URL Availability Competition, During "Buy a Domain", Is Similar To "Create a Blog"

Some Blogger blog owners, trying to setup a new blog, discover the hard way that other people are trying to do the same thing.

When I try to use "Create a blog", I keep seeing

This name is not available.

or

Blogger is saying it's available - but as I begin to register, it says that it has already received a request for this name.

Other blog owners discover that the competition between Blogger blog owners, when using "Create a blog", also applies to "Buy a domain". And worse yet, "Buy a domain" involves competition with would be website owners outside Blogger / Google.

Besides the competition with other buyers, there's a problem that the domain purchase process takes time - and during the purchase process, someone else can be purchasing the same domain also.

The longer the purchase process takes you, the greater the possibility that someone else may "steal" the domain from you. You, and the unseen other person, may start the purchase at the same time - but the person who gets the money to their registrar first gets the domain.

Let's use "Create a blog" as a simple example of an address selection process.

1. You type the blog name, of your choice.
2. With every character you type, Blogger checks for availability.
3. Initially, with not enough characters typed, you see bad news.

   Sorry, this blog address is not available.

4. When you have typed enough characters so you are now requesting a unique name, you see good news.

   This blog address is available.

5. Since you have, hopefully, already entered a Title and selected a Template, you now hit the "Create blog!" button.
6. Hoping that you were fast enough, the address which was available half a second previously is available as you hit the button - and the blog name of your preference becomes your new blog name.
7. If you were not fast enough, someone else might have snuck in front of you. Instead of seeing your new blog, you now see the bad news.

   Sorry, this blog address is not available.

The "Create a blog" wizard is simple.

1. You see good news.
2. You hit "Create blog!".
3. You are done.

Even with a "Create a blog" selection period of 1 second - and if your reflexes are not that good, it could take you longer - you could lose out. What if the selection process was longer - instead of 1 second, say 5 minutes? The "Buy a domain" process is a bit more complicated, than "Create a blog".

1. You enter an available domain URL.
2. You hopefully see the good news.
3. Now, you pay for the purchase.
4. You enter all of the details, about your bank account.
5. Google charges your bank a token amount, to verify that you actually entered a valid bank account number.
6. You hopefully see more good news.
7. Now, Google passes the purchase to the registrar.
8. The registrar sends the actual purchase to your bank.
9. Your bank credits the account of the registrar.
10. The registrar then registers the domain, in your name.
11. Google can then setup the addresses in the domain.
12. Blogger can then publish the blog, to the domain.
13. And hopefully, the blog is now live (and In Transition) with the domain URL.

The "Buy a domain" wizard is not simple.

1. You enter an available domain URL.
2. ...
3. The registrar registers the domain, in your behalf.
4. You are done.

Unfortunately, during the amount of time that it takes your bank to pay your registrar, somebody else could be buying the same domain, from another registrar. The longer that it takes your registrar to get paid, the greater the chance that someone else may register the domain, which you have supposedly paid for, before your purchase is complete.

Unfair? Certainly. But, based on the worldwide Internet based domain registry system, it can happen. What's worse, the symptoms of an unsuccessful domain purchase are similar to an attempted purchase restart.

And that leaves you with the uncertainty, when you post in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken.

Blogger is saying it's available - but as I begin to register, it says that it has already received a request for this name.

And sometimes, after you wait the legendary 2 to 3 days, you find that someone else bought the domain, while you were waiting.

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Renaming Your Blog Requires Choosing An Available Blog Name

Like creating a blog, the task of renaming your blog involves one very important step - choosing an available blog name.

When you rename your blog - as in change the blog address - you have to pick a name (address) that's not in use. Both creating a blog, and renaming a blog, suffer from one key detail - you can't identify an available address before you get started.

When you create, or rename, a blog, you can only get to the task at hand, and start with the best choice.

Like "Create a blog", you'll only find out about an available URL after you have successfully chosen that URL for your blog. Unlike "Create a blog", the Blog Address wizard does not verify availability in real time.

