Earlier this year, Blogger upgraded their dashboard - and eliminated the opening "My blogs" / "Reading List" page.
They changed from a dashboard home page, listing all blogs owned by a given Blogger account - to a home page, showing the dashboard for the most recently updated blog.
To the dashboard menu for the blog displayed, they added a pulldown blog selector list. If you want the dashboard for a different blog, or need a different important "My blogs" function, you use the selector list.
Previously, to work on different blogs, I would repeatedly use the dashboard Home page.
The dashboard home page contained "My blogs" and "Reading List". Each "My blogs" entry had links to half a dozen different important dashboard pages, for each blog.
The "My blogs" menu has been replaced by a pull down blog selector list, which overlays the existing dashboard menu - giving the appearance of a single dashboard page, for all blogs. The list links to all blogs owned by the account (active, and deleted / locked) - and lets the owner access the dashboard for a different blog, when desired.
For blog owners with only one blog, the selector list is not important. The list becomes important, when the dashboard for a second blog - or the "Deleted Blogs" / "New Blog" dashboard wizard - is needed.
Some blog owners - unaware of this change - may see this as another variant of "missing blog".
Here's the new "My blogs" list.
"Your blogs live here" - behind the blog title and pulldown arrow.
It's all there - really!
There is now no dashboard home page, with "My blogs".
Previously, we had a dashboard Home page, with "My blogs" and "Reading List".
Each "My blogs" menu entry gave access to half a dozen different dashboard pages, for each blog.
Each "My blogs" menu entry had half a dozen different dashboard links, for each blog in the list. The links were both excessive, and insufficient.
- The menu entry links had a hodge podge of styles of buttons / captions / link display styles.
- The half a dozen links provided access to a small subset of useful dashboard menu pages.
- The "My blogs" list was long, and randomly sequenced.
Some blog owners would have enjoyed having different or more menu pages directly accessible from "My blogs". And we asked, many times, for an alphabetical "My blogs" list.
Instead of making "My blogs" more complicated, Blogger replaced the "My blogs" menu. We now have a "My blogs" list, accessed from any dashboard menu page.
Here's the options, on the new "My blogs" list.
The new dropdown list includes several important options.
- All active blogs ("My blogs").
- All inactive blogs ("Deleted blogs").
- The "New blog" link ("Create a blog").
"My blogs" and "Deleted blogs" are now part of the same alphabetical list, with each deleted / locked blog indicated.
You can now switch between any specific dashboard pages, for any blogs in "My blogs", using the selector list.
Now, the dashboard home page is the dashboard menu, for the blog most recently accessed.
With the list closed, the blog title will be plain text. See "The Real Blogger...", at the upper left of the dashboard?
From any dashboard page, click on the blog title or down arrow - and there is the "My blogs" menu. Then select any blog title, in the list.
With the list open, you'll see the blog title "The Real Blogger..." changes to a button.
Use "My blogs", and examine the same dashboard page for different blogs.
"My blogs" is now a blog selector list, for the dashboard page, being displayed. You can switch between different blogs, and stay on any specific dashboard page. And "My blogs" is now in alphabetical order.
From any dashboard menu page, you can open "My blogs".
Then select any blog, in the list.
And, you have the complementary dashboard page, for the blog just selected.
"Deleted blogs" and "New blog" is at the bottom of the "My blogs" list.
If you need to create a blog, you can find "New blog" at the bottom of the pulldown selector list.
See "New blog...", at the very bottom of "My blogs"?
If you want to find or recover a deleted blog, look above "New blog", for "Deleted blogs". The search for some missing blogs may end here.
See the "My blogs" sections - "Recent blogs", "All blogs", "Deleted blogs" - and "New blog"?
"Reading List" is at the bottom of the main dashboard menu.
"Reading List", previously the bottom half of the dashboard home page, is now a selection at the bottom of the main dashboard menu, below "Settings".
Look at the bottom of the menu.
And, there is "Reading List".
The #Blogger dashboard home page was redesigned - and the "Deleted blogs" / "My blogs" / "New blog" wizards are now accessed from a pulldown selector list, that's available from any dashboard menu. This makes it possible to switch between any two blogs, while staying on a specific dashboard page.
When we use Blogger Following, we create a link to our profile, from each blog that we Follow.
