Blogger Custom Domains, And Publishing Spam Control

Some blog owners want to know why custom domain published blogs are subject to daily activity spam control limits. We see the occasional query, in Blogger Help Forum: Learn More About Blogger.

Does the 50 posts / day limit apply to all blogs that use the Blogger platform - or only for these hosted on BlogSpot?

With Blogger, all blogs are subject to a daily publishing activity limit - pages and posts, combined.

Some blog owners question the need to control post limits, for custom domain published blogs.

There are a lot of WordPress blogs, posting more or less just the short feeds of others blogs. That seems to be impossible if you use Blogger.

Using WordPress as an example does make Blogger seem overly strict. However, Blogger custom domain publishing is not the same as WordPress private domain publishing.

All Blogger blogs are hosted on Google servers.

With Blogger, all blogs - including those published to custom domains - are hosted on Blogger / Google servers. Blogger limits publishing activity - and scans for malware, porn, and spam - based on server content.

One of the problems with Blogger blogs that were hosted using FTP publishing - which was similar to WordPress private blogs - involved problems with content control. It simply was not possible to prevent hacking, porn, and spam on remote, non Blogger servers - whether or not Blogger blogs were involved.

WordPress blogs published to private domains are hosted on private servers.

With WordPress, blogs published to private domains are hosted on private servers. WordPress avoids limits and abuse scanning, on private domain published blogs, not only because they don't want to - they can't control or scan private servers.

WordPress private blogs use the Wordpress engine, for publishing static websites onto privately owned and controlled remote servers. This is how Blogger FTP Publishing worked, long ago.

All Blogger blogs are subject to daily posting limits.

Thanks to imaginative domain publishing techniques, it's not possible, with 100% certainty, to identify what Blogger blogs might use non BlogSpot URLs. Blogger blogs published to custom domains simply have an alternate, non BlogSpot URL.

The much hated CAPTCHA.



All Blogger blogs - including this one - are subject to daily page / post publishing limits.

When the limit is exceeded, we have the much hated CAPTCHA. This encourages each of us to spend time publishing informative, interesting, and unique content.

Publish quality - not just quantity.

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All #Blogger blogs - not just those published to BlogSpot - are subject to daily publishing limits. Some blog owners would like custom domain published blogs to be exempt from abuse control - including the daily publishing activity limit.

It's not likely, however, that Blogger will relax daily activity limits - custom domain or not.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/hW5xai9FqH0

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Blogger Magic - Make A Private Or Team Blog

Some blog owners like to restrict access to their blog - and others want to have multiple people able to publish, or maybe to administer their blog.

A few even want multiple administrators, and restricted access. Both private and team blogs involve use of the Permissions wizard, and the membership invitation / acceptance process.

Making either a private or a team blog starts from the Permissions wizard. Just keep the multiple functions, and the different links, in mind.

The Permissions wizard, on the dashboard Settings - Basic page, is how we setup both private and team blogs.

You invite members - prospective authors and readers - using "Add authors" and "Add readers", respectively.

Start from the dashboard Settings - Basic page, in both cases.

Start from the Settings - Basic page.

Find the Permissions wizard.



The "Add authors" link is used for adding both administrators and authors.

Click on "Add authors", to add prospective administrators and authors.

Click on "Add authors", and add prospective blog authors.

Add a list of names / email addresses, comma separated.



Paste or type email addresses of prospective administrators and authors, into the "Add authors" window. Or use "Choose from Contacts".

To make an administrator, wait until the invited author has accepted membership. Then, change "Author" to "Admin", in "Blog Authors". Don't change an author to administrator, unless you understand the risks!

The "Add readers" link is used for adding readers.

Click on "Add readers", to add prospective readers.

Click on "Add readers", and add prospective blog readers.

Add a list of names / email addresses, comma separated.



Paste or type email addresses of prospective readers, into the "Add readers" window. Or use "Choose from Contacts".

Select either "Only blog authors" or "Only these readers", for private blogs.

You can make a blog private to Authors - or have both Authors and Readers. Select "Only blog authors" or "Only these readers", respectively.

Each prospective member must accept membership.

For an invited author or reader to become an active member, they must open the email and accept membership.

Prospective authors and readers are listed as "open invitations" - under either the "Blog Authors" or "Blog Readers" window - until they accept the membership invitation.



