Is Anyone Else Being Driven Mad By Google Blogger?

Or is it just me?

I have a number of linked blogs with different formats, as part of my main food blog. I also have a testbed blog in which I set up posts and check them for layout before publication. This month, Google Blogger decided to lock out my testbed. I went through the standard unlocking request and appeal procedures and, having no luck, created a new testbed blog. A few days later Google locked that out too. More requests to unlock, more appeals, same again. This morning, Google has locked out the third version. They all have different names and content, of course, so the robots don't think they are multiple versions of the same thing.

Is anyone else out there also suffering from Google "helping its members by fighting spam effectively"?

This Post was written by Trig from Aidan Brooks: Trainee Chef.

Is Technorati Worth the Trouble for a Food Blog

A while ago I realized that Technorati is not reading the tags I've been inserting into the end of each post. In fact I did some checking around on Technorati and it seems as though they haven't read any of my tags for a very long time (maybe since Blogger switched to new blogger, since it seems in the new Blogger the labels act as a tag. I'm still using an old html template and don't plan to change.) If I click on one of my Technorati tags, it does take me to that tag at Technorati, but none of my posts are there.

I'm noticing a few of my favorite blogs have dropped the Technorati tags and wondered how many food bloggers are still using it. It seems to me it's not a very likely way for people to search for recipes or food content.

Should I just take the tags out of my post template and forget about Technorati?

(BTW, they are indexing my blog because the list of "who links here" always seems fairly up to date.)


This Post was written by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen

Insurance for bloggers?

Discussion about insurance for bloggers has come up within another group I'm associated with, and it got me thinking about food bloggers and if anyone has been required to get liability or errors and omission insurance to take freelance writing jobs. Here is one blog that generated discussion about insurance requirements for bloggers.

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/bloggers-need-errors-and-omissions-insurance/

In the same vein, what about adding disclaimer statements on food sites re: food allergies or anything else that might stimulate someone to bring legal action? I'm curious to know if any food bloggers have added such disclaimers or felt the need to get insurance for their own personal blogging.

Here are some other related articles:

Online Publishing Risks Create Need for Libel Insurance

Electronic Frontier Foundation: Legal Guide for Bloggers


This Post was written by Andrea from Andrea's Recipes.

Nutrition Information Template for Blogs

If you are interested in providing nutritional information with a recipe, here is someone who's developed the HTML and CSS for a nutrition label. He's giving it away to anyone who's interested. Someone sent it to me, and I thought it might be a good thing to share here.

XHTML + CSS Template for Nutrition


This Post was written by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen

Getting Banned from Google

Hello all - I was recently banned from Google due to some spam links being hidden in my template without my knowledge. I am using Wordpress, and I upgraded immediately!

Anyway, I thought I'd share the post from my blog with others just in case you have the same problem or you're not even sure where to look - there are some easy steps to check for hidden links and how to submit a reconsideration request!

Getting Banned by Google, and Upgrading WordPress

This Post was written by Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy

Stumbling Efficiently

Hi All,

So I have read quite a bit about engaging in social networks such as Stumbleupon to help promote blogs. I have been stumbling for a bit - just checking out other sites and trying to build a good stumble web page but I haven't done much more than that.
I am not sure if it is good policy to stumble your own posts - and I am not really sure how it works to connect with people on-line. Most of my friends are not on social networks so I am a bit out of the loop.
Any recs and ideas are appreciated!!
Thanks ~ Sue www.feelgoodeats.com