Friday, July 17, 2009

Requests to fellow bloggers

Wow, I'm on a roll this week. Yesterday was an ultra-stimulating post about yogurt, and today is about technology. Tomorrow I'll post about physics and guarantee you'll be in a boredom-related coma all weekend.

With that intro, I bring you today's post.

Dear fellow bloggers who use Blogger software,

Blogger has bugs. I guess we should expect that when there are bazillions of people using it, for free. So I'm trying not to let my head explode with annoyance over these bugs, considering the bargain I'm getting by paying exactly zero dollars for bandwidth and software.

That being said--you know, it really is frustrating. I have Windows Vista, a program that comes straight from the pit of...uh, Microsoft...and so many programs just don't work nicely with Vista. My usage of Firefox and Chrome as browsers has been discontinued; I had too many issues with them. I think Vista may have something to do with that. Interestingly, in a technological version of Stockholm Syndrome, I've reacted to this by using yet another Microsoft product...Internet Explorer 8.

And in using Internet Explorer, I'm suffering--suffering, folks--from some Blogger maladies, when I read your blogs. If you use Blogger, there are a couple of things you can do to make your blog play nicely with Internet Explorer so that your readers don't throw their computers across the room and replace them with Macs. (On the other hand, that wouldn't be such a bad thing....)

Here's how you can make your Blogger blog work more consistently:
  • Disable the blog following widget. When that widget is active, blogs often won't open in Internet Explorer. Blogger says you can move it further down the page to avoid the issue, but this doesn't work. What I've done is remove my following widgets altogether and replaced them with messages advising my readers that they can follow the blog by clicking "Follow Blog" at the top of the page, in the blue Blogger bar.
  • Disable embedded comments, and replace them with full page or pop-up comments. (Go to Settings-Comments to change this. Personally, I like pop-up comments.) Embedded comments were kind of a cool idea, but these days it's not uncommon to type a comment, try to post it, and be informed that it didn't publish. At one point it seemed that disabling Word Verification fixed this issue, but now it's an issue even without Word Verification. I'm not sure if this is an issue in Explorer only, or in other browsers too. Note: Since I originally wrote this post, Blogger has suggested switching to pop-up or full page comments for yet another reason--see here.

Thanks, bloggers, for making my life as a reader a little easier...and mostly thanks for entertaining me with your writing!

20 comments:

beckiwithani said...

Done! And I'm going to try to make myself feel better by believing that I'll get more comments now that I've changed this ... :)

Anna said...

guess I have some homework to do! LOL

Call Me Cate said...

Sure, since you asked so nicely! I was already using pop-up comments but I've removed my followers widget. I thought that issue was fixed but I guess not.

What's making me crazy lately is when I write up a comment, hit submit, and then the page reloads for word verification. I'd rather the WV shows as I'm typing my comment. It doesn't deter me from commenting but so often when I see the page start to reload, I think my comment is entered and I close the site. Only to find out later that my comment has wandered off into the abyss of abandoned brilliance...

I'm just glad the scheduled publishing works again.

SciFi Mama said...

Wow. Never knew those issues existed. You see, I have changed to the good side. That's right, I'm no longer a member of the Dark Side. It's a great feeling.

Once you go Mac, you NEVER go back! :)

Eternal Lizdom said...

Oh dear... I'm not sure I can give up my followers... I really like that particular widget... I liked it before they upgraded it and maybe they could just take it back to the old school version... followers and comments are my blogging crack...

I've kept the pop-up comments for a long time. I always have issues with the embedded format on other blogs.

And my page design is such that I don't think there is a blue bar at the top of my blog anymore.

Unknown said...

Thank You! I did not know that about the task bar! You rock!

I have been having oodles of difficulty so I really appreciate the solution!

Peace - Rene

Barga said...

As a major geek...

what version of FF were you running, and what version of IE are you currently running?

Lindsay @ Makely said...

There has to be a way around those problems. In the code maybe? There are so many ridiculous things you have to code in for IE because it's accidentally-on-purpose broken. I don't think I can give up my followers and pop up windows make me crazy. Hmmmm....

I didn't realize Vista had so many problems!

Fannyfanackapan said...

Thanks for the good advice as always. My Blog is now Followers disabled and pop up comments enabled!

And I have posted (just a little post) today. Look in if you like folk music.

Fannyfanackapan said...

Thanks for the good advice as always. My Blog is now Followers disabled and pop up comments enabled!

And I have posted (just a little post) today. Look in if you like folk music.

Deanna said...

I didn't know any of that was going on for people! I made the changes in hopes of easier reading.

Our Scoop said...

Wow. You are so smart CB. Every time I read one of your posts like this I'm in awe of your brilliance. I love the way you write too. Wow. Sounds good to me!I think you could sway me on almost anything!!

Janell said...

For some reason the "followers" widget doesn't work on anyone's blog that I look at (in Firefox, on my iMac). It just displays a "server not found" image. Anyone know what's up with that?

I'm pretty sure my blog is already set up the way you're requesting. If not, let me know!

And other than not being able to see who the followers are on any given blog, I have zero complaints about Mac. I LOOOOVE it and I never for one second miss my PC.

2cats said...

Beth,
This should tell you something about me, I have no idea what you are talking about.
My poor son needs to come home and enlighten me. He is a web designer, so hopefully he will understand.

C. Beth said...

Becki--Ha! Hope it works!

Anna--Yay, saw that you made the changes. Thanks!

Cate--Yes, I think I may have made that WV mistake too. I really don't care for embedded comments for various reasons.

SciFi Mama--I want to cross to the dark side too!!

Liz--Yours is one of the blogs that has refused to load for me at times. I understand now wanting to get rid of the followers widget though.

Not the Rockefellers--Aw, thanks!!!

Barga--I don't remember the version of FF and don't currently have it installed. I know it was the most recent but I stopped using it a few months ago--it kept crashing. When I reinstalled Windows I didn't install it again. As for IE, I'm using 8. Any suggestions?

Lindsay--Yeah, Vista is the bane of my existence!! I know that Blogger is working on the Follower thing and I think the comment thing too.

Fannyfanackapan--Yay! Thanks!

Deanna--Great! I"m glad you made the changes!

Our Scoop--You are so sweet! My head is going to get so big it's going to explode! :)

Janell--I want a Mac!

2cats--:)That's okay, you can ignore this post altogether!

Scriptor Senex said...

Thanks for the helpful advice.

Barga said...

Just cause i feel i need too...

@scifi mama the operating system CAN NOT be what is causing this, do to how the browser is isolated from the main kernel

@Lindsay IE is not the same as Vista. I would advise using IE7 for right now, as it should run perfectly

@Cbeth really, it should be working fine. Everything has always displayed perfectly for me, and i use vista or W7 while running firefox. I also code, so all these mentions of the OS and Mac really don't matter, i know that for a fact.

C. Beth said...

Barga--the difficulty with opening various blogs in IE is a known issue, here. Maybe it's just in IE8? Is there a way for me to "downgrade" to IE7? As for the comments, I'll sometimes get a "Your request could not be processed. Please try again." when using embedded comment forms. Again, I wonder if it's all an IE8 issue.

C. Beth said...

Barga--I just realized, you only use Firefox. I think that's probably why you're not having these issues. Firefox was FREQUENTLY crashing on me (& others have told me they've had the same issue) so a few months ago I stopped using it altogether.

Barga said...

Right now i am looking at your using IE8

yes, go to windows, find IE7, and install it, then it should fix it

That said, i love firefox, and i recomend putting it on. It shouldnt crash unless something is wrong on your end