That's the primary purpose of Following - to see, and to be seen. We also create links from our Followers profile, to each Followed blog. That's the purpose of having a profile - to describe ourselves, by the blogs that interest us.
Everybody does not want other people knowing about every blog that we Follow, though. To let us Follow blogs without being seen, we can Follow anonymously - or hide a blog, from our profile on other blogs.
When we Follow a blog, we can choose to Follow anonymously, or publicly.
We can change the option, to Follow anonymously or publicly, when needed. If we Follow publicly, we can hide this blog, in our profile, on other blogs.
We can also hide blogs in Reading List, to keep the list manageable.
Change between Anonymous and Public Following.
There are two ways of changing between anonymous and public Following.
- Use the Followers gadget.
- Use the Reading List wizard.
Use the Followers gadget.
If you are Following a blog publicly, you'll have your icon in the Followers facepile (the icon cloud in the gadget). You can edit your profile, and Follow anonymously - or continue to Follow publicly, but with this blog hidden from other blogs.
Click on "Options", when you are logged in to Following, as yourself.
Then, click on "Site settings".
Or, if you are Following publicly, you can click on your icon, then "Settings".
Now, you have the Settings wizard, for this site.
Click on "publicly" - since you can see this, when Following publicly.
If you're Following publicly, you can choose to Follow anonymously - or continue to Follow publicly, but not include this blog on your profile.
If you are Following a blog anonymously, you won't have your icon in the facepile. If you want to now Follow publicly, and you are properly logged in, you'll still have "Options" - then "Site settings".
Use the Reading List wizard.
There are two Reading List management wizards - one for Blogger profiles, the other for Google+ profiles.
Changing Reading List, with a Blogger profile.
If you have a Blogger profile, you use the Blogger "Manage Blogs I'm Following" wizard - that you access from the Blogger dashboard.
If you have a Google+ profile, you'll use Google friend connect "Sites I've joined".
Start from the Blogger dashboard home page.
Click on the "gear" icon, to the right of "Reading List".
Some blogs are Followed publicly.
You can make any publicly Followed blog, Followed anonymously.
Just click on "Change to anonymous".
Some blogs are Followed anonymously.
You can make any anonymously Followed blog, Followed publicly.
Just click on "Change to public".
Changing Reading List, with a Google+ profile.
If you have a Google+ profile, you use Google Friend Connect: Sites I've joined. You can't click to this wizard, from the dashboard.
If you have a Blogger profile, you'll use Blogger "Manage Blogs I'm Following".
Start from "Sites I've joined".
Find the blog that's relevant - and click on "Settings".
Some blogs are Followed publicly.
This blog is being Followed publicly.
If you choose to Follow publicly, using a Google+ profile, you can choose to display this blog, as part of your profile - when your icon is displayed on other blogs. Alternately, you can Follow this blog publicly - but make it non visible, from other blogs.
To Follow anonymously, click on "Follow anonymously", and "Save".
Some blogs are Followed anonymously.
This blog is being Followed anonymously.
To Follow publicly, click on "Follow publicly", and "Save".
If you Follow publicly, you can choose to hide the blog from your profile. You'll be visible, on this blog - but your profile, on other blogs, won't point to this blog.
Hide and un hide a blog, in Reading List.
Besides anonymity in Following, we can hide a blog, to make Reading List manageable.
So, be aware of the options for choosing private ("anonymous") vs public Following.
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When we Follow a blog, using #Blogger Followers, we have several options to control our visibility on different blogs. We can make ourselves fully or partially visible - or non visible.
When you Follow a blog, the blog feed is added, as a subscription, to your dashboard Reading List.
This lets you read the blog content, conveniently, using the newsfeed. Separately from the Reading List, you can choose whether to have your personal Followers icon displayed, in the icon cloud on the blog display.
Besides maintaining anonymity in Following, you can hide any number of blogs, in the Reading List index, to make the index manageable.
You can display your Reading List, with the various blogs indexed in 3 states.
- Hidden, and not shown.
- Hidden, and temporarily shown.
- Visible.
Just learn to hover the mouse cursor in the right spot, to the left of the index entries, to change the state of the individual blogs.
Hidden or not, the blog content will continue to display, in the main Reading List display. Hidden blogs simply appear or disappear - as needed - in the Reading List index.
Here's an example of Reading List index entries.
Start from the Reading List section of the dashboard home page.
