Step AWAY from the button! -- this post requires you to read

Hi everyone, yesterday Peter wrote me asking what to do about the button on the blog dashboard when he signs in, that says "switch to the new version" (see screenshot at left) ... I told him to ignore that for now. In fact, I wrote, "Step Away from the Button."

I'm glad Peter asked. Then, today Stephanie was wondering why she couldn't write a blog post (beats me - she's on the list) but anyway, their questions reminded me that I have to update our blog to the New Blogger Version soon, because eventually it won't be optional whether we're using the new blogger or the old blogger.

Switching the blog over to the new version will affect each of you in one main way: after I make the switch, all Gettin' Together blog members will be required to use a Google account (or a Gmail account, which is related to a google account) in order to sign in. Personally, I really like Gmail. It's good because it filters 99.99999999% of spam. Plus you can access your email from any computer anywhere any time, and the Gmail search function is fantastic. At the very least, gmail is harmless.

If you are wondering about a google account or Gmail account, try reading these FAQs

If you already HAVE a gmail account, that's great - you use it to sign into blogger after I make the switch. Just go to sign in like you always do and use your gmail address to sign in. If you still can't figure out how to sign in, email me and I'll try to help.

So, after I make the switch which will be very soon ... UNTIL YOU MAKE THE SWITCH AS WELL, you will notice that you can still see the blog on your dashboard, but it will be grayed out and inaccessible. Once you switch your account over the the new blogger, you will be able to access the blog as before.

You can also ask me for a new invitation to join the blog on the new version. Then, you can accept that invitation by logging in to or creating a Google Account (or gmail account) to post to our blog.

Sorry this is all so confusing. I hope you don't run into problems. If you do, please email me at maureenshaughnessy(@)gmail.com and I will try to help. I don't know why Blogger didn't spend more of their time develoiping an easy and seamless way for team blogs to switch to the new version!!! Totally annoying!

I will announce when I have made the switch. I will then try to post a tutorial on how to use the new version of blogger. It's actually not going to look much different to you guys -- the main difference is that the administrator (me) can add more and better elements to our blog, it's easier to add them and we will have categories -- YAY! so that means we can start having sections of the blog for recipes, each family can have their own category, books, music, kids stuff, photos, travel, the family reunion, lots of other stuff and goodies.