Test 4

Hey Blogger rockstars! You have probably heard by now thanks to the many emails that you all have been receiving, about Google+'s final days. The official shut down date will be April 2nd, with features being removed gradually leading up to this date.

In my Facebook group I posted about this event, but decided it would be helpful to also include in this blog post for those who didn't see it.

Let's be CLEAR and answer some questions before launching into an awesome video tutorial full of "rockin' tech skills" to get you up to date! :D

The first question you probably are asking is:

"Sooo...what the heck does this mean for my blog?"

Glad you asked! 

IMAGES

• Your Blogger blog images or those stored in google photos database will not be affected. CAN I HEAR A "YAY!"?! Google+ images that are stored in your profile will disappear if not backed up. If you want to back up your google+ data here is an article from google with backup instructions on how to do this. I highly recommend getting on this as soon as possible. Why? Because every day features and abilities are being removed.

COMMENTS

• Your current Google+ comments will disappear and your commenting system revert back to Blogger on February 4th. I know I know. It is very annoying and frustrating that Google didn't think this through well when they had the bright idea to try and compete with other social media platform companies. Like other things that are out of our control, we gotta adapt! So in adapting, there are some options if these comments are heart-wrenching to lose, which believe me I get it.

• - Start with your most popular commented posts. You can copy and paste all comment threads into a text document, however this can look messy afterwards, but is a good way to have them available for copy and paste if ever you need them.

• -The easiest quickest way is to take screenshot pictures of your comments. After compressing the images, you can post them at the bottom of your post as a "Google+ Community says" feature section just as an idea!  

• -Write a post about the changes with Google+ for your readers and encourage them to sign up for your email list if they'd like easy access to your blog posts! This could drive traffic juice from those who are searching articles on this subject, but also inform your readers.  Those who are using the platform will also be affected, so it's way to keep connections with your readers.

TEMPLATE

• Google will be removing all Google+ buttons/graphics from the base code of your templates.  If you have a custom template these will have to be removed manually. I cover this in my tutorial video which we are almost at! Note however that every template can be different so you may need to do some investigating in your template looking for google+, Google+, G+, Googleplus, or googleplus variations of terms. Any variation you can think of as different developers use different themes. For the custom templates by our team, we will be already making the adjustments necessary.

YOUTUBE CHANNEL

• Some of you have your Google+ integrated with Youtube. One thing I can tell you is DO NOT DELETE YOUR GOOGLE+ PROFILE ON YOUR OWN. It looks like google did think about this and you can read more information on what they said concerning youtube HERE.

OFFICIAL BLOGGER  TECHNICAL TEAM

• I want to bring some comfort to this situation that is less than ideal. The shutting down of the Google+ platform will open up time and energy to pour into the Blogger platform and other products. It makes me hopeful and expectant to see what we as a community have requested and how that will be delivered by the official Blogger team. The more people on Blogger the more they see the need for it. This is why it’s important we continue to be supportive of this platform. Remember, HTTPS and ads.txt were requested by the community and Google heard, listened, and implemented rather quickly. The more we press that "SEND FEEDBACK" button the higher the chances to receiving what we are asking for. 

Some additional resources that may be helpful:

Update on Google+ and Blogger What You Need To Know With Consumer and GSuite Accounts

Official statement from Blogger:

"We are sorry for the inconvenience these changes may cause, but we look forward to delivering fresh functionality to Blogger in the coming year. Thanks for your continued loyalty."

All that said please watch my sample video for my "Tech Academy" showing you how to manually remove yourself from Google+ and switch to a Blogger profile and Blogger comments. If you attempt to do this, FIRST BACK UP YOUR TEMPLATE.

Disclaimer: This is my first ever video, shot in one take, no testing of mics, very little testing on volume, no script, and brand new learning how to edit videos in like one day so please be kind!  #perfectlyimperfect, #justgetitdone right? :D

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Disclaimer: All of these instructions and tutorials are by my own experience, study, and knowledge. 

Templates can vary in style and coding. I am not responsible for any negative results or experiences that occur from coding errors done in the template by those watching, reading, or following my tutorials.