Here, we see two blogs that are being Followed, both visible.
To hide a blog, hover the mouse cursor to the left of a given blog name, and click on the down arrow.
To show all hidden blogs, click on the right arrow to the left of "Hidden blogs".
Now, all blogs are displayed - and the hidden blogs are indicated.
To un hide a hidden blog, hover the mouse cursor to the left of the blog name, and click on the up arrow.
And we again have two blogs, both visible.
The actual content of the Reading List display does not change - just the Reading List index, on the left.
To help you use the #Blogger dashboard Reading List effectively, you have the ability to display or hide specific blogs in the index. This does not change Reading list content - just the index - and makes it easier to locate important blogs, repeatedly, in the index.
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.
Last year, we saw a number of reports from Blogger account owners with empty Reading Lists.
When first reported, the common observation mentioned "one entry". Recently, we found out what the one entry was.All I get is Blogger Buzz - which I could care less about!
The account owner does not know that Blogger Buzz is automatically a part of every Reading List.
The fact that Blogger Buzz is being seen indicates that the personal portion of the Reading List is actually empty. This is similar to problems removing Reading List content, and suggests that the account owner is not being recognised.
There are two possible reasons for a Reading List being completely, constantly, and inappropriately empty.- The owner is using the wrong Blogger account.
- The browser being used is subject to a cookie or script filter.
Wrong Blogger account being used
It's not hard to recognise an empty Reading List (or one with just one entry, which was not requested).
We've been discussing problems resulting from having additional Blogger accounts (intentional or non intentional) for many years. If someone sets up a Reading List for one Blogger account, then uses a different account, there will be no Reading List for the second account.
If the owner then sets up a Reading List for a second (third, ...) account, unless very lucky, there will be tiny differences between the two Reading Lists. If the account owner is just using Blogger to read blogs - and does not own any blogs - it is possible that other accounts could be used. The owner may occasionally notice miniscule differences, but never bother to diagnose the differences.
Cookie / script filter, preventing identification
Whether the account owner is using the intended account, or an additional account - if the account can't be identified, Blogger can't generate a Reading List either.
If the script, which identifies the owner, doesn't run - or if the cookie identifying the owner can't be read - a Reading List can't be generated. Cookies and scripts can be filtered, for various reasons.
Thanks to ever changing security needs, and unannounced updates to many security products, a filter which worked yesterday may not work today. People unaware of security updates won't think to check the update log for any security product - and some may not be aware that they have security products that can cause problems.
The end result
There are several reasons for an unreliable Reading List - but this will generally result in inconsistencies over time, or partial displays. An empty Reading List has definable causes, with predictable results.
If the Blogger account cannot be recognised, Blogger won't show a Reading List - other than the sometimes unwelcome Blogger Buzz entry.
We've been seeing suggestions, for years, that the Reading List is unreliable.
Many Blogger account owners have reported the mysterious disappearing Reading List. A few have reported a second problem - inability to remove blogs from the Reading List.
Few account owners connect the two problems. The two problems may each affect different account owners. Of the few affected by both problems, not many are likely to see them as having a common cause.
Aggressive cookie / script filters contribute to both problems with the Reading List.
Inability to identify the account owner affects using and maintaining the list.
Both the empty Reading List, and inability to remove Reading List entries, may result from inability to properly identify the account owner. Since the Reading List is unique to each account owner, lack of identification, caused by cookie / script filters, can lead to either problem.
Most account owners can recognise a problem with displaying the Reading List. This problem - even with the cause unknown - is obvious. It's not hard to recognise an empty Reading List.
What's not so obvious, though, is that an account owner, if not properly identified, can't successfully accomplish removal of a blog from a Reading List. Only the owner of the account can request removal of a Reading List entry for that account.
The dashboard Reading List - and the Followers gadget - complement each other.
The Reading List complements the Followers badge. The Followers badge, found on many Blogger blogs, lists everybody who Follows the host blog.
The Reading List, found on many Blogger account owners dashboards, list the blogs which an account owner is Following. In order to remove a given blog from the Reading List, the account owner must stop Following that blog.
You can use either a dashboard script, or a Followers GUI, to un Follow a blog.
The process for Un Following a blog starts from a link on the Followers badge, or in the Reading List. Both the link in the Followers badge, and in the Reading List, lead to scripts that are subject to cookie and script filtering.
