Old Dogs, Google and Lautrec Updated

Hey, Merci here.  Just a quick post and I'll be back to napping.

I am the oldest dog here, and if this is how we'd know we're old, Buddy, Sam and I are far from there!  


If the video doesn't play, click here.

We are really disheartened with Google/Blogger.  Our last post addressed the problem of Google deleting blogs and forcing bloggers to give them a cell phone number - ANYONE"S cell phone number! - in order to contact them to get their Google Account (gmail, Blogger, Picasa & any other Google apps being used) reinstated with a text messaged code.  We consider it on a par with Google telling users to ask a friend to let the user give Google their friend's credit card number.

Just yesterday another blogger we know had their blog deleted and were forced to come up with a cell phone # in order to contact Google to get it reinstated. 

We were asked to remind folks how to back up their blogs and we just tried to walk through the steps with the new interface and we were shocked to find how much is missing from this new dashboard setup.  We googled for directions and did find the new place to back up the template.

But when we followed the directions to find the import/export/delete tool, it isn't there. Not for a single one of our own blogs. So where did this and other tools and information disappear?  Check your new Blogger dashboard .  Do you have import/export/delete in your new interface Settings/Basic?  You need to be able to export to save a copy of your blog posts.

You might want to find out, even if you aren't using the new interface yet. You will be when everyone is switched to it, so now is the time to learn it. Our settings options have been greatly reduced in the new one.  But to not be able to import, export or even delete our own blog(s)?

UPDATE:  Fuzzy Tales sent us a screen shot of where import/export/delete is located in the new interface.  How strange that it is in the first place we looked last night - Settings/Other - and it wasn't there.  Not on JFF and not on any of our other blogs.  So we googled Blogger Help and they sent us to Settings/Basic. We looked through every settings tab on each of our blogs and it was not to be found.

So where was it hiding?  We have no clue!  But it is there today at the top of Settings/Other.

We are grateful to Google for making so many things available to us for free over the years.  We have enjoyed using Blogger, gmail and Picasa, and we hope to be able to continue for a long time.  But we do believe they need to revise their policy on cell phones and find a more reasonable way to verify non-spamming accounts.

We are sad that Lautrec had to leave suddenly for the bridge Sunday.  His family is greatly missing him.  His mom would appreciate a word of encouragement, if you haven't already been by.  His blog is Wees Da Bad Cats & Da Meen Doawgs.