Many viewers believe they are following with Google Friend Connect and maybe they are, but if I can’t verify this, then it doesn’t count. So how do I verify this information?
Take a look at the picture above. See the circled name? I click on there.
The page that pops up is a Blogger Profile page. If you look under Ash's blogs she follows, J. Kaye's Book Blog isn't one.
Yet if you click on Ash's avatar above, she is right next to the Insane Bunny, the below photo is what will pop up.
As you can see, Ash is indeed following this blog, but it doesn't show up on her Blogger Profile page. It's the profile page that's important. Google Friend Connect and Blogger still have a few glitches to overcome. Until then, you'll need to adjust your Blogger Profile settings as well as adding your Blogger Profile link to your Google Friend Connect. So how do you know if it's correct?
Sign out. Once you are, click on the comments. You'll know that you aren't automatically signed back in when your USERNAME & PASSWORD are blank like photo above.
Then click on your name and under the blogs you follow, J. Kaye's Book Blog should be there.
If not, you haven't adjusted your setting correctly. I am not tech savvy, so if I can figure it out, so can you.
PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT need to have a blog to create a Blogger Profile Page. More about that in the next post.
Special thanks to Ash as I used her as an example for the above information. She has two rocking blogs: English Major's Junk Food and Young Iowan Writer. Take a moment to visit both.
41 comments:
Thank you J. Kaye! That explains so much of what you are looking for. I'm going to go and double check mine now. I wanted to add my blog, but when I did, the profile went bye-bye and it went to the blog instead....I need to play around with it today.
Thanks for the heads up, J. Kaye!
Jenn M. - I know some viewers, especially ones who don't have a blog, have no clue about setting up a profile page. My intention was to show how to do that. In the process, I discovered a new check box that needs to be checked also if you want your blogs to show up on your profile page. Maybe that will help too.
Krista - ;)
One question J. Kaye, Are you asking that everyone use a blogger account now? I usually use a Name/URL when I comment, so if you clicked on my comment, it would take you to my blog. I do follow publicly, and my avatar shows up on the google friend connect box. I have a google account, I'd just rather use the Name/Url option when commenting.
Let me know, I can adjust if I need to.
p.s. I found the box that needs to be check you were talking about! :)
Jenn M. - Only when entering a contest. This is how I verify entrants follow.
Interesting.
Before the Google Friend Connect became a big thing I would subscribe to blogs via my Google Reader (not through my dashboard). I am finding that many blogs that I do indeed follow I am not following in the google friend part. Slowly but surely I am fixing that.
Today, I have added myself into your google friend connect and now you do appear under my blog list in my profile page.
Thanks for the heads up.
Deanna/ibeeeg - you'd think because Blogger is under the same roof as Google, these would all connect together. It doesn't and to me, it's very confusing. I am hoping this helps to explain just because you sign up for one doesn't mean that it will show up on your Blogger profile page.
Thank you for taking the time to explain it. I know it took me a few tries to figure it out.
Oh that is so great. I have double checked mine as a non Blogger user I was very paranoid about this worked but I got there and it looks as though I am doing it right as you show up on mine J Kaye! :)
And to think all this time I thought I WAS a follower! Well, I am now. Must have just subscribed to your blog in my Google reader because I've always received your blog updates.
Thanks for a concise instructional, J. Kaye :D
Thank you for explaining this so clearly! I will go away and check that I am indeed a follower, which I think I am (but maybe I'm not...)
Michelle (Red Headed Book Child) - it's not as simple as it sounds...in theory it should be, but it's not.
Sheila (Bookjourney) - I understand. With WP, I know automatically if I am signed in with them. Blogger isn't so simple.
Mary - I think you were on your profile page....but I can't be for sure.
hcmurdoch - You are! :) But when you enter giveaways, you have to make sure you are signed into blogger to enter.
Well J. Kaye, You just lost me for your give aways. I am a non-blogger and my security settings clash with blogger so I won't be setting up a blogger account. I tried months ago, but Sophos keeps kicking it out. When it gets too hard for me to play, I will just have to stop playing. Love you babe, but this is asking too much for me. I will always be here for comments, etc. just not giveaways.
Actually, knowing if you're logged in with Google/Blogger or not is very simple: just go to www.google.com and look in the upper right corner; if you're address is there you're signed it, else obviously you're not.
As for why the followers don't always appear on the profile list, that is quite simple too: when you press follow it asks you whether you want to follow a certain blog publicly or privately; as the name implies when you follow someone publicly it shows on your profile, when you follow someone privately it's private so it doesn't show.
On the Google Reader/Blogger followers matter the simple explanation would be: they are two different apps (although the followers do show up in GReader in a separate folder). Google Reader is a RSS feed reader, allowing one to follow feeds from all over the Internet. The Blogger followers thingy is related to Google only (you can only follow blogspot blogs and only blogspot users can follow you). The main idea when they introduced it was that the latest posts from the blogs you follow are shown in your dashboard when you log in -- sort of like a RSS reader for blogspot users only.
