Friday, April 30, 2010

A Crazy Little Thing Called Blog: #10 More Questions


It's been a while since I posted about the ins and outs of blogging. While I'm in Ohio visiting family, I thought I'd ask a few questions I'm wrestling with and see if you have some answers-- Or questions of your own.

Here are my questions:

1) My sidebar-- I use Blogger. When I try to move the various gadgets around (via drag and drop) on my sidebar, they won't "stick".... they jump around and "land" in random places on the sidebar. Is there a trick to lining the gadgets up the way I want them???

2) When I'm at home on my Mac I have no problem typing a New Post, but, when I log into Blogger on a PC, my font changes to Chinese. I have no idea why. Note: I can comment in English, I just can't write Posts. Any clues why???

How about you? Any blogging questions that have been bugging you? Leave your question in the comment box and we'll see if we can get some answers.

Thanks a million. I'll be back Tuesday to catch up with you all.
Welcome to www.TheFiftyFactor.com - Joanna Jenkins
For more Blogging answers and Q&As Click HERE
Photo Credit: Jeff Metzger

40 comments:

  1. Are you using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox on your PC? I switch back and forth, because of glitches in each. I too have a macbook and a PC.

    As far as rearranging the gadgets, moving it slower helps and some times I move it down a little at a time instead of attempting to move it exactly where I want it. I find it sticks better.

    Regarding the chinese fonts, check out your settings: Go to the bottom to Global Settings. Make sure you are on UPDATED EDITOR and then check ENABLE TRANSLITERATION and make sure it says DISABLE.

    I would like to learn how to merge blogs and how to publish one group of my lables. I do a blog about our journey with our Father's Alzheimer's.

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  2. What a fun post.;) As for your question one, I think this depends on the browser you use. I can see you also use mac, so do I; in Firefox the drag and drop function works properly. In Safari not so good. I get around it in Safari by moving the "bloc" one step at a time. That is, one bloc up or down. It is tedious, but works.
    As for question two, could be that the blogger on the PC at work (or even the browser) are set to Chinese as a default language? Otherwise that is truly odd.
    Have a lovely stay in Ohio and a great weekend,
    xo

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  3. Joanna, in regards to the Gadgets, for two months I could not change things around and about 3 days ago everything was working fine. as for reasons why I have no idea, but it was frustrating for sure. have a nice visit, check with you when you get back.

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  4. Looks like you questions have been answered. And that is good because I didn't have a clue!!!
    Have a great visit!
    Hope the weather is wonderful while you are there!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  5. I have the same sidebar issues with my mac laptop, but not my PC. I think the OS X operating systems doesn't respond exactly they way it's supposed to. Keep downloading your updates! My mac seems to be doing better lately. Crossing fingers.

    As for the chinese? I'll have combination #2 with egg roll, please.

    Hope you're having fun in Ohio!

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  6. gah! I got no answers for you, but good luck!

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  7. I am so not good with computers I just bow down to my mine each and every day it does what it is suppose to do!

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  8. whew, glad someone knows what they are doing around here as i would have no clue...

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  9. I use Mozilla Firefox. Whenever I try using Internet Explorer and I click the X to close a blog, it will give me 40 or more pages of that blog over and over again, forcing me to reboot. Mozilla does NOT do that ever (knocking wood, just in case)

    As for moving stuff on my sidebar, I found if I move something a bit at a time, I don't lose my grip on it, so to speak.

    Good luck with it! And enjoy your visit!

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  10. Donna B said what I was going to tell you.

    Definitely more gadgets around slower - it definitely tests patience.

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  11. Since some of the explanations in you comments might as well be Chinese to me, I'm no help at all. It sounds like you got some good answers.

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  12. Looks like your questions have been answered. The chinese post thing cracks me up!

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  13. I know what you mean about the add a gadget thing. From the mistakes I made, all I can think of to ask you is Are you hitting SAVE after you move?

    Sometimes it takes me 2 times to do it. I just go into LAYOUT, click EDIT on the add a gadget I want to move. Drag it up to the right place...I go nice and slow and watch it be placed. Then I hit SAVE. Then I wait a few seconds, and check VIEW BLOG. SOmetimes I go all the way out of my blog and back in to check it.

    Good luck!

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  14. Miss you!! You are only a little way from here right now. I use Firefox most of the time, sometimes Safari. I think the comment suggesting disabling the transliteration is good.
    Enjoy your time with your family and we will see you back soon.

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  15. Hi Joanna
    Hope you're having a wonderful time in Ohio! The weather should be good.

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  16. yeah...I was just gonna tell you to use Firefox. I don't know why it doesn't work on other whatchamacallits...but I could change the gadgets around once I switched.

    The chinese thing? weird.

    Whoa, I could write a post with chapters with my questions. :)

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  17. How nice that you share your knowledge with your followers.

