Have you checked to see if your blog is marked malicious?

I just learned something new... that my blog was mistakenly marked as malicious.  I didn't even know this could happen. Most of you probably didn't know this about my blog unless you have McAfee software on your computer (thanks to Kimba at the Caffeinated Book Reviewer for pointing this out to me).  Turns out since I kept changing my template on Blogger last night like at least 20 times (if you missed why I did that read about my template and comment crazyness ) it confused McAfee (at least this is what I think happened).  You may not even know it, but yours could be marked too.  If my followers had never pointed it out I would just be blogging like normal.

I learned that you can check if your blog has malware at McAfee Site Advisor.  If you go to this link there is a box on the right hand side where you can put your blog name or any blog for that matter and see their rating from McAfee.  I did this and of course my blog was marked (I think it might've thought I was hacked).  So then I went on the hunt as to why McAfee marks blogs as Malicious.  I didn't really find any specific reasons listed anywhere. There are a lot of reasons.  I am sure though that it is because there was too much activity with my template last night.

I took off each widget one by one and kept scanning the site to see if one of those was causing it.  The site continued to be marked.  I went on the hunt to see how to check my blog for malware.  There are three greats sites I learned about here that you can use to scan your blog.  They are Sucuri, Virus Total, and Comodo.  All three showed my blog is clean.

So now what's the next step?  I went to the McAfee site and set up an account.  I emailed them, started a ticket to get them to help me get my blog marked green again.  It is really annoying because followers who usually come might not click to come into my blog and new followers are probably scared off completely.  Hopefully I caught it fast enough. I don't know if this is a blogger issue or not.  Honestly I have no idea how long my blog as been marked as Malicious.

Today McAfee already closed my ticket.  My blog is in the green!!  Yeah!!  It really didn't take long for them to switch my blog from red to green in less then 24 hours. I still have some fixing to do on my blog from screwing around with the template but slowly it's all coming back together.

Be sure to check your blog... you never know if readers aren't able to get to your site!

Blog comment.. template... crazyness!

It's 2 in the morning as I write this. Blog template DRAMA. 

So lately my comments haven't really been working. I would hit reply to the comments you all leave and nothing happens. It's been happening for about a week now. So tonight I decided to do something about it. See... I had already been thinking about comments lately anyways. Who really comes back and reads what I say to them? I comment back on every comment people leave here. I have been thinking about Disqus lately because I know that when I comment on a blog and I see that little icon that says I have 8 Disqus comments back I actually click on it and go and look at them.  See in the photo below I have 6 comments to look at.

I just couldn't decide.  I have heard of some people not really liking it because everyone has to set up some sort of account to use it.  You can't just by anonymous.  Anyways... so I just stuck with Blogger's comment system.  Tonight I decided to take care of this little issue.  I did all kinds of research on the internet for this odd thing with the reply business.  I found several things to do.. I cleared my cookies, my cache, my history, logged in and out of Blogger, posted on their message board.  Then I found some information about messing with my HTML.  Now my template is not done by me.  I am not someone who knows a lot of HTML.  But I have really learned a lot.. and I don't think I am an idiot.  So... I followed what this says:  I went into the widget templates.. I reset the post templates.  And then my template was like.. oh no you didn't! The right side bar on my blog was so odd... it had a huge space and made the widgets on that side go far far far down the page.  I went over and over the HTML and couldn't see any thing that would cause a space.

I kept trying to put back the template I had saved just prior to switching everything.  Didn't change.  I simply went back in and changed the words in the HTML back to what they were.  Didn't change.  I also have been very careful to back up my blog once a week because we all know everyone has been talking about how the Google Gods will delete your blog for no reason! (Well on Blogger at least).  I then go to look at this file I have been so careful to take care to save every week.  It looks legit to me... like an HTML file.  Mind you there are no spaces like the other ones I was working with... but I think, of course it's going to work.  This is what everyone says will save your blog if you are hacked or God forbid the Google gods delete me. So I copy and paste what I see... No says Blogger. NO.. this is not HTML or some such thing.  I am like WHA??   I look at what I have saved all these weeks and think about it... do I really want to sit there and try to figure out where the spaces should be in the super huge paragraph?  No way.

Now I really start thinking... is this the time to finally switch out of Blogger.  I had been thinking about that too since everyone is talking about it all over the blogospere. So then I turn to my husband.  Now he has a "blog" that he has had for many years.  I don't think he's used it in two years but yet we pay $10 a month for it.  I say to him... can't that webpage host several webpages (I have no idea if I worded that right?).  He says yes.. but it would have to have the name of that blog at the end.  So it would be Angelasanxiouslife.blah blah blah.com  Whatever I don't even care anymore.  I say.. is it wordpress.  He says no.. I'm like well what is it.  He tells me it's Joomla.  OK I'm like whatever that is.  So I say can I just switch my blog over?  He's tells me no and so I say why and he tells me this about CMS and that about such and such.  Something about an RSS feed. Then I do Google it... well apparently I can't move it without writing script.  So I am back to square one. Joomla = waste of money. Edit:  He told me that he actually has a site he uses Joomla on not the other way around.  Oops!

I then go on the hunt for the original template for this blog.  Mind you the company that provides it no longer offers free templates.  So it's no where to be found.  I tweet them and email them.  Of course it's late so I really didn't expect them to answer.  And who knows if they will... this is a free template and so they may not even want to provide service for it.  I am just lucky they still host it.  Then I Google and and finally WALLA I find the HTML.  I upload it and the sidebar corrects itself even though all my widgets are gone.  POOF. 

I sat down and thought about it.  It was late (just like it is now) and I thought.. whatever.  At least this will make me clean up my sidebars.  I went in.. put the bad template in so I could at least copy my widget codes into word.  Went back to the original template that erased everything and now will slowly add the widgets back in.  Don't let anyone tell you that you don't work hard on your blog!  I mean ... WOWSERS.  I don't know what the moral of this story is.. but now I'll go to bed!

OH PS.. After all this drama... this did cause the comments to CORRECT themselves.  I can reply now!!!

PSS:  Update:  What happens after all this?  Malicious Site!