A note to all Blogspot bloggers.
Make the world a happier place – import your blog to WordPress.
Make the world a happier place – import your blog to WordPress.
I have come to seriously dislike – nay, to totally despise – Blogspot’s visitor unfriendly interface so much that I have pretty much stopped visiting my friends who use Blogspot. First there is the annoying set-up in which the comments appear on another page, so you can’t see the original post while writing your comment. Then there is the ultra annoying bit where you have to choose an identity EVERY SINGLE F*CKING TIME you want to leave a comment, and THEN type in the wonky letters to prove you’re not a spambot … AND THEN have your comment refused because Blogspot won’t verify your OpenID account!
I give up, I really do. Sorry guys.
casa azahar 
MY BLOG WON’T IMPORT. And I haven’t had any time to spend getting support in the last little while.
And I can’t stand WordPress’s templates; the personalization isn’t as friendly. I also have to change URLs, which is a hassle…The whole switcheroo just seems like a hassle to me right now. I’m trying to stay sane, here!
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The newer comments interface is really annoying, though. I still have one of the older ones because I don’t like the new ones.
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I’m telling ya, I spent ten minutes yesterday trying to get a comment to go through on one of the new ones and finally gave up in frustration. The old ones are also trying at times.
I don’t actually expect people to switch on my account, but I really do shy away from Blogspot blogs these days. I still read some on my iPhone reader but seldom comment anymore.
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Even other Blogger bloggers have had problems with the new ones, from what I’ve heard.
You have a Google email, don’t you? You can create a Blogger ID with it and comment as a Blogger commenter.
Or, in my case, if I really put you off that much, you can always send me feedback & comments via email. 🙂
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Yeah, you CAN create a Blogger ID… But it doesn;t work. Or at least it didn’t for me.
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I have a Blogger ID, which I created after this incident, when Blogspot stopped allowing non-Blogspot users to link back to their own blogs (they since installed the faulty OpenID option).
But frankly, I want to be able to have my name link back to THIS blog, not to one that I never use.
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How very right you are. I groan every time I encounter a really interesting blog over there. I know if I want to comment that it’s probably going to be a production and a half.
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First — big thanks, Az, for talking me through my own import of a blog from Blogger to WP. I do like WP, mostly.
I do miss being able to go into the CSS and edit the templates I’ve chosen, but I suppose that’s my own fault for cheaping out and using WP.com instead of my own hosted site. Yeah, I could pay for the custom CSS feature. Yeah, I could buy my own domain but honestly, I’m not there yet. I really just want to get all three of the blogs up and running and consistently formatted. And I’m making a lot of jams these days — I can fit in making the jams & writing about making the jams, but not those two things and tweaking my formats and running a site, too!
I typically use my Google ID to login in and comment at Blogger, and it’s much easier and more predictable than using OpenID. There are several blogs there that I do read, often, so I bite the bullet. But I’ve had the word-verification fail, too, for reasons that pass understanding. I know some members of my writers group won’t even look at a blogspot blog because commenting is tooo hard. So you’re not alone in your frustration.
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Last spring I ended up paying the 15 euro upgrade to tweak the CSS and will probably renew it next year. Or I might just move this blog over to my own hosted WordPress.org site. Not sure yet.
If you do decide to get your own domain someday for the three blogs (like I did when Sevilla Tapas started growing) it’s super easy to just import them to the new site.
I’m also trying out my new azahar’s kitchen blog on WordPress.com. It’s just easier to set it up here and I don’t know yet if it’s going to take off or not. Btw, that theme (Vigilance) has quite a few free custom options.
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I miss being able to upload videos directly to my blog rather than having to go through a third party. I miss not being able to tweak my blog the way I want. I miss the range of fonts I could use. I miss my UNLIMITED image upload capacity (Every time I upload a photo to WordPress, I see my counter counting down and wonder what I will do when I run out… I REFUSE to pay the amount WordPress expects per month for extra storage — that goes ditto for being able to upload videos and audio bites). I miss the range of options for layouts (WITH the afformentioned ability to tweak my blog the way I want).
There are nice things about WordPress but why they don’t allow you to do some of the things that are available FREE on other blogging sites, including Blogger, I do not know.
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Sorry… per year….
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Welcome to the world of WordPress, darling!
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I hate blogspot blogs too. Many of them have an annoying widget that doesn’t allow you to use the back space button….ggrrrrrr….
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Well, I am glad to see I am not the only one who hates Blogspot.
The only thing that I find seriously missing from WordPress is a preview button for comments. Otherwise, all the gripes about this and that aren’t really what I am talking about here.
My main complaint in this mini-rant is about how visitor unfriendly Blogspot is. And for me that wipes out all the “better Blogspot features” listed here by Blogspot fans. In my opinion, if your visitors are made to jump through hoops and feel frustrated and unwelcome whenever they try to leave a comment on your blog, then that makes your blog FAIL.
I mean, big deal that you can choose your font and make CSS tweaks, etc … if your readers are made to feel uncomfortable then you are going to lose them. And so, unless your blog is just all about you and you don’t actually care about your readers, this should matter to you.
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Yup! That is why I don’t visit a lot of fellow Sky-watchers and Photo Hunters. They seem to be all on Blogger or Blogspot and it is really annoying to jump through the commenting hoops twenty or thirty times in a day.
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Azahar, I am with you. I had all sort of problems with Blogger. My posts wouldn’t post and it was difficult getting readers to my Blogger blog. While WordPress isn’t perfect, I emphatically prefer it over Blogger.
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I read your rant, and understand your frustration. I tried removing the funky letter part, don’t know if that went through.
I originally tried to go with wordpress, but it seems like every user name in the world was taken–at least the ones I could live with. At this point it would be impossible to switch over my account because of a our GB allowance plan. Thanks for still reading.
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As usual, TimeThief said it so much better …
Blogger Sucks: WordPress Rocks!
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