> ~ Insights by SewCalGal ~

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Blog Problems

I'd prefer to share insights about quilting, sewing and/or embroidery today, but Blogger/Google problems are creating havoc in blogland.


And I felt there are some insights that are appropriate to share for non-bloggers and bloggers.

For Non-Bloggers:
These problems may be evident to you as you attempt to leave a comment on various blogs and find yourself in an endless loop.  If your comment goes thru, you may want to look closely as many of these comments are getting posted on various blogs as a no-reply or anonymous comment, even when you have a valid Google Account.  This may not be an issue for many comments, but it definitely is an issue when you enter a giveaway and if you really want to leave a comment on a blog post.

I am currently hosting a giveaway on my blog, sponsored by Angie Padilla, for "My Dream House" software.  As many entries to this giveaway are coming thru without contact info, even though I suspect they are associated with those that have valid Google accounts, I'm planning on extending out this contest.  The new final date is TBD, but if you have entered this giveaway you may want to go leave another comment and be sure to include your contact info as it may not come thru with your Google account.

For Everyone (Non-Bloggers and Bloggers):
While Blogger is working on this problem, they have recommended that everyone take time to delete their cookies and clear their cache.  For some cases this seams to resolve the problems.  It also appears that using FireFox, which I recently started using, resolves many issues.  I'm actually finding when I have a problem in IE and switch to FireFox the problem goes away.  Yet, oddly, when I have a problem in FireFox when I switch back to IE it works.  

For Bloggers:
I recently received insights from Nancy (Tattered Garden), that Blogger does have a feature that allows you to backup your blog via an export feature. And we all know how important it is to back up data!  In Blogger, you simply go to your "Settings" and you will find an option that will allow you to Export your blog (or import).

If anyone has experience with the export feature for backup and using it for a recovery, or using it to import to a different blogging tool (e.g. typepad, etc.) I'd really like to hear your perspective on your experiences with these phases of the backup tool. For example, what went well what didn't, etc.

If you would like to get more information on the Blogger/Google issues for this latest problem, you may want to visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/3gpmqn3  I also want to encourage you to leave a comment, with a link to your blog or any blog you've had problems with, so that Blogger gets a better perspective on how broad this issue is.

Lastly, I wish I could share something more fun with you.  I really do have some interesting insights, as well as sponsored giveaways, but this Blogger/Google issue is one that I felt needed to be shared.  And, I'm also hoping some of you may also have more insights that will help on this "painful" experience with blogger.







14 comments:

Cindi said...

Sewcalgal, I feel your pain and frustration. The no-reply issue seems to be a major problem on Blogger - one I've seen on several occasions. FireFox is a great program, isn't it? NO ADS on websites! Worth it 100% for that reason. I've given up on posting comments to most Blogger blogs, inasmuch as I'd like to. Most of them don't allow name/url comments, or allow only Google/Typepad/Wordpress comments. I don't have a Google address (I've already got 3 email addresses!!) and the Wordpress comments on Blogger only allow them from Wordpress-hosted accounts, not Wordpress self-hosted accounts (which we have). So, needless to say, there are a LOT of Blogger blogs I can't post comments to!! I'll have to be happy just lurking in the background. BTW - thanks for allowing name/url comments, and good luck with your giveaway!

Dorian said...

I was having this problem yesterday. And found that clearing my cookies solved the problem. Thank you for addressing the issue.

rubyslipperz1052 said...

"Debra" commented on my blog and suggest that I uncheck the "stay signed in". I did that and it has worked so far...I've been able to comment with my google identity.

hugZ,
annie
rubyslipperz106.blogspot.com

WandaFish said...

Thanks for posting this! The situation has been driving me mad and really put me off entering the giveaway fun with Sew Mama Sew. I eventually worked out I could post Anonymous comments but it took so much longer having to enter my details in each comment.
I've now cleared my cookies and didn't check the "stay signed in" and it looks as though I can comment properly again, yay!

Nancy said...

I think I might have been the person who sent you the back up information. I have started doing this on a regular basis.

Jocelyn said...

Darlene, thanks for this great info. I have seen where so many people are having issues with Blogger and are jumping to another server. I'm not really sure that is the solution. I've not really had any problems with Blogger. On rare occasion I will get a Server Down notice when I try to make a comment, but it has not been enough times to be a hassle. I have noted that some bloggers with different servers also have problems. All in all I have been a happy Blogger subscriber.

Sandi P said...

Well, I thought it was just me yesterday since I hadn't seen any indication that other people were experiencing problems. Glad they are working on it.

Anonymous said...

It's wonderful to discover that I am not going mad - thank you Sewcalgal! I am one who has not been able to leave comments at all or they are left as Anonymous or I am sent into the never ending loop of having to sign into my Google account. This is not just an issue when entering giveaways as I like to have my comments reponded to when the reader chooses.
Thanks very much for addressing this. All I could find out yesterday was about clearing my cache and that did not help.
DianeH
http://sideroadstitcher.blogspot.com/

May 25, 2011 4:08 AM

Anonymous said...

I thought my computer was acting up yesterday-never occurred to me it was Blogger-thanks for the info! I have a feeling it's about to happen again because that box below says to select my profile & it's usually already selected! I'll try anon this time!
DianeY

Nina Marie said...

Clearing my cache worked for me too Dar! Thanks! Usually that's the first thing I do when I have something strange happen online - but this time with blogger being so rude all of a sudden it didn't occur to me to try it! Workin' fine now!

free indeed said...

That's what's the problem!!! This was driving me crazy and it doesn't help that I had done some system changes and updatings and was worried about what setting got changed to give me so much grief....esp on SMS's big annual giveaway....frustration~! I missed out on so many of them because of this glitch. I did download firefox as well as a work around and it worked for most sites but I froze up a couple of times too. For some reason even netflix won't work for me unless I go through in firefox...any ideas on that oh computer guru!? :) Glad I don't have to stress over my puter any more today....thanks for clarifying this for me.

Lynn said...

Thanks so much for the information!

Anonymous said...

Darlene,

I don't log in to google as I prefer to comment as a wordpress blogger ... somedays it works, sometimes it doesn't! On those days I just give up and read, no commenting no matter what. (If it is already a bad day, I don't even consider commenting on a non wordpress blog.)

Judy B

Manda said...

Thank you so so much for posting this! I have not been able to post comments on most blogs for the last week, after reading this I downloaded firefox and 2mins later I'm leaving a comment! Thank you :)