Thursday, December 21, 2006

The New Version Of Blogger

Copied from Blogger................

The new version of Blogger in beta is dead!Long live the new version of Blogger!(P.S. The old version of Blogger is not dead, but it would like to retire for a little while... maybe go to Hawaii or play World of Warcraft all day? It begs you to let it play World of Warcraft all day.)
I am overjoyed to announce that today we have o’ficially graduated the new version of Blogger from “in beta” to “.” Why is this significant? Allow me to explain via analogy:
Battlestar Galactica with Lorne Greene : Battlestar Galactica with Edward James Olmos ::
Old Blogger : New Blogger
The new version of Blogger is metaphorically bursting with features, from the big guns like drag-and-drop template editing and post labels (which are perfect, by the way, for indexing the 131 historical figures you may have written about), to little polishes like a better-designed Dashboard or that you no longer need to solve a word verification CAPTCHA to post a comment on your own blog.
We’re excited about the new version of Blogger, both for what it can do now (which also includes access control for blogs and better input fields for post dates) and what we’ll add to it in the future, now that we have a new, stable, powerful infrastructure to work with. We’re done with “beta,” but we’re far from done with the new Blogger.
It’ll still take a bit more transition time to move everyone from the old version to the new, so for now we ask on our homepage which version of Blogger you use. If you’ve been using the beta, either because you switched or because you created your account after 10 November 2006, click “New Blogger” and sign in with your Google Account.If you haven’t yet switched, click “Old Blogger” and use the same Blogger account you’ve always used, or — and this is the better choice — click “Switch Now” button. After you sign in with or sign up for a Google Account (free!), you’ll be switched over to the new Blogger, which is both reassuringly the same (your blogs will keep the same URLs, and your templates and profile will be the same too) and significantly better (see above sampling of new features and comparisons to a masterful science fiction television program).
Finally, shouts out to all of the people and teams who have made this possible; the new Blogger is the combined effort of engineering, QA, support, management, product, marketing, PR, infrastructure, [music swells] design, partners, clients, users, hackers, Blog*Stars, cats, dogs, ferrets, and everyone and everything else that helped, assisted, or enabled. Thank you!
— Pete [12/19/06 5:30 PM]

Monday, November 20, 2006

Blogger-Beta

It seems there are still quite a few "old" blogs out there in the blog world, but whatever you do...........don't start a new blog on Blogger-Beta and try and change your old blog over by moving it via copy & paste. Just sit on your hands until the "blue box" appears on your dashboard - follow the directions and then leave it all in Google's hands.

Flag-it is up & running on the new Blogger-Beta. Click it on & then click it off if you find objectionable content on a blog. The same as it is on the "old" blogger / blogspot as well - this alerts Google/Blogger Beta.

I have seem a couple of comments where a blogger has said that Google / Blogger-Beta is caching all new posts bloggers are putting on their blogs to check for objectionable content. It seems that anyone reading their blog, needs to click the refresh button ??? That's a new one on me. I always have a look at my blog/s whenever I have done posts and they seem to be there.

All is not lost......on the "old blogger" if you left comments on blogs, clicking on your name would take the person to your blogger profile. Also if you entered "Krazy Kelvin" into Google and clicked "I'm feeling lucky" - my blogger profile would show up. After the change-over to the new Blogger-Beta, I ended up with 2 blogger profiles - old & new. Then the "old" profile link stopped working altogether - you could click on to it, but it would just say profile not available. Which was a bugger when it came to "I'm feeling lucky" !!! But, now I see that any "old" comments and my "old blogger profile" link takes me straight to my new profile, which makes me as happy as a monkey with two banana's - one for each ho........hand !!!

A couple of comments from bloggers as well as a link to their blogs
2 comments:
Peter said...
Re commenting on beta, if I find I've forgotten to sign in before commenting I highlight, Ctrl C my comment, sign in then Ctrl V it to the comment box, not worthwhile if it's only a one liner comment.Posts; I have tried to forward date a post so that it will stay on top of the page but find I can't use a forward date either.
Sunday, October 29, 2006

Heavens Cloud said...
Here's my 2 cents, I started out with blogger beta and only used the old blogger once a long time ago. I think it's nifty that you can use your gmail account to sign into it, and how its overall more integrated with google. p.s. kelvin you are a blogging veteren! thanks for the comment
Sunday, November 05, 2006

Comments on Blogger-Beta.............if you have any comments, you know what to do. I'll copy & paste them as I have done with the two above.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Timelog - 6pm Thursday 9th November.

