Livewriter Blogger

[Nellgggg58]

Are there any problems with live writer?

Been wonderful since big fix a couple of years ago

Today I find my photos have disappeared from the two blogs I use.

I write posts in livewriter then transfer to blogspot.

I can post pictures through blogger dashboard but not via livewriter.

This seems to be the old problem all over again.

Any solutions

Thank you

Hg

[Romanyrambler]

I have the same problem after loading version 6.2.0 onto a windows 11 laptop. I also have two blogs I post to. We had this problem once before when Google stopped photos being stored on Google photos.

Cheers Robin

[justmalt]

Same here. Beginning on Jan 11th 2024, I noticed that new posts on blogger created using Open Live Writer were not displaying images. If I add an image using the blogger web interface, the images do display. ALSO, and more importantly any posts added to blogger using OLW in the past, stopped displaying images as well. For me this means years of work have been erased from my site.

In my case, if you ultimately click on the Alt Text/Link for the image it DOES display correctly so I don't believe it's a permission issue; it just doesn't display on the post or main page.

I've tested on Windows 11, Windows 10 on Chrome, FireFox, Edge, multiple different computers, multiple blogger sites and multiple different ISPs.

It looks like sometime overnight on Jan 10th, something was changed on the google image side. This means that not only do we need a fix to OLW to allow it to work moving forward, but ALSO some mechanism to fix/update the thousands of images from the past that now no longer display. HELP!!

[Nellgggg58]

Glad it's not just me, I didn't think I would be. ...... And I too have lost 10 years of work on two blogs.

Blog posts I had scheduled have also got the same issue.

I can write text only posts in OLW and the then add pictures via the awful blogger interface, which is why I used OLW in the first place

I can also write posts and add pictures completely in Blogger with no problem.

However, I notice there is very little action on this site these days, which leads me to think that an OLW fix after the last big one a year or so ago, for a very similar issue, may no be forthcoming, as it was sorted by a group of volunteers and took some time to do, of which I've always been very grateful for, but perhaps always in the back of my mind was a niggle that it might not last, if there were anymore issues with pictures ...... And here we are.

I too suspect it's something to do with the Google image side of things, but not a clue where to start to look for help in forums or searches etc. especially when there must be thousands out there affected as last time. They must be posting for help too, it's finding them.

I now face a future just using blogger to write all future posts ..... However, knowing there are 4,000 posts displaying no pictures behind them is almost too overwhelming ......

This is awful, I may just give in blogging

[justmalt]

Hopefully more OLW users (there have to be a lot experiencing this issue) will find their way here. I did try to reach out to a few of the people that worked on the last OLW fix in the hope that they'll be interested in helping again. I'm also searching to see what others are doing but with little luck.

It's a shame that such a useful piece of software (OLW) isn't more successful and better supported. I was hoping Google would either buy it or develop a useful blogger tool but alas it seems like OLW and blogger are starting to feel like orphans. I'd definitely pay for OLW and OLW support if someone wanted to make that happen.

It's been a bit too much of a roller coaster ride on OLW, especially since Google seems to make changes that are better for Google but not necessarily better for blogger users and definitely not better for OLW users.

I wish there was a better alternative for OLW and/or Blogger and I too am reaching the breaking point for trying to use both tools.

I'll update here with anything useful I find and hopefully others will too.

[gep13]

@justmalt do you have a link to a blog post that is being affected by this?

[Nellgggg58]

http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/

This is my blog that's also affected by this

[Nellgggg58]

I also OLW with Blogger to produce posts

http://itsallfiddlefart.blogspot.com/

Have lost 1,000 of pictures, still a few left, but they are in posts not written with OLW and from a few years ago.

I can still produce posts with pictures on Blogger however it's not the easiest thing to use and the overall presentation isn't good.

[gep13]

@justmalt said... In my case, if you ultimately click on the Alt Text/Link for the image it DOES display correctly so I don't believe it's a permission issue; it just doesn't display on the post or main page.