In order for you to Un Follow a blog, using the Followers gadget on the blog, you have to identify yourself using the correct Blogger / Google account. When you remove a blog from your Reading List, you are identified by your login cookie - if the cookie is present and is readable - and if the script is allowed to run.
When the un Following is actually done will affect success of the process.
Some scripts run while the account owner is present - and those scripts may return an error message, while the account owner is watching, indicating a problem. Other scripts may run while the account owner is not present. Those scripts, when not successful because of cookie or script filters, can't display an error message, because the account owner is not watching.
In the latter case, the account owner starts the process of deleting a blog from the Reading List - and later finds that the blog was not actually deleted. And then wonders why the blog is still listed.
And this is why.
Account Owners Can't Remove Blogs From Their Reading Lists
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2015/01/account-owners-cant-remove-blogs-from.html
Account Owners Can't Maintain Their Reading Lists
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2015/01/account-owners-cant-maintain-their.html
One question, that I have never seen specifically asked, is about our following, reading lists, and blog subscriptions in general.Why do I have to login to Blogger, to maintain my Reading List?
The blog follower / owner has asked a question that is involved in various problems, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue - but with this question so easily overlooked.
The Blogger dashboard Reading List, which so many use transparently, is unique to each of us.
Similar to the confusion about the email address, mysteriously displayed on our Blogger dashboard, is the unstated detail that each of us has our own personal set of followed blogs - and consequently, our own Reading List.
If you want to maintain the (Blogger Following / Google Friend Connect) Followers community, on your blog, you are forced to do this, as part of the Followers GUI. When you are able to access the Reading List "gear" icon, and "Manage Blogs I'm Following", you have already logged in - possibly, without realising.
Sometimes, blog owners have learned of various dashboard shortcuts - and use them transparently. All blog dashboard access requires a login - to simply prove, to Blogger, that you are the owner of the blog in question.
Most blog owners understand, instinctively, that they must login to access each blog dashboard. Not everybody realises, however, that they have their individual Reading List - also accessed by their own login, on the dashboard "home" page.
Along with having your own Reading List, you have your own reading list maintenance wizard (aka "Manage Blogs I'm Following" - or possibly the Google Friend Connect equivalent, for Blogger accounts that use Google+ profiles). To access your own wizard, you must identify yourself, by logging in to Blogger.
Failure to use the right Blogger account, or using a computer that prevents proper identification, leads to an empty Reading List - or to a list with just one entry. This is one reason for some people claiming that the Reading List is unreliable.
Thanks to the recently added Google "One account" login, all Blogger features are now vulnerable to "third party" cookie filters.
Long ago, many people who used Blogger would login to Blogger using a link in the navbar - or a similar Blogger login wizard.http://www.blogger.com
Now, that login redirects to the Google "One account" login.http://www.google.com
When referenced from a Blogger login, the latter URL becomes magnificently complex. https://accounts.google.com/ServiceLogin?service=blogger&passive=1209600&continue=https://www.blogger.com/home&followup=https://www.blogger.com/home<mpl=start
Long ago, people who logged in to Blogger, using the Blogger login, had no need to worry about "third party" cookies and filters.
When blog owners logged in under Blogger, the dashboard worked transparently.
Everybody could use the Blogger dashboard and some Blogger features, such as full page and popup window comments, without any problems. A login cookie, created under "blogger.com", could be read under most Blogger features - such as a full page or popup window comment form, or the various Blogger dashboard components - without any thought to any "third party" cookie filters.
Not everybody understood the difference between the dashboard and blog features.
The lack of worry about "third party" cookie filters, with Blogger login, did cause some dissent. People able to use the Blogger dashboard in general, became rather skeptical, when told to allow "third party" cookies, to enable the Stats "Don't track ..." option, or maybe the embedded comment form - or various other Blogger features.
Some blog owners, when advised to change form placement, because of reader problems when publishing comments, might object because the full page or popup window form lacked features - but not all. A few objected, simply because they did not believe that cookie filters could be so capricious.
Some blog owners attributed the differences to poor design.
Occasionally, some owners would ask why the embedded comment form would be designed so negligently, to require third party cookies - as if Blogger intentionally designed their features, to make it difficult to use their service. At one time, the embedded form was re written, to use "blogger.com" content, embedded in an iframe - possibly to allow the CAPTCHA form, for embedded comments, to avoid the nefarious "third party" cookie filters.
