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Blogger (service)
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Blogger is an American online content management system founded in 1999 that enables its users to write blogs with time-stamped entries. Pyra Labs developed it before being acquired by Google in 2003. Google hosts the blogs, which can be accessed through a subdomain of blogspot.com. Blogs can also be accessed from a user-owned custom domain (such as www.example.com) by using DNS facilities to direct a domain to Google's servers.[1][2][3] A user can have up to 100 blogs or websites per account.[4]
Key Information
Blogger enabled users to publish blogs and websites to their own web hosting server via FTP until May 1, 2010. All such blogs and websites had to be redirected to a blogspot.com subdomain or point their own domain to Google's servers via DNS.[5]
History
[edit]Pyra Labs launched Blogger on August 23, 1999. It is credited with popularizing the format as one of the first dedicated blog-publishing tools.[6] Pyra Labs was purchased by Google in February 2003 for an undisclosed amount. Premium features, which Pyra had actually offered for a fee, were made free as a result of the takeover. Evan Williams, a co-founder of Pyra Labs, left Google in October 2004. Picasa was acquired by Google in 2004, and Picasa and its photo-sharing service Hello were incorporated into Blogger, enabling users to upload images to their blogs.[7]
Blogger underwent a major redesign on May 9, 2004, which included web standards-compliant templates, individual archive pages for posts, comments, and email posting. Blogger's new version, codenamed "Invader," was released in beta alongside the gold update on August 14, 2006. Users were moved to Google servers, and new features such as interface language in French, Italian, German, and Spanish were added.[8] In December 2006, this new version of Blogger was taken out of beta. By May 2007, Blogger had completely moved over to Google-operated servers. Blogger was ranked 16 on the list of top 50 domains in terms of number of unique visitors in 2007.[9]
On February 24, 2015, Blogger announced that as of late March it would no longer allow its users to post sexually explicit content, unless the nudity offers "substantial public benefit," for example in "artistic, educational, documentary, or scientific contexts."[10] On February 28, 2015, accounting for severe backlash from long-term bloggers, Blogger reversed its decision on banning sexual content, going back to the previous policy that allowed explicit images and videos if the blog was marked as "adult".[11]
Redesign
[edit]As part of the Blogger redesign in 2006, all blogs associated with a user's Google Account were migrated to Google servers. Blogger claims that the service is now more reliable because of the quality of the servers.[12]
Along with the migration to Google servers, several new features were introduced, including label organization, a drag-and-drop template editing interface, reading permissions (to create private blogs) and new Web feed options. Furthermore, blogs are updated dynamically, as opposed to rewriting HTML files.
In a version of the service called Blogger in Draft,[13] new features are tested before being released to all users. New features are discussed in the service's official blog.[14] In September 2009, Google introduced new features into Blogger as part of its tenth-anniversary celebration. The features included a new interface for post editing, improved image handling, Raw HTML Conversion, and other Google Docs-based implementations, including:
- Adding location to posts via geotagging.
- Post time-stamping at publication, not at original creation.
- Vertical re-sizing of the post editor. The size is saved in a per-user, per-blog preference.
- Link editing in compose mode.
- Full Safari 3 support and fidelity on both Windows and macOS.
- New Preview dialog that shows posts in a width and font size approximating what is seen in the published view.
- Placeholder image for tags so that embeds are movable in compose mode.
- New toolbar with Google aesthetics, faster loading time, and "undo" and "redo" buttons, also added the full justification button, a strike-through button, and an expanded color palette.
