Too Clever By Half

Spoiler: Yes, Google can delete your blog. ¶ 

But someone else could have deleted it, if it is missing. Including you, by accident (or otherwise). ¶ 

It's easy to tell if Google is the culprit. Google will tell you, if you've let it.

"And when they went back to the blog, IT HAD VANISHED WITHOUT A TRACE!" ¶

Not to scare you, but it's easier to lose your blog than you think. ¶ 

Secure your blog by understanding what can go wrong:

•  (1) you delete your blog
•  (2) a co-blogger deletes it
•  (3) you are hacked
•  (4)  Google deletes it

Trusted contacts for account recovery ¶ 

Google last month created a new tool to recover your blogging account if you are ever locked out.

It's insurance that you have to set up while you still have access. And it involves a trusted friend or family member.

This isn't permanent, but as of today, and for maybe a month or so, this blog will be rendered according to the responsive theme I have been working on lately. ¶ 

What do you think? Your questions are also welcome. ¶ 

More below.

For some, the most urgent information about a new Blogger feature is how to undo it. ¶ 

Clicking the "automatic search links" tool adds multiple hyperlinks to your blog post or page.

The links are to different Google searches. It turns out a lot of people do not like them.

To undo: If you act right away, the undo tool on the toolbar, or the standard undo key commands, will restore the blog post to its status quo ante.

Some things about Blogger are not obvious. They make sense once you get the trick of how they work. ¶ 

Your account: 

May you never need to recover access to your blogging account! ¶ 

Blogger's new backup feature, using Google Takeout, offers more choices about how to safeguard your blog. ¶ 

And, it's a big change. ¶ 

Maybe my story will help you to devise a backup work flow that suits you.

And, you do have options.

If you haven't done so lately, read your blog on a phone.

At least some of your readers do. ¶ 

(If you haven't got a phone, there's a workaround below.) ¶ 

Do you like what you see?

As of July 1, backing up your blog on Blogger uses Google Takeout and includes every Blogger-related file in your account at once. ¶ 

Takeout offers some new options including ¶ 

• ability to schedule bimonthly backups ❦ 
• ability to back up to Drive and other cloud services ❦ 
• ability to back up multiple blogs at once

Blogger in Draft, Google's beta channel for Blogger, now backs up blog content using Google Takeout. ¶ 

Update: Looks like this is rolling out for everybody now (July 1). Takeout is now the only way to back up blog contents (posts, pages, contents).

Earlier this month, Blogger in Draft gained the ability to import backups downloaded via Takeout. Now, it exports them using Takeout only. ¶ 

If this feature migrates to regular Blogger, it will replace single-file backup.

More small stuff that you might like to know

• Blogger now uses Google Takeout to back up every part of all your blogs at once. ¶ 
• Takeout lets you schedule backups every two months for a year. ¶ 
• You can still back up your theme as a single file. ¶ 
• The Takeout backup will download more data than you need. Extra steps can manage the size of your backup.

Should I switch to a mobile-friendly blog theme? ¶ 

And who blogs from their phones anyway? ¶ 

Do you?

Hidden in Blogger's labyrinthine user interface are a few interesting, and even useful, features.

If you've been blogging for a while, you might feel both intrigued and timid about making changes. ¶ 

You might hold back from trying a new blog theme for fear of subjecting your readers to an experiment, or to an extended period of switching things around. ¶ 

Ideally, you'd test and debug things in private, and then go live with the new design once it is ready for prime time. ¶ 

You can do that. I have done it twice (for another blog).

Blogger's back end (at www.blogger.com) includes some quirks that are confusing at best. ¶ 

A worst, they could cause you to make errors that cannot be undone.

Google Search has changed. ¶ 

It's a lot pickier. ¶ 

Here is how to adapt.

A few things about Blogger's post-and-page editor ¶ 

Use undo in Blogger, not "go back" on your browser, if you accidentally wipe out your blog post.

The standalone "Follow" button I cobbled together ten years ago broke following some mysterious changes from Google. ¶ 

Here's how to fix it.

THIS IS NOT THE TOOL YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. ¶ 

There is a thing that you probably don't need to know.

If you do know it, that knowledge will confuse you, alarm you needlessly, and cause you waste your time. ¶ 

Are you in?

But dragging may be a handy (and safe) way to reinsert images into posts, by dragging from published posts. ¶ 

At least for now.