Dynamic Templates, And Improved "Follow by Email"

We see some concern about providing email subscriptions, from blog owners in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

How do I provide email subscriptions for my blog? Neither Follow by Email or Subscription Links works, for email!

The blog in question is using a dynamic template. In some cases, even "Subscription Links" does not provide a "Subscribe by Email" option - and it appears that the blog owner is really out of luck.

The "Subscribe by Email" gadget does not work, with dynamic templates - and some dynamic templates don't support the "Subscription Links" gadget with "Subscribe by Email" added.

Add "Subscription Links" to a blog with a dynamic template - for some blogs.

In some cases, you may not even want to use "Subscription Links". You can, however, use a LinkList gadget, to do the same thing - and to make an improved "Subscription Links" gadget.

In this case, add "Subscribe by Email" as a linklist gadget.

Just add the "Subscription Link Code", in a linklist gadget. Here is the code, from the FeedBurner Publicize dashboard page, for my blog, Chucks Musings.

The "Subscription Management" page, and "Subscription Link Code".



Add the link caption as "New Site Name", and the link code as "New Site URL".

<a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ChucksMusings&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Chucks Musings by Email</a>

The "Subscription Link Code" caption, and link.



Just add a new LinkList gadget.

• New Site Name: Subscribe to Chucks Musings by Email
• New Site URL: https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ChucksMusings&loc=en_US

Copy into a LinkList.



Click "Add Link" - then "Save" - and finally, "Save arrangement".

And we have a new sidebar accessory.

And if you click on the link, you get the FeedBurner "Email Subscription Request" verification form.



So, either add "Subscription Links" - or make a custom LinkList accessory. One, or the other, will give you "Subscribe by Email", in a dynamic template.

---

Some #Blogger blogs, which use a dynamic template, won't display "Subscribe by Email" as an added option, in "Subscription Links". Or, in some cases, you may actually want a more robust "Subscribe by Email" - or "Subscribe" menu.

In this case, add a LinkList gadget - and add the subscription form as a FeedBurner hosted form, using "Subscription Link Code".

FeedBurner Feed Redirection, And "BrowserFriendly"

Some blog owners and readers ask about blog feed displays, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

I clicked on this text at the bottom of the blog page:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

and I got a screen full of gibberish.

This is a known oddity, in Chrome.

The Chrome browser, unlike Firefox or Internet Explorer, lacks a built in newsfeed reader.

If you, the blog owner, want to see a useful display of blog content, when you click on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)", you can do that. Just add a Chrome extension, such as "RSS Subscription Extension (by Google)".

With the right extension added to Chrome, you will see blog content - instead of a screen full of gibberish. But what about your readers?

Give your readers a consistent and useful newsfeed display page.

If you want your readers to see useful content - plus a toolbar that helps them subscribe, using email or a feed reader, you can setup a FeedBurner feed, and add the BrowserFriendly service.

Just activate BrowserFriendly, from the FeedBurner Optimize page. Then, select the BrowserFriendly options that interest you.

You can choose from a number of popular feed readers to support, or add your own.



If you have Email Subscriptions added, your readers will have a selection for that, in the BrowserFriendly display.

NOTE: Because you use FeedBurner Email Subscriptions, a link to subscribe via email will automatically appear with your subscription selections.

You can add the original blog feed, to BrowserFriendly.

For more consistent reader statistics and subscriptions, you can make sure that the BrowserFriendly display uses the original posts newsfeed.

If you have configured your web server to redirect from your old feed to your new one, you should tell subscribers to use your old, redirected address so that the redirect can work its magic and subscribers always use that address, but FeedBurner tracks 100% of your traffic. FeedBurner will always show that address to potential subscribers instead of the FeedBurner feed address in BrowserFriendly.

Click on "Use your redirected feed URL on your BrowserFriendly landing page", to open the "BrowserFriendly" Redirected Feed URL setting wizard.



Copy the "Original Feed" URL from "Edit Feed Details" into the "Redirected Feed URL".

BrowserFriendly gives all readers, ignoring the browser, a good subscription page.

