The Great Google Friend (dis)Connect
Buzz it
Widgets.
You gotta love them. They can tell your readers the local weather in your home town. Play tunes when we click on your blog and show-off members of your community. The trouble is when they blink your blog can go poof!
Since yesterday my blog has been down and I spent hours debugging (and bugging my ISP and blog host provider). I checked with Host Tracker, pinged myself and so forth. But nothing seemed to pin it down.
Then my host provider (Saran at HexaHost) said something that clicked (literally). He suggested checking scripts running on my blog and I remembered him complaining before about Google Friend Connect being a nuisance on the server-side.
So I thought “what the heck” and I got out my trusty pencil eraser, commented out the script … and lo and behold all is well again.
The funny thing is it mostly affected Internet Explorer. Way-to-go Microsoft (and shame on you Google).
Google Friend Connect has now been disconnected. Have you noticed the same problem? Care to share your story?
Filed under: Featured Articles, Miscellaneous Blog Tips, Social Media
Subscribe here to the Better Tips Newsfeed! 
Follow @BLOGBloke on Twitter for Social Media Tips & News!
Opinions? (click here to jump to the comments form)
Video
.gif){kind=small}
I’ve been hearing about the Google friend Connect problem all morning.
I guess sometimes it’s a good idea to keep widgets to a minimum.
[
Reply..]
@Jaffer, this isn’t the first time it’s been a problem so I guess it’s gone for good. One less script to worry about and besides, the blog loads faster now.
[
Reply..]
Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on May 21st, 2009 6:21 am:
LOL… I can’t help but think that Google did it on purpose. Being able to create the largest search engine in the world but not being able to properly code a widget. Don’t buy it!
I’m glad though that you’re up and running again.
Mikaels last blog post…Did You Commit and Follow Through with Article Marketing?
[
Reply..]
@Mikael, the cynic in me was thinking the same thing. The more that the web is becoming an operating system, the more Microsoft and Google are competitors.
Is it just a coincidence Google Friend Connect messed up Internet Explorer? Let me think on that
[
Reply..]
Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on May 21st, 2009 12:47 pm:
Was it a specific version of IE? I just loaded my site on IE with google friend connect without any problem.
[
Reply..]
Erica, I was testing with IE 6 under the Maxthon shell. It’s not that I’m gung-ho on IE, but a large portion of my readers still use it and it’s important that the blog works well in all of the browsers.
[
Reply..]
Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on May 21st, 2009 10:18 pm:
Funny title…..I just laughed for five minutes..thanks pal..
[
Reply..]
@BloggerMakeMoney..
Hi there! I really appreciate your comments but I want to remind you of my comments policy to provide a proper name or pseudonym besides just keywords so that I know I’m not being spammed.
Thanks muchly,
…BB
[
Reply..]
Blog Bloke (@blogbloketips) reply on May 31st, 2009 1:01 pm:
lol!!
Thanks for excellent blog post.
[
Reply..]
I had this widget and got rid of it as t slowed my site down and caused problems.
[
Reply..]
[…] is just a button away.Overall i must say experience is lovely. For most of common The Great Google Friend (dis)Connect - blogbloke.com 05/21/2009 Widgets. You gotta love them. They can tell your readers the local […]
Thanks Dev! http://bit.ly/2pkIJb
awesome site brotha http://bit.ly/1pXPfp
awesome site brotha http://bit.ly/1jshln
@Gaia Herbs, some look like downtown Las Vegas in the evening. http://bit.ly/2ub7iQ
@Gaia Herbs, some look like downtown Las Vegas in the evening. http://bit.ly/2ub7iQ
@CFI, @hospitalera … my head was spinning when I wrote it
http://bit.ly/1CQix9
RT @BLOGBloke: 10 Reasons Why I Don’t Like Your Blog http://bit.ly/2TRLSx
10 Reasons Why I Don’t Like Your Blog http://bit.ly/2TRLSx
@Humayon, if you are just a blogspot user then you don't need to bother with dns settings. But I still recommend ge… http://bit.ly/1fDYre
@hari saryono, I wrote an article about why we should not play into terrorists hands by linking to these horrific v… http://bit.ly/2aTKBw
@InternetMarketingMentor, here's another analogy for you. Your blog is your permanent home and social networks are … http://bit.ly/4hZtE
Optimize Your Blog - Making Your Blog Search Engine Friendly http://bit.ly/4A9Go5
@Mike, glad you liked it. If you're serious about blogging then Wordpress is the way to go. http://bit.ly/33GQUp
via @BLOGBloke: Hi There! Thanks for following. Why not ask me a question or for more blog tips visit http://tinyurl.com/5zjajb. Cheers!
