3Qyxg10CU24Pr9Zx7j8IJzq1rlptTB_NtJpltts4jm3Hfsi3E2Ovt3QqFXnT-NavhPRoaVUQJJcQZRyjgn2_s8/s1600-r/RBS+Header+4a.gif
If that image had been uploaded using the current "Insert image" wizard (in post editor), or the "Configure Header" wizard (in "Page Elements"), it might have the URL
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
If the latter URL was correct, there would be 4 aliases available:
- Small: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S160/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
- Medium: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S320/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
- Large: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S640/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
- Full Size: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S1600/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
If I had this problem with my header image, I would edit the URL, in the template, and I would replace:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
with
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_pzC_7PLtN-0/R_buGAu4D3I/AAAAAAAABCI/wxcsyLm3DoE/S1600/RBS%2BHeader%2B4a.gif
If your blog has this problem, you may be able to similarly edit your blog - using "Configure Header" or "Edit HTML" - and work around your problem. If you use "Edit HTML", I suggest, as usual, that you backup the template - before and after making this tweak.
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The Google Custom Domain photo hosting problem has been with us for a while. I first reported this problem in August, 2007 - and again, last week. Last year, it was simply a chronic problem that I had noted. Last week, it affected my blogs, but only on one important photo.
This week, the problem became more obnoxious. It now affects multiple photos, which are used in multiple blogs (possibly a lot of blogs). The Cumulus Blogs Hidden LinkLists, the Cumulus Blogs MultiStyle Labels, and the Language Translator Bar, are used by a few bloggers who I've never met. Maybe you're one of them (you've read this far, so maybe you are).
Look in the sidebars of my blogs - like this blog "The Real Blogger Status" or my networking blog "PChuck's Network", at the "Topics" section, or even "Topics" in Roberto's Report (Roberto, a bud of mine, uses the same graphics in his blogs). On most days, you'll see one or more missing buttons / icons / photos, in one or more blogs.
Houston, we have a problem.
A Problem That's Ugly
This is what I see, at 18:00 PDT, 11/05/2008.
This is what I saw just earlier this afternoon, at 13:00 PDT, 11/05/2008.
This is merely ugly. You can use the "en|el" as a button - try it and see (when you see that). You can still see this blog translated into Greek, even if you can't see the flag in the translator bar.
A Problem That's Worse Than Ugly
This is what you'd see on good days, like April 14, 2008.
This is what you'd see on April 15, 2008, the day this article was written, in this blog - though the problem is currently not active, here. Today, May 10, 2008, you'll see something like this, in my recipes blog. Also my bud Roberto reports the same problem in his blogs.
Most cases of missing photos are merely annoying. Unless your blog revolves around the missing photos, your readers simply see a minor bit of ugly blog.
There's bad news, and there's good news.
The bad news is - this case is more than annoying. The 4 missing photos, as you know if they are part of your blog, are actually buttons. Those buttons allow your readers to show a hidden linklist, or to select a style for displaying hidden labels. Without the use of those buttons, your readers can't see a linklist or label list. This might be a major issue in blog organisation or blog visibility, for you.
A Workaround
The good news is - there is a workaround for you, if your blog uses Hidden Linklists or MultiStyle Labels, with the buttons that I provided originally. Until Blogger fixes this, simply tweak your template. Switch the Hidden Linklist feature to "Show", and / or switch the MultiStyle Labels to "Menu" style. It's not difficult, though if your blog uses multiple, hidden linklists, it will be a bit tedious, and your blog will lose a bit of functionality.- First (and always) backup your template.
- Edit the template.
- Select "Expand Widget Templates".
- For each hidden linklist, carefully find
// set default to hide blogroll
hideBlogroll1();
and (noting and retaining the linklist number) (they won't all be "1"), change to // set default to (hide) show blogroll
showBlogroll1();
Remember that linklists are numbered. Do not mess up the linklist numbers. - For multistyle labels, find
// set default to null style
nullStyle();
and change to // set default to (null) menu style
menuStyle();
- Save Template.
- Last (and always) backup your template, again.
- And also last (and also always) test your changes.
Not all problems can be worked around this easily. This is a functionality problem, and not too ugly. If you really want to display a photo (not a button or icon) in your blog, and it doesn't display, you're just out of luck. Sorry. No easy answers here - Blogger needs to fix the problem.
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This problem has been reported for many months, and comes and goes. Right now, it seems to have come again.
Look at the Language Translator bar, in this blog. See the place where there should be a Greek flag (between the "German" and "Italian" flags)? What you see there is "en|el" - no flag. THAT showed up the moment I published this blog as part of Nitecruzr.Net.
>> Forum thread links: bX-*00063
>> Copy this tag: bX-*00063
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