Chic on a Shoestring Decorating: How to Stop Your Blog Posts from Being Copied and Pasted aka. Stolen


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How to Stop Your Blog Posts from Being Copied and Pasted aka. Stolen

Hello there,  What's shakin'?

I'm no longer going to truncate my posts!

HOORAY!!

I found a way to protect my blog from the loser blog post thieves that I'm going to share with you.  It's not a guarantee that it won't be stolen but it will definitely help deter the loser blog post thieves, aka: scrapers.

After posting about my decision to truncate my posts I received lots of love from my readers saying the will happily make that extra click to read my posts.

Thank You!!  

Some of them said they will continue to read my blog but when they come across a new blog with  truncated posts they won't bother reading it.  They said it just takes too long to go back and explore a blog when you have to make all those extra clicks.

Thanks for sharing, that's good to know, and thanks for still reading my blog!

No one said they'd stop reading my blog because I am going to truncate my posts.

At least no one told me they'd stop reading my blog.  :(

So I started thinking, maybe I'll lose some readers and maybe some new readers won't even bother to read because of the truncated posts.  Even I think truncated posts are annoying.  I'd hate for a new reader to stop by my blog only to leave and never come back again because of my truncated posts.  There has to be a better way.

I did a little more research and found a good solution for Blogger blogs and I will happily share it with you.  I'm no expert on this stuff, just sharing what's working for me.

Down with loser blog post thieves!

Here's what you need to do...

Log in to your Blogger account and back up your template.  If you're not sure how to back up your template check out the instructions here.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!!

If you mess up something in the next step and haven't backed up your template well... good luck with that.

Go HERE and follow the steps.  

I would've listed it here but you can no longer copy and paste from my posts!  


Don't forget to save it to your template.


That's it!

This makes it so no one can select your post and copy and paste it!

This by no means protects you from all loser blog post thieves but it will definitely stop some.

Here are some other methods to stop the losers from stealing your posts:


  • Watermark your photos.  I have been doing this for quite some time (thankfully!).  There are many free online photo enhancer programs where you can do this.  (Photobucket, Pic Monkey I can think of off the top of my head).
  • Link back to one of your previous blog posts in your new posts, some of the thieves disable your links after stealing your content but the dumb ones don't (I think they're all dumb).  This will lead a reader back to your site and off the thieves.
  • Put a copyright footer on your blog and at the bottom of your RSS feeds.
  • Post a Copyscape badge in your sidebar so they know you're aware of their loser thieving ways. (copyscape did not sponsor this post)
  • Truncate your posts and RSS feed.

I've decided to quit truncating my posts because I feel pretty comfortable with the copy and paste option being disabled.  I will continue to monitor the web to see if I'm being stolen from, if the thieves strike again I may be forced to truncate.  But for now, I'm truncation free!!

Do you have any other tips to avoid your blog posts being stolen by losers??  Please share, we're all looking for ways to protect our hard work.


29 comments :

  1. Hey Kate! Thanks for the tips! I tried to grab the code you suggested to add to blogger but it isn't showing up on this post! Could you possibly email it to me if you have a spare second? peasandcrayons@gmail.com -- thank you so so much!

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  2. Just for fun and to see if it worked, I tried to copy some of this post and I couldn't! It was like a miracle of html. :)

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  3. Good for you doing a little research on this subject and finding other ways to safeguard your content. I'm sure your present readers and new readers will appreciate your efforts and the ease of enjoying your blog.

    Thank you

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  4. Just wondering if that also prevents people from just copying a photo too {i.e. for link party features or roundups} Thanks so much for the info! Down with the thieves!! :)

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  5. Great info, thanks for that. Can you describe how to find out if your blog posts have been stolen?

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  6. Along with the Mel above me, I'd like to know that, or do you mean like those ones on pinterest that have taken all the photos and then pin it? There is always the print screen option but it does make it harder for them. Just like your home, if thieves want to steal they'll find a way but a deterrent is good - I hope this works for you :)

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  7. great info!! i guess i've never considered anyone wanting to steal my blog!! silly. me!

