Blog Catalog Discussion: Blogger blogs URL feature disabled

libdrone on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

libdrone — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:16:16 -0600

I'm glad to hear they reconsidered. I am Very pleased with my switch to WordPress and wouldn't dream of switching back, but would consider using Blogger again for other blogs.

WT on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

WT — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 16:45:08 -0600

Yes, I saw this when I commented on a Blogger site this morning. Sometimes it pays to make a bunch of noise. A pat on the back to myself and all the rest of you who wrote about this and caused Google to reconsider!

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:28:36 -0600

FYI, Google just announced it's bringing back the URL field for direct links to your blog. I'm disgusted that I moved to WordPress already. It was a ton of work that I would have rather avoided. Ultimately, I don't regret the move. But I would have liked to not have done it flying by the seat of my pants.

http://junkdrawerblog.com/2007/12/it-would-have-paid-to-wait.html

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 06:56:06 -0600

Yeah, I just noticed that again last night.

Now if they would only make the "quick editing" links on my blog disappear as per my settings on Blogger.

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 18:28:28 -0600

For what it's worth, the latest commenting snafu has been resolved. We should all be getting email notifications for comments now.

See: http://knownissues.blogspot.com/

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:45:29 -0600

That's bizarre. I do too.

maccasenior on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

maccasenior — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:43:40 -0600

Hi! Kathy. Thank you for the reply. Your comment came through to my hotmail address. I'll have a look at changing my address to a gmail account. Thanking stoneman and MadameX as well for their response - regards Peter.

MadameX on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

MadameX — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:35:45 -0600

I, on the other hand, have a gmail account for my notification address and didn't see a blip.

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:33:36 -0600

Well I'll be damned. Three comments waiting to be moderated, and I never would have known. Thank you!

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:33:07 -0600

We have to check for comments now? You have got to be kidding.

I hope I misunderstood, but here goes me to Blogger to login and look. Ugh.

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:26:49 -0600

Peter -- You should test that. For instance, I can leave you a message on your blog as Anonymous or perhaps just using something in the Nickname field. Then you can see whether you get notification that someone other than you commented. If you set up forwarding from Hotmail to Gmail, maybe you'll get them. I don't know. Now I think I'm confusing myself. Anyway, I'll be happy to test with you if you need someone to throw you some comments.

maccasenior on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

maccasenior — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:19:24 -0600

Hi! Kathy. Thank you for the reply. I went into my Google account and from what I can work out is that they want me to create a gmail account. My hotmail address will then be my secondary address. I suppose then that any comments made might then be forwarded to my gmail address. Obviously they're forcing everyone to use nothing but google products and has the stink of unfair monopolization. Regards Peter

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:49:59 -0600

Hi, Peter. What you've described is the newest wrinkle in the Commenting Saga. I only get email notifications when I reply to a comment. This just seals the deal for me. I have to get off Blogger. I can check my posts for new comments left there, but how long can I do that? And what if someone leaves a comment on an older post.? I mean, I can't possibly check over 100 posts a day looking for new comments. Sigh.

I've been checking the Google Help board, and there is a flurry of discussion about this problem. So plenty of people are up in arms about it. Perhaps all the noise we're making will light a fire under someone.

maccasenior on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

maccasenior — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 19:33:43 -0600

Hi! Excuse my ignorance. Just found out that comments left at my blogger blog do not get forwarded onto my Hot mail address as they have in the past. However when I reply to the comment, this comment does get sent to my email address. Is this part of the new upgrade in blogger blogs? Thanking anyone for a response - signed - Confused.

WT on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

WT — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 16:05:26 -0600

I worked on JunkDrawer's instructions some more and got past that Blogger error, but it stll will not verify my openid. I went over everything several times and I am pretty sure I have it all right, but it will not work for my openid. I think I have wasted enough time on this for now. I just can't believe Google has created such a problem for Blogger sites.

lifecruiser on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

lifecruiser — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:13:48 -0600

Thanks for the suggestion JunkDrawer. It might work, I'm not sure I'll try it though. I don't like a solution that means I have to add things to my theme files. I switch themes now and then and this means I'd have to add it to the new theme every time. Not a solution I'd call good.