I am not sure if this is correct or not. If you look at the link that @Nellgggg58 provided, looking at the network tab in Chrome when opening the page, there are HTTP 403 Forbidden responses when requesting the images:

But if you request the image directly in the browser, it opens fine:

https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1eA6mu4R1z02TuRBWOAkOm5pLVTYX8sMQ

But there is a redirect, which takes you to here:

https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=1eA6mu4R1z02TuRBWOAkOm5pLVTYX8sMQ&authuser=0

I have no real idea what any of this means though, just capturing information as I find it, in the hope that someone is able to piece it all together.

[Nellgggg58]

If I remember correctly, when we had the last glitch, it wasn't possible to use OLW to post pictures to Blogger, however no pictures from past posts on Blogger were lost.

With this current issue all pictures posted to Blogger using OLW have also been lost, making this an even worse situation than before.

Nothing was lost with the past issue, just the ability to post pictures via OLW. This issue has destroyed my two blogs.

[Nellgggg58]

In case I wasn't too clear ..... This issue has wiped all the pictures from 1,000 of historic posts on both my blogs.

[gep13]

@Nellgggg58 said... With this current issue all pictures posted to Blogger using OLW have also been lost, making this an even worse situation than before.

From what I can see, the pictures are not lost. The initial attempt to render them is causing an HTTP 403 response, so the images aren't showing up. Attempting to browse to the pictures directly is working, so the images are still there, they aren't lost, they are not displaying correctly on your blog.

Hopefully this is just a configuration issue between blogger and Google, and it will get resolved. I don't think that this is a OpenLiveWriter specific issue.

[justmalt]

Agreed. Here's a link for me:

https://justmalt.blogspot.com/2024/01/wild-turkey-freedom-kentucky-straight.html

If you go back out to the main page you can see it doesn't display there either but as mentioned above, if you click through to the Alt Text link, the image ultimately DOES display. I'd agree that maybe they aren't lost but there's maybe some redirect that's not working properly on Google/Blogger's end. If google recognizes and can fix this, it will also be up to OLW to patch it to work moving forward.

[nelsonkodama]

Sad news:

https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/237792581/blog-images-disappear?hl=en&sjid=998929477198657606-SA

https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/252989027/shared-jpgs-in-my-google-drive-no-longer-loading-in-blogger-since-10-01-2024?hl=en&sjid=15144354421010158716-SA

https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/253109807/images-suddenly-missing-from-new-and-old-posts-on-blogger-thousands-missing?hl=en&sjid=15144354421010158716-SA

It seems an update or a patch for OLW will be necessary.

[gep13]

@justmalt @Nellgggg58 what happens if you go into the section described here: https://support.google.com/blogger/answer/13656070?hl=en does it say that you have unsupported URLs?

[justmalt]

At least the issue is gaining some attention. I guess it depends on what Google/Blogger do or don't do. I'm hoping they can back off the change they made on Jan 10th or implement/correct the redirect so older images work again. Moving forward, I suspect OLW will need an update to post images to the new/proper Google location for new posts.

[gep13]

@nelsonkodama said... It seems an update or a patch for OLW will be necessary.

What change are you suggesting within OLW? I am still playing catch up in the links you provided.

[justmalt]

In my case, I don't seem to have the Manage unsupported image selection available in my settings. (it doesn't appear). I only have:

Import content Back up content [Videos from your blog] [Media from your blog] Remove your blog

[justmalt]

I'm certainly hoping Google/Blogger will fix this WITHOUT the need for an OLW update. New posts created with OLW do not display images so unless Google/Blogger make a change that helps that (now and moving into the future) OLW will likely need a change to publish images to the new/correct Google location.

[gep13]

While I have contributed changes to this repository in the past, they were only very small changes. I have just tested, and I don't have commit rights to the repository, so wouldn't be in a position to get a fix out. I have also just tested building the application, and my development environment isn't setup with the right software to allow it to build properly, so would need to get that up and running before being able to look at any code changes. Let me ask some people about getting access to the repository in case changes are needed here.

[justmalt]

Thank you for trying.

[Nellgggg58]

It's getting a bit too complicated for me now, i know nothing of codes etc. I'm just a mature lady what blogs!!! But I will check out the link as asked and report back just in case it's anything different to justmalt's. I'll keep my eye on things, but it's all probably beyond me.
At least I helped highlight the issue as soon as it happened. I guess there's now decisions to be made, carry on and only post within blogger, leaving old posts as they are in the hope of a fix, even though it looks awful. Start a new blog entirely, but keep old blogs live just in case of a fix, then delete entirely six months or so if no fix is found. Or just find something else to do!