Whether your readers use Chrome, Firefox, or Edge / Internet Explorer, you can have them using the FeedBurner BrowserFriendly newsfeed display, and subscription wizard. All of your readers will have a more consistent access to your blog feeds and subscription options - and you'll have a happier reader community.

Complementing BrowserFriendly, you may wish to look at SmartFeed and Format Burner, to provide the right feed format. And if any of these ideas create conflicting needs, you can use multiple FeedBurner feeds.

---

With a #Blogger blog that uses email / newsfeed subscriptions to attract and encourage readers, you can provide a more consistent subscription display for your reader community, by using #FeedBurner and the BrowserFriendly service.

Blogger Magic - Check / Edit FeedBurner Feed Details

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

Blogger Magic - FeedBurner Email For Your Blog

Some people who will enjoy your blog may prefer to follow it using their email.

It's not difficult to setup email delivery of the comments or posts - from various source selections. FeedBurner offers a wide assortment of delivery options, for the many sources.

Blogger offers the "Subscribe by Email" gadget and service, which delivers the posts newsfeed. That's one feed possibility - and you can have many more, with very little work.

Using the many options provided by FeedBurner, combined with the many feed possibilities, you can produce a generous set of email subscription options.

1. Setup a FeedBurner feed.
2. Activate the "Subscribe by Email" service, for the feed.
3. Add a FeedBurner form, to the blog.
4. Setup the Post Feed Redirect, to connect the blog and the FeedBurner feed.

Setup a FeedBurner feed.

To add a standard blog posts subscription, add a "Subscribe by Email" gadget (for blogs with non dynamic Blogger templates) - or a "Subscription Links" gadget (for all blogs, including those with dynamic templates).

The standard blog posts subscription is not the only possibility. You can setup a FeedBurner feed for any blog published feed - including various label based feeds.

Blogger now publishes a pages feed, which complements the posts feed. And FeedBurner will distribute the pages feed, as it does the posts feed.

Start with the URL of any blog native feed.

Give the feed an Address and a Title.

The feed is setup. Proceed to the dashboard, to Activate the feed.



Activate the "Subscribe by Email" service, for the feed.

Activate "Email Subscriptions", for the FeedBurner feed that you setup.



From the FeedBurner dashboard Publicize - "Email Subscriptions" - "Subscription Management" page, Activate the "Email Subscriptions" service, for the feed.

The service is active - now check out other options.



With the "Email Subscriptions" service activated, look at the various formatting and distribution options available.

Add a FeedBurner form, to the blog.

You can use the form provided with "Subscribe by Email", if you are setting up the standard blog posts feed. For any other feed, you can use either form provided on the "Subscription Management" page, installed as an HTML / JavaScript gadget.

Using the "Subscription Link Code", you can add a fixed location ("floating") subscription icon.

Setup the Post Feed Redirect, to connect the blog and the FeedBurner feed.

FeedBurner "Edit Feed Details" is used to link the FeedBurner feed, to the blog. Similarly, you use the Blogger "Post Feed Redirect" to link the blog to the FeedBurner redirected feed.

Just use your imagination.

FeedBurner presents you with endless choices, for letting your readers enjoy your blog from their Email inboxes. Think about what will look good on your blog - and what will interest your readers.

---

Not all #Blogger blog owners know how easy it is to use #FeedBurner email delivery, to provide your readers the option to view your blog - in many content options - using their email inboxes.

Add A Fixed Location "Subscribe" Button To Your Blog

To encourage email subscriptions, and other social connections, some blog owners provide gadget toolbars, with useful links.

Some blog owners would like to position their gadgets in fixed screen positions.

I want to have a subscribe button hover at the top of the page, while people read my blog.

This blog has a hovering AddThis toolbar, which provides selected social sharing options. And, it has a hovering "Top of Page" button.

Adding a custom subscription gadget, in a fixed screen location, is not complicated.

AddThis has a large library of social sharing gadgets, with their icons - but they don't have any email subscription selections. But you can add an icon based "subscribe" button, "hovering" at the top of the page.