In 2010, Blogger introduced new templates and redesigned its website. The new post editor was criticized for being less reliable than its predecessor.[15]
In March 2017, Blogger released new designs like Soho, Contempo, Emporio, Notable, and call them as Theme, not templates.[16]
In 2020, Google Blogger slowly introduced an improved web experience for Blogger. They moved everyone to the new interface starting in late June, many Blogger creators see the new interface become their default. Blogger is now responsive on the web, making it easier to use on mobile devices in addition to having a new look.[7]
Available languages
[edit]As of late 2016, Blogger is available in these 60 languages: Afrikaans, Amharic, Arabic, Basque, Bengali, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (Hong Kong), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (United Kingdom), English (United States), Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish (Latin America), Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, and Zulu.[7]
Country-specific Blogger addresses
[edit]In February 2013, Blogger began integrating user blogs with multiple country-specific URLs. For example, exampleuserblogname.blogspot.com would be automatically redirected to exampleuserblogname.blogspot.ca in Canada, exampleuserblogname.blogspot.co.uk in the United Kingdom. Blogger explained that by doing this they could manage the blog content more locally so if there was any objectionable material that violated a particular country's laws they could remove and block access to that blog for that country through the assigned ccTLD while retaining access through other ccTLD addresses and the default Blogspot.com URL. If a blog using a country-specific URL was removed it is still technically possible to access the blog through Google's No Country Redirect override by entering the URL using the regular Blogspot.com address and adding /ncr after .com.[17] In May 2018, Blogger stopped redirecting to ccTLDs and country-specific URLs would now redirect to the default Blogspot.com addresses.[18]
Available designs
[edit]Blogger allows its users to choose from multiple templates and then customize them. Users may also choose to create their own templates using CSS. The new design template, known as "Dynamic View", was introduced on August 31, 2011[19] with Dynamic Views being introduced on September 27, 2011.[20] It is built with AJAX, HTML5, and CSS3. The time for loading is 40 percent shorter than traditional templates, and allows user to present blog in seven different ways: classic, flipcard, magazine, mosaic, sidebar, snapshot, and timeslide. Readers still have the option to choose preferable views when the blog owner has set a default view.[21]
Integration
[edit]- AdSense comes optional for each blog, assuming that the parent account is in good standing.
- "Blogger for Word" is an add-in for Microsoft Word that allows users to save a Microsoft Word document directly to a Blogger blog, as well as edit their posts both on- and offline. As of January 2007[update], Google said "Blogger for Word is not currently compatible with the new version of Blogger", and they stated no decision had been made about supporting it with the new Blogger.[22] However, Microsoft Office 2007 adds native support for a variety of blogging systems, including Blogger.[23]
- Blogger also started integration with Amazon Associates in December 2009, as a service to generate revenue.[24] It was not publicly announced, but by September 2011 it appeared that all integration options had been removed and that the partnership had ended.[25]
- Open Live Writer (formerly Windows Live Writer, originally part of the Windows Live suite) can publish directly to Blogger.[23][26]
Blocking
[edit]Blogger has been blocked for various periods of time in the following countries:
- China[27]
- Cuba[28]
- Fiji[29]
- India (some ISPs in 2012 blocking an IP address put into Federal List of Extremist Materials in 2011)[30]
- Iran[31]
- Kazakhstan[32]
- Kyrgyzstan[33]
- Pakistan[34]
- Russia (some ISPs in 2012 blocking an IP address put into Federal List of Extremist Materials in 2011)[35]
- Syria[36]
- Turkey[37]
- Vietnam[38]
Blocking of *.blogspot.com domains by keyword-based Internet filtering systems is also encountered due to the domain containing the substring "gspot"; however, this can be alleviated by excluding the "blogspot.com" section of the URL from the keyword-based Internet filtering whilst the *. section of the URL is exposed to keyword-based Internet filtering.
Support
[edit]The official support channel is the Blogger Product Forum.[39] This online discussion forum, delivered using Google Groups, serves Blogger users of varying experience, and receives some monitoring from Google staff. "Product Experts," formerly known as "Top contributors," are community-members nominated by the Google staff who enjoy additional privileges including managing discussions and direct access to Google staff. There is likely to be a top contributor or other knowledgeable person reading the forum almost all the time.
A number of people, including some top contributors, run personal blogs where they offer advice and post information about common problems.
Stack Exchange's Web Applications forum has a tag for "blogger", which is used for questions about various blogging platforms, including Blogger.[40]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "The Story of Blogger". Blogger.com. October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on April 19, 2010. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Set up a custom domain - Blogger Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
- ^ "Custom domains for your blog made easy". buzz.blogger.com. Archived from the original on January 18, 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
- ^ "the limits on my Blogger account". Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
- ^ "Important Note to FTP Users". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on September 6, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "History of blogging". NDMU. March 22, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
- ^ a b c "Official Blogger Blog". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on August 1, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
- ^ "Blogger Beta: Feature Complete!". Official Blogger Blog. November 2, 2006. Archived from the original on June 27, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ Meattle, Jay (October 30, 2007). "Top-50 Websites - Ranked by Unique Visitors; Digg.com, Facebook, Flickr sky rocketing". Compete. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008.
