Error messages (code): What to do. Include error code report form

When you try to do something, very frequently, you may find you are unsuccessful and Blogger gives an error message. There is a long list of error possible messages and it is hard to keep track of them. You can try posting problem to Google Help group and to contact Blogger support or Blogger support 2

Update 2008: You can now only contact Blogger Support on account related matters. For error codes, please report your error codes at Blogger error code reporting form and a human from Blogger is supposed to look into the problem and try to fix it although they will not respond to your report. For me, I will do this as well as try what is described belowL

It will not be easy, but from feedback, bloggers have got helped, one within a day of getting through to Blogger support.

I have ignored error messages before and tried again AND succeeded.

Other thing you can try - use a different browser. It may or may not help depending on the cause, but that has helped me through many diffferent difficulties. Once you have the browsers in your computer it is very easy to do.
http://firefox-alert.blogspot.com/2006/04/blogger-what-to-do-when-you-cant.html
http://blogger-tricks.blogspot.com/2006/08/why-you-should-be-using-more-than-1.html

Others have recommended clearing cache and cookies, Me, I prefer to do that when I chose and not when I am forced to, to leave that as a last resort because clearing cache and cookies means you have to start a lot of thing from scratch and some pages may take longer to load. Once you have extra browsers installed, it is a very simple matter to use a different browser.

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Problem signing in, seeing your blog in the Dashboard, user account, etc

Update 13 December 2007: Blogger Support keep shifting the goal post, so by the time you read this, I don't know if situation have changed. Anyway, I repeat for the sake of Blogger Support that you first try to help yourself by using their Help pages or posting to the Google Blogger Help group. After having done that, and still can't get the help you need, read the rest of the post. Note a screenshot that have "report a bug", tick that and you should get to a contact form to send a message to Blogger Support.

What do you do when you cannot sign into Blogger, or you sign in but can't see your blog in the Dashboard, or you have other related problems.

An example of a related problem is this. A company got a former employee set up a blog for the company. The former employee is now no longer with the company and they don't know what email address and/or Google account he/she used for the blog. The company would like to get access to the blog. This is an actual problem posted to the Google Blogger Help group. It appeared to me an impossible problem to solve as according to Blogger, it is a delicate issue as it involves ownership of a blog which can be disputed. However, a representative of Blogger has suggested going to Blogger Contact Us page. You will get a page where you have to tick the radio button relevant to the problem:



You will likely be taken to a series of pages that may provide information or links to information for your problem, and perhaps make further choices. You may finally come to a dead end with a suggestion and a link to the Google Blogger Help group to get help for your problem or if you are lucky, you will eventually end up in an actual contact form that allows you to submit details of your problem to Blogger Support.

As an example, I will now act like the company mentioned above and tick "Report a bug or a problem", then click "Submit". The choice expanded:



I ticked "I can't log in" and click "Submit again". I got to another page with 5 choices, all of which is not exactly relevant to the problem described for the company above. There was a message at the bottom of the page: "Didn't find what you're looking for? Visit our Blogger Help Group for more assistance" with a link to the Google Blogger Help group. That would be going in a circle. However, there was one choice that may help: "I forgot my username or password and the email address I signed up with is no longer accessible". I ticked that one and and this time a message popped-up on the page:



I clicked on the "Contact us" link and was taken to a real Google Account Help contact page. However, the problem is, it require "Original email address that was associated with your account", "Email address we can use to contact you" (no problem), "Email addresses (if any) previously associated with your account", "Dates, if applicable, of previous email address changes" which field is colored yellow, probably meaning you have to fill them in to get a response, and other field to enter information (in white) plus a question "Do you currently have access to the original email address that was associated with your account?" which would be "No". As a test, I ticked "No", selected my country in a drop-down menu, left all the other fields blank, typed my contact email address, then type a message in the message box. This resulted in error messages:

A required field has been left blank. Please enter the email address that was associated with your account.
A required field has been left blank. Please enter your last successful login date.

Looks like a dead end except to go back to Google Help group for help. Then I had a naughty idea. Why not just enter an email address not really associated with the account, enter a false "last successful login date", Explain in the message box with a full description of the actual problem, click "Submit" and then pray. That should get the message sent to Blogger Support, and then hopefully get a fruitful response. If I were that company, this is what I would do.

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How to contact Blogger Support

Latest update: It is no longer possible to contact Blogger Support directly. You will have to post your problem to Blogger Help Forum where Blogger Employees and Blog*Stars are actively helping with problems.

Update 30 March 2008: This should have come earlier, but so short of time. Now you can only contact Blogger support for account and TOS (Terms of Service) issues via Blogger Support Contact Form. If you are not already signed into Blogger, you may have to sign in before you get to the Contact form.. All other requests for support should be directed to Google Blogger Help group. I am also providing support at Blogger General Discussions.

