Improved Spam Review / Undelete Option In Blogger

One of the more positive changes in the "New GUI" involves an improved ability to find, and correct, deleted and locked blogs.

Finding deleted / locked blogs, under earlier versions of Blogger, was always a challenge - both for the person looking for the necessary display - and for the people trying to instruct how to find the necessary dashboard display.

In the current Blogger dashboard, one simply logs in and looks for the "Deleted Blogs" button - right beneath "New Blog", when the blog owner has any self deleted blogs, or any blogs deleted or locked by the Blogger abusive blogs classifier. Clicking on "Deleted Blogs", we see a list of blogs - with either an "Un delete" button (for self deleted blogs), or a "Restore" button (for spam classifier locked / deleted blogs).

Neither the "Restore" or "Undelete" button produce an immediate or universal result - both are still subject to previous limitations.

• The "Restore" button leads to the "Review Request" dialogue - and to the actual spam review - still subject to the opinion of Blogger / Google spam experts.
• The effect of the "Un delete" button is limited to blogs which can be un deleted.

It is simply now far easier to find the spam review / un delete mechanism, than it was under the previous GUI.

If your blog was deleted by you - or deleted by Blogger for hosting malware, you should be able to hit "Restore", and the blog will be restored while you wait. If the blog was deleted or locked by Blogger for suspected spam hosting, you will probably have to solve a CAPTCHA - then wait 24 to 48 hours, while the blog is reviewed. In the long run, you will probably find this extra effort will be worth your time.

In some cases, the owning Blogger account may be locked, following unusual account activity - generally, brute force password guessing attempts, in an effort to hijack control of the account and any owned blogs. After submitting an account restore request and / or changing the account password, the blogs owned by the account will be restored - generally 24 to 48 hours after the account is restored. This is a normal, and unavoidable, result of Google, protecting your account and blogs from hacking activity.

Just be aware that not all blogs will be listed by the "Deleted Blogs" wizard.

Please be aware of the limitations of the restore process. This process serves blog owners who have been spuriously classified. If you request restore - and Blogger confirms that you are a spammer - you will be best advised to start over, or to find a different platform for publishing.

If you do start over, you should be very careful, and avoid making the same mistakes - lest you be subject to more strict punishment. Spammers simply are not welcome, in Blogger / Google - sorry.

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The New GUI Is Here

Several people are reporting seeing the New Blogger GUI in their dashboard - even when they did not intentionally upgrade. Possibly, this was forced by the necessary Custom Domain Authentication Feature, which is now operational - on the New GUI only.

I am expecting my Blogger account to change, soon. Let's see if I get a "Your blog post published successfully!" display. So far, I am in Virginia - though I am thinking of a procedural workaround for that shortcoming. I realise that everybody won't have a workaround for their dislikes - though we have to be contemplative, and accept the changes.

If you wish to make your feelings known, please post in the latest Problem Rollup: V4 I do not like the New Blogger Interface because ...

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The New GUI (2011) Will Soon Become The Blogger GUI

This month, we are seeing a sign of the end of The Classic Blogger GUI, coming soon.

The old Blogger interface will be removed in the coming days.
We've made many improvements to the new Blogger interface. Learn more
You can upgrade to the new interface at any time.

We've all been expecting this, for a while - but it's still a shock. Some of us are concerned that forced use of the New GUI will cause problems in productivity, if not blog functionality.

My personal opinion is that the New Blogger GUI still lacks features and stability. I don't think that I am alone.

We have a rollup discussion, where your opinion will be appreciated. Please be objective and polite.

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