- ^ McCormick, Rich (February 24, 2015). "Google-owned Blogger bans sexually explicit content". The Verge. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ Khan, Sami (February 28, 2015). "Backlash Forces Google to Reverse Move to Ban Porn on Blogger". www.ibtimes.co.in. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ "Blogger Buzz: The New Version of Blogger". Buzz.blogger.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Draft.blogger.com". Draft.blogger.com. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Bloggerindraft.blogspot.com". Bloggerindraft.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on September 19, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ "Critique and Criticism of the New Blogger Post Editor – Experiment Garden". Experimentgarden.blogspot.com. June 26, 2008. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Share your unique style with new Blogger themes". Official Blogger Blog. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
- ^ "My blog redirects to a country-specific URL (ccTLD)". Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
- ^ "It's spring cleaning time for Blogger". Blogger team. May 15, 2018. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 1, 2018.
- ^ "Blogger's fresh new look". blogger.com. August 31, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ "Dynamic Views: seven new ways to share your blog with the world". blogger.com. September 27, 2011. Archived from the original on September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
- ^ "Use themes to change how your blog looks - Blogger Help". support.google.com. Archived from the original on July 10, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
- ^ "Blogger Help". Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
- ^ a b "Microsoft releases Windows Live Writer as open source". The Register. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ "Buzz.blogger.com". Buzz.blogger.com. Archived from the original on July 4, 2011. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Blogger / Amazon integration is finished – what are our options now?". Amazon Integration is Over – what are our options now?. September 23, 2011. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
- ^ "Microsoft volunteers open source Live Writer blogging tool". ZDNet. Archived from the original on August 13, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
- ^ Cina, Sapore di (November 8, 2021). "The List of Blocked Websites in China in 2022 - Latest News". Sapore di Cina. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Blogger says Cuba blocked access to her site". ZDNET. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Jardin, Xeni (May 17, 2007). "Fiji declares war on bloggers and open internet access". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Blogspot blogs blocked in India?". July 27, 2012. Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ Dehghan, Saeed Kamali (May 13, 2014). "Iran cyberpolice blocked in bid to identify blogger". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 9, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Kazakh bloggers say can't access popular website". Reuters. October 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "5 social media accounts, 8 media channels blocked in Kyrgyzstan since August for extremist content". m.akipress.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Rosen, Jeffrey (2008). "Google's Gatekeepers". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved December 1, 2008.
- ^ Полосатый тормоз "Билайн" заблокировал сайт "Доброй машины правды" (in Russian). Lenta.ru. July 27, 2012. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
- ^ "Syria: Blogger Blocked in Syria · Global Voices". October 10, 2006. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Blogger.com banned in Turkey · Global Voices Advox". Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Online censorship in Vietnam". nordvpn.com. January 15, 2019. Archived from the original on October 17, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Google Discussiegroepen". Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved January 31, 2013.