An occasional request suggests using a popup window, containing a subscription form. We don't recommend using a popup window - but a subscription form, on a FeedBurner hosted page, will provide the same function.

1. Add FeedBurner "Subscribe by Email".
2. Add a "Subscribe by Email" FeedBurner hosted form, and a link.
3. Add a suitable icon, containing the FeedBurner subscription link.
4. Try It.

See below "See the code asssembled.", for the detailed procedure.

Add FeedBurner "Subscribe by Email".

Using the dashboard Layout page, and "Add a Gadget", add a "Subscribe by Email" gadget. This creates a blog posts FeedBurner hosted feed.

FeedBurner provides the "Subscribe by Email" gadget, with the choice to display either an on screen form - or a simple link to a FeedBurner hosted form page.

Add a "Subscribe by Email" FeedBurner hosted form, and a link.

Once a "Subscribe by Email" gadget has been added, get the gadget link from the FeedBurner dashboard, at Publicize - "Email Subscriptions" - "Subscription Management" - "Preview Subscription Link…".

Start from the dashboard, at Publicize - "Email Subscriptions" - "Subscription Management".

The "Preview Subscription Link…" window contains the code, that we need.



Add a suitable icon, containing the FeedBurner subscription link.

Choose an attractive icon to contain the FeedBurner supplied link. Add an HTML gadget using "Add a Gadget", containing the icon with the link to the FeedBurner form - and displayed in a fixed location.


Try It.

I added a button, and a new subscription, to my test blog, "Chucks Tech World".

See the icon, in the top right margin?

See how the new icon floats?

See how it floats from the top - and from the right?





See the code, assembled.

A floating subscription button is simply an "HTML / Javascript" gadget, containing button code, linking to a FeedBurner subscription form. I position my gadget, in the footer, out of sight. The code "top:40px;right:60px;" positions the button to display relative to the top right corner - regardless of where the HTML gadget is positioned.

1. Upload a suitable icon.
2. Add the FeedBurner Subscription link code.
3. Add the button code.

Start with an icon, uploaded:

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2fCZTJEcS0rg0NliF0abn3LvuRvBFczagaR3aJo66JQ2X2VzNScrxHothiYOgP83ZrrLHN7fFcFeA5ihXLTdIHu8oO7kaxaILeNXcICvNkVNwj2pVG86bXn2qyvJd13-luA-hoijps09/s1600/Subscribe+Icon.png" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2fCZTJEcS0rg0NliF0abn3LvuRvBFczagaR3aJo66JQ2X2VzNScrxHothiYOgP83ZrrLHN7fFcFeA5ihXLTdIHu8oO7kaxaILeNXcICvNkVNwj2pVG86bXn2qyvJd13-luA-hoijps09/s320/Subscribe+Icon.png" /></a>

Here's the FeedBurner Subscription Link:

<a href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ChucksTechWorld&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Chucks Tech World by Email</a>

Here's the Floating Top Of Page Button:

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;bottom:20px;right:60px;" href="#" title="Top"><img border="0" height="60" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2eOcCRS3N1_JwNrk6zva82CQybo8TWCvgMs6lUtZhyl_6XrkbjWP8Ayf2eQLtg3KEaUMruYNMT3uHK7llf3gltPNd6PMaMEjSWXuTpPzCX-fAebzTg5xQTb9kdRRiRhVVm347DAyfZzdk/s320/Up+Arrow+4.jpg" /></a>

And put them all together:

<a style="display:scroll;position:fixed;top:40px;right:60px;" href="https://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=ChucksTechWorld&loc=en_US" title="Subscribe by Email" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="60" width="60" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii2fCZTJEcS0rg0NliF0abn3LvuRvBFczagaR3aJo66JQ2X2VzNScrxHothiYOgP83ZrrLHN7fFcFeA5ihXLTdIHu8oO7kaxaILeNXcICvNkVNwj2pVG86bXn2qyvJd13-luA-hoijps09/s320/Subscribe+Icon.png" /></a>

And that's it.

I now have a hovering subscription icon, in this blog. Given a collection of icons, carefully arranged, you can have a hovering toolbar - to maybe complement a social media button toolbar.