Muggins, a long-time friend had 4 blogs under the old blogger/blogspot. He gave me the password and allowed me to sign into his blogs as he wanted to change over to the new Blogger-Beta. He didn't want to do the change-over himself and risk losing his blogs, so he asked me if I would do the change over for him. I didn't tell him, but little did he know I was doing it on a wing & a prayer. (hehe) The "blue box" signalling the change-over could be done (under edit your profile) had been showing on his dashboard for a while, so I followed the directions and.................

Timelog - 6pm Friday 10th

All done & dusted, so to speak. Muggin's 4 blogs are now under mine, which is what he wanted. There are a couple of other bloggers as well who have old blogs and want to become "family", so given time you may see some more new additions to this krazy family.

Don't Be In A Rush !!!

The thing is Google will tell you when to change from the old blogger / blogspot to the new Blogger-Beta, by posting a message in a blue box on your dashboard, under "edit your profile". Whatever you do, don't start a new blog on Blogger-Beta and then try and move your old blog over by yourself by "copy & paste". They will do all the moving in their own time and as the above shows, it was all done within a day and nothing at all was lost in the change - not a word !!! The change-over may of been done even sooner than the 24 hours, but I don't know, as this is the first chance I have had to check my email. I told Muggins (who can sometimes, be a bit slow on the uptake) not to add anything at all to his blogs, until I phoned him that the change over has been made.

If You Can't Trust A Friend..............

Muggins will be sitting "on his hands" waiting............for my call, but he can wait a little bit longer. When I do ring him, I'll say "Muggins - you know your blogs, I lost them" !!! I'll give him a few minutes to let off steam and then I'll phone him back and say............fooled you !!! Then & only then will I give him the "password", which will enable him to access not only his blogs, but also all my blogs. As I said, if you can't trust a friend, who can you trust.

Don't Add Anything !!!

Sit on your hands - you can still access your blogs if you really wanted to during the change-over using your old "sign in", but don't !!! To me, once you have started the process for the change-over, it is better to leave your blogs - don't add anything at all to them, no matter how much you want to. When you get the email from Google saying the change over has been made, then...............sign-in using your new details. If you sign in, using your old sign in, a message will come up that the blog has been moved to Blogger-Beta.

Start A New Blog

Okay, once you are in the new, I suggest the first thing you do is to start a new blog. There have been a few changes, mainly under the "template". So it's better to have a new blog to have a play-around on and then once you have managed to work out what's what, slowly start to make the changes to your "good" blog/s. If you make a stuff-up, it's better to do so on a "new" blog rather than make a stuff up on your good blogs and lose some or all of your posts. Just a suggestion - you can put it ................

Saturday, October 21, 2006

Blogger-Beta - Is It Better

How many bloggers reading this have actually changed over to the "new" blogger-beta ? Do you think it is "better". The word is that there is a lot more to come, because "beta" is just another word for trial. Once we (those that have made the change) have got used to the changes, whats to say, Goggle won't change it again. As for those that haven't changed over as yet, your time will come.

Feel free to leave any comments about Blogger-Beta - good or bad. It is thru reading what other bloggers have to say, that we will all get over the bumps.

Comments On Beta - This is proving to be a pain in the bum (there are no other words to describe it) to a few people. When you want to leave a comment have a look first at the comment sign in. Because I have found that once I have typed up a comment and go to sign in, you lose your comment. So it pays to sign in first if you haven't already sign in to the comment section.
The "Old" seems to be functioning as normal.
Anyone got anything to add, leave a comment.


Photos - If you find that you have "a white box with a red X", still publish as per normal. You will find that when you "view blog", after you have published the photo will be there 9 times out of 10. As for the 10th time.........well, who knows ???

Posts - You can "date" the post for time to come, but you cannot go backwards.
Example - Today, I am doing this post - I can put tomorrow's date on it and publish it and it will publish okay. If I put yesterday's date, it would publish it okay, but the date would automaticly reverted to todays date. So, once a day has gone, it's gone - you can't go backwards !!!

