Have you ever tried to comment on a blog post only to have your profile not load? No matter what you do, you can't get the site to recognize you, so you're stuck commenting as "anonymous" (if the blog actually allows anonymous comments, otherwise you're just out of luck).
No, sorry, I don't have a fix for you. A few weeks back, I attempted to tackle the issue by asking if you had your cookies enabled. Alas, I don't think this solved the problem (but if you haven't tried that, try it first). But I was reminded of something a school IT guy told me. They search and research and ask various people in the hopes of finding someone who has fixed an issue.
While visiting my brother last month, I asked him the question. He did not have an answer for me, but he was able to articulate a question and input it into Google's Gemini. (Yes, I hate AI, but it gave an answer. It has to be useful for something.)
So, if you're stuck and have tried everything, there's one more thing to try.
But first I'll post the answer just in case some of you find it useful.
The question: Mac user reporting that their profile won’t stick. When they try to log in with user and pass, it doesn’t log them in. It vanishes. Is this more of a browser issue?
Because we were wondering if it was a browser thing (as some of you have reported that one browser works just fine while you have issues with another), we included that information. And Gemini replied that yes, it most likely is. This is good news as if you're having commenting issues, it might be a great time to download a different browser and use it instead. The answer Gemini gave:
Yes, this is almost certainly a browser issue, specifically tied to how Mac browsers (most notably Safari) handle cross-site tracking and cookie authentication.
Blogger frequently drops users into a "login loop" or vanishes the session immediately after authentication because it negotiates between two separate domains: [www.blogger.com](https://www.blogger.com) (the dashboard) and blogspot.com (the published content). If the browser blocks the communication between these domains, the session data won't stick.
So, basically, when you go to log in (so Blogger recognizes you), your info vanishes because of how the browser communicates with the website. Gemini gave some suggestions on how to fix it.
1. The Safari Culprit: Cross-Site Tracking
Safari has an aggressive native privacy feature called Intelligent Tracking Prevention (ITP). If they are using Safari, it routinely blocks the cross-domain authentication tokens required by Blogger.
The Fix: Have them go to Safari > Settings (or Preferences) > Privacy and temporarily uncheck "Prevent cross-site tracking".
After unchecking it, they should clear their history, restart Safari, and try logging in again.
This is for the specific Mac issue. If you're not on Mac, skip this and move on to #2.
2. Third-Party Cookie Restrictions (Chrome / Arc / Brave)
If they are using Chrome or a Chromium-based Mac browser, strict settings or extensions might be blocking third-party cookies, which prevents the Google authentication state from transferring to Blogger.
The Fix: Have them check chrome://settings/cookies and ensure third-party cookies aren't completely blocked, or add [*.]blogger.com and [*.]google.com to the allowed sites list.
This is for Mac, but it is probably similar for Windows-based systems. Then...
3. State/Onboarding Profile Corruption
Sometimes the login "vanishes" because the Google account is successfully authenticating, but the Blogger backend is bouncing them because the profile lacks a required Display Name or is stuck in an onboarding state.
The Fix: Have them open a new tab and go directly to [https://www.blogger.com/onboarding](https://www.blogger.com/onboarding) or [https://www.blogger.com/profile.g](https://www.blogger.com/profile.g). If it forces them to enter a display name, completing that step will instantly fix the dashboard drop-out.
I wonder if the above is anyone's issue. I'm sure someone is having that issue. And finally, the "quickest triage step":
Have them try to log in via a completely different browser (like Firefox) or an Incognito/Private window with all extensions disabled. If that works seamlessly, you've confirmed it's a localized cookie/privacy setting on their primary browser.
I hope this helps. If you're having this issue and this helps, or if you're having this issue and this doesn't help, please let me know. I'll keep my eyes and ears open and if I come across another way this could be solved, I'll let you know.
I haven't encountered this specific issue (at least not that I remember, anyway), but I do have a Mac and I do find I occasionally need to make sure I'm not using Safari when logging into some sites. It doesn't always play well with others, I guess.
ReplyDeleteThere you go! I was just thinking, I haven't ever had that issue. And that would be because I don't use macs.
ReplyDeleteYears ago, I had an issue staying signed into Blogger when I was commenting on my own blog. That particular glitch is what stopped me from switching back when WP was acting up. Since then though, the problem has disappeared. I did cave and create a new WP account some months back, just to comment on WP blogs without getting enraged each time. Why doesn’t technology work perfectly?!
ReplyDeleteI only show anonymous on my phone, even on my own blogs. I can sign in though. My problem is WordPress. I used to have an account, which I deleted. They remember I had the account though, so I can't comment if a blogger has comments set to either sign-in or use an email. WordPress remembers my email and wants me to sign-in, but of course I can't! I read blog posts (especially during April's A to Z) yet can't comment.
ReplyDeleteI think the only help for that is to create a new email. Unfortunately. Although, if you have a gmail, you can add a dot or a plus to it (https://gmail.googleblog.com/2008/03/2-hidden-ways-to-get-more-from-your.html) and maybe WordPress would see that as a new address? Worth a shot.
DeleteYou wrote a really nice plain English explanation. I never knew that the blogger domain and the commenting domain were two totally different domains. I I’m not sure if I want to get a different browser or just try to wrestle Safari into submission using your information. Probably whichever is less time-consuming because I do like Safari in general
ReplyDeleteWhatever works, really. I hope you're able to get it working, finally.
DeleteI've had to use Mozilla to comment on Blogger blogs on my old laptop. When I switched to my new Surface laptop last year, the problem was solved. I'm guessing I had some laptop problem interfering with Blogger. I really appreciate you trying to figure this out. I have followers who can't comment on my blog, even anonymously. I have to leave a comment for them.
ReplyDeleteGlad I don't have a Mac although Safari is on my iPad and I gave up using it for blogging as I could never stay logged in.
ReplyDeleteNow we know why.
DeleteI use Microsoft Edge and haven't had that problem.
ReplyDeleteGood information. Thanks. (It helps to know which browsers have no issues.)
DeleteI don't have all that many issues with blogging.
ReplyDeleteNot an issue I have had but I have a few regulars that always comment anonymous. I wonder if it's an issue they may be having.
ReplyDeleteI never have that problem on the computer, but I do sometimes on my phone. I think the phone does a lot more forced updates. Maybe that has something to do with it?
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense, actually. I had that problem a couple years ago, for a couple of months and then it vanished. Was using chrome which is supposed to auto update but I was advised to remove and re download chrome. After that the comment issue vanished.
ReplyDelete