1. Paste or type the desired blog name (Only the "yyyyyyy" in "yyyyyyy.blogspot.com").
2. Hit Save.
3. If the name was available, you'll be looking at the initial Blog Address display, with the new address "yyyyyyy.blogspot.com" identified - and "yyyyyyy" will now be unavailable.
4. If the name is not available, you'll get the sad news

   Subdomain: yyyyyyy is not available.

   And now, go back to Step #1, and try again.

If you want to do the rename with the least stress, you make a list of possible choices before you start, and sort the list in decreasing preference. Decide which names you like the most, before you start. Then start the above process with Step #1, and your top choice. If you end at Step #4, pick the next choice in the list, and go to Step #1, again.

As with "Create a blog", you should plan to go through your list as promptly as possible. Hesitate too long, when making the next choice, and your alternate choices could be unavailable.

If your choice of name will affect design work on the existing blog, yet you wish to change the blog design before renaming the blog, setup a stub blog - and pick the best available name for the stub blog, now. Once that's done, make the necessary design changes on your current blog - then swap names between the stub blog and your current blog. You'll likely use the stub blog, later.

As with creating a new blog, please note that addresses previously taken will not be reissued to you by Blogger - a 10 year old blog remains valid, whether published once daily for 10 years, or once 10 years ago and never again.

And as soon as you get the new name successfully chosen, be prepared to continue the renaming process, as promptly as possible.

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Blog Owners, Unable To Request Restore Of A Blog

One of the more intriguing issues, seen in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, involves people unable to recover control of their blogs.

I recently changed ISPs, and now I can't login to update my blog.

Occasionally, this issue becomes more complicated, because the blog is deleted - and the owner can't request that it be restored, using the automated review request wizard. Sometimes, the would be blog owner may to try to bypass the current blog recovery policy, by claiming special circumstances.

The blog has been deleted. I received no suspicious activity or password change notification emails, or emails of any kind related to my blog.

What is the story here? Can blogs just disappear from the Blogosphere, without the involvement of the blog owners - and be unrecoverable?

Recovery of a deleted blog starts with the requirement that only a blog owner can un delete a deleted blog - and this is where many mysterious disappearances start.

Only the blog owner can initiate hacked blog unlock review.

Since a Blogger blog is the property of the owner, and the owner is allowed to delete a blog any time required, it would not be right to let people who are not the owner un delete a blog - or demand that the blog be un deleted. To enforce this requirement, Blogger added the dashboard based Restore wizard.

Since only the owner will have the deleted blog listed in their dashboard "Deleted Blogs" list, only the owner can request restore of the blog in question.

Dashboard requested restores have multiple purposes.

The dashboard Restore wizard serves blog owners, with blogs deleted under various circumstances.

• Deleted by the owner.
• Deleted by Blogger, as a suspected spam host.
• Deleted by Google, for TOS Violation.

Any deleted blog will appear in a special dashboard list, "Deleted Blogs" or "Locked Blogs" - when it can be recovered. If the blog is not recoverable by the owner, there may not be a link.

Dashboard requested restores may not always be successful.

There are specific cases where a deleted blog may not be recoverable using the recovery wizard.

• The blog is locked, pending integrity check (following account lock for suspicious activity).
• The blog is owned under a different Blogger account, and is listed on another dashboard, under "Deleted blogs".
• A blog owner deleted the blog, long ago - and the blog is no longer recoverable.

A blog locked, pending integrity check, cannot be requested for restore.

Dashboard requested restores start with owner requested unlock.

The owner has to first have the owning account unlocked. Similar to the account recovery process, Blogger / Google will require that the owner provide proof of ownership, before the account will be unlocked. Only if the account can be unlocked, security specialists will inspect each blog owned by the account, and verify that each does not contain evidence of tampering by a temporarily successful hacker.

With blog security review in progress, the blog will be offline and invisible.

While a blog is under integrity check, it won't be listed on the dashboard of the owner - either under "Deleted blogs", "Locked blogs", or "My blogs". Neither the owner, nor any third parties, will be able to do anything except wait, patiently.

