Another Cache Refresh Needed?

From some of the problem reports in Blogger Help Group: Login Issues, it appears that some login scripts may have been changed again.

As in Blogger Alert 12/2: Missing Toolbar Buttons, if you're having any problems logging in, or if you're missing your blogs in your dashboard, you might want to try clearing cache and cookies again.

(Edit 1/31): The bX-68tbuv problem with image uploads, which appears to be related to this issue, has been fixed. Here's a definition of the lack of uniformity of the problem - this specific problem was unique to sessions starting from "beta.blogger.com".

This has been fixed. Regardless, use www.blogger.com and not beta.blogger.com.

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Another Complication In Migration - Team Blogs

As I describe below, migration is a two step process - first you migrate the account, then you migrate the blogs in the account. First the account, then the blogs. That's simple.

Or is it? If you're the only administrator, maybe. But what if you have multiple administrators?

It appears that the primary owner (generally the person who started the blog) of a blog determines its eligibility to be migrated. When the primary owner migrates his / her account to Beta, the blogs of which she / he is the original owner are eligible for migration. Only people with Beta accounts will be able to access a Beta blog; those who haven't migrated will see it in their dashboard but won't be able to access it.

What happens if the person who started a blog no longer has an active account? When he / she transferred the blog to a new owner, did primary ownership transfer too? In Blogger Alert 12/14: Blog In Limbo, we see that this may not be possible. If you delete or remove the original owner of the blog, all administrators may become joint owners. And all administrators must then be migrated, before the team blog can be migrated.

Having active accounts with up to date email addresses, for authentication in case of migration problems, is essential.

If you have team blog(s) pending migration, plan the migration. Any blog that is important enough to have multiple owners is important enough for careful planning. Make sure that the accounts, and email addresses are all active and current. If your account is the primary one used for blog administration, make sure that it's the actual blog owner, before you start migration.

All I know is, when I migrate my account and blogs, I'll make sure that each blog has one and only one owner.

• Transfer Ownership of a Team Blog? Open 12/14.
  
• Can't access team blog from any account Open 12/13.
  
• span style="font-style:italic;">beta switch - can't post - yes me too...HELP Open 12/13.
  

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Help! My Blog Is Trapped Inside My Navbar!

This is the same problem as Help! My Dashboard Is Under My Blog!, just another way of viewing the symptom.

Help! My Dashboard Is Under My Blog!

We're seeing this recently, as folks get Internet Explorer V7. It's unique to this specific combination - Blogger Beta and IE V7, and it's another description of Help! My Blog Is Trapped Inside My Navbar!.

And, it's a known issue, which implies that Blogger is working on the problem.

(Edit 12/5): And now, it's a closed issue.

So while Blogger works on the problem, what are our options?

• Bloggers Immediate Recommendation.
• Use a Bookmark / Favourite, and reload the blog.
• Bloggers Long Term Solution.
• Use Firefox.
• Workarounds.
• The Final (And Correct) Solution.

Immediate Procedural Solution
As recommended in Blogger Known Issues, if you want to view a Beta blog in IE V7, right click and select "Open in new window", when selecting any Navbar links.

Use a Bookmark / Favourite
As recommended by several readers (see comments), do the obvious. Setup a bookmark / favourite to (or just type in the address bar) http://beta.blogger.com, or even to the blog, as in http://bloggerstatusforrealbeta.blogspot.com/. Now, you're back. Sometimes, the easiest solutions are right in front of our eyes.

Blogger Needs To Fix Their Templates
We're going to have to be patient, and encourage Blogger to fix the problem properly. I'll bet that this will involve a template fix, and this will present a challenge.

• Blogger has to develop the solution, and make the solution work in all templates, for all browsers.
• Blogger has to issue new editions of all templates.
• Blogger has to issue a template patch, for those who have customised their templates, and don't wish to "Pick New Template".

Use Firefox
And it may be another reason to use Firefox, at least until either Blogger corrects their blog code, or Microsoft fixes their rendering inconsistencies. Those of us who use Firefox only heard of the problem when IE users started complaining.

Workarounds
Some workarounds to this problem, of questionable legitimacy and originality, have been proposed in various forums. I'll try and provide links to articles describing those workarounds, as time permits.

The Final Solution
Microsoft needs to produce a browser that doesn't have non-standard quirks.