"In the beginning"

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this blog are not necessarily the views of the blog management, (on the other hand, they are not necessarily not the views of the blog management).

No effort has been made to stay within the bounds of the truth in this blog as it has always been the view of the management that the truth should never be allowed to stand in the way of a good story.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Beta Blogger

Beta is Better.


Blogging Matters.

For my local readers, you may have noticed that my
“Days Till Christmas” banner doesn’t always show the right number
of days to go.


This is because the code I used was written to suit the Northern
Hemisphere, now as the time gets closer to Christmas the error
becomes more obvious, but I like the gentle reminder so I’m
leaving it there.


While we are talking/thinking about blogs; most of us will have
had an early Christmas present from Blogger, I am speaking of
the problems associated with leaving comments on other
blog sites.


It seems this is very prevalent with those of you who haven’t
yet changed to Beta trying to comment to those of us who have,
we had a problem with this a couple of months ago and it seems
to have popped up again, some of you have been able to
comment anonymously but even this doesn’t seem to work
all the time.


Patience is one solution, Google will fix this as quickly as they can
I’m sure, the other solution is to change over to Beta if you can,
this is the system that Google will be putting their major efforts
into, so it seems to me to be the way to go.


I have heard all the stories about using the alternatives,
“Wordpress”, “Squarespace”, “Typepad”, “Myspace”, etc.
I’ve looked at them all, even opened accounts with some,and I
believe Blogger offers the best deal and features.


For anyone using the Beta system already, or for those who
change to it, one of the best features is the ability to customize
your blog page with the “Fonts and Colors” feature, just what
you can customize varies with the template you choose some
offer a greater range than others, don’t be afraid to experiment
and have some fun.


The range of “Sidebar” modifications and the ease of making them
make Beta a pleasure to use, posting also becomes almost
instantaneous.


It's a great pity that problems have popped up at this time of the
year, who needs more stress right now? whatever you do though
don't give up on blogging.






I don't know who invented high heels,

but all women owe him a lot.











21 comments:

Puss-in-Boots said...

Hi Peter

I agree with your comments on Beta, although sometimes uploading pictures can be a pain in the proverbial - very slow. So slow that sometimes I think Blogger is constipated. Too many people trying to do things at once maybe.

Apart from that, it's certainly better for playing around and changing stuff.

Hope all is well in your world, Peter.

Cheers

Lee said...

All these little things are sent to try us, Peter...and try us they do...like my Outlook Express going on strike on me yesterday! It's a wonder I still have hair, let alone a monitor screen! ;)

Love the cartoon!

Anonymous said...

Hi Peter
I agree with Lee all these things are sent to try.Well my patience is wearing thin I can post comment on some using other. Oh well I suppose ill hang in there im rather enjoying doing it and visiting others. Take care Peter see you in the New Year.Jan

Marcus said...

Just checking my commenting status.

Has your present arrived yet?

Love Marcus

Cliff said...

I suppose I'll have to switch but for those of us who are 'code' challenged, it's pretty scary!@!

Granny said...

People keep asking me, of all people, questions about Beta, the comment snafu, etc.

I'm linking to this post.

I haven't had any recent problems commenting on the beta blogs but many others have, especially in the past few days.

Beta may be better but I still haven't been invited and I won't get rid of my "team" on either blog to join the Betas.

Sorry my hemisphere is messing with the calendar in your hemisphere.

Margaret said...

Hi Peter, I said quick post,not short. It was quick for me to post but long for you to read. I have not had any problems posting or leaving comments fortunately. DID I SAY THAT? Do you believe I said that?
Cheers Margaret

Meow (aka Connie) said...

Hi Peter, thanks for the info. Earlier today I could comment normally on Beta blogs, but then the next one I couldn't ... go figure !! I'm sure it will right itself soon. I would change over, I have been invited, but it won't accept me ... my blog is too bit apparently. I don't wish to start a new one, so I will wait until they have fixed whatever it is that will let me change over !!!
Have a great weekend.
Take care, Meow

Jeanette said...

Hi Peter
I gave in and switched to beta

Walker said...

I switched awhile ago and found that once I logged into beta i had few problems and the fact that the template was saved as I had it was a bonus.
Took me a bit of time to firgure out the rss feeds but its working fine.
I did add haloscan and blogger comments to relieve those not able to comment on blogger.
I have looked at other services but the bottom line for me was asking 80 people to fix my link and why abondon a friend who is only trying to make it better for us.
So I stay and accept the problems that come with it until they fix it.

Anonymous said...

I like the fact that posting is so much quicker. I'm sure they'll fix this commenting thing.

Laurie a/k/a Miss New Orleans
(Posting anonymously because...well, you know...the Blogger thing. If you get more than one of these, just delete the others.)

Christina said...

just checking

Christina said...

WOW! It let me comment today! I have been trying for a few days now but have been unable.

Being in the northern hemisphere, I think your banner is quite accurate.

Have been considering the switch to beta, but not being terribly computer literate, it is a little intimidating.

Big Dave T said...

Add me to the list of folks who have GREAT difficulty commenting on beta blogs, like your's.

I'm going to try again here (about the fifth try).

Testing . . .

Jack K. said...

Have a great holiday.

JunieRose2005 said...

Peter,

I have been afraid to switch...well, I've often said how much I hate changes... and I am just now becoming very comfortable with blogger as it is for me! I have NO problems posting or putting pictures on at all!

...And ALSO- I've been afraid I might mess up and lose all that I have in my blogs!!!
:( I would HATE that! I'd just give it all up if that happened!

I guess after the holidays are over I will take the plunge and switch over!

Junie

wazza said...

Hey, Peter a great likeness of you in the cartoon at the top of this post.
How did you get/make this look so much like you?

Rachel said...

Loved the cartoon!! I tried to switch to Beta and it said I was ready but then when I tried it said I couldn't. They are working on it.
Meanwhile, in order to comment on those who have switched I signed in to a google account and I can post. The downside is that if you click on my name instead of going to my blog you go to a profile that only has my name on it. Oh well. It'll all come out in the wash I suppose!

Miss Cellania said...

My problem with switching to Beta is that of my four Blogger blogs, two are frozen (still waiting to hear from support), one is a team blog, and the last one is template-challenged for a reason. Switching all those to Beta would be darn near impossible just to work around Blogger's mistakes.

Val said...

Am here via Granny's blog, thanks for your comments on beta. Like JunieRose, I haven't tried to switch because I'm afraid of losing the whole blog.

Now I wonder if this will let me comment...

DellaB said...

hmmm ... I am probably tempting fate here, but so far I haven't had any problems commenting on Blogger or on Beta, so long as I have logged into my own Blogger first, if I haven't then I have to actually use username/password (bloggers), then it lets me in.

I haven't switched, I haven't had time to give to it, and, long-time mantra of mine; "if it aint broken - don't fix it".

I'd like to think I've learned this by now - so I guess I'll probably wait till they make me!