Blogs found to contain malware can be locked as TOS Violations, with the owner later required to remove the malware found. This requirement will apply for malware installed by the owner (intentionally, or unintentionally), or for malware installed by a hacker.

With blog malware review in progress, the blog will be offline - but visible.

With a blog locked pending malware removal, the owner is given the benefit of the doubt, and allowed to simply remove the malware, no questions asked. In some cases, Blogger may be able to assist by providing specific identification of the malware found - but this won't happen, consistently.

A blog owned under another account must be un deleted by the owner of the other account. Again, only a blog owner can have a blog restored - whether deleted by an owner, or by Blogger / Google.

A blog deleted over 90 days previously cannot be recovered. It won't appear on the dashboard of any (former) owner, since it can't be recovered.

It's dead, Jim.

Either way, you the owner have to wait for review to complete.

The basic rule is simple. If your blog was deleted, and if you're able to un delete it (or request un deletion), you'll have a link on your dashboard. If a blog is not listed on your dashboard, you can't request, with any predictable success, that it be un deleted - any more than you can demand that a non deleted blog be restored to your control.

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When You Create A Blog, Only Type The Blog Name!

Too many would be blog owners are unable to create a blog, because they don't understand how to check for availability.

I can't seem to type in a URL, without it saying it's not available.

Some people don't understand that you do not type a URL - you just type a blog name, when checking for availability.

This is the (BlogSpot) URL of this blog.

http://bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com

This is the (BlogSpot) name of this blog.

bloggerstatusforreal

If I was going to use the "Create a blog" wizard, and create this blog, I would type the name - "bloggerstatusforreal".

If I typed the entire URL "http://bloggerstatusforreal.blogspot.com" - even if "bloggerstatusforreal" was available (and no, it is not ever going to be available), I should expect to see

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

or

This blog address is invalid or not supported.

It's that simple - only type the name, to create a blog. And - only create a blog once - then spend your time creating "New Posts".

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A Blog Deleted, As A Suspected Spam Host, Is Not Subject To The 90 Day Limit For Restore

We see signs of panic, periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about blogs deleted as suspected spam hosts.

My blog was deleted for spam 2 months ago. I need my blog restored, this month, as I don't want to lose it!

This is a common misconception, about spam deletions, and the mysterious 90 day limit.

There's no deadline for either the start, or the completion, of the review process, when a blog is classified as a suspected spam host. The owner may request review a year after the blog is deleted - if he's willing to wait for a year without concern. Alternately, he may ask for review the same day that he discovers the blog is offline. When the review is requested, Blogger Support may be immediately available, and may return a blog to service that same day - or they may be busy, and require a month to respond.

When the blog does get reviewed, the rules are simple.

• If the blog is judged to be righteously classified, the blog is deleted, with the URL locked to the deleted blog.
• If the blog is judged to be spuriously classified, the blog is restored, and control is returned to the owner.

In either case, the URL is not made available to the public.

This is either good news (if you are the owner), or bad news (if you wish that you were the owner).

You cannot gain control of the blog, or of the URL, by reporting the blog as a spam host - whether the blog has 1 post (one post published 10 years ago), or 3650 posts (one post published daily, for 10 years). If the blog appears to be inactive, your only option is to contact the owner, directly. If Blogger classifies an inactive blog, following your reporting the blog as a spam host, the blog will remain deleted or locked, until the owner requests review.

If the owner deletes the blog, the URL may - or may not - be made available.

Pick an available URL, and start your blog - and concentrate on the interests of your readers.

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How You Should Backup Your Blog Will Depend Upon How You Plan To Restore It

We see signs of naivete, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, from blog owners concerned with malware / spam deletions, and with other unexplained disasters in Blogger.

How do I backup my blog, to protect the contents against unfair spam deletions?

Not many concerned blog owners realise the first principle of backups, known by any experienced network administrator.

• Never plan a backup, without first planning the restore.

How you backup your blog depends upon several details.

