Google says feedback is helping

Legacy interface option to stay "for a while"

Google says it is listening to feedback as it continues to develop the next-generation Blogger interface.

In a post pinned to the top of Blogger's online help community yesterday, Googler Marc Ridey replies in part to "very helpful" feedback from users about the new responsive Blogger back-end, addressing some issues relating to importing images and video into blogs. 

Ridey also suggests that the July deadline Google had announced in May for the transition may have slipped. "You’ll be able to use the older interface for a while longer," he writes.

The new user interface continues to evolve as the developers push revisions out to users. 

Most of the unsettled features seem to be centered on the new post editor. However, several back-end pages, such as the theme designer, have yet to be redesigned, let alone run by users.

Image-Import Problems

In his post, Ridey specifically calls out the role that user feedback played in a decision to rethink how the new interface handles images and videos.

Up until last week, we had been testing out a new image/video technology within the new Blogger interface; however, your feedback made it clear that that piece of technology wasn’t ready to support many of the use cases you need.

Google, he says, is "reverting back to the old image/video technology for the time being." However, "this technology will also be going away soon,"  so the issue is far from settled.

A Responsive Back-End

In his post, Ridey notes that the old UI uses "internal Google technology that will be deprecated soon."

He also confirms that an objective for the new interface is to be "fully responsive so that users can edit their posts both from desktop or mobile devices."

The last time Google revised its user interface was in 2011, and that project was not trying to unify desktop and mobile. 

That transition also took longer than originally anticipated: the option to revert to the pre-2011 interface lingered into 2012.

The importance of feedback

Feedback is a specific channel to Google—and is not limited to image and video issues. 

"Though we can’t answer individual requests, we do read all feedback, and it helps us a lot," Ridey says. 

How to leave feedback

Your comments on this blog, and in the Help Community, do not generally reach Google.

So, give the new blogger a try, and leave feedback about it! Now is our chance to make a difference in the interface we will be using for the next ten years.

Image by Antonios Ntoumas from Pixabay