Blogger: fun to frustrating to improved to frustrating again

This morning I finally posted a request for help on an ongoing issue which seems to be getting a lot of requests for help and little attention from Blogger/Google.  Below is my forum help request:

Your Blogs URL: http://vagrantmemories.blogspot.com

Browser(s) used: Firefox
Location:

Layout Issues [bX-q0tcxb] was posted in Blogger: Known Issues/Outstanding  on November 7, 2009.  There are numerous requests for help, clarification, a bug fix in the Google and Blogger help forums yet no one seems to answer the question of how to help users fix their blog layout problems.  Can SOMEBODY please give us a hand?

My specific problem is that I have a custom layout which I finally manged to get to work late last year.  Now I can no longer see the "Add Gadget" layout on my right sidebar in the Add Elements screen.  My individual widget configuration icons how up on my homepage but these do not allow me to fix the layout or add gadgets either.  I just do not know enough code anymore to try to edit the raw html which I did try. 
I do not want to learn the [_b:whatever goes in all these tags_] language either, when there is a WYSIWIG.

As I said above, I do not want to learn blogger code.  I am tired of learning code after 10 years.  Coding is not my profession so why should I continue to fry my valuable brain cells and waste my time?  I no longer care about the latest fabulous gadget for the most part.  All I want is to be able to write, provide relevant supporting content and be done with it.
The advent of coding wizards and widgets was supposed to take care of that problem for non-coders.  Not so apparently here on Blogger.


If you are still reading, you might guess I am frustrated.  Yes, I am.  I moved another blog here because Wordpress did not provide the functionality I needed.  Once that blog was moved, I found it receives more traffic at it's old space on Wordpress than either of my blogs here on Blogger.  I expected to receive more traffic for the same content on a Blogger based blog site but apparently Google does not drive the same amount of traffic to it's own blog function that it drives to Wordpress.  Huh?


I confess I have neglected VagrantMemories in the last year or two; I confess I was already frustrated with Blogger before moving the second blog here but did so anyway.  Maybe it is time for me to cough up for my own domain and self-host all my content in order to solve functionality problems.  I have resisted doing so over the years because it would be an out of pocket expense as I do not write for money.  In the twenty minutes or so it has taken me to write this little exercise in catharsis, my Amazon Associates widget is still "initializing" to find relevant content on Amazon.  So much for monetizing any of my content.  So much for functionality.


I would like to say that I will stand my ground and leave this post on the front page until the question in Help Forums is answered for me and the others still getting the
bX-q0tcxb error message but that probably will not happen.  I am sure the documentary review I was planning to post today will end up pushing this post into the archive, or some other thing will catch my attention.