Accepting membership involves opening the emailed membership invitation, and clicking on the invitation link. The new member can use an existing Blogger account - or setup a new Blogger account, on the fly.

A GMail account is not required - just a Blogger / Google account - existing or new.

Remember membership limits.

Whether you are making a private or a team blog, remember that every blog is limited to an absolute total of 100 members.

• You.
• Any additional administrators.
• Authors.
• Designated Readers.

Designated readers (in a private blog) are part of the 100 member limit. Un designated readers (in a public blog) are not part of the limit. A public blog can have any number of readers.

Membership revocation may not be immediate.

You can revoke or update membership of an administrator, author, and / or reader - but membership changes don't always take effect, immediately.

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Making a #Blogger blog with administrators, authors, and / or readers starts with the Permissions wizard - and continues with each prospective member accepting membership, using email sent by the Permissions wizard.

https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/Vd_L5xAtKFY

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Export / Import, And Page / Post Publishing Limits

Not all blog owners understand the connection between page / post import, and spam limitation.

We see the occasional question, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about page / post import, and daily publishing limits.

Why I can not import content, to my blogs?

Note that "Automatically publish" is selected, in the blog discussed here.

I've suggested a few times that use of "Automatically publish all imported posts and pages" is a bad idea, when importing many blogs - because it abuses the computer and home Internet connection.

Here, we see another reason for not using "Automatically publish".

Import, with "Automatically publish", will exceed the daily publishing volume.

Blogger limits daily posting volume. Any blog with more than 40 - 50 pages / posts, when it is exported then imported, will be a problem - if "Automatically publish" is selected during "Import".

"Sorry, you have exceeded the maximum number of entries."



If you import, and publish as you import, you will exceed the daily publishing limit. Your import will fail - because you are publishing more than the daily limit.

Without a daily limit, spammers could flood post their blogs.

If this limit was not in place, spammers could flood their blogs with pages and posts, by simply creating multiple blogs with multiple pages / posts, export from each blog, then import to other blogs - and publish while importing.

If Blogger is to control spam, they have to limit page / post publishing. With the daily limit of 50 pages and posts / 24 hours, that is slightly more than 1 page or post every 1/2 hour - allowing for no sleep, or other non blogging activity.

People have to be encouraged to do something, besides publish - or how do you get material, for the blog? If people are going to publish a blog - and do other things besides publish a blog - there has to be a daily limit.

Genuine blog owners have to not spend all their time publishing their blogs.

Blog owners need to be encouraged to publish blogs with informative, interesting, and original content - so people will read the blogs, and search engines will index the blogs. Automated blog content, a favourite way of "bulking up" a blog with spam, has to be discouraged, to give genuine blog owners a chance.

Without a daily limit, people who publish blogs with personal content would be at a disadvantage to spammers who publish pages and posts with automated content. Using Import, with no limits, would be an excellent way to publish spam in a never ending daily activity.

Use "Import & back up" in 3 steps, to avoid the limit block.

1. Export pages and posts, from one blog.
2. Import pages and posts, to a second blog.
3. Publish imported pages and posts, at a limited rate, selectively.

That is the best way for genuine blog owners, to use the Export / Import ("Import & back up") option.

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#Blogger has a daily page / post publishing limit, to encourage blog owners to publish blogs with informative, interesting, and original content. Automated page / post publishing is allowed - but subject to a daily limit.

Without a daily limit, spammers would abuse the Blogger infrastructure, with mass produced and scraped content - and Blogger would become one more spam haven.

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Blogger Magic - Set Main Page Size

One of the most visible changes, to the blog display, involves properly setting main page size.

You change the posts count using "Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - Posts and comments page, or "Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard. Both let you set the main page display limit.

You can limit main page size by days with posts, or by total post count.

Main page size is your choice, for your blog - but think of your readers, waiting for a typical main page display to download.

Many don't have extreme bandwidth, nor are the Blogger servers overly robust. When your blog, or even a single post, takes 2 or 3 minutes to load, your blog may need tuning.

Main page size is one key setting, in encouraging reader activity, and in improving search engine relationships.

• "Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - Posts and comments page.
• "Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.

"Show at most" on the dashboard Settings - Posts and comments page.

"Number of posts on main page" in the "Configure Blog Posts" wizard.

There are alternate techniques, for changing main page size - use of a dynamic template, with endless scrolling - and segmenting the blog using pages. And adding Jump Break, to the posts, lets you make the individual posts smaller.