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  18. There is nothing I can add here that has not already been offered by your very savvy commenters. But maybe a fortune cookie could offer you some extra insight :D

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  19. I just want to know what the heck they did with spell check when write a new post. I really miss spell check and so now I have to cut and past from Word so I can at least attempt to post without mispelled words. The chinese thing - would make me cuss. That sucks!!

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  20. I am completely illiterate on these fronts so I have no help to offer. I will simply wish you good luck and a happy weekend.
    :-)
    Traci

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  21. Hmmmm, I have no idea! I love the drop and drag function. Do you make sure to press "Save" at the top, after you do it?

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  22. I'm the terrible person with a self-satisfied smirk on her face.. I'm on Wordpress and don't have these problems... ;-)

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  23. and I'll just add my , hope you are having a wonderfully trip

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  24. Aye - my spellchecker has disappeared! Have a good weekend, Joanna.

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  25. good thing you can comment in English because I would probably delete a Chinese comment.
    I think the first two comments are very good I would say the same thing.
    Also highly recommend Firefox and also Xmarks. Xmarks (was call foxmarks once?) really saved me when I switched to a new laptop.
    My blog question is really about behavior - getting new followers and does anyone read the stuff on the sidebars?

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  26. Most of my problems disappeared when I switched to Mozilla Firefox. I was havin' extreme and painful problems on Explorer and my son the geek told me to switch.

    Have a fabulous Friday and a blessed weekend!!!

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  27. No good asking me, its trial and error for me

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  28. I have decided that the answer to all the problems is that there are gremlins in the microwave. That expains all the odd things that happen to me. That's my story and I am sticking to it.

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  29. Sorry can't help with your two questions, Joanna. I'm still in the dark ages of blogging, I write, edit, post, edit, post, delete and that's about as much frigging around as I can stand.

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  30. I haven't experienced any problems so far (touch wood) so not sure how to help you with these ones...

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  31. Like Mike Smith, my spellchecker vanished, only to reappear a month later. Odd.

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  32. I use a PC on blogger and neither of those things happen. Interesting with the Chinese though.

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  33. your question answered..go slow, one space at a time and make sure you watch as one gadget replaces another...The spell check icon disappeared with the "new editor" and was replaced by the ever so helpful cross out the letter as you type it icon..so useful??!! To spellcheck, press "control" and click...a box shows up , click either spell now or spell as you are typing. It corrects as you go along (great but doesn't recognize slang stuff or words that I invent on my own....My huge problem posting pictures and getting text to fit next to it... I'm improving but it is time consuming. I still cannot "get someone's button, no matter how many times I try...cut and paste,,,,nothing seems to work...I have a Mac snow leopard...any ideas out there most of all, have fun?!

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  34. I'm sorry i have no answers for you :(

    But i hope you are having a splendid weekend.

    K xx (from www.thoseblissmoments.blogspot.com)

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  35. Question 1.
    I experienced problems using blogger on my PC for the layout of my side bar. I found if I asked to move too far my 'request' was firmly denied by my lord and master, the computer who I have screamed at time and time again, "You should be an obedient and literal servant - keep that up my son and I will put a hammer through you and buy a Mac!" After being summarilly threatened it agreed to move stuff round in small steps. So, Joanna, I think you can get there by moving it in a sereis of stages and not too much all at once. It is probably only a man!! and therefore cannot do too much at once!! LOL

    Question 2.
    I cannot think of anything remotely intelligent except that the PC was probably made in China! LOL.

    I wonder if you could write th blogger and say there is something WONG with it!! . . . . sorry!

    Sporry I have not been round for a while - have a lot on at present. Cheers Eddie x

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  36. Me again, Joanna.
    Just read "Crazy Liitle Thing Called Blog No 9" - great series is this!
    I too have a load of unwanted comments, the main one being that someone seems convinced that a certain part of my anotomy requires severe growth!! How the hell do they know? LOL
    Anyway I have a range of unwanted comments - I too have been thanked on numerous ocassions for helping people to study and pass exams - even on my funny posts!!
    I think the only way to stop them is by introducing word verification, which I have recently done and I seem to be spared any since. I checked on my meter and someone called "googlebot" seems to be the main culprit.
    Speak soon ~ Eddie

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  37. I would like to know where the button is that automatically switches your blog from Blogger to WordPress. When you find out where it is, please let me know.

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  38. Wow! Those are REAL blogger problems...And I have NO idea how to resolve them...I'm going to look through your comments here to see if anyone has good advice, and simply "ditto" that :-) Hope you have a wonderful week! Love, Janine XO

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  39. I have the same issues with moving the gadgets around. As some have said, you have to move them slowly.

    For me, it's writing the post. I can't seem to get pictures "EXACTLY" where I want them. They always seem to go where they want.

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  40. I use windows live writer to write posts... have you heard of that? I am SO in love with it : )

    I can't answer any of your questions. I have a million of my own. I think that this post was such a good idea. You have such great ideas. I am going to read all of the answers and see if I can learn something.

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Thanks for stopping by and commenting, I really appreciate it.