11 years work gone overnight!

[Nellgggg58]

Sorry

Thank you Gep13 for your response, help and concern, it is much appreciated

[justmalt]

For now, I'm posting the text via OLW and then adding just the image in the blogger web interface and then readjusting the image using OLW. It takes literally three times as long for each post.

[nelsonkodama]

From https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/252989027?hl=en&msgid=253316209:

Hi guys, I have "fixed" the links via a work-around (until this issue is resolved or a way forward is found).

I have written a Javascript which runs 5 secs after the page loads, looks for the img elements and for those which are sourced from Google Drive, it re-writes the links such that they work..

Here it is, I hope it helps:

[justmalt]

Interesting. Has anyone tried it?

[nelsonkodama]

I've tried. It works despite the fact that the images are a little blurred:

I've added a Javascript element to the blog layout:

[justmalt]

And you just insert that code as an HTML/JavaScript gadget somewhere on your page?

[nelsonkodama]

Yes. That's what I did.

[justmalt]

OK thank you. I'll try it out when I'm in front of my computer again today.

[Nellgggg58]

Thank you for this, I will also give it a try.

I've been trying to write posts solely in Blogger, perhaps it's just me but it's an absolute nightmare, taking me hours to format a single post!

Thank you again

[Nellgggg58]

Sorry ....... I tried, but failed miserably.

Could I have instructions as how to do this work around ...... as I only have a very basic knowledge of the inner workings of such things!

[justmalt]

I think you add an HTML/JavaScript gadget to your blogger page, paste the code above into it, and save it. I haven't been in front of a computer to try it yet.

[Nellgggg58]

That's how I read it, it didn't work for me, but I will try it again tomorrow.

Ahhhh, I tried it in one of the new blogs I am setting up ...... Didn't think of putting it in my original blog ...... Duh!

[nelsonkodama]

News: https://support.google.com/blogger/thread/252989027?hl=en&msgid=253641833

[toobob]

Same problem here. I always use OLW and, as of today, find images post as links but do not display. This is in new posts as well as nearly all of over 4,000 posts since 2009. Strangely, some images in older posts still display but I have no idea why.

I looked for the "Manage unsupported inages" as did justmalt and also do not have the option.

I sure hope it is fixable as I can't imagine manually repairing 10s 0f thousands of image links.

[Nellgggg58]

So sorry toobob ..... It's devastating.

Until there is a fix, I've just started all over again with two new blogs using Blogger only, no OLW.

[justmalt]

I tested the above code on two different blogs (inserted a HTML.JavaScript gadtet into my page)

I'm sad to report, it didn't change anything. The images are still not displaying until you click all the way through to the Alt Text link.

[justmalt]

UPDATE: I tested again and after a bit of tweaking, the script above is working. The images are blurry, but they DO display. Ultimately there needs to be a permanent fix and perhaps an update to OLW to make sure images work in the future. I just hope this doesn't cause Google/Blogger to walk away from a permanent fix.

[justmalt]

Keep in mind there is a 5-second delay so when you initially think it may not be working, it may just be delayed before it works.

[nelsonkodama]

I am afraid that since there was a Google policy change regarding third-party cookies, there will be no fix from Google.

[justmalt]

I guess we'll see. It does sound like the Blogger image mess was and unintentional side-effect of the 3rd party cookies change. I'm not sure how a 3rd party cookie change could cause such a huge problem for so many, but hopefully that means they can quickly apply a fix to get us all back to normal with blogger images. I think the real question is if Google/Blogger are concerned about blogger images at all and if they're concerned about images added using Open Live Writer. I've been using Google products for long enough to know that they aren't necessarily concerned about fallout and issues caused by changes that they make for another reason. I've also used Google long enough to know that if the issue has gone on this long (7-days now), it's either a tough fix OR they don't plan to address it in any way.

I'm hoping at a minimum that Open Live Writer releases a new version of the software to address the issue (assuming Google/Blogger don't fix it in the meantime). Personally, I'd like to get back to using OLW for new posts and not having to add images using the Blogger web tools. It literally triples the time it takes me to create a post so if this is the long term "fix" then it likely means the end of my sites.