Blogspot/Blogger-Beta blog

I don't know what is happening out there, but every now & again, when I click on to next blog, naturally you think.......next blog, but it isn't happening. What's happening is that "Google's" search the web page is popping up. Also depending on whether the blog is old or new, the "next blog" button can be to the far right or in the middle of the screen. With the old, I have got so used to just sitting with the mouse arrow on the next button at the top right while looking at the screen and then.........clicking. Most of the time it moves on to the next blog, but sometimes the blog is "new" which has the "sign in" button in that top right corner position. It kind of slows me down, when all I want to do is move on..........especially when a "porn" blog has popped up. If you don't search the blog world very much you may not have encountered "porn blogs", but with me searching sometimes for 2 - 3 hours at a time, believe me there are blogs out there that.

One day, this asian lady got up from the computer she was using and stood not far from where I was sitting at my computer, while she waited for her friend to finish. I happened to glance up at her, while I was clicking the next blog button and she glanced in my direction & smiled but when I glanced back at my screen, there for all the world to see, was what could only be described as "PORN" !!! I couldn't hit the next button fast enough and the photos seemed to linger there until they faded away and the next blog popped up.
If you have ever been into an internet cafe, you will know how much space each & every computer has got - "not much" !!! There are the exception of a couple of cafes, where you get table space to spread out all your bits, rather than just "cube" space.

I'll be back...............

Saturday, October 14, 2006

Blogger Beta........

Don't Try & Change Over Yourself

What-ever you do, don't start a new blog on the Blogger-Beta and then try and move all your old blog over to the new one by yourself, because it doesn't work that way. Google/Blogger will let you know in time when they are ready for your blog to be moved over. As I said earlier, a "blue box" will appear on the right hand side of your dashboard, under where it says "edit your profile". It's just a matter of following instructions at the end of which, they will say that they will email you, when the change over has been made.

A Friends 3 Blogs

I still thinking if I should bring a friend's 3 blogs into the fold or leave them out in the big blog world to fend for themselves. They started in March ' 06 and show only about 135 profile views in that time. Their blogs are still under the old Blogspot/Blogger banner, but the opportunity for them to change over to the new Blogger-Beta is there on their dashboard. I can bring them into the fold with all my krazy blogs while they are still under the old, but I don't think I can do it, once they have changed over to the new. Bringing them into the fold as fully fledged family, would allow them to access all my blogs, if they wanted to do posts on them, as well as access their own blogs.

Totally Different

It is totally diferent from where you invite another blogger, to become a member of your blog.
As a member of a blog, a blogger can only edit his own posts that he puts on the blog that you have sent him/her an email to join. He can not change any of the posts that are already on there, nor can he change any of the settings, etc or change the password.

Been A Member

Been a member of someone else's blog is an honour that is not to be take lightly. I have been a member of other people's blogs before as well as had other bloggers as members of a couple of my blogs. I cut ties, only because Google can't change over the old to the new, if there is more than one name/email address linked to a blog.

Your Feedback Please !!!

I would welcome anything you have to say - good, bad or ugly about Blogger-Beta. I know there are a few bloggers out there in the blog world who are very unhappy and "wished" that they could turn the clock back and have their old blog/s back, but..........!!! So far with the change over of all my blogs (15 in total) from the old to the new, I have not struck any problems - touch wood !!!

Feedback So Far


OK, let me take the first question here:I switched my blog in beta these days, but I can't see my blog now.its reallyyyy made me sad....I just want my old blog back...do you know how to do ?
Monday, October 09, 2006


Kelvin
said...
Carrie, Once you change that is it - you can't go back. How long is it, since you changed over ?(I changed all my blogs over - lost nothing)You have 4 blogs - is the problem with just one or all 4. ?Is the problem/s in "posts" / "settings" / or "layout/template" ?I had a quick look at the 4. I can see them all okay. Even went back to the old - saw 2 childen / one on bike & "Dad" ? It has to be something simple so don't panic. We can do this via email, if it's easier / Kelvin

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

I'll be back..........

Sunday, October 08, 2006

The Blue Blogger-Beta Box !!!

Kia Ora (Hello) Have you changed over to Blogger-Beta yet ?
When the time comes to change a "blue box" containing the following words............