---

Some #Blogger blog owners would like a hovering button or toolbar, to provide an email subscription form. This is an accessory that is not difficult to add.

Dynamic Templates, And "Follow by Email"

We see occasional concern about providing email subscriptions, from blog owners in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

How do I provide email subscriptions for my blog? Follow by Email does not work!

The blog in question is using a dynamic template - and it appears that the blog owner is out of luck.

The "Subscribe by Email" gadget does not work, with dynamic templates.

Add "Subscription Links" to a blog with a dynamic template.

For email subscriptions, and a blog with a dynamic template, you use the "Subscription Links" gadget. Here is my blog, Chucks Musings.

Use "Subscription Links" with a blog that has a dynamic template.



When you add "Follow by Email" to a blog with a non dynamic template, it sets up the "Email Subscriptions" service, in FeedBurner. "Subscription Links" is a collection of various subscription services - and won't activate "Email Subscriptions".

You may need to activate "Email Subscriptions".

You will probably need to activate the "Email Subscriptions" service, to use "Subscription Links" instead of "Follow by Email".



To use "Subscribe by Email" as a selection in "Subscription Links", be sure that the "Email Subscriptions" service is activated, from the FeedBurner dashboard.

Alternately, add "Subscribe by Email" in a linklist gadget.

Sometimes, you may not want to use "Subscription Links". So, just add the "Subscription Link Code", in a linklist gadget.

Here, we have a new sidebar accessory.

And when you click on the link, you get the familiar FeedBurner "Email Subscription Request" verification form.



So, either add "Subscription Links" - or make a custom LinkList accessory. One, or the other, will give you "Subscribe by Email", in a dynamic template.

---

Owners of #Blogger blogs, wishing to provide email subscriptions, find that "Follow by Email" won't work with a dynamic template. Fortunately, "Subscription Links" will provide email subscription - though the necessary FeedBurner service has to be activated.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/lsAVQuj_FOw

Reading List Use Requires Recognition Of The Owner

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.

Account Owners Can't Maintain Their Reading Lists

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

Your Reading List Is Unique To You

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.

Removing Blogs From Your Reading List

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.

Our Reading Lists, Hijacked By Spammers

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 query

How 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.

1. Your Followers (and subscribers) want to read the feed from your blog - not from some random blog.
2. Many Blogger blog owners don't use this feature.
3. Many users of this feature are not legitimate Blogger blog owners, but publishers of spam blogs and websites.
4. 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.
5. No spammer will redirect the feed from his blog. He's going to keep all of his traffic, to himself
6. 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.
7. 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.

Google Friend Connect Accessory To Be Provided By Blogger

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.

>> Top

Use The Post Feed Redirect URL, When You Rename Your Blog

When we rename a blog, we use the Post Feed Redirect URL to redirect all feed references, from the old URL to the new feed URL.

When we setup a custom feed for a blog, maybe using FeedBurner, we use the Post Feed Redirect URL to redirect all feed references, from the blog, to the FeedBurner feed. That lets us use a FeedBurner feed without having to change all of the feed links in the blog.

Besides using the Post Feed Redirect URL to setup a FeedBurner feed, you can use the Post Feed Redirect URL when you re publish the blog to a new BlogSpot URL.

Please! Be sure to setup the Post Feed Redirect in the proper direction.

Using the post feed redirect is a simple, 1 - 2 - 3 exercise.

1. Publish a stub blog, to the old URL.
2. Determine the URL of the blog post feed, under the new URL.
3. Set the post feed redirect, for the stub blog.

Publish a stub blog, to the old URL.

Immediately after you re publish the blog to its new URL, you should be setting up a stub blog, to visually point your readers to the new URL. Besides visually pointing your readers, you can re point your subscribers - again using the stub blog.

Determine the URL of the blog post feed, under the new URL.

Copy the updated feed URL from the blog header. Precision is essential when redirecting the feed, so let Blogger do the work for you here - determine the new post feed URL, properly.

Set the post feed redirect, for the stub blog.

