Blogger Tips... Storage Space

Yeah, I know, kind of a boring topic... {yawn}.  But it IS an important one if you have a blog, so please keep reading.  ;)

I started up my blog in the Spring of 2008, and happily uploaded whenever and whatever I wanted to.  Up until around January of 2012, that is.  Apparently I hit my maximum allowable storage space with Blogger.  I learned about this important tidbit of info when I went to simply upload a photo onto my blog, and an error came up saying I had used up all of my allowable storage space and it kindly informed me that I now had to buy additional storage space.

What???   I did not know there was such a thing on a ‘free’ blog, but yes folks, there is.

I first tried deleting unneccessary photos and resizing already uploaded photos on my blog.  That didn’t free up ANY space – it seems that once it is used up, it is not coming back...lol.  (Edited to add:  this has worked for some people, but it didn't work for me.  Try this first before paying for additional storage space.)

So then I tried doing the whole internet search on the topic.  I asked questions in different forums... it seemed like I was the only person in the world that this had happened to.  How is that possible?  No one could offer me any help, and I never did find anyone out in cyber space that this had happened to.   (Of course it has happened to others, I just couldn't seem to find those people when I needed them/their help.)

So there I was, forced to buy extra Google storage space.  Really, it is not a huge expense at 1 year for $5 USD for 20GB, but it is an annual fee that I didn’t know I would be having to pay to be able to continue to use my free  blog.  As soon as I had signed up and paid for my additional space, I was then able to upload those necessary photos onto my blog.  There was no waiting period, so I was  happy with that.

Anyways, lesson learned.  This is what I NOW do... I resize all of my photos before I upload them onto my blog.  In my desperate search for answers, I learned that as long as your photos are at a maximum size of 800 pixels, they will not count towards your storage space on Blogger.  So there is the answer.  The tricky part is knowing to ask the question... ha!

How does one resize their photos to a max of 800 pixels, you ask?

Well, for you visual leaners (like myself), here’s a photo of where/how I Resize my photos in PicMonkey.com :

 

When you change the largest number to 800, it automatically calculates the smaller number for you. Easy peasy.  Then just click Apply.  Once you have completed all of your editing, then save your edited and resized photo onto your laptop/computer.

If you don't use PicMonkey.com, then you can find the Resize option in any photo editing website/program that you do use.

So there you have it.  You, like I was, are probably not aware of your maximum allowable storage space on your blog.   But if you are not resizing your photos, this will happen to you.  ;)

(Edited to add:  Someone left a comment for me to go into Picassa and delete unused photos in there to free up space.  I checked Picassa through Google, and I only have 37 photos stored in there, most of them recent and already resized.  So you could also check Picassaweb.google.com first to see if you can free up some space in there.  This is fun, and I'm now getting some good advice!)


I've had a question come up after posting, that I thought I should answer here:

 

Great question, Katy!  This is where you can check your storage space, just be logged into your blog first... Google Accounts

 

Since I am now resizing all of my photos, this is what my account shows:  "You are using 0 GB out of 20 GB(0%) of your storage."   :D

 

 

And if you are needing to purchase more storage space, please read this, as there have been some big pricing changes since I did my upgrade:  Google Storage Plans

 

 

I hope you found this tip helpful.

I will continue to add tips to my Blog Tips page, as time allows.