New Blogger in beta
Better blogging with new features!
"Learn more"


will show up on the right hand side of your dashboard, just under "Edit your profile".
Everything that I have shown in "red" shows up as links, when you change (I have cut the links for this post) Clicking on to "learn more" will take you to the next stage, which reads as follows.........

Check out the new version of Blogger (in beta)
New ways to customize your template
Drag and drop page elements and easily change your template's font and color scheme.
Private blogs
Create a blog visible to just your friends and family, not the whole world.
Labels
Give your posts a category label so that you and your readers can easily sort by topic.
"Take the tour"
Want to switch?
Three things you need to know:
You’ll need a Google Account
After you sign in with your Blogger account, you can create a Google Account or link to your existing one.

"More about Google Accounts"
We’re still adding features
Some features aren’t part of the beta yet, but will be in an upcoming release.

"See what’s missing"
Third-party applications need to update
External websites and applications that post to Blogger may need to update to post to the beta.

Check with the developer of any third-party app that you rely on before switching.
You can’t “undo”
Your blogs and profile will stay the same — but you can’t go back to the old Blogger application.
For more information, check out our FAQ


Switch in two steps.

Start here:
Sign in with your Blogger account
Username

Password
"Forgot your password?"

I accept the "Terms of Service" Changed: 8/2/2006
Continue

"I don’t want to switch right now"


"FAQ" (Frequently Asked Questions)




The "blue box" to change over to the new Blogger-Beta, has finally appeared on
"Muggins - Ray & Jay Monkey's" blog but they haven't changed over as yet.
They can either go it alone with their 3 blogs, or I can combine their blogs into my blogs. It would mean a lot of "trust" as they would have access to not only their 3 blogs, but also all my blogs.


Before I changed over to Blogger-Beta, I belonged to their blog as a member / contributor and vice versa, but had to cut links as it seems that Blogger-Beta only allows one person per blog - no members or contributors..
Links to websites, etc on your sidebar or in your banner at the top are okay.
Within 5 minutes of me cutting links, to their blogs as well as links to other bloggers who were contributors to my blogs, I checked back on my blog's dashboard and saw the "blue box". I followed their directions - in 2 minutes, I was done. A message said that they would email me, when the change over was completed. When I got the email and had a look at my new "beta" blogs, it was just a matter of clicking on to the "template" and following directions, to change the old template to the new template, with all the new features, etc. The links, etc on the sidebar were still there.

If you have any questions - no matter how stupid they may seem - leave a comment. I'll try my best to answer your questions, but if I can't I'll pass it over to Ray & Jay, or another blogger out there in the blogging world may have the answer.

I'll be back...................

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Krazy Kelvin - Blogger Is Beta ???

Blogger-Beta

Someone asked why do I have so many blogs ? My stock answer to that is why not - I'm a writer ; a "krazy monkey"; I love blogs; I love sharing with friends - not in any particular order of course.

I have seen and you will too, if you watch the bottom left of your monitor, blogs with 100, 200 items or more items to download which to me is bloody stupid. I am a "busy monkey" !!! Even though the cafes where I go have broadband, I don't have time to sit around with my finger up my b...........banana, while I am waiting for all the items to download, just to have a look to see if it's a good blog or not. the people I feel sorry for are those that are still on dial-up. So, hint hint - watch the bottom left of your computer monitor for the "number of items". If it says 100 or more, you can easily bail out, by clicking the back button. Given time, I will create a separate list of blogs with 100 or more items and so if you have all the time in the world, you can sit there waiting for them to download, have a look at them and then let me know if you think they are worth 5 stars or no stars.

Well - Blogger-Beta. I don't think it has made me a better blog, yet !!! But given time, once I learn all the ins and outs and how to find my way around, who knows ? I'll change a few things around so you will start to see some improvements in the layouts, even a few colours, although there have been a couple of complaints from friends unable to read the "coloured posts". Just a suggestion, Granny Smith - it would help if you actually moved your glasses down from where they sit on the top of your head, so they sit on your nose, then you will be able to see out of them !!! (Hehe) You have to look after the older people, because given time they will be 6 feet under pushing up daisies and the old people now, will become the older people that need looking after.

I am currently working on another chapter to My Book !!! which will be about Blogger-Beta. If you have a Blogger-Beta blog, your thoughts & comments on what you think of blogger-beta would be appreciated. I will pick some of them and include them in the book, as well as a link to your blog.