Go to Settings - Other, for the stub blog, published to the old URL. Edit the "Post Feed Redirect URL", and paste the new feed URL, as just copied.

When you do this, all subscribers to your blog, under the old URL, should see the blog feed in its new home, with linked content. The search engines, indexing the blog using a sitemap based upon the old URL, should start indexing it using the new URL.

Properly done, this should give your blog, under the new URL, a good start towards regaining the search engine reputation that it had, under the old URL.

Renaming Your Blog - Planning The Change Properly

Your blog depends upon traffic for its success.

Anything that affects the traffic to your blog, such as a change in the URL, affects the success of your blog. If you republish your blog to a different BlogSpot URL, as with migration to a custom domain, you will not lose any content. Both comments, posts, the template, and all custom settings, will stay with the blog. And if you plan the republishing effort, you can minimise the loss of traffic.

Properly planning the migration, to a different BlogSpot URL, will require different techniques than a simple custom domain republishing.

All 3 URL changes produce similar effects, though - and it's in your best interest to do what you can, to minimise the effects.

1. BlogSpot to BlogSpot URL change.
2. BlogSpot to custom domain re publishing.
3. Custom domain to BlogSpot re publishing.

All 3 changes require your blog to be re indexed by the search engines - and leave the blog with less search engines generated traffic, while being re indexed.

A BlogSpot to BlogSpot URL change is different from a custom domain publishing.

Custom domain re publishing has a feature that BlogSpot to BlogSpot URL changes lack. This will reduce negative effects of the URL change - with the domain properly setup.

With a custom domain republishing, the old (BlogSpot) URL is redirected to the new (domain) URL, using a "301 Moved Permanently" instruction. A "301 Moved Permanently" redirect simply repoints each individual URL in the blog to the new URL.

Unlike a custom domain renaming, you cannot choose an available URL, before you begin.

This post (using the domain URL) is "blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/03/renaming-your-blog-planning-change.html". I can, alternately, advertise it as "bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com/2010/03/renaming-your-blog-planning-change.html". That's the "301 Moved Permanently" redirection, in action. All traffic is forwarded, automatically.

There is no way to add "301 Moved Permanently" redirect to a BlogSpot rename.

Blogger won't provide a "301 Moved Permanently" for a BlogSpot rename, as this would encourage spammers to move their splogs around, endlessly. The best that you can do is to use a stub blog, with proper planning.

If you want the blog offline permanently - or if you don't want other people recreating the blog under its current name, you will want to plan the renaming - just as you would (or should) plan a deletion. If the URL becomes available, the same content / impersonation / privacy issues will exist.

Consider the categories of traffic sources, and the effects.

As with a custom domain migration, you'll want to consider the traffic to the blog, in categories.

• Blog Feeds - Automated processes, that help your readers track changes to your blog, using a newsfeed reader.
• Following - The two way community process, that lets you see who your readers are.
• Google Webmaster Tools - Key diagnostic and management utilities, that - among other things - enable indexing of the blog by the search engines.
• Search engines - Robotic processes which methodically surf your blog, and provide dynamic indexing to people who search for information.
• Viewers - People who read your content from their browser.

Blog Feeds are the easiest and cleanest category to redirect. Even though Blogger won't provide a "301 Moved Permenantly" for the blog URL, they will provide this for the feed URL, using a blog post feed redirect URL.

With the post feed enabled for both the live blog (under the new URL), and the stub blog (under the old URL), set the Post Feed Redirect URL for the stub blog to the exact value of the feed URL for the live blog. Your Followers and subscribers, using the old URL, will continue to see newsfeeds for your live blog, while using the old URL.

Following, with the renaming done correctly, is easy to redirect. Your Followers, as mentioned above, can view the blog feed using the old URL, with no problem. With the blog renamed simply using Settings - Publishing, your Followers will continue to be associated with the blog, with no further action by you.

Google Webmaster Tools are a vital part of the migration, and should be handled immediately after you re publish the blog, and then immediately after you setup the stub blog. You'll have several challenges here.