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  8. Thanks so much for sharing this. I'm absolutely following your advice. Have a great day.

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  9. follow up comment, I've now successfully protected my blog. I also added a the copyscape banner! I even let out a loud HA! when I verified copy & paste wasn't working! Now to find an easy way to watermark pics....

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    Replies
    1. This is THE BEST tutorial on how to watermark photos. It's easy, free, and fun! I have all my photos watermarked now.

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  10. What the what the what? I'll keep reading but blog thieves??? As in everything? Like the fake apple stores? Crazy crazy... I don't understand most of the above but I will click and read... Thanks for educating those who speak blog!!!

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  11. Great! Can I pin this post so that I can make the changes later? I will try that. Thanks so much, Ginger

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  12. I'm not sure if I understand the whole Scraper site problem, but I thought they were taking the blog posts off a feed reader - not directly from a blog. Maybe I'm wrong. Anyways, out of curiosity I tested it in my reader (I use Google) and I could still copy and paste your post - do you know if there's a way to prevent that?

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  13. I was not able to pin the post but I emailed it to myself, promoted the post on FB and G+. Thanks for the informationl Ginger

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  14. Yeah! You are showing up on the reader. I add a blog to my feed when I like what I see so I can keep coming back.

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  15. ok. I am totally confused. Blog thieves ?? Could you explain more...Do people copy your blog and then post it as their blog? I do a blog on my home remodel and only have 18 follower, so I doubt I will have a problem with thieves. I have been remodeling for a year and posted all we have done with a lot of pics so it is sad to hear that people steal your work. I did start water marking my pics.

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  16. Thanks for sharing! Just wanted to let you know that I tried to grab your button for your Flaunt it Friday and was unable to copy and paste the code. Is there another way? Thanks!

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  17. What a lovely house. It's perfectly arranged. I like it. Thanks for your blog. I'm enjoying it.

    seo company adelaide

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  18. Nice post! I wanted to let you know--there is one other way for a potential thief to pirate your posts, but they would have to REALLY want your content. When you right-click on a page and then select "View Page Source", that shows all the coding and content for that page. And someone can still select & copy that. I've used that method to create "mirror" pages for some of my own web projects. But it's far more time-consuming and I imagine that most blog-pirates probably wouldn't make that effort. However, I did still want to make you aware! I hope the thievery has ceased from your blog!

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  19. Not sure how to do it in blogger, but in wordpress there is a widget that adds a footer to the end of every blog post on your page. Mine contains the sentence "this post was first published by happytreelife". From what I gather, most stolen blog posts are copied word for word. By inserting that sentence in every post, the thieves would also be posting it on their sites as well - which would make it obvious that it was stolen. Maybe you can find a way to do something similar on your site? Or if all else fails, you could type something yourself at the end of every post. Good Luck!

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  20. Hi! stopping by and following you with GFC and linky. Again great post.
    Patricia from http://topiaryrose.blosgspot.com

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  21. I used the code you provided to turn off the copy function on my blog! Although I have under 20 readers so I'm pretty sure I'm not a blog people want to steal. (How would I know that it was being stolen?) I still have to learn how to watermark my pictures. It seems like a lot of effort. My pictures are pretty bad as I'm not a very good photographer. I just bought a new camera so maybe that will help a little bit. But I probably should do it as just good blog practices. Thanks for the info!

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  22. Hi! Thank you for this valuable info! Adding you to my follow list! Huggs, Dianna

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  23. thanks a lot. but how can i block picture copying option.

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  24. Thank You So Much! I follow the tips that you gave me and now its working! Now i can protect my content from being copied.
    This is my blog after following your advice: http://infoaday.blogspot.com/
    Thank you again Kate!!

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  25. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  26. very nic,thanks for sharing,I was searching that.

    Techofunda.com

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  27. I am a blogger(www.darelasisi.co.uk)and I wish to prevent e-thieves from copying my photos.Please assist me to solve this problem.Thanks.You can email me on darelasisi@gmail.com as urgent as possible.

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