Blogger (service)

Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 which enables multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be accessed through a subdomain of blogspot.com. Blogs can also be accessed from a user-owned custom domain (such as www.example.com) by using DNS facilities to direct a domain to Google's servers.[1][3][4][5] A user can have up to 100 blogs or websites per account.[6]

Blogger
Type of site
Blog host
Available inSee below
Country of originUnited States of America
Area servedWorldwide
OwnerGoogle
Founder(s)Evan Williams, Meg Hourihan
URLwww.blogger.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationOptional, Free
LaunchedAugust 23, 1999 (1999-08-23)[1]
Current statusActive
Written inPython[2]

Google Blogger also enabled users to publish blogs and websites to their own web hosting server via FTP until May 1, 2010. All such blogs and websites had to be redirected to a blogspot.com subdomain or point their own domain to Google's servers via DNS.[7] Google Blogger has a wide international user base and is available in more than 60 languages, despite its decline in popularity in the United States.

History

Pyra Labs launched Blogger on August 23, 1999. It is credited with popularizing the format as one of the first dedicated blog-publishing tools. Pyra Labs was purchased by Google in February 2003 for an undisclosed amount. Premium features, which Pyra had actually offered for a fee, were made free as a result of the takeover. Evan Williams, a co-founder of Pyra Labs, left Google in October 2004. Picasa was acquired by Google in 2004, and Picasa and its photo-sharing service Hello were incorporated into Blogger, enabling users to upload images to their blogs. [8]

Blogger underwent a major redesign on May 9, 2004, which included web standards-compliant templates, individual archive pages for posts, comments, and email posting. Blogger's new version, codenamed "Invader," was released in beta alongside the gold update on August 14, 2006. Users were moved to Google servers, and new features such as interface language in French, Italian, German, and Spanish were added.[9] In December 2006, this new version of Blogger was taken out of beta. By May 2007, Blogger had completely moved over to Google-operated servers. Blogger was ranked 16 on the list of top 50 domains in terms of number of unique visitors in 2007.[10]

On February 24, 2015, Blogger announced that as of late March it would no longer allow its users to post sexually explicit content, unless the nudity offers "substantial public benefit," for example in "artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts."[11] On February 28, 2015, accounting for severe backlash from long-term bloggers, Blogger reversed its decision on banning sexual content, going back to the previous policy that allowed explicit images and videos if the blog was marked as "adult".[12]

Redesign

As part of the Blogger redesign in 2006, all blogs associated with a user's Google Account were migrated to Google servers. Blogger claims that the service is now more reliable because of the quality of the servers.[13]

Along with the migration to Google servers, several new features were introduced, including label organization, a drag-and-drop template editing interface, reading permissions (to create private blogs) and new Web feed options. Furthermore, blogs are updated dynamically, as opposed to rewriting HTML files.

In a version of the service called Blogger in Draft,[14] new features are tested before being released to all users. New features are discussed in the service's official blog.[15] In September 2009, Google introduced new features into Blogger as part of its tenth-anniversary celebration. The features included a new interface for post editing, improved image handling, Raw HTML Conversion, and other Google Docs-based implementations, including:

  • Adding location to posts via geotagging.
  • Post time-stamping at publication, not at original creation.
  • Vertical re-sizing of the post editor. The size is saved in a per-user, per-blog preference.
  • Link editing in compose mode.
  • Full Safari 3 support and fidelity on both Windows and macOS.
  • New Preview dialog that shows posts in a width and font size approximating what is seen in the published view.
  • Placeholder image for tags so that embeds are movable in compose mode.
  • New toolbar with Google aesthetics, faster loading time, and "undo" and "redo" buttons, also added the full justification button, a strike-through button, and an expanded color palette.

In 2010, Blogger introduced new templates and redesigned its website. The new post editor was criticized for being less reliable than its predecessor.[16]

In 2020, Google Blogger slowly introduced an improved web experience for Blogger. They moved everyone to the new interface starting in late June, many Blogger creators see the new interface become their default. Blogger is now responsive on the web, making it easier to use on mobile devices in addition to having a new look.[17]

Available languages

As of late 2016, Blogger is available in these 60 languages: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Basque, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Zulu.[18]

Country-specific Blogger addresses

In February 2013, Blogger began integrating user blogs with multiple country-specific URLs. For example, exampleuserblogname.blogspot.com would be automatically redirected to exampleuserblogname.blogspot.ca in Canada, exampleuserblogname.blogspot.co.uk in the United Kingdom. Blogger explained that by doing this they could manage the blog content more locally so if there was any objectionable material that violated a particular country's laws they could remove and block access to that blog for that country through the assigned ccTLD while retaining access through other ccTLD addresses and the default Blogspot.com URL. If a blog using a country-specific URL was removed it is still technically possible to access the blog through Google's No Country Redirect override by entering the URL using the regular Blogspot.com address and adding /ncr after .com.[19] In May 2018, Blogger stopped redirecting to ccTLDs and country-specific URLs would now redirect to the default Blogspot.com addresses.[20]