- ^ "Web Applications Stack Exchange". Archived from the original on June 18, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
External links
[edit]Blogger (service)
View on GrokipediaHistory
Founding and Early Development
Blogger was created by Pyra Labs, a San Francisco-based startup co-founded in 1999 by Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan.[4] [5] Originally focused on developing project management software during the dot-com era, the small team shifted efforts toward building a lightweight tool for online publishing after internal needs for quick note-sharing emerged.[4] Pyra Labs publicly launched Blogger on August 23, 1999, positioning it as one of the first dedicated platforms for creating and maintaining weblogs, or "blogs."[6] The service simplified the process by enabling users to post entries via a web-based interface without requiring knowledge of HTML or server management, which contrasted with earlier manual methods of updating personal websites.[6] This accessibility contributed to its rapid uptake among early internet users, including journalists and hobbyists, as blogging gained traction amid the late-1990s web expansion. In its initial years, Blogger emphasized core functionality such as timestamped posts, archiving, and basic templating, fostering a community of regular bloggers who documented daily events, opinions, and links—hallmarks of the emerging weblog format.[4] By 2001, the platform had attracted tens of thousands of users, though Pyra Labs operated with a lean staff of fewer than a dozen and relied on venture funding amid the post-dot-com market contraction.[4] Updates during this period included refinements to the editor for faster publishing and initial support for custom domains, but development remained constrained by the company's limited resources.[6]Acquisition by Google
In February 2003, Google announced its acquisition of Pyra Labs, the developer of the Blogger platform, for an undisclosed sum following four months of negotiations.[7][8] The deal, reported on February 17, 2003, involved Pyra Labs' small team of web developers, who had pioneered easy-to-use weblog publishing since Blogger's launch in 1999.[9][10] Google's strategic rationale centered on leveraging Blogger's growing ecosystem of user-generated content to enhance search engine accuracy and freshness, as weblogs provided timely, diverse data sources not readily available elsewhere.[11] The acquisition aligned with Google's expansion beyond core search into content creation tools, amid rising interest in blogs as a medium for personal publishing and community-driven information.[12] Pyra Labs' founders, including Evan Williams, had previously shifted focus to Blogger after their initial project, a groupware tool called Fellowhip, failed to gain traction, leaving the company financially strained by 2001.[13] Following the acquisition, Google integrated Blogger into its operations, discontinuing Pyra's paid premium features and offering them for free to broaden adoption.[14] This move facilitated Blogger's migration to Google's infrastructure, enabling subdomain hosting via blogspot.com and laying groundwork for future enhancements, though initial post-acquisition development remained incremental.[10] The transaction marked one of Google's early forays into acquiring complementary technologies to bolster its ecosystem, predating larger deals like YouTube.[8]Key Redesigns and Feature Additions
In May 2004, Blogger underwent a significant redesign shortly after its integration with Google, introducing web standards-compliant templates, individual archive pages for posts, enhanced commenting systems, and email subscription options to improve user accessibility and content organization.[15] This update also streamlined the homepage and signup process, alongside a new dashboard for logged-in users, marking an early effort to modernize the platform's interface post-acquisition.[16] By December 2006, Blogger launched "New Blogger" in beta, featuring drag-and-drop template editing for easier customization and post labels to enable better categorization and searchability of content. These additions leveraged dynamic serving on Blog*Spot domains to support advanced functionalities, transitioning users from the legacy system and enhancing overall usability.[17] A major overhaul occurred in 2011, beginning with March additions like a template designer tool, real-time post statistics, automated comment spam filtering, mobile-optimized templates, and integration of Google Web Fonts for aesthetic flexibility.[18] In August, the editing and management interface was entirely rewritten for speed and efficiency, replacing tabs with a sidebar navigation, incorporating post previews, and facilitating quicker updates without disrupting workflows.[19] September introduced Dynamic Views, seven AJAX-, HTML5-, and CSS3-powered display templates for interactive browsing, while October enabled Lightbox for seamless image galleries.[20][21] Subsequent enhancements focused on security and responsiveness rather than full redesigns. In 2016, updates to the post editor addressed mixed content issues alongside HTTPS rollout for Blog*Spot domains to bolster data encryption.[22] By May 2018, HTTPS extended to custom domains, prioritizing user privacy amid rising web security standards.[23] In May 2020, a responsive web redesign improved mobile compatibility and laid groundwork for future features by modernizing the underlying platform.[24] Later, 2019 changes phased out Google+ widgets like +1 buttons and badges to streamline integrations as that service discontinued.[25]Stagnation and Recent Developments