• What problem do you expect, to require a backup?
• How do you plan to recover, from a problem?

One of the simplest solutions for a backup, which some Blogger experts will suggest, is to use the Export / Import wizard, in Settings - Other.

• Before disaster strikes, Export your posts and comments.
• After disaster strikes, simply Import your posts and comments, from a convenient backup.

Besides backing up comments and posts, backup the template.

Similarly, some experts may suggest backing up the template.

• Before disaster strikes, use the dashboard Template "Backup / Restore" wizard, to backup the template.
• After disaster strikes, use the wizard to restore the template.

But consider other components, too.

There are many components of a Blogger blog - not just the comments, posts, and template.

• Accessories.
• Comments.
• Decorations.
• Gadgets.
• Posts.
• Layout.
• URL.

Before you plan how to backup your blog, you need to decide which of these features is most important to you, and what problem from which you wish to recover.

Backing up accessories right now is not so easily done.

The accessories (decorations, gadgets) is one component of the blog which is most frequently missed, after a deleted blog is recreated / restored using a "comments / posts / template backup" restore strategy. Both graphic decorations, and XML based gadgets, may not be easily backed up, and may present a challenge when the blog is restored, or recreated.

XML gadgets, such as bloglists and linklists, may contain a lot of detail, which is installed into the blog one entry at a time - and there is no known way to automate a backup or restore of these gadgets.

The URL cannot be recovered, by creating or restoring.

Recovering the URL is one of the most subtle details, that may not always be considered by many blog owners. The URL is relevant in two ways. Most blogs which are important enough, for the owner to want to backup, have acquired reputation - both with people (readers, subscribers, and viewers), and with search engines.

Some blogs will link the various posts to each other - as I do with this blog. In either case, the recovered blog is not as useful, unless the URL is also recovered.

If the blog is deleted, the URL may not be recoverable.

If the blog is deleted by Blogger - or by the owner - the URL may not be available, for blog recovery. When Blogger deletes a blog as a suspected abusive content host, the URL is locked to the blog. The only way to recover the URL is to have the blog reviewed, and restored to availability.

When a blog is deleted by the owner, the blog must be restored by the owner - within 90 days after deletion. In either case, a backup is useless.

If you have a personal blog, containing just posts (and maybe comments from known family or friends), backing up the comments and posts makes sense. For a publicly known blog, containing various accessories, and having a known URL, you'll want to plan your backup / restore strategy using a bit more effort.

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Would Be Blog Owners Report Inability To Create A Blog

We are currently seeing frustration, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, about new blog creation.

Would be new blog owners have various concerns

I can't create a blog - the "Create" button is grey (inoperative)!

or

It keeps saying

Verifying availability

when I enter a blog name!!

or even

It said

This blog address is available.

until I hit "Create blog!" - then it changed to

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

Each of these problem reports - and others - may come from people who don't read the instructions, for using the wizard. Alternately, some folks may be complaining about yet one more case of over done layered security.

The most obvious problems, in the blog creation process, come from people who don't understand how to use the "Create a blog" wizard.

Not every would be blog owner understands that 3 things must be done, to make the "Create blog!" button operative - and all 4 must be done, before the blog is actually created.

1. Enter a Title for the blog.
2. Enter an acceptable and available Name for the blog.
3. Select a Template for the blog.
4. Hit "Create blog!", with "This blog address is available." displayed.

When you choose a Name (aka "address" or "URL"), enter your choice properly.

• Only enter the "xxxxxxx" part of "xxxxxxx.blogspot.com".
• Only use lower case alphabetic characters ("a" - "z"), numeric characters ("0" - "9"), and dashes ("-").
• Do not use a trailing dash (You cannot publish "xxxxxxx- . blogspot . com").

Besides the syntax issues when entering a blog name (URL), there is the unfortunate issue of competition in the creation process. Blog owners who are anxiously creating a new blog, based upon a current event - maybe a popular movie star, or an important political campaign - will be dismayed to see

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

If you are competing in real time, with other would be blog owners, for the name of your choice - and you take too long between Steps #1 - #3, and Step #4 - you may still see

Sorry, this blog address is not available.