Available designs

Blogger allows its users to choose from multiple templates and then customize them. Users may also choose to create their own templates using CSS. The new design template, known as "Dynamic View", was introduced on 31 August 2011[21] with Dynamic Views being introduced on 27 September 2011.[22] It is built with AJAX, HTML5, and CSS3. The time for loading is 40 percent shorter than traditional templates, and allows user to present blog in seven different ways: classic, flipcard, magazine, mosaic, sidebar, snapshot, and timeslide. Readers still have the option to choose preferable views when the blog owner has set a default view.[23] Some of the widgets (e.g., Labels, Profile, Link List, Subscription Links, Followers and Blog Archive etc.) are available for Dynamic Views; other templates are chosen by the blogger.

In April 2013, Blogger updated its HTML template editor that has some improvements to make it easy for the users to edit the blog's source code. The editor was updated with syntax highlight, number line and jump-to-widget button for ease of editing the code.

Integration
  • "Blogger for Word" is an add-in for Microsoft Word which allows users to save a Microsoft Word document directly to a Blogger blog, as well as edit their posts both on- and offline. As of January 2007, Google says "Blogger for Word is not currently compatible with the new version of Blogger", and they state no decision has been made about supporting it with the new Blogger.[24] However, Microsoft Office 2007 adds native support for a variety of blogging systems, including Blogger.[25]
  • Blogger also started integration with Amazon Associates in December 2009, as a service to generate revenue.[26] It was not publicly announced, but by September 2011 it appeared that all integration options had been removed and that the partnership had ended.[27]
  • Open Live Writer (formerly Windows Live Writer, originally part of the Windows Live suite) can publish directly to Blogger.[25][28]

Blogger on mobile devices

Blogger has launched mobile applications for users with mobile devices. Users can post and edit blogs, and also share photos and links on Blogger through their mobile devices. Not only advanced mobile devices, such as smartphones, are being considered, since users can also post blogs via traditional cell phones by SMS and MMS.[29]

Screenshot of Blogger app on iOS

The major two mobile operating systems that Blogger focuses on are Android and iOS.[30][31] Blogger allow users to edit blogs anywhere through the app and either publish the blogs or save them as drafts. Quick navigation from posts and drafts is accessible from a list. Users can attach photos by taking a picture with a Blogger app or selecting pictures from their photo galleries. Sharing current locations on posts is also possible by tabbing My Location bar and adding locations. Users can also share photos and links directly to Blogger.

Blogger also provides dynamic mobile views for the blogging compatibility with mobile devices and smartphones. They enhance the readability accuracy on these smart devices, but editing a blog on the blogger app remains an open issue for the users.

Blocking

Blogger has been blocked for various periods of time in the following countries:

Blocking of *.blogspot.com domains by keyword-based Internet filtering systems is also encountered due to the domain containing the substring "gspot"; however, this can be alleviated by excluding the "blogspot.com" section of the URL from the keyword-based Internet filtering whilst the *. section of the URL is exposed to keyword-based Internet filtering.

Limitations

Blogger has the following limitations on content storage and bandwidth, per user account:[35]

  • Blog description – 500 characters max.
  • Number of blogs – 100 blogs per account
  • Number of labels – 5,000 unique labels per blog (an increase from the original 2,000), 20 unique labels per post (with at most 200 characters)
  • Number of pictures – Ordinarily, up to 1 GB of total storage, shared with Picasa Web. If you've upgraded to Google+, your photos will be stored in Google Photos, where you have 15 GB of storage space shared with Gmail and Drive. However, if one has signed up for Google+ account, images less than 16 megapixels (4920 × 3264)[36] would not be counted to this storage limit. For users not signed up for Google+, 800 × 800 pixels and below images would not be included in this storage space.
  • Number of posts – There is no limit on the number of posts one can have in one blog. However, a maximum of 100 posts can be created or published per day.
  • Size of pages – Individual pages (the main page of a blog or archive pages) are limited to 1 MB
  • Size of pictures – If posted via Blogger Mobile, limited 250 KB per picture;[37] posted pictures are scaled to 1600px
  • Number of pages – There is no limit on the number of pages you can have on one blog
  • Team members (those who can write to a blog) – 100 invitations per blog
  • Favicon – Any square image less than 100 KB
  • Account suspension: if a site is violating any terms of service, it may be suspended by Blogger without any notice. Repeated violations may lead to Google account suspension.

