We previously announced that Blogger is up for a name change in the coming weeks, with the anticipated name being “Google Blogs.” This re-branding will be a part of a new level of unity between Google services, and is likely an effort to unite the various Google elements around the Google+ social network. The newest version of the Blogger interface also indicates that, simultaneous to the new brand, we should see a major facelift for the site.
The new version of Blogger can be seen and used right now at the Blogger Drafts site, and while some of the upcoming changes have been in Drafts for a while, there’s been a major surge of new features. Here’s a breakdown of items users can expect to see in the core Blogger / Google Blogs interface in the coming months.
- The overall layout has been changed dramatically. The cleaner look and feel, which is a broad, primarily white design with easy to spot buttons navigating you to core elements of the site, reflects the design priorities present in Google+ and the upcoming design of Gmail.
- Analytics will have its own segment in the new interface, allowing you to access blog analytic data directly from Blogger. (Previously, users had to visit the Analytics page itself.)
- The “New Post” segment has more space focused on text than previously.
- A new “Earnings” page is present for blogs that have AdSense integrated. While not complete just yet, it’s anticipated that the Earnings page will give a detailed breakdown of AdSense income.
Back in March, Google informed users that Blogger was due for some pretty major changes. This new interface in combination with the expected new brand are the likely key elements of that change.
[Sources include: Blogger Drafts & PCMag]
