Peggy K's Creator News

This week Google added new settings to the notification bell, Blogger now requires private blog readers to have a Google account, AdSense will start displaying invalid activity deductions, and Hangouts for Android reaches a b illion downloads. Microsoft offers Office for Android phones, and Facebook messenger no longer requires a Facebook account. And rainbows are everywhere!

Happy Summer Solstice and Father's Day both! This week there are tips for managing your photos, getting paid through AdSense, Google+ collections, YouTube creators and more!

This week's big announcement: YouTube Gaming with better live streaming for gamers will launch this summer. We've also got tips and information for YouTube Creators and users of Google Photos, Google+, Hangouts, Blogger, AdSense, and more. Image:    Un dimanche après-midi à l'Île de la Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat (Long ago, before Call of Duty live streams, people had to find ways to entertain themselves on sunny Sunday afternoons)

If you've been uploading your videos to Google Photos, Google+ or Google Drive, you may be wondering how you can find them, short of scrolling through your entire list of uploads. Fortunately there are shortcuts to see all your video uploads together. July 29, 2015: Google+ Photos has been retired. August 1, 2016: Picasa Web Albums retired. All albums can be accessed in the new Google Album Archive . July 10, 2019:   Google Photos will no longer automatically sync photos and videos with Google Drive How to find your video uploads: Google Photos Instructions: desktop computer Instructions: mobile app Shortcut to videos:  photos.google.com/search/_tv_ Shortcut to created movies:  https://photos.google.com/movies Google Drive Instructions: desktop Instructions: mobile app Desktop shortcut link: drive.google.com/drive/search?q=type:video YouTube Instructions: desktop Instructions: mobile app Desktop shortcut link: www.youtube.com/my_videos

This week photos and videos at Google got a closer look, including the new Google Photos, and uploads to YouTube, Maps, Blogger and Hangouts. Meanwhile Google+ was removed from the Google navigation bar, joining YouTube, Maps and Calendar and other Google products in the app launcher.  And there are tips and updates to improve your productivity and keep your account secure. Read on!

Update November 2022: Hangouts has shut down , and it's likely the images you shared to Hangouts will eventually disappear from the Album Archive. Update July 2016: Picasa Web Albums will be retired August 1st. You can find your Hangout photo albums in the new  Google Album Archive  ( get.google.com/albumarchive ). ( Learn more ) Update July 2015: Google+ Photos will be retired July 29th. You can find your Hangout photo albums in Picasa Web Albums (picasaweb.google.com). Update November 2015: links to Google+ Photos now redirect to Google Photos (photos.google.com). There is no way to access Hangouts albums in Google Photos. When you share a photo in a Google Hangout cha t or take a photo in a video call it is added to a shared photo album that is visible to you and anyone else in the Hangout. Hangouts photos are  not  displayed in the new Google Photos ( photos.google.com ). However you can find your Hangouts albums in Google+ Photo albums or Pica...

The new Google Photos  offers unlimited free uploads of "High Quality" images of up to 16MP . You can add images from Google Photos to your Blogger blog posts, but they may use some of your Google Account's storage . How to insert an image into a Blogger blog post Upload an image from your computer to your blog post Insert an image auto-backed up to Google Photos Insert From my phone (may use storage) Insert From a URL  (will not use storage) Insert From Picasa Web Albums any images your Google, Google+ or Picasa Web Albums Having trouble? You must be signed into Blogger with the same email you use to sign in to Google Photos or Picasa Web Albums  It may also be necessary to enable your browser to accept 3rd party cookies. Extensions may interfere with inserting images, especially those like AdBlock, NoScript or Ghostery Read on for detailed instructions and information about inserting images in your Blogger blog posts.

Update March 2023: You can finally access and manage your blog's images from inside your Blogger account in the new Media Manager .  Update July 2016:  Picasa Web Albums will be retired August 1st. You can find your Hangout photo albums in the new  Google Album Archive  ( get.google.com/albumarchive ). ( Learn more ) Note: Google+ Photos will be retired starting July 29, 2015. You will still be able to find your Blogger albums in Picasa Web Albums after that dat e (as of 11/19/15 Google+ Photos links redirect to Google Photos). Picasa Web Album note: albums currently only display up to 1000 images, but can hold up to 2000 images. If you post a lot of images to your blog, they may not all be visible. Don't panic! They are still there.  Do you know where your Blogger blog's image albums are stored? You can find them in your Google+ Photos or Picasa Web Albums ,    Google Album Archive  ( get.google.com/albumarchive ) ,  but not your...