Blogger - Blogspot Woes: Lessons I’ve Learned
Sunday evening, November 12th, I decided to migrate //BarryBlog// from my blogspot Blogger platform to the Blogger BETA platform. I was invited to update six or eight weeks ago by Google/Blogger, who is offering this optional upgrade in phases.
Well, after going through a relatively simple transaction, I hit the “upgrade” button. I liken clicking this button to a time travel machine stuck in reverse, which in the end traveled back to the first day I ever posted. Translation: my blog vanished!
It remained M.I.A. for the remainder of Sunday, until just now. I followed the directions Blogger’s auto-reply sent me several times, then sifted through the Blogger help site and found the email for support. Three emails, and four chat sessions later, I’m now back in business.
Some of what I gleaned as a result of this bumpy ride: Blogger is a company which handles an enormous amount of traffic, and is sent a plethora of calls for help, such as mine (J knows what I'm talking about). And as I found out this evening, they are subjected to the worst in people. People who have lost not only their blog, but their mind in the process, and who type words which are downright mean. The support staff is overwhelmed and overworked. I bet you can’t relate with that in your job, right?! Well, truth is, Blogger is struggling—experiencing significant difficulties and downtime. Though I'm convinced by my experience that they’re really trying. And last, if they ever do intend to charge premiums for their services, they have much ground to cover in order for that to seem like a business value.
In conclusion: I check this off as another great lesson in what it is to be a blogger in what seems like the wild west. In the end I am grateful to those in my google support group who came to my defense and got the Blogger Buzz support team to respond to, and in the end rectify my situation. Life continues. And so does this blog.
( special thanks to Rat and SwtRose for coming to my rescue )
posted by studiosmith @ permalink
6 Comments:
I had the exact same experience as you with Blogger Beta. I would just add that since Blogger became part of Google, it's been a bit more difficult to get through to the support people. So I'm glad that both you and I now have our blogs back, and I second your statement about more transparency with problems of this sort.
John — Not glad you had the same difficulties, but somewhat relieved in terms of a sanity check. Not sure about you, but I've been perfectly happy with the blogspot format. The main reason for my decision for "change" was concern for all the downtime we'd been experiencing for what seems like over a month. 505 errors. You name it. Change I desired, but not "That" kind of change, if'ya'kno'what'mSay'in. But like yourself, I find myself back in the saddle. I concur with your sentiments regarding caution. Ya gotta give Google/Blogger credit...when they say "BETA," they mean it.
Mr. Smith...it's good to see you back up and running. It's also cool to see you acknowledge the reality of working with a company and not play the Blame Game just because you can. We can all learn from your experience and the cool way you handled and talked about the situation.
Keep up the great work!
Two things come to mind. One is “do unto others as they...” as well as there’s always “two sides to a story.” In each case, problems happen, and as you yourself model, what”s often more important is how it’s all handled. Mom always told me, you can’t control your emotions, but you can control your behavior.
Thanks for your perpective and kind words.
I've been out of it for a bit and just made an internet trip see if it was still true (that you were gone). I'm so glad that you're not. I'm glad you're back!
Yeppers, I'm back, and I've taken a stab at some amateur html coding to soften that harsh dots pattern. The site's whiter, tighter and hopefully less template looking. Oh well, it's all a learning experience. I also added a tag cloud at the bottom left and some new links. Whatt'ya think?
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