I also like to leave link to particular posts of mine too, that relate to the subject I'm commenting and this rather often are old posts.

WT on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

WT — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:07:14 -0600

Hi JunkDrawer! Thanks. I have a couple of comments in moderation at your site explaining why, but your solution did not work for me. The openid registration part went fine, but inserting the code into my header file might have broken the link. It causes a fatal Blogger error when I try to post. I think it might be because my theme does not use a standard type of header.php file, but I don't really understand all that. It has no header or /header, but instead uses divs. You can see what I mean at the link below where I posted some of the code from my header.php file.

http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/806695

-Will

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:32:46 -0600

WT -- You're right. I used to sometimes leave a link to an article, rather than my blog's homepage. Yet another reason I can't live with this. I see there are more negative comments coming in at Blogger in Draft: http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-feature-openid-commenting.html

I reiterate -- I do NOT want to go to WordPress unless I have to. I'd even pay a monthly fee if Google brought it back and made other improvements. It's THAT important to me that I not have to get up and running with a new platform.

WT on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

WT — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 14:16:02 -0600

I'll try that JunkDrawer and see what I think. It may be a weak solution for posting on blogger sites. I liked the external link feature because depending on the topic I was posting a comment on, I sometimes used links to pages deep in my site, not the top blog page or the home page.

-Will

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 17:15:26 -0600

Lifecruiser -- For what it's worth, you can make your OpenID point directly to your blog. I don't know what you'd do about having more than one blog, though. Here are the instructions I followed today to create my OpenID account that points to my blog. http://blogpond.com.au/2007/12/04/how-to-get-an-openid-and-link-it-to-your-blog-url/

I can use the OpenID on Blogger blogs that have it enabled. This way, when people click on my name, it goes to my blog.

Now, I've done it. But what about my readers? Do they even know it's possible? Probably not! This thing is still a mess for me, and I've made the official decision to move to WordPress. I wanted to hold out longer, but I just can't.

lifecruiser on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

lifecruiser — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 16:53:47 -0600

I wrote a post about this Sunday:
http://lifecruiser.com/archive/blogger-sucks-more-than-ever-not-allowing-extern-blog-links/

It's also a matter of the fact HOW they do things without proper information. Not professional at all!

I urge everybody to protest by sending a request to Blogger here:
http://help.blogger.com/?page=troubleshooter.cs&problem=&contact_type=wishlist&Submit=Submit
(Scroll down and fill in a new request that you want the extern link feature back)

I've also written a post about:
http://lifecruiser.com/archive/3-ways-of-moving-from-blogger-and-issues-involved/

I'm not at all pleased with an OpenID solution. It doesn't sound smooth enough, I would have wanted to see which blog address visiting me at once. Besides that, wouldn't that send them to my OpenId page? And what if I have several blogs?

Rich on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

Rich — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:52:15 -0600

Hey Mark, I can now but wasn't able to for some time. When I set to allow anonymous comments, the drop down menu wasn't available. I can now, but it doesn't change the fact that there is a steep learning curve for readers.

libdrone on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

libdrone — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:12:21 -0600

Excellent analysis as usual, Rich. I was able to leave an "anonymous" comment on the blog post (to which I signed my real name and included a link to my now non-blogspot blog) but I have to think that more casual commenters would have given up rather than jump through the hoops required to do this.

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:13:36 -0600

You should be able to permit anonymous comments, Rich.

Rich on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

Rich — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 14:11:01 -0600

Thanks again Will.

It seems Blogger has merged the ability to have OpenID and anonymous comments. We'll see if that will fix some issues to ensure bloggers do not lose people who might comment. It still doesn't excuse the communication.

Rich on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

Rich — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:48:53 -0600

Thanks Will.

I will post your comment. This is exactly what concerned me. Thank you.