Since approximately 2020, Blogger has undergone minimal substantive feature enhancements, with Google's official Blogger blog ceasing new publications after addressing legacy integrations like Google+.[26] This paucity of announcements reflects a broader deprioritization amid competition from platforms offering advanced customization and monetization tools, though the service remains operational without announced discontinuation plans.[27] Incremental maintenance has focused on backend reliability rather than user-facing innovations, contrasting with earlier periods of active redesign. Recent developments include extensions to image storage policies, where Blogger migrated serving domains for both new and historical images to enhance loading speeds and compliance with modern web standards, as detailed in updated support guidance.[28] Additionally, a post-deletion recovery mechanism akin to a trash can was introduced, permitting temporary retrieval of inadvertently removed content for a limited duration, as noted in community discussions on official forums.[27] These changes prioritize stability over expansion, with no major API overhauls or template overhauls reported through 2025. User queries in Google Help persist regarding potential future roadmaps, underscoring ongoing perceptions of underinvestment.[27]Features and Technical Capabilities
Core Blogging Tools
Blogger's core blogging tools center on its post editor, which enables users to compose, format, and publish content through a dual-mode interface: a visual "Compose" view for what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) editing and an "HTML" view for direct code manipulation.[29] The Compose mode supports basic rich text formatting, including bold, italics, headings, lists, and hyperlinks, allowing non-technical users to create posts without coding knowledge.[29] Advanced users can switch to HTML mode to insert custom code, embed scripts, or fine-tune markup for greater control over post appearance and functionality.[29] Posts can be saved as drafts for later revision or scheduled for future publication by selecting a specific date and time via the post settings menu, which automatically publishes the content at the designated moment.[29] Users assign labels—keyword-based categories—to posts for organizational purposes, facilitating searchability and the creation of label-specific archive pages on the blog.[30] Additional post settings include customizing permalinks (URL slugs), adding location data via geotagging, and defining meta descriptions for search engine optimization.[30] Media integration is handled through built-in upload tools supporting images, videos, and gadgets, with enhancements introduced in 2020 improving the upload experience and adding features like table insertion for structured content. Drafts and published posts can be edited or deleted at any time from the Blogger dashboard, with revisions tracked implicitly through the ability to revert scheduled posts to draft status before their release.[29] These tools emphasize simplicity and accessibility, though they lack advanced collaborative editing or version history compared to enterprise platforms.[29]Customization and Design Options
Blogger provides users with a range of tools for customizing blog appearance and functionality, primarily through its Theme and Layout interfaces. Users can select from a gallery of pre-designed themes, which determine the overall visual style including color schemes, fonts, and responsive layouts. These themes can be previewed and applied directly, with options to revert to defaults if needed.[31] Basic customization occurs via the Theme Designer, allowing adjustments to elements such as background images, link colors, body text styles, and header configurations without coding knowledge. For layout modifications, the Layout editor enables adding, rearranging, or removing gadgets—modular components like navigation links, blog archives, labels, or HTML/JavaScript embeds—in predefined sections including the header, sidebar, and footer. This drag-and-drop system supports up to three-column layouts for desktop views, though mobile rendering may simplify structures automatically.[32] Advanced users can access deeper design control by editing the blog's HTML template, which is structured as a single XML file incorporating CSS, JavaScript, and Blogger-specific data tags. Custom CSS can be injected via the "Add CSS" feature under Theme > Advanced, enabling overrides for styling without altering core HTML. Users may also upload third-party XML templates from external providers, provided they adhere to Blogger's schema for compatibility with features like dynamic views or gadget rendering. However, such custom uploads override built-in customization tools, potentially complicating future updates or mobile optimization.[32] Mobile-specific design options remain limited; while a dedicated mobile theme can be enabled or disabled, extensive customization requires manual HTML edits to ensure responsiveness, as the platform auto-generates a simplified view prioritizing post content over sidebars. As of 2023 updates to the template editor, enhancements include better syntax highlighting and error checking for HTML/CSS modifications to reduce breakage risks.[32]Integration with Google Services
