Friday 7 August 2009

A Techno-Crisis Strikes Again

I've been trying off and on this afternoon to schedule some new posts here but each time I try, and no matter which computer I work with, Blogger is refusing to allow me to paste any text into the little box where my posts go. So while I have quite a few posts saved to Word and ready to go, I can't move them from my computer onto my blog.

I've tried right-clicking in Blogger's text editor but the "paste"option is greyed out; I've tried using CTRL-V but that doesn't work either. I have made sure that I've copied the text I want (by pasting it into an email, and a new Word document): I can't think of anything else I can do.

Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me? And if it's not just me, can anyone suggest how I could get round it?

29 comments:

Mary Gray said...

I have this problem too!! I'll watch to see if anyone has a solution.

DOT said...

Me too. It seems to happen sporadically and for no rational reason - but that's computers based on fuzzy logic for you.

Maggie Dana said...

Hello Jane:

Am at the beach with family ... my daughter-in-law uses Blogger (we're at the kitchen table with our Mac) and I had her paste some text into Word to see if it works.

It does.

It's 10:00 am (East Coast time), so perhaps your problem is solved by now.

I emailed you last week about 'getting together'. Did you get it? I'm home next week so let's set up a phone date.

Maggie

BigFatLion said...

If it's not solved -- Have you tried a different browser?

BigFatLion said...

Before you try that, delete all your temporary files and clear your cookies.

(That last bit has nothing to do with eating biscuits.)

Sue Houghton said...

I gave up trying to cut and paste from Word. It just wouldn't let me do it. Maddening when I'd written a long post.

Anonymous said...

There are a number of possibilities...

* This could be an issue specific to Blogger. You might want to check the lists of known issues.

* It could be a browser issue, as BigFatLion suggested. Try using a different one such as Firefox or Chrome (I'm guessing you normally use IE).

* Are you using Windows? Occasionally I get general clipboard failures where nothing will paste anywhere. Try pasting from (say) Word into something other than a browser, e.g. Notepad. If the clipboard has failed, you'll need to log out of Windows and log in again.

That's me out of ideas for now. I hope you get this solved.

Nicola Morgan said...

Jane, I'm really sorry you're having this problem. very frustrating. I haven't had that problem (though pasting from Word is not my usual method) but i DO have another problem: I can't schedule posts ahead. So, I tell it when i want it to post, then i click publish and it suddenly IS published. Which is not what used to happen or what is meant to happen. It's an intermittent fault, in that I've had two episodes before, but this one is especially frustrating as I have specific dates during the book festival that i want to get things scheduled for.

I don't want anyone to take time on my problem over yours, but do YOU happen to know the answer? I'm using firefox.

Gah, eh??

BigFatLion said...

http://knownissues.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

Useful blog for bloggers about Blogger.

Anonymous said...

Nicola: Scheduled posts are flaky at the moment. See here for details. The issue has not yet been marked as fixed.

miss pitch said...

I have this problem with Mac Pages, but if I save it in Text Edit as an RTF, then paste it, no problem. Is there an alternative text editor in Windows? If so, perhaps try pasting into that, saving, then pasting into Blogger. Good luck.

Beleaguered Squirrel said...

I have a similar problem, and I suspect the problem lies with Firefox rather than with Blogger. Or rather maybe with the cobination of Firefox and Blogger. At any rate I find that if I switch to Internet Explorer, that sorts the problem out.

Quillers said...

Jane, when you're trying to copy across to blogger are you (on blogger) in Rich Text Editor or html editor? Sometimes if I try and copy something across, but the blogger screen is on Rich Text Editor, it won't copy. It's just a matter of clicking 'html editor' at the top of the post screen, and it seems to work then.

HelenMWalters said...

Blogger hates me at the moment and keeps telling me off and not letting me onto my blog or anyone else's. I don't know what it thinks I've done. Sigh. Hope yours is sorted soon.

Derek said...

Try copy and paste to Notepad first, then copy the Notepad version into Blogger.

Jan Jones said...