Update 5 February 2008: I often add remark this is an old post and may need updating or replacement when giving link to this post, but read the feedback I got just moment ago:
"i've followed your instructions using your guide on how to contact blogger and i got my deleted blogs back in less than 24hours!"

Update 13 December 2007: The goal post keeps shifting and I don't know if I can keep up, but this post How to get deleted blog back. It may say deleted blog, but even if your problem is not a deleted blog, the post may still help you. The blogger for whom the above post was made reported back she got her blog together with 700+ post back!!!!

Update 8 July 2007: I put this update at the top here because this is a long post and have been edited many times as Blogger changes the way they can be contacted. You may also be interested in this shorter post Problems in seeing your blog in the Dashboard, can't sign in, etc. (click BACK to come back to this page)

Update 17 May 2007: Blogger Support is difficult to get but not impossible as I mentioned to one blog reader who asked for help, and to which I referred her to this post and also to What to do when you have problems signing in, seeing your blog in the Dashboard, etc. (click BACK button to get back to this post). I suggested she try her best to contact Blogger Support. Today, she commented in this post: Business should ditch Yellow Pages and start a blog (click BACK button to get back to this page). To save you the trouble of surfing over there, I paste here here comment:

"Dear Peter. Thanks so much for all your help, tips , and tricks. Blogger support DID reply to my report and they were very prompt. My problem has resolved somewhat. Thanks so much again."

UPDATE 26 October 2006: Blogger Support has made themself very hard to contact now, probably because of the roll out of Blogger Beta. Recently, I needed help from Blogger support myself and followed my own advice in this post, that is try to help myself first by going searching through the Help section and posting my problem to Blogger Help group, etc. I didn't get a response from Blogger Help group and I was taken on a merry-go-round in Blogger Help section, and finally ended up in a suggestion form with a message that I will not get a reply. I did two things - contact a person (whom I cannot reveal to protect his privacy) and I emailed support@blogger.com. I did get quite a quick response, and not only that, it helped solve my problem. So I can add to my positive experiences with Blogger support described at the bottom of the post. I don't know what response you will get, but if you do get an automated email that did not help, make sure you reply to that email.

Update 5 June 2007: Just tried the contact form at Blogger Support Form and after being taken to a few pages, did finally ended up in an actual contact form. However, as I was just trying it out, I didn't fill up the form and wouldn't know what will be the result of filling it out and submitting it. When you are really in trouble, I am sure you will take the time to do that.

Other links you can try (copy and paste into your browser address bar (too lazy to make them into clickable links). Hopefully you will do that in a new tab or window so you remain on this page). I have to put them in a scroll box, otherwise my sidebar will slide to the bottom of the page:

http://help.blogger.com/?page=contact
http://www.blogger.com/problem.g
http://help.blogger.com/?page=troubleshooter.cs&contact_type=cantpublish
http://help.blogger.com/?page=troubleshooter.cs&problem=template_display&contact_type=bug_with_blogger_beta&Submit=Submit
http://help.blogger.com/?page=troubleshooter.cs&problem=&contact_type=bug_with_blogger_beta&Submit=Subm

(You will likely end in a contact form with a message thay you will not get a reply)

(P.S. The link to the contact form is near the bottom of the post under "Write Blogger Support" (in red) but to be fair to Blogger support, do read through the rest of the post before you click on that link).

Blogger support makes their contact form or email difficult to find as they want support seekers to first use their HELP (close new window to get back to this page) section. You should also try searching through, or posting your problem to the Blogger Help Google group (close new window to get back to this page). Look also into Blogger Buzz (close new window to get back to this page) and Blogger Status (close new window to get back to this page) and Known Issues in Blogger Beta (close new window to get back to this page) to make sure it is not a known issue that can be solved on your own.

This is fair and you should first do that. But if you can't find the help you need, here is the link to their contact form: Write Blogger Support (close new window to get back to this page).

You can also email them at this address, support@blogger.com, but the best way is to use the "Write Blogger Support" link given above, as you will be given a reference number for additional contacts. You will invariably receive an automated email. Do make sure to replay to that email.

Many have complained of the unresponsive Blogger support, but here are two accounts of people who have received timely help from them:

I have got an email from a reader saying that he accidentally deleted his blog. After contacting Blogger support, and after a series of email, he has got his blog undeleted!!!! So folks, there is hope.

This is my own personal experience. Recently, I needed to have the word verification for POSTING (not for comments) removed to enable me to publish by email. I contacted Blogger Support via that contact form obtained by clicking the "Write Blogger Support" link above. As usual, I received a robot email. I responded to the email immediately, explaining that their email didn't help and explained my problem in detail. I got the word verification removed WITHIN 24 HOURS!!

Also, if you have a suggestion to make to Blogger, you can do so via this contact form: BLOGGER WISHLIST (close new window to get back to this page).

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