Blogger requires users to sign in using a Google account, facilitating unified authentication across Google's ecosystem and allowing seamless access to blogs from any device linked to the same account.[33] This integration, in place since Google's acquisition of Blogger in 2003, eliminates the need for separate credentials and supports multiple account management within the platform.[34] Monetization is enabled through direct integration with Google AdSense, where bloggers can apply for an AdSense account and earn revenue from contextual advertisements displayed on their sites, provided the blog adheres to AdSense policies on content quality and prohibited practices.[35] Approval typically requires a minimum of original content and traffic, with ads automatically optimized for placement in Blogger templates. Analytics and performance tracking are streamlined via Google Analytics, where users enter their Google Analytics Measurement ID (starting with "G-") directly in Blogger's settings to monitor visitor metrics, traffic sources, and engagement without manual code insertion.[36] This setup leverages Google's tag manager for real-time data syncing, aiding in SEO optimization as Blogger automatically submits sitemaps to Google Search Console.[37] Content embedding from YouTube, another Google service, is supported natively; users can share videos directly to Blogger, which generates embed codes using iframes for responsive playback within posts. Developers can further extend functionality through the Blogger API, a RESTful interface requiring OAuth 2.0 authorization via Google accounts to create, edit, or query posts programmatically.[38] Past integrations, such as with Google+ for social sharing and comments, were phased out following the 2019 API deprecation, reflecting Google's periodic streamlining of services.Localization and Multi-Language Support
Blogger's localization features primarily revolve around a configurable "Blog language" option in the settings, which specifies the default language for template components such as post labels (e.g., "Posted by"), date and time formatting, and navigation elements.[39] This setting influences the rendering of built-in UI strings but does not alter or restrict user-generated content, which remains editable in any Unicode-compatible language.[39] The platform's administrative dashboard and associated help resources are available in over a dozen languages, facilitating management by non-English speakers. These include Deutsch, español (España), español (Latinoamérica), français, Bahasa Indonesia, italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Nederlands, polski, português (Brasil), русский, svenska, Türkçe, 中文(简体), and 中文(繁體).[40] Content creation supports bidirectional text and right-to-left scripts through standard HTML, allowing posts in languages like Arabic or Hebrew without native platform enforcement of layout adjustments beyond basic CSS customization.[41] However, Blogger lacks integrated tools for true multilingual site management, such as automatic content translation, language-specific URL structures, or hreflang meta tags for search engine optimization across variants.[42] To address this, users commonly employ workarounds like embedding the Google Translate gadget for visitor-side translation, which supports over 100 languages but relies on machine translation prone to inaccuracies in nuanced or idiomatic content.[42] Alternatively, bloggers maintain parallel posts in target languages, tagged with labels for filtering (e.g., "English" or "Español"), or operate distinct blogs per language linked via cross-navigation, though this fragments audience and SEO efforts.[43] For broader internationalization, Blogger integrates with Google services like Analytics for region-based traffic insights and AdSense, which supports localized ad delivery in numerous currencies and languages, but requires manual configuration for optimal regional targeting.[44] Custom domains enable country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs) for geo-specific hosting, yet the platform does not automate content adaptation for cultural or regulatory variances, such as varying privacy notices or measurement units.[45] These limitations reflect Blogger's design as a straightforward publishing tool rather than a full-scale content management system optimized for global enterprises.Infrastructure and Operations
Hosting and Domain Management
Blogger hosts all user-created blogs on Google's proprietary cloud infrastructure, providing unlimited storage for text posts and images without additional fees beyond the platform's free tier.[46] This hosting includes automatic scalability, redundancy across global data centers, and integration with Google's content delivery network for performance.[47] Blogs are initially accessible via free subdomains in the formatusername.blogspot.com, where the content, metadata, and media files reside entirely on Google's servers rather than user-managed hardware.[41]
For domain management, users can map a custom top-level domain (TLD) purchased from third-party registrars, such as those supporting DNS modifications, to redirect traffic to the Blogger-hosted content.[48] The setup process requires administrators to enter the custom domain in the Blogger dashboard settings, followed by configuring DNS records at the domain provider: typically, a CNAME record pointing the www subdomain to ghs.googlehosted.com, and optional A records for the apex domain (e.g., forwarding @ to Google's IP addresses like 216.239.32.21 through 216.239.39.21).[49] [48] Propagation of these changes can take up to 24-48 hours, after which Google automatically provisions and renews a free SSL certificate via HTTPS redirection, ensuring encrypted connections without user intervention.[48]
Custom domains do not alter the underlying hosting; the blog's files and rendering remain on Google's infrastructure, with DNS merely aliasing the address.[46] Removing a custom domain configuration reverts access to the .blogspot.com subdomain but requires manual 301 redirects at the domain registrar to preserve inbound links and SEO value, as Blogger does not natively handle post-mapping redirects.[50] Blogger does not support self-hosting or exporting the full site to external servers for independent management, limiting flexibility for users seeking complete control over server-side operations.[51]