Rich

WT on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

WT — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:26:03 -0600

Rich - I read your great article. I was going to comment there, but your Blogspot set up requires signing in with an open ID or something similar. No anonymous or nicknames. Oh well. That is a good example of how Blogger discourages commenting. I think even most new visitors who might have been inclined to comment, look at that and just go on by. I know it was easier for me to just come back here to thank you for the publicity on this issue.

-Will

Rich on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

Rich — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:50:47 -0600

Here's my take on Google/Blogger communication, which could have prevented most of this: "The new rules of communication for Internet conglomerates seem to be: if you have a great idea, host a press conference. If you aren’t really sure, bite your tongue, flip a switch, and see what hits the fan. BLOGGER!"

http://copywriteink.blogspot.com/2007/12/communicating-change-blogger-hits-fan.html

robinsonjoel on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

robinsonjoel — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 04:20:47 -0600

an interesting info on openID
http://openid.net/

libdrone on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

libdrone — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:40:44 -0600

you may be right Tiffany. I thought Saturday's announcement was the launch. And Mark may be right too that they are confused and overwhelmed rather than Machiavellian as I suggest. My brain has Already exploded over this mess and I am not as objective about it as I would like to be. For the sake of all my friends who can't or won't switch I certainly hope that Google does fix this during beta. They've already lost me.

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:05:31 -0600

I don't see how do follow blogs have anything to do with it. I'll bet such blogs make up a minority of Blogger bloggers.

MadameX on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

MadameX — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:55:51 -0600

I'm pretty sure that if I hear the word "penalize" with regard to Google one more time, my brain is going to explode.

crystalcash on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

crystalcash — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:51:05 -0600

I think I'm going to switch to Wordpress now. Google is going to far, they are probably trying to penalize dofollow blogs

MadameX on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

MadameX — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:47:20 -0600

No, it didn't, and they've clearly been sneaking this up on us. The URL field actually stopped WORKING a few weeks before it disappeared. No question whatsoever that they intended to remove it. But since they claim to still be taking comments on the NEW system, they can easily opt to pretend that they had provisions for this in mind all along if they so choose. Even if they were going to be honest and simply say, "Okay, we tried...we didn't know you'd get so up in arms about it...we'll put it back..." it wouldn't make much sense to change the old system back to the older system with the new system waiting in the wings.

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:32:41 -0600

Only problem is, Tiffany, that missing URL field did not only happen to Blogger in draft.

markstoneman on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

markstoneman — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:31:53 -0600

We might be seeing something new here: Google has grown so fast, so quickly, that I wonder how it's decision-making structures work. Also, do we even know to what extent Google messes around with Blogger? How well-integrated are all its possessions?

To put it differently, Google might seen all-powerful, but it might have some information-flow and cultural issues that we know nothing about.

MadameX on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

MadameX — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:31:52 -0600

I think you're way wrong, Alan. I can't say for sure, of course, but given the fact that the new comment system is still in draft and hasn't officially launched yet, they definitely have time to make tweaks without ever admitting to having mucked it up and launch the finished product with the features we're complaining about. I think we won't know until they roll out the new system for real.

libdrone on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

libdrone — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 22:24:34 -0600

Mark, I think if Google was going to respond and do something about it they would have done so today. From what I heard it sounds as though enough people have fussed enough directly to them that they Have to be aware of the issue. It looks to me as though they are banking on the defectors being more than outweighed by all the new users they can corral with this. And who knows, they may be right. The more people who stay with them waiting for an answer and will maybe become less concerned by this as time goes on, the better for them it seems to me.

hanxiansheng on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

hanxiansheng — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:04:55 -0600

I don't like blogger.com anymore.

JunkDrawer on 'Blogger blogs URL feature disabled'

JunkDrawer — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 19:43:20 -0600

Libdrone -- I echo your feeling about this. I'm afraid it's looking pretty grim. I'm on my way to WordPress. Like you, I need to educate myself before the move. That's what I hadn't felt like doing, but I see no other way to cope with this problem. And I really want to get back to blogging about something else as soon as possible. Good luck on the migration!