1. The "robots.txt" file for the blog, as renamed, may contain the old URL.
2. The new URL for the blog won't exist in Google Webmaster Tools, so you have to add that. When you verify blog ownership, you'll have to remove the GWT verification tags for the blog, that were used under the old URL.
3. You'll have to setup sitemaps for all posts in the blog, under the new URL, to complement / replace those under the old URL before the blog was re published.

The search engines will be the most frustrating part of any blog rename. Without any possibility of a "301 Moved Permanently" redirect, or anything remotely similar, any SERP hits will land the prospective viewer on a 404 display. Your best strategy is to manage the other categories aggressively, and hope that the search engines re index your blog promptly under the new URL.

Your viewers will have to be redirected using the stub post in the stub blog, published under the old URL. Your viewers looking for the main page of the blog will see the stub post, with no problem. Your viewers clicking on a direct link to a single post, an archive or label search, or possibly a SERP hit, will get a 404 display.

Page not found
Sorry, the page you were looking for in the blog The Real Blogger Status does not exist.

Go to blog homepage

The "Go to blog homepage" link will, hopefully, display the stub post - and they can follow the link to the new URL. That's a start, and it's all thanks to the Blogger custom 404 display.

OK, lets summarise the tasks involved.

1. Is this blog published to a Google custom domain? If so, read about specific issues related to custom domain URL changes.
2. Re publish the blog, under the new URL.
3. Enable the feeds, and verify feed URLs.
4. Setup Google Webmaster Tools for the blog, under the new URL. Look in the Sitemap list for the blog. Any sitemaps in there right now will likely point to the old URL, so these need to be removed. Then, add sitemaps for all posts.
5. Setup a stub blog, under the old URL.
6. Set the Post Feed Redirect URL, to point to the feed for the new URL.
7. Check Google Webmaster Tools for the blog, under the old URL. Look in the Sitemap list for the blog. You'll probably have to re add all sitemaps for the blog, to enable the search engines to index the blog, starting from the old URL, through the redirected feed.
8. Are you using a FeedBurner (or another custom feed)? If so, update FeedBurner, then check the Post Feed Redirect URL setting.
9. Check and update all Google Webmaster Tools settings, between the old and new URLs. Think carefully about each setting, and decide whether it should apply to the blog under the old URL, under the new URL, or both.
10. Are you using Mail-to-Blogger to publish to the blog? If so, check your Mail-to-Blogger addresses.

And if possible, read about the details involved in the rename process before you rename the existing blog. This last caution especially applies to changing one non BlogSpot URL to another non BlogSpot URL.

Blogger Magic - The FeedBurner Redirected Feed

One of the neatest bits of magic in the Blogger trickbox is the FeedBurner (external) feed redirection. A redirected FeedBurner feed requires 2 steps.

1. Setup a FeedBurner feed, sourced from the blog native feed.
2. In Settings - Site Feed, redirect the blog feed to the FeedBurner feed.

The native feed from this blog, "blogging.nitecruzr.net", is

blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default

That's how my blog started out (after I republished the blog to the custom domain URL). I setup a FeedBurner feed

feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging

after this blog had been long in existence.

Normally, when you change a URL, half the work involved in the change is going around to all of your readers and saying

Hey, check out my new blog feed, "feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging

Informing your readers is the complicated part of this change.

In this case, I spent no time doing that. Many of my readers don't even know about "feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging", they think that I'm still publishing "blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default" (which I am, actually).

All that I had to do was change one setting in my blog. In Settings - Site Feed, I set "Post Feed Redirect URL". Blogger took care of the rest.

A post feed redirect is the simple part of this change.

Let's look at a redirected feed, using an excerpted HTTP trace.

Sending request:

GET /feeds/posts/default HTTP/1.1
Host: blogging.nitecruzr.net
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.15) Gecko/2009101601 Firefox/3.0.15
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close

• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.53.121
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·302·Moved·Temporarily(CR)(LF)
X-Frame-Options:·ALLOWALL(CR)(LF)
Location:·http://feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging(CR)(LF)

...