On February 18, 2010,[38] Blogger introduced "auto-pagination," which limited the number of posts that could be displayed on each page, often causing the number of posts on the main page to be less than that specified by the user and leading to a hostile response from some users.[39][40]

Private blogs are limited to only 100 members.

Support

The official support channel is the Blogger Product Forum.[41] This online discussion forum, delivered using Google Groups, serves Blogger users of varying experience, and receives some monitoring from Google staff. "Product Experts," formerly known as "Top contributors," are community-members nominated by the Google staff who enjoy additional privileges including managing discussions and direct access to Google staff. There is likely to be a top contributor or other knowledgeable person reading the forum almost all the time.

A number of people, including some top contributors, run personal blogs where they offer advice and post information about common problems.

StackExchange's Web Applications forum has a tag for "blogger", which is used for questions about various blogging platforms, including Blogger.[42]

See also

References
  1. "The Story of Blogger". Blogger.com. October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  2. Roger Chapman. "Top 40 Website Programming Languages". roadchap.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  3. "How to Move a Blogger Blog to Your Own Domain: Tips and Tricks". Tweak And Trick. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  4. "Set up a custom domain - Blogger Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
  5. "Custom domains for your blog made easy". buzz.blogger.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
  6. "the limits on my Blogger account". Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  7. "Important Note to FTP Users". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on September 6, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  8. "Official Blogger Blog". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  9. Blogger Beta: Feature Complete! Archived July 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, The official Blogger Buzz, November 2, 2006,.
  10. "Top 50 Domains - www.TheLifeMovie.blogspot.com Ranked by Unique Visitors"" Archived June 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine September 2007.
  11. Google-owned Blogger bans sexually explicit content Archived April 12, 2021, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 March 2015
  12. Backlash Forces Google to Reverse Move to Ban Porn on Blogger Archived November 9, 2019, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2 March 2015.
  13. "Blogger Buzz: The New Version of Blogger". Buzz.blogger.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  14. "Draft.blogger.com". Draft.blogger.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  15. "Bloggerindraft.blogspot.com". Bloggerindraft.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  16. "Critique and Criticism of the New Blogger Post Editor – Experiment Garden". Experimentgarden.blogspot.com. June 26, 2008. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  17. "Official Blogger Blog". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  18. "Official Blogger Blog". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  19. "My blog redirects to a country-specific URL (ccTLD)". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  20. "It's spring cleaning time for Blogger". Blogger team. May 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
  21. "Blogger's fresh new look". blogger.com. August 31, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  22. "Dynamic Views: seven new ways to share your blog with the world". blogger.com. September 27, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  23. "All about Dynamic Views for Readers"" Archived May 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Google. November 6, 2012,.
  24. "Blogger Help". Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  25. "Microsoft releases Windows Live Writer as open source". Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  26. "Buzz.blogger.com". Buzz.blogger.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  27. "Blogger / Amazon integration is finished – what are our options now?". Amazon Integration is Over – what are our options now?. September 23, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  28. "Microsoft volunteers open source Live Writer blogging tool". Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  29. "Blogger Features". Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  30. "New and improved Blogger mobile apps". Archived from the original on December 6, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  31. "Google Mobile Ads Blog". googlemobileads.blogspot.nl. Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  32. "Blogspot blogs blocked in India?". July 27, 2012. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
  33. Rosen, Jeffrey (2008). "Google's Gatekeepers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2008. Over the past couple of years, Google and its various applications have been blocked, to different degrees, by 24 countries. Blogger is blocked in Pakistan, for example, and Orkut in Saudi Arabia.
  34. Полосатый тормоз "Билайн" заблокировал сайт "Доброй машины правды" (in Russian). Lenta.ru. July 27, 2012. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
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  36. "Choose a storage size". Archived from the original on November 19, 2018. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  37. "How does Blogger Mobile work?". Archived from the original on September 25, 2011. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  38. Vardhman Jain, "Auto Pagination on Blogger Archived July 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine", Blogger Buzz, February 18, 2010.
  39. "Problem Rollup: Auto Pagination for blogs with Classic templates Archived February 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine", Blogger Help Forum (Retrieved March 1, 2010).
  40. "Problem Rollup: Auto Pagination for blogs with Layouts templates Archived February 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine", Blogger Help Forum (Retrieved March 1, 2010).
  41. "Google Discussiegroepen". Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
  42. "Web Applications Stack Exchange". Archived from the original on June 18, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
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