With Google "One account", Blogger and Google, instantaneously, has made the entire Blogger service require enabling of "third party" cookies. If a login cookie is created under "google.com", it will need to be read under "blogger.com" (the Blogger dashboard utilities), "blogspot.com" (Blogger blogs, published natively), any country code aliases that might apply, and any Blogger blogs, published to custom domains.
There is no more confusion about "third party" cookie filtering, because some features may work, and other features, mysteriously, don't work. Now, all of Blogger (GMail, Picasa, YouTube, ...) will require "third party" cookies to be permitted, if a login cookie is to be consistently accessible - and all services are to work, reliably.
All problems are not caused by cookie filtering - and this expands the confusion.
Yet, "third party" cookie filters alone, do not explain all Blogger feature problems, that do involve cookies, in some way. Both the recently explored comment wizard CAPTCHA form, the interstitial warning displays, and the Reading List disappearances - all have other, complementary, issues.
Cookie filtering is just one detail, in the Blogger infrastructure - though when problems are seen, one should check and correct the filters.
Hopefully, as the need for third party cookies becomes more uniform in Blogger, everybody using Blogger can become objective enough, and stop inappropriate filtering. With third party cookie filters less critical an issue, maybe Blogger Engineers can identify the problems that they can, and should, solve.
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.
This week, we're seeing a few reports, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, mentioning a badly shortened dashboard Reading List.
When I want to read the list of the blogs I follow, I can only see 1 blog, instead of the usual 30. When I click on "Show more", nothing happens.
A brief affinity analysis, of current forum reports, suggests that the affected blog owners are using Draft Blogger.
One of the little realised issues with the Reading List is that access to your Reading List requires that you be identified, to Blogger, as you.
If the "One Entry" in your Reading List display is the Blogger Buzz blog, that would suggest that you are not being properly identified. Blogger Buzz is a part of every Reading List, automatically, and can't be removed. If you are only seeing Blogger Buzz, then you, the specific owner of your Reading List, are not being identified.
Reading List content is complex - and subject to various local computer and network problems. Many problems can't be resolved, by Blogger Engineering, alone.
Given the normal instructions to revert to use of Production Blogger, several blog owners have reported success.
I just switched to Production Blogger - and there's no problem now!
This blog owner has just found himself experiencing the latest Draft resident bug.
To determine whether you are in Draft or Production Blogger, when you have this problem, examine your Profile URL, after you login to Blogger. An example (with a hypothetical URL):
Draft: https://draft.blogger.com/profile/04234326634594848875
Production: https://www.blogger.com/profile/04234326634594848875
See the difference?
Once again, I'll suggest that you use Draft Blogger to work around specific problems - and when the specific problem, affecting you, is resolved, switch back to Production Blogger. The sanity, that you save, may be your own.
One of the strangest cases of confusion, exhibited in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, comes from people who only want to remove a blog from their Reading List, using the "Manage Blogs I'm Following" wizard.I can't remove a blog from the Reading List - there is no trash can in the Manage wizard!
Here, I'll advise you to not look for a trash can icon, for some blogs.
To remove blogs from your Reading List, click on the gear icon to the far right of "Reading list", on your dashboard.
Start with the "gear" icon, to the far right of "Reading List".
This gives you Blogger: Manage Blogs I'm Following, which contains an inventory of all Followed blogs, by blog title. Alternately, try Google Friend Connect: Sites I've joined. You may be able to use the latter, when the former does not perform.
In many cases, you'll see the unwanted blog, listed in "Manage Blogs I'm Following".
If you don't immediately see the title of the blog that you are trying to remove, in the "These are the blogs and sites" list, don't worry. Go to the Reading List and look at each individual blog in the list, one by one, until you find the problem content - then look at the title used by the problem blog. Always start with the correct title.
Having the title of the problem blog, go to the list of blogs by title, and "Settings".
Once you know the correct title, go back to the Blogger / Friend Connect inventory, and find that title in the list. Click on "Settings", next to the title.
When you click on "Settings", you may have to login to Following / "Friend Connect". If you have to login, select "Google" - then use the correct Blogger account name and password.
The "Stop following" link is in the popup window, for the blog.