@Michelle, you do not need a subdomain for it to work. A subdomain is also a bad idea for SEO. You need to go over … http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@Justin Gill .. thanks for saying so Justin. It always feels great to hear from another happy customer.
Cheers! http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
blog hating at http://www.blogbloke.com/10-reasons-why-i-dont-like-your-blog was just pinged to 91 Services!
@Kay, I never thought of it that way http://bit.ly/1CQix9
@humglum http://www.blogbloke.com/moving-wordpress-blogger/ basically… no. doesnt look like it'll happen.
@BLOGBloke,
I decided to get rid of the Blogger redirect as the redirect via modification to .htaccess works, t… http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@Michelle, redirect speeds will depend on the blog host's servers and your internet connection. You only need to pa… http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@drugi, you mean "you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you… http://bit.ly/4CvJh7
Finding Your Blog Voice http://bit.ly/5LD5kQ
@zarazek, don't get your domains through Wordpress. Use GoDaddy or something similar. http://bit.ly/1fDYre
Saw an advertisement for Moving Blogger to Wordpress Service. Why not save your money and read my free guide? http://bit.ly/6rFYFE They do
hmm.. informative )) http://bit.ly/6krJX6
I should notify my girlfriend about your post. http://bit.ly/6iqFfC
hello everybody, how are you all doing.i am liking this web sight i might start staying on it more. me i stay sick … http://bit.ly/6krJX6
@Cdathy Tibbles, I host images on my wordpress.com account. Let me know it goes. I always like to hear from happy c… http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@BLOGBloke, Yeh, I had a domain from a different comapny but Wordpress said I still had pay them to be able to link… http://bit.ly/1fDYre
@zarazek, so if I understand you correctly your blog was being hosted by Wordpress and then they insisted on chargi… http://bit.ly/1fDYre
I'm very happy with the refinements I made to the blog. What do you think? http://www.blogbloke.com/
How to Produce Your Own Podcast http://ff.im/-dm32o
"10 Reasons Why Twitter Is So Popular" ( http://bit.ly/8CM5gX )
Updated my Blokester Buttons for 2010. Grab yours now .. http://www.blogbloke.com/introducing-new-blokester-buttons/
How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/7EHvN8
RT @projournalist: How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/7EHvN8
RT @journtoolbox RT @projournalist: How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/7EHvN8
@BLOGBloke - really ok - am trying to pull off this from your blog http://bit.ly/5Zv5kW (thank you so much for documenting this - it rocks)
@BLOGBloke - do you think I could use this service to redirect or park my domain like you mentioned in http://bit.ly/5Zv5kW
Great tutorial on migrating your blog from #blogger to #wordpress. http://bit.ly/Nlr2k
@10timesone .. have you read this http://www.blogbloke.com/migrating-redirecting-blogger-wordpress-htaccess-apache-best-method/
@FijiLomalagi my email is at the bottom of my blog http://www.blogbloke.com/
@Kwame, you will have to play around with the Apache code .. http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@Ankit_A see if this helps.. http://bit.ly/Nlr2k
@drewmillikin My technical skills are limited, but I found this post to be very helpful: http://bit.ly/7LY764. My advice: pull the trigger.
@Adam Johnson .. it was my pleasure and glad it worked for you .. http://bit.ly/5Z3vbE
@gopmommy Your domain name redirection is done on your hosting service. Check this tutorial http://is.gd/8TXkI
@stepfanieb Check #6. http://bit.ly/Nlr2k
RT @BLOGBlokeTips How to Make Professional Podcast Videos for Your Blog (Vlog) http://bit.ly/2JgxLd