Many people want to setup a blog, based on that blog name. Some may see the bad news, repeatedly, leading to one frequently seen complaint.

All the good addresses are taken!

And sometimes, to a more imaginative suggestion.

How do I get Blogger to re issue me the dormant address?

The latter question is one of futility.

Finally, the anxious blog owner may see

Checking address availability

for some time - possibly forever - if an overly ambitious cookie / script filter, or an intrusive security add-on is installed in the browser. In this case, the magical advice to

Clear cache and cookies!

or

Try a different browser!!

will be effective - though absent any attempt to diagnose the problem, one may not ever know what actual underlying problem may have caused the plaintive cry

I can't create my blog!

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Your Blog Address Is Unique - Some Details Are Not

Occasionally, in Blogger Help Forum: Something Is Broken, we see signs of people who don't understand the concept of unique Blogger identities - or contrarily, Blogger identities which won't be unique.

I can't publish my blog to the name that I want.

or

Another blog is using the same name as mine!

or

Someone is impersonating me!!

Some of these complaints are reasonable - and could keep a team of judges and lawyers very busy, for a while, when properly reported.

Other complaints come from people who don't quite understand what identities in our Blogger blogs are uniquely our property - and what identities are not uniquely ours.

When you first setup your blog, choose the address with care.

When you setup a Blogger blog, one of the first things that you must choose - and choose carefully - is the blog Address. Once you have chosen the Address for your blog - and until you successfully give up this Address, the chosen Address is yours, for eternity. Nobody else can use this Address, in publishing their blog.

You can change the Address (also known as the URL) of your blog, whenever convenient to you - but any change that you make is subject to availability, based on Addresses which may have been chosen by other people. And it is worth your while to plan any Address change, carefully.

Your address will be unique - your template and title may not be.

When you setup a Blogger blog, and choose the Address, you also choose a blog Title, and Template. Anybody else, setting up their blog, may choose the same Title, and / or Template.

Many people will choose the same Template as you do (and later customise their template, using the Template Designer). Similarly, anybody is free to choose any Title (and later change the title, whenever convenient to them).

A blog which simply uses the same Title as yours is probably not Impersonating you. A blog which contains content scraped from your blog, and with the same Title, may constitute Impersonation.

Contrarily, a blog which simply contains content scraped from your blog, without impersonating, may constitute a copyright, or DMCA, Violation.

Conflict, between you and other blog owners, is not impossible.

The Internet, in its ability to bring people together, is going to cause conflict. Some conflict will come from many different people, simply not understanding other peoples lifestyles and traditions. Other conflict will come from people intentionally abusing you.

You need to understand the differences between the various abuses, before attempting to report any perceived offense. You are responsible for reporting any offense to the right agency.

It's up to you to report impersonation, copyright violation, or other abusive content to the right agency - and it's up to each individual agency to decide whether or not to act upon your complaint. You must report any problems properly, for any action to be taken.

Comments are your responsibility to allow / approve - or not.

Comments, posted to various blogs, are handled differently. Blogger / Google considers comments published to blogs (and not dismissed as spam) to be a freedom of speech issue. Comments are jointly the property of the blog owner, and the publisher of each comment.

If someone else, publishing a comment, offends you, that is a concern which can be handled only by the blog owner. Blogger / Google, without a court order, will not get involved.

If the blog owner permits anonymous comments, anybody can use any identity that pleases them. This may lead to apparent impersonation - but any impersonation conflicts will be up to the blog owner to resolve.

The bottom line here is that some Blogger / Google hosted problem content may require discretion and patience by you, for you and other people to receive appropriate treatment.

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Your Blog Address Is Unique - Though Many Other Identities Are Not
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2012/11/your-blog-address-is-unique-though-many.html
Your Blog Address Is Unique - Other Details Are Not

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You Cannot Have The BlogSpot URL With Your Business Name, If That URL Is In Use

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