22 Housekeeping - Updates, Issues and Forthcoming Features Thursday, July 2, 2009 /

I realize my posts have been rather scarce lately, mostly because I've been so busy with work and other commitments which have left me so little time to write posts for this blog.



So let me explain what's happening with Blogger Buster at the moment, along with a few hints about what you can expect in the forthcoming weeks.

Problems with my file hosts

Many of you have reported problems downloading templates and other files which are hosted on http://bloggerbuster.com.



This is because my hosting service has been completely overpowered by the sheer number of requests for files and has been temporarily suspended. I need to transfer all of my files over to a new (enhanced) hosting account which can cope with this level of bandwidth, but I'm afraid it's taking a little longer than expected due to some issues I'm having with FTP.



I may well need to move all these files to a completely different location, and if so, I will of course update with the new URLs you'll need to download these files. My main concern is to find a reliable file host for all our file-hosting needs, and which won't impact too much on the running of this site. Please bear with me while I make new arrangements for these files.

What I'm working on now

There have been several developments for Blogger (and perhaps more planned for coming months), so as you may imagine I've been working on these developments to create useful resources and tutorials for you all.



In particular, I've been learning a lot about the Gadget API for Blogger. This enables us to create interesting, useful and interactive gadgets for Blogger using a system which (I feel) is a great improvement to using widget installers.



I've created a few Gadgets for Blogger now which I'll post about over the coming days (though you may already be able to find some if you search for "Blogger Buster" when adding a gadget to your layout).



Update #1

I've just managed to get a new laptop, and have spent the past few days transferring over my files and settings. Finally, all is fixed so I'll have a new post (or two) up this weekend :)

Blogger is still looking for web designers and artists!

A couple of weeks ago, the Blogger team tweeted a request for web designers and artists who are interested in designing templates for Blogger.com.



If you're a web/blog designer or artist, this is something you may well want to check out. You can find out more and register your interest in participating on this page.

Requests for tutorials and gadgets

If you have any particular requests for tutorials or Blogger gadgets, please let me know about these by leaving your suggestions in the comments.



While I can't promise to fulfil every request, I'll try to do the most popular ones over the coming weeks.



There's so much happening at the moment and many more updates in progress which I really look forward to showing you in the future.





Thank you all for visiting, subscribing and sticking around!