In the popup window for the correct title, you'll find the Basics tab selected, with your profile displayed. Beneath the display of your profile, you'll find the title of the blog again - and to the right of that (possibly requiring that you stretch the width of the popup window), you'll find the link "Stop following this site". Click on the link, hit "Stop Following" to confirm, and you're done.
Just don't waste time looking for a trash can icon - if you don't see the unwanted blog, immediately.
I've been writing about spammer activities, and about various blog hijacks, for some time. There's a special, rather devious blog hijack, involving spammer activity, that we've been aware of, for some time. In Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, we occasionally see the queryHow do I get rid of spam, in my Reading List? I did not Follow this blog!
Nobody will, intentionally, Follow a blog full of spam. In some cases, though, people Follow blogs that are published by naive blog owners, who have been conned by the spammers, into working for them.
The never ending need for more Followers, readers, search engine reputation, subscribers, and traffic, is a frequently expressed concern in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?.
In discussions outside Blogger Help Forum, one might possibly find suggestions of other, more imaginative ways to get more traffic to your blog. With Blogger blogs, there's a very obscure and easily used feature, that can be used to publicise your blog, randomly, to readers that you would not, otherwise, address.
All that you need do is to redirect your blog feed into a "feed redistribution cloud", that randomly redirects the readers of any blog, to viewing the feed from another blog, similarly using the redirect.
By redirecting your readers, you are exposing them to other blogs, randomly selected. Similarly, readers of other participating blogs are randomly redirected to your blog - and there is the promised publicity for your blog.
This is such a great idea, isn't it? Think again.
- Your Followers (and subscribers) want to read the feed from your blog - not from some random blog.
- Many Blogger blog owners don't use this feature.
- Many users of this feature are not legitimate Blogger blog owners, but publishers of spam blogs and websites.
- Should you redirect your readers into a "feed redistribution cloud", the chances are greater that your readers will be reading a blog published by a spammer.
- No spammer will redirect the feed from his blog. He's going to keep all of his traffic, to himself
- Since no real people knowingly subscribe to feeds from spam blogs and websites, your blog won't be getting any reciprocal crowd of eager would be readers, originating from the spam blogs and websites.
- And, we are here.
As a Follower (and not a blog owner), having examined your Reading List and found yourself reading a blog full of spam - that you certainly did not Follow - what do you do? It's a simple - but possibly tedious - task to identify and remove the blog owned by the naive person, who was conned by the spammers, that you are Following.
Having done that, why not go one step further, and help us to help Blogger and Google to interdict the spammer activity?
If you can identify the URL of a blog, that you are Following, that is redirecting its feed in this manner, Blogger / Google can identify and terminate any Google hosted blogs and websites that are advertising this easy, random way to publicise your blog - that is simply another trick used by the spammers, into getting the naive blog owners to do their dirty work.
All that we need is the URL of any blog, that you were Following, that rudely redirects its subscribers (like you) into the "feed redistribution cloud". Blogger / Google can do the rest.
You can comment, here - or start a discussion, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken - it's your choice. Just help identify the naive blog owners.
Do your part, and help us clean up the Blogger Blogosphere.
This week, Google announced the end to its website based community building accessory, Google Friend Connect, for non Blogger based websites.We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012.
The announcement notes its replacement with Google+.We encourage affected sites to create a Google+ page and place a Google+ badge on their site so they can bring their community of followers to Google+ and use new features like Circles and Hangouts to keep in touch.
Blogger blog owners can continue to use the Followers gadget, can use Google+, or can build their communities using both features.
Blogger blog owners were recently offered several suggestions, to integrate Google+ into their blogs.- The Google+ badge, placed on the blog, directs your readers to your Google+ profile.
- You can replace your Blogger profile with your Google+ profile.
- Replacement of your Blogger profile with your Google+ profile enables you to publish your blog updates to your Google+ followers.
With Google retiring Friend Connect, this allows Blogger to take over its functionality. Blogger blog owners, who like the idea of letting their Followers display their icons on the faces of our blogs, and view our blog updates in the Blogger Reading List / Google Reader displays, can continue to use the Followers accessory.
By removing Google Friend Connect from the Followers accessory, Blogger is hoping that the code supporting the Followers gadget can be simplified, and will become more stable. This will hopefully resolve many of the recently reported outages, both in the blog face display, and in our dashboard and Reading Lists.
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