Too Clever By Half

Blogger has a new tool to feature a location. It's called a "map widget" and provides a distinctive graphical display that is linked to Google Maps.

This could be a boon to those who blog with a geographical bent.

On August 3, a bug in Google's automated security system disabled hundreds, and probably thousands, of Blogger blogs. ¶ 

Robot run amok! Google fixed the bug two days later, and many are reporting that their blogs have been restored. ¶ 

However, as of today Google has still not explained to English-language bloggers that they must request a review to get their blogs back. Or even that the bug is fixed. ¶ 

Indeed, Google's only explanation or announcement seems to have been in the Spanish-language help community for Blogger, through that community's manager.

Google is unrolling a new way to make your Google account recoverable if you forget your password, are hacked, or otherwise lose access. ¶ 

Your picture. ¶ 

"Selfie for sign-in" joins the other three methods (or four, depending on how you count things) for verifying your identity in case there is ever a question. ¶ 

Do not think this cannot happen to you. ¶ 

Like these other methods, there is a catch: you have to set it up before you lose access.

You've got five feed options in Settings:

• Full • 
• Until Jump Break • 
• Short • 
• Custom • 
• None ¶ 

Your feed lets people read your blog in a feed reader, and is required for some things. It's enabled by default.

I have already made the case for using jumps on your blog. So how about in feeds? ¶ 

Below are your feed options. I think you'll agree that Jump Break is best for engagement.

Still in Beta ¶ 

For those that have it, Google's awkward "Auto add links to Search" tool now has a name, and a place to live that is not floating in front of the editing window. (Previously it had several other names that were not so nice.) ¶ 

It has joined "Insert Google Search widget" on the new "Insert widget and AI-powered enhancements" menu in the editor.

It's super easy to steal work that does not belong to you. I think you know that you should not do that.

Photo: See number eight. ¶

Ask the owner for permission. If you do not know who the owner is, and there's no public license, don't use it.

It sounds like a cool hack: draft your post in your favorite app, photos and all, then paste that into the Blogger editor. ¶ 

Grab that thing you're quoting from the web and paste into the post. ¶ 

The good news is that this will usually work (with some quirks), but you need to take extra steps to protect your blog from junk code.

Have you seen this blog? ¶ 

Deleting an account might delete the blog or blogs it owns—but it might not. ¶ 

And deleting the account might have other effects on a blog, too.

A CATALOG OF DISCONTENTS ¶ 

So why do the Responsive blog themes, introduce by Google in 2017, continue to give me pause nine years later? ¶ 

Don't get me wrong: the fact that these are responsive means they provide a superior user experience on mobile. That is huge. ¶ 

Most web traffic today comes from phones, and a responsive theme makes your work easier to read, find, and navigate from there. ¶ 

Nonetheless, there are tradeoffs.