Sending request:

GET /Nitecruzr-Blogging HTTP/1.1
Host: feeds.feedburner.com
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.15) Gecko/2009101601 Firefox/3.0.15
Referer: http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html
Connection: close

• Finding host IP address...
• Host IP address = 74.125.155.133
• Finding TCP protocol...
• Binding to local socket...
• Connecting to host...
• Sending request...
• Waiting for response...
Receiving Header:
HTTP/1.1·200·OK(CR)(LF)

A redirected post feed uses another DNS based redirection.

Yes, folks, another DNS redirected URL. If I ever tire of the FeedBurner feed name "Nitecruzr-Blogging", I just setup a new FeedBurner feed, then change the redirect for the blog. And the instant that I change the redirect, people reading my feed get the new feed.

I could even setup a redirected feed in another service. But be aware that not all online services will use a redirected feed.

Use whatever feed redirect you wish - just make sure that the "Post Feed Redirect URL" setting points to a valid feed URL, and you're good to go.

Diagnosing Problems With Blog Feeds

Recently, we're seeing an assortment of complaints about blog feeds, either not working at all, or updating slowly. Whether presented in a browser display, in a Following Reading List / Google Reader, or in a bloglist gadget, the accuracy of the feed as displayed can be affected by a few issues.

• Custom feed redirection.
• Custom Domain redirection.
• Classic vs New feed URL, and Blogger vs BlogSpot / domain served feed.
• Feeds served by third party servers (FTP publishing).
• Feeds from private blogs (which don't exist).
• Cached feed content.

Custom Feed Redirection

A custom, redirected feed, redirected through FeedBurner or a similar service, will be affected by problems with the service. When you check out a problem with a redirected feed, it may be helpful to compare the redirected feed content with the non redirected feed content.

Custom Domain Redirection

A feed coming from a blog that's published to a custom domain will be affected by the custom domain DNS issues. Feeds redirected through DNS addresses that use spurious solutions, like frames or URL forwarding, will be slow to, or never, update.

When you check out a problem with a feed from a blog published to a custom domain, start by examining the DNS setup for the domain. For each person reporting a problem, see if they are using the BlogSpot URL, or the domain URL. If the former, check the BlogSpot to domain redirection.

Feed Format and Source

For any feed with a problem reported, find out if the problem is with a classic, or a new, feed URL. The exact feed URL may be relevant. Look at the 3 feeds served from this blog page, as provided in the blog header.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="The Real Blogger Status - Atom" href="http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default" />
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="The Real Blogger Status - RSS" href="http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss" />
<link rel="service.post" type="application/atom+xml" title="The Real Blogger Status - Atom" href="http://www.blogger.com/feeds/24069595/posts/default" />

Here, we have 2 new URL feeds served from the custom domain, plus one feed served from Blogger.com.

Third Party (FTP Published) Feeds

When you're looking at feed URLs, watch out for a feed that comes from an external third party server. Feeds published from non Google servers may have many issues. Use of the Blogger based feed, vs the third party server served feed, may be especially significant. We've even recommended use of the Blogger served feed, as a workaround for feed problems in some FTP published blogs.

Feeds From Private Blogs

A feed coming from a private blog will never be updated. If the blog was just made private, you'll be seeing the blog feed as it was before the blog was made private, for a long time.

Effects Of Caching Upon Your Clients

Also, consider the effects of cache. Your readers that are affected by a local cache, or an upstream cache, will see irregular performance when they view a feed. Depending upon the nature of a blog, a given blog may have more readers who use a bloglist or feed reader, and who have Internet service that includes an upstream cache. A regional, or reader service, affinity may point to a cache issue.

Summary - When Reporting A Problem

Anybody reporting a problem with a feed viewed in somebody else's blog should state their geographical location, ISP name, and type of Internet service. Anybody subscribed to a feed with a problem should state the complete and precise URL of the feed. All of these details may be relevant to the problem.

All of these are details which will affect peoples access to any blog feed, and the displayed content in the bloglists and feed readers which they view.

>> Top

Follow Me

In the spirit of meshed online communities like FaceBook, MySpace, and Orkut, Blogger now gives us a new accessory: Following. With a single mouse click, you can subscribe to any Blogger blog by its news feed, and create a link from that blog back to your profile. You can read the contents of Blogger blogs that you Follow either in your Following Reading List, or in Google Reader.