Now, these two are indeed both Google's, and it shows when you look at the Reader that contains the feeds of the followed Blogger blogs too. The opposite cannot happen though (of course I cannot see all the feeds I subscribed to in the Blogger Dashboard) because the Blogger follower thingy is Blogger only and they made it this simpler way (aka it doesn't show any information from GReader) so they wouldn't have to bother when one has subscribed to non-Blogger blogs.
Darn, I have written lots of things (and fast, and it's kinda late) and I have no idea whether I made myself clear or not. Hope I did and hope it helps.
"[...] if your address is there you're signed in, else obviously you're not."
See, I told you it was late :) :)
ccqdesigns - Hate to bust your bubble, but you already do have a Blogger account along with a Blogger Profile page so I'm not really sure what you are talking about. Your Blogger Profile is here: http://www.blogger.com/profile/01890528126234189383
Kay - I think you missed the whole point for this post.
Kay - Sorry about that...didn't mean to leave that one sentence. The point for this post was so that viewers who were entering the giveaways would make sure I can verify they are a follower by viewing it on their Blogger Profile page if that makes sense.
Under their "Blogs I Follow" has to be J. Kaye's Book Blog or they arent' eligible. I'd say that every five entries, there's one who hasn't checked to make sure this blog is on their profile page even though I have posted about it in the past.
WElll, glad it is there, wish I could get to it. When I try, I get an error message from Blogger telling me I have to reset my security levels to allow cookies and something else for blogger to work. I can't reset anything on Sophos cause it is done by our IT folks. Glad it stayed out there in the blogesphere somewhere. Maybe I can use your link to get to it..... hummmm.
I'm just going to test this out...
O.K., I *should* be following you now.
ccqdesigns - I knew you were having issues, but I didn't know how serious. That seriously sucks! Glad I posted the URL. Let me know if it helps. Either way, you are set for the giveaways here.
J.T. Oldfield - It does! :)
J.T. Oldfield - You are! Just a reminder though. Separate comments for extra entries. In a few weeks, maybe only a couple, the multi-entries will be no more.
This is probably a really basic question, but I am super new to this. If I sign up as you suggest, does it mean that I start getting notices on my e-mail or is just on my profile? I don't want tons more e-mails which is why I haven't signed up as a follower before. Thanks so much for these two helpful posts.
Natalie Aguirre - If you check the box, you won't get emails with blog posts. To get those, you'll need to put your email in the box that has Enter your email address: and underneath, Delivered by FeedBurner.
Totally different topic.
OMG I had no idea about this! All this time I thought I was a follower because I was showing up. Testing out now to see if fixed.
(Now it's even later so I may have even more spelling mistakes)
I just wanted to say that I didn't miss the purpose of this post -- I couldn't have as it is very clearly explained. What I was trying to do with the whole babble was to
a) explain to you that the fact that followed blogs are sometimes missing from dashboard is not a bug but a feature (and it would probably help if your tutorial included the "follow publicly not privately" part) and
b) explain a bit the relationship between GReader and Blogger followers, because you said in a comment that this part is very confusing for you, and I was trying to shed some light on it (I don't know if I did but that's a whole other issue).
(I don't mean to sound patronizing with the letters there but it's easier for me to organize my thoughts if I use them)
Looks like I wasn't the only one who had no idea lol :-) my avatar shows up but J.Kaye's Book Blog wasn't on my follow list in my profile and I've never noticed because I also subscribe by email and you're on my blog roll so I've never needed to check. I wonder on how many other blogs it's happened and I just haven't noticed.
Thanks for bringing it to our attention, even though I realise it's only relevant to contests at this point, I'm still glad I know.
J. Kaye, thanks for answering my question. I'm going to try it this weekend.
GFDesignz - Actually, you were at one time. I wonder what happened?
Kay - "(and it would probably help if your tutorial included the "follow publicly not privately" part)"
I purposely left this out for a reason. Just because you include the above doesn't mean the blog will end up on the "Blogs I Follow" listed on the profile page. Having to work with so many viewers over the past few weeks getting this straight, a viewer can sign up with Google Friend connect correctly and not end up on the "Blogs I Follow" under his or her the profile page.
Teddyree - A lot of people had no clue. If there was an easier way to confirm this, I would have. Trust me. ;) Also know that Blogger will drop blogs you follow. It's happened to me or more than on occasion and to others I've chatted with.
Natalie Aguirre - I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Testing this out...
Winning Reading - I just sent you an email. It doesn't look like you are following any blogs.
testing to make sure I am following...........
Kel, you are good to go!
testing too
Luanne - J. Kaye's Book Blog shows up!
Testing now.
I saw your blog on my profile page and have double checked a few things, so I believe I am following correctly. Thanks for all of the information.
testing
testing
Thanks for letting us know.
I'm sure your post would help me but I'm not seeing the photos...I want to know how to confirm people are following for a giveway...not much info out there and you seem to have it only I'm not able to follow what you are talking about without the photos showing step by step...I'm going to reload page again in another browser and try again.
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