[nelsonkodama]

I agree. Blogger's post editor is horrible.

I am just a common user, but I hope they release an OLW patch to change the image's location (if it is possible, of course). I think Imgur would be a good option.

[justmalt]

Assuming google doesn't do something to just fix this, I think OLW will need a patch to conform to whatever google is doing with images. I think if you head toward a different service like Imgur, we'll likely have the same problem down the road when Google stops supporting Imgur or something else changes.

[Nellgggg58]

I am afraid a fix with OLW is very doubtful as the last large fix about 18/24 months ago was done by a group of volunteers, who I am always grateful too, who worked on it tirelessly to fix it. I guess they are no disbanded.

OLW was abandoned by Microsoft a good few years ago and not updated, it was the work of the volunteers who did last update.

I think we are scuppered!

[justmalt]

I guess we'll see. If there was ANY alternative to Open Live Write, I'd love to know what it is, but for now OLW is the best tool by far. I keep hoping Google or someone else will buy OLW and charge a support fee to keep it up to date. If google owned it and made it their Blogger editor, they'd have a huge advantage over Wordpress (hint hint).

Without that happening, I'm hoping someone will pick up OLW support and get it working again. If not, I'd say there will likely be a bunch of people dropping out of Blogger and OLW.

[gep13]

@Nellgggg58 said... I am afraid a fix with OLW is very doubtful as the last large fix about 18/24 months ago was done by a group of volunteers, who I am always grateful too, who worked on it tirelessly to fix it. I guess they are no disbanded.

I have worked with some of the original maintainers of this repository, and I have been given access in order to make changes, and to ultimately make a change, once it is decided what the change needs to be.

I am still not clear on exactly what the change is required though.

[justmalt]

Thank you. That is certainly good news. I would assume until Google reacts and makes a change OR Google ignores the issue and marches forward, it will be hard to make any change. Assuming Google does nothing, I'd say OWL would need to post its images to the same location as images published through the Blogger web interface.

If google reacts and fixes this, I still think it's worth trying to mimic the blogger web interface image locations so that OLW is a bit future-proof for future Google changes. Personally, I'm not optimistic that Google will do anything, however with so many people and SO many images being affected, I'm hoping they make it right somehow. I guess time will tell, but in the meantime, it's a lot more work to do what used to be a simple posting process with OLW and not a process that I think will be maintainable for me and many others.

[nelsonkodama]

Thank you so much, @gep13.

I agree with @justmalt. Regardless of whether there will be fixes or not from Google, I think mimicking the blogger editor image location is the best solution.

[gep13]

Can one of you clarify, perhaps with the aid of an example blog post, what the URLs generated by Blogger look like? I think that will help understand the necessary changes.

[justmalt]

Keep in mind I DO have the fix JavaScript installed so it will adapt and post the image 5-seconds after you load the page.

I added this post including the image using Open Live Writer: https://justmalt.blogspot.com/2024/01/testing-1-2-3google-images.html

If I copy the link address from the image before or after the Javascript kicks in I get the following link (the image is blurry because of the JavaScript)): https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1ys9I6kLMY05n5TEb57CWmoMgFfO3KrtE

If I click on the Alt Text link or image, the actual clear (non-blurry) image link is: https://drive.usercontent.google.com/download?id=1ys9I6kLMY05n5TEb57CWmoMgFfO3KrtE&authuser=0

If I add the same image to the same post using the Blogger Web Interface instead of OLW, the image displays clearly and the link is:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVt1xS_3gCC0ej9usV6Uv-qV6ph_aPIkctF-Moqc2Xd_vdRpiytwQw3rHsTbbJ7qQKCgThHJVs77qSm-26uDul4JESrVL-ZejK4Nfvo9MTSYHCt5cDx3QfLskyMLN-I8Rm93qzjU8eJssAJrhzn0P8UpFFrN8LUx0DGdmmEF1fZAmaOmuQFRR-EKShn3c/s797/ADKLojRide.jpg

I hope this helps. I'm happy to test anything you'd like and I'll leave the test post out there.