Do you see the "Follow Me" gadget, in the sidebar? There you can see two components of Following.

• A link to add this blog to your Following Reading List.
• A grid of thumbnail profile photos, showing who most recently decided to Follow this blog.

Two more components are on your Dashboard, as your account gets the Following feature.

• For each Followed blog, a link to a list of who is Following that blog.
• Your Following Reading List, showing blog content (snippets of ~150 posts), at the bottom of the dashboard.

And look in the navbar (for any blog that has not hidden the navbar), for a "Follow" this blog link.

If a blog that interests you has the "Followers" ("Follow Me") gadget, just click on the "Follow This Blog" link, to add this blog to your Reading List, at the bottom of your dashboard. If there's no "Followers" gadget, but the blog is public and has a working feed, just go to your Reading List, and click on the "Add" button. You may also be able to use the "Follow" link in the navbar. Either way, you'll become a Follower of that blog (though the latter choices won't be as much fun).

If you want Followers for your public blog, be sure to enable the blog feed. Once that's done, add a Followers gadget to your sidebar, and make it visible (near the top is best). Encourage people to Follow your blog, and you'll get more Followers - and hopefully other people, who Follow blogs published by those who Follow your blog, will decide to Follow your blog too.

What use is it to Follow, and to be Followed, if you can't tell the world (selectively, as you wish) what you're doing? But you need to protect yourself, your blog, and your Followers.

• Manage both your Followers community, and your Followed blogs, aggressively.
• Understand the implications of Following, and of similar sources of blog traffic.
• Understand who Follows you.
• Watch for Followed blogs that try new and unacceptable ways to increase blog traffic.

Involve yourself, and involve others, in your community.

For a more descriptive and pictorial evaluation of Following, you might want to check out Roberto's Following - A new Gadget. You may also benefit from Blogger: What is Following?. And I'll explore new and ongoing Following issues, from time to time.

>> Top

The Blog Feed Redirect Option Needs To Be Used Properly

When you setup a Blogger blog, and use a properly configured feed, the combinations of comments, labels, and posts feeds can do wonders for making your blog more accessible and maintainable. You have a number of feeds, with URLs based upon the URL of the blog, to work with.

For more possibilities, you can use a custom feed, provided by an aggregation service like FeedBurner or FeedDigest. When you use a custom feed, you can even redirect references, within the blog, to the custom feed, so you don't have to manually reconfigure things like post footer feed links.

You redirect feed references using the dashboard setting in Settings - Other - "Post Feed Redirect URL".

Always use this setting properly - only put a valid feed URL in the box, or you will end up with a broken blog feed. A valid feed could be:

• A feed from another Blogger blog, as when you move the blog to another URL, and setup a stub blog with a redirected feed.
• A valid external URL - one provided by FeedBurner, FeedDigest, or a similar service.

Do not point this internally, to the same BlogSpot or domain URL. You cannot use this to simply change the URL of the feed for any one blog - it must be used in conjunction with a second blog, or a custom feed setup.

Here's the redirect setting, for this blog:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Nitecruzr-Blogging

That's my FeedBurner feed URL. Yours will be similar, excepting the

Nitecruzr-Blogging

If you use the URL of a feed for the same blog, you'll end up with a feed redirect loop. If your readers see anything from the feed, when it's directed to itself, it will be something like

The page isn't redirecting properly

Firefox has detected that the server is redirecting the request for this address in a way that will never complete.

If you have no FeedBurner or second blog feed to redirect into, or if you don't know what is needed here, leave this setting blank. If you're using the setting, and you're experiencing a feed related problem, you should first clear the setting.

Also, be aware of the interaction between the Google Sitemap and the blog feed. A Google Sitemap will break, if you redirect your blog feed to a URL outside the blog naming space.

Finally, note that the blog feed is intended to let your readers read your blog, with greater ease. It's not designed to let you randomly distribute the blog content to the Internet, while abusing your Followers and subscribers.