To make room for some exciting updates coming soon to Blogger, we’re simplifying the platform to enhance the blogging experience for all of our users.


Changes to existing features in Blogger (rolling out over the next few months):

• Google+ Integrations: Throughout the next few months, Blogger will transform Google+ widget integrations into HTML widgets to give you more flexibility in how you share and see your followers.
• OpenID: Blogger previously allowed users to comment on blogs using an existing third party OpenID identity provider and has also acted as an OpenID identity provider when interacting with other systems on the internet. Due to the low usage of this feature, Blogger will no longer support OpenID as a provider or for making comments, and all comments that previously used OpenID will be anonymized. New comments can be posted either from a Google account or labeled as “Anonymous” on blogs that allow it.
• Improved Localization and Blogspot ccTLDS: Your location determines your country services. Historically, these services have been labeled and accessed via country code top level domain names (ccTLD), such as blogspot.com.au for Australia. We’re updating the way we label country services on Blogger - now the choice of country service will no longer be indicated by domain. Instead, blogspot.com will serve you the country service that corresponds to your location, and all existing blogspot ccTLD domains will redirect to blogspot.com. This will help simplify URLs for international audiences.

Along with the above updates, the following features will soon be retired from Blogger (over the next few months) due to low usage and to allow the Blogger team to focus on developing new features:

• Third Party Gadgets: You will still be able to add custom HTML or Javascript via the “HTML/Javascript” gadget.
• Next Blog: This is the feature that allows you to visit another blog similar to the current one. Blog owners can still use the Blog List widget to share their favorite blogs directly!
• Polls Widget: Current Polls results will still be available in Google Takeout (more details below) until later in 2018.
• Textcube: www.textcube.com will be decommissioned. Existing Blogspot blogs imported from TextCube will continue to serve on their blogspot.com address, while files originally hosted in Textcube will be available via Google Takeout (more details below).

Aside from the above changes, we’re excited to highlight some new features we’ve been working on.


New features you may have noticed recently:

• HTTPS for Custom Domains: Internet security is very important to Blogger. Custom domains now support encrypted connections with HTTPS, making sure connections maintain integrity and the contents are confidential. For more information on HTTPS, check out the Blogger Help Center article here.
• Multilogin: Multiple accounts? No problem! Multilogin allows you to switch between your different Google accounts without signing out. For more information on multilogin, check out the Blogger Help Center article here.
• Spanner: We’ve been doing some serious tinkering under the hood of Blogger! We finished a multiple-year migration of all blogs to Spanner, a new storage system. For more information on Spanner, check out the Google Cloud Spanner site here.

New features coming soon (over the next few months):

• Video Management: With our new management interface, you can easily download and remove videos you’ve uploaded.
• Google Takeout: Your blog - your data. With our upcoming updates to this tool, you’ll be able to access more information when you download your data from Google Takeout.

We know change isn’t always easy, but we thank you for your patience as we continue our commitment to helping you publish your passions into 2018 and beyond.


Stay tuned,
Kelly on behalf of your Blogger team

If you’re one of the millions of people who uses Blogger to share your views on current affairs, teach the world how to make sushi, or just offer a peek into your day, then you know how important it is to be able to put your personal stamp on your blog. After all, your blog isn’t just a place you share, it’s a reflection of who you are and the impression you’d like to leave with your readers.

To make it easier for you to express your unique style, we’ve created a new set of blog themes for you to choose from. Each theme comes in a variety of colors, is fully customizable, and can be added to your blog with just a few clicks.

These themes aren’t only designed to look great, they’re designed to work great too. Each one has been built to automatically adjust to any screen and load quickly, so you can rest assured that your readers will be able to easily see your work whether they’re on a computer, phone or tablet.

Here’s a quick look at the new designs:


Contempo
As good for a photo as it is for a story, Contempo puts a fresh, modern spin on life’s many adventures.

(view sample blog)

(view sample blog)

(view sample blog)

(view sample blog)

You invest a lot of time in your blog, making sure it fits your personal brand and style. And a big part of making it your own comes from what you call it and where it lives. Blogger has long let you host your blog on a custom domain, so that you can give it any URL you choose. To make that process even easier, starting today, we’re integrating Blogger directly with Google Domains, allowing you to purchase a custom domain for your blog right from Blogger with just a few clicks.

If your blog is itching for a new home, you can grab one via Google Domains by popping open Blogger and heading to the Publishing section of your blog’s Settings tab.




If you purchase a new domain from Google Domains, it’s also easy to create a new blog for that domain right there.



Interested in learning more about Google Domains? Read on.

Happy blogging!

Posted by Marc Ridey, Software Engineer

From time to time, we like to highlight bloggers who successfully use Blogger and other Google products. Today we're featuring how Kelly Saks from Kelly's Kloset reached a wider audience with Blogger and Google+.
All about Kelly: 
Kelly Saks, the blogger behind Kelly’s Kloset, is a fashion and beauty expert based in Miami, Florida. Kelly posts daily musings on outfits, beauty tips, and local happenings. She has successfully transformed blogging from hobby to career, landing styling gigs with brands like Bloomingdales, Swarovski, and Macy’s.

How she did it: 
Kelly always shares her blog posts from her personal Google+ profile and the Miami Fashion Bloggers Google+ page, a page she contributes to with almost 400,000 followers. “The option to share on Google+ helps keep my fans up-to-date whenever I post something new,” says Kelly.

Kelly has broadened her audience and built a strong online community using Google+. Google+ has also helped her connect with other bloggers, fans, and even celebrities by live streaming the events she hosts using Hangouts On Air: “I can easily interact with fans even if they can’t come to events in person”.

If you’re also looking to grow your audience, Kelly uses several Google+ plugins that are easy to add:

• The Google+ badge on Kelly’s Kloset shows her presence on Google+
• The +1 button lets fans share her blog 
• The Google+ followers gadget displays her growing follower count and allows fans to easily add her to circles 

Kelly notes that “these tools are really easy to use and make interacting with my audience a seamless experience”. You can explore these features by visiting the ‘Layout’ tab in the Blogger dashboard and clicking ‘Add a Gadget’.

Click here to learn more about Google+ and Blogger.

Posted by Diana Golduber, Google+ Marketing