But for a simple blog setup, just limiting main page size is the first step to showing your readers that you respect their need to view your blog, without excessive waiting.

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One of the simplest changes that you can make to a #Blogger blog, to make it easier to view, involves setting a reasonable main page size. This helps your readers view the blog, in main page view, without a lot of waiting.

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When You Setup A Custom Domain, Please Know And Observe Your Limits Of Expertise

Too many blog owners, when they setup a custom domain for their blog, do not consider the details.

We see signs of the problem, too often, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Can someone give me step by step instructions for setting up a custom domain with xxxxxxx registrar? I contacted xxxxxxx customer service - and they told me a lot of things I didn't understand! Would it be easier just to transfer the domain to GoDaddy?

The short answer here would be

Yes, it would be easier just to transfer the domain to GoDaddy.

Unfortunately, that answer is not completely correct - and the correction may leave you with a broken domain.

Too many blog owners, eager to setup a non BlogSpot URL for their blog, do not consider the details involved, when they bypass "Buy a domain".

Part of the blame, for this problem, has to fall onto Blogger's head. People using "Buy a domain", for their first domain purchase, see the domain purchase as such a simple process. They never become aware of the complexities involved in a domain purchase, until they setup their second domain, and decide to "roll their own".

Let's look at the levels of experience needed.

• Beginner: Use "Buy a domain".
• Intermediate: Use the Google Apps or Google Wallet wizard - or alternately, buy a domain from one of the 8 identified registrars.
• Advanced: Buy a domain, directly, from any of the thousands of registrars, worldwide.

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As of 2013 June, "Buy a domain" is not offered, as part of "Add a custom domain" - although blog owners, in the USA, may use Google Domains. This will leave people outside the USA with one option - "Advanced".

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Beginner blog owners are strongly advised to use "Buy a domain". Choose an available domain, provide payment details, and your domain is setup. Wait until Transition expires, and get to work referring your readers, search engines, and other Internet services, to your new, non BlogSpot URL.

Intermediate blog owners, able to understand simple instructions, should be able to use the wizards provided by Google Apps or Google Wallet. Alternately, Blogger provides reasonably complete and simple instructions for setting up a domain with the 8 most popular registrars.

Advanced blog owners are free to choose any registrar, of the thousands out there. But beware! You are on your own, when you do this.

• Use of any non designated registrar does not free you from the constraints of the three custom domain models.
• It will be your responsibility to determine the syntax used by the Zone Editor, that's provided by the registrar.
• It will be your responsibility to ensure that the registrar, that you choose, can provide the required DNS address entries.
• It will be your responsibility to verify the precise sequence used, in any DNS host / registrar setup task.
• It will be your responsibility to research the details, before you start.
• Once you have purchased the domain of your choice, that domain will remain with that registrar, for 30 to 60 days. Very few registrars let you buy a domain - then immediately transfer registration.

So choose your registrar according to your needs - and according to your skill level. Don't start a custom domain project, before verifying that your experience is complete. Make the right choice, before you sign on the dotted line.

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Redirecting The Home Page, And Mobile Templates

Everything has its limits - even Blogger features. For a while, we've been seeing hints that mobile templates don't support a redirected Home page.

How do I disable the Blogger mobile redirect "/?m=1"?

Some blog owners would prefer their readers, using a mobile computer, see a redirected Home page, with a desktop template - instead of a mobile display with a dynamic Home page.

Apparently, the mobile redirect

/?m=1

overrides the Home page redirect

/

Actually, this makes sense. "/?m=1" (the redirected mobile template URL snippet) is not equal to "/" (the redirected Home page URL snippet).

For those blog owners who have forgotten how they set the mobile template on their blog, you need to remove the mobile template, using the "Template - Choose mobile template" wizard, from the gear icon beneath Template - Mobile. Simply select "No. Show desktop template on mobile devices.", and Save - and that's that.

Now, everybody - including your readers using mobile computers - will see the standard desktop template (with optional Home page redirect), when viewing your blog.

This probably won't remain a difficult choice, for all blog owners, for long. Newer mobile computers - PDAs, phones, tablets, and such - have rather sophisticated display units, which approach the clarity of normal high resolution devices previously seen on desktop / laptop computers, from just a few years ago. One's readers simply have to get used to a computer with a 6" to 12" touch screen, instead of one with a 12" to 16" no touch screen with keyboard.

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