When this sort of thing happens I just power everything off, make a big mug of tea, then switch it all on again.

(My son tells me you can omit the tea stage, but what does he know?)

catdownunder said...

I did wipe my paws before I sent you a message Jane. I don't think I left any stray cat hairs around.
Is your in-box working? I left you a message there about something else.
Other than that, a furry rub of sympurrthy!

Vanessa Gebbie said...

I asked Mr Google both the Word/Blogger interface, as have many others it seems.

reply as follows:

"Blogger does not do well with any kind of cutting and pasting from Word. There is a lot of hidden formatting in Word docs that causes issues of all kinds on Blogger (and have for a very long time). I HIGHLY recommend that you only use a simple text editor if you need to compose your posts offline first and then only paste text when you paste them. Do the formating on the Blogger Interface itself."

Vanessa Gebbie said...

for 'both' read 'about'. I havent had my morning cuppa yet.

Nicola Morgan said...

Captain Black - thanks. Hope they get it sorted soon - it's driving me nuts. And hope Jane is sorted soon too!

Philip Sington said...

If your 'paste' option is greyed out, that means there is nothing in memory for the system to paste - which suggests that the problem does not lie with Blogger but with your cut & paste gizmos themselves - i.e. they are refusing to hang on to what you try to copy. I've had this happen sporadically. I would follow BigFatLion's advice (clearing out temporary files), then switch off the computer for 20 minutes (believe it or not that can actually make a difference) and then reboot.
Good luck!

Jane Smith said...

Maggie, good grief, I forgot to respond to you. I shall be at home next week and promise to email to arrange a phone-date with you. My only excuse is that I've been chauffeuring my sons around to various lessons (swimming, archery, typing, climbing) as it's the summer hols and I have NO time to myself right now.

Back on topic: I've cleared out caches and cookies and spyware and general detritus and it's still not working. I've checked that the stuff is in the memory by pasting it elsewhere, so that's not what's causing the problem; I've tried using text from various places and applications, in various formats too, but that won't work either.

And a few people have reported having trouble getting here and onto their own blogs, so I wonder if blogger is sagging under the summer heat. Doubt it.

Never mind. I shall persist.

Meanwhile, I can help with la Morgan's scheduling problem as it strikes me too.

Compose your post as usual; format it precisely; and then click on the "edit HTML" tag at the top. Highlight and copy it all; open a new "new post" page, paste everything into it and immediately type in the time and date you want the post to appear. That usually works.

I find that if I don't paste my work into a new page like that it invariably appears at the time I first created it (which can be weeks before I want it to appear).

Jan Jones said...

Try composing your posts in an email to yourself.

Then just copy and paste from the email when you want them.

That should circumvent the Windows formatting (mwah ha ha)

(Or use Wordperfect like I do. Never had a problem)

Beleaguered Squirrel said...

Have you tried using a different browser? I think that might fix it.

Anonymous said...

can anyone suggest how I could get round it?

Yes, dear Jane. Move over to Wordpress. I did this a year ago because of the many problems I had with Blogger. I'm sending you choccie martinis to help soothe your mood. I'd send margaritas, but we drank them all over the weekend.

Jane Smith said...

Cat, by the way--I got your email but have been too slackly summer-holidayish to respond. Sorry. I'm glad you like the book, which I think is GREAT.

I've tried posting things in from other applications but it makes no difference: Blogger won't let me copy and paste right now, which irritates me. I've been doing it that way ever since I began the blog and have no idea why I can't do it now.

I might well move over to Wordpress, if everyone promises to come with me. Because the number of problems I've had with Blogger lately are just ridiculous!

SG said...

I was able to copy and paste by going into the 'edit html' and pasting there.
GOOD LUCK!!
I hope you figured it out before you read this!!

Dave Pray said...

I too had this problem (Pasting from Word into Compose in Blogger) and it was solved by pasting into the edit HTML section.

Jane Smith said...

The "edit HTML" tab is my saviour. It's not completely reliable but it does mostly work, so I can now get pieces online, at last.

Thank you for all of your help. It really is appreciated.