Google+ is shutting down, here’s what it means for your Blogger blog

It’s official, Google+ will be dead by April 2019 and we now have confirmation about the dates in which features will be removed.

This is something we’ve all known was coming for a while, but the final decision was made due to low usage and challenges involved in maintenance, not to mention the rumours of many bugs and leaked data.

By April, your Google+ account and Google+ pages will be shut down. All content, including photos and videos, will also be removed from consumer Google+ accounts. You can download and save your content before April.

If you’re a Google+ Community owner or moderator, you can download the data from your Google+ Community. Additional data will be available for download by early March 2019.

You won’t be able to sign-in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-in button, but in some cases this may be replaced by a Google Sign-in button.

Here’s what is changing on Blogger

Your Blogger blog will continue as normal and all your posts will still be there. If you took advantage of Google+ special features on Blogger, you will no longer have access to these.

Google+ widgets
Support for the +1 Button, Google+ Followers and Google+ Badge gadgets in the Layout tab will no longer be available. These will be removed from your blog. 

+1 buttons
The +1/G+ buttons and Google+ share links at the end of blog posts and in the navigation bar will be removed. If you have a custom or third-party theme that includes Google+ features you may have to manually remove them (or ask your developer).

Google+ Comments
This one is causing major upset. As support for Google+ comments will also be closed, all blogs using Google+ comments will be reverted back to using Blogger comments. Comments posted via Google+ comments can’t be imported to Blogger comments. So yes, unfortunately, you will lose those comments.

Related: How to install DISQUS comments on Blogger

Google+ Profile
In March 2019, Blogger will revert to only having Blogger profiles. Users that have selected a G+ profile in the past will appear as unknown authors until they next login to Blogger and supply a new display name and avatar.

To switch back to the Blogger profile open the Blogger dashboard, click the Settings tab and User Settings. Then under General > User Profile select Blogger and click the Save.

Google+ Images
Images uploaded to your blogs, which were hosted on Google+ or on the Google+ Album Archive, will be removed.

Using Google+ APIs or Google+ Sign-in
If you’re a developer using Google+ APIs or Google+ Sign-in, you should migrate to the more comprehensive Google Sign-in authentication system. More information here.