BlogMap FAQ #1 - ERROR: undeclared namespace prefix

One of the more common errors encountered when registering or updating your BlogMap is the XML "undeclared namespace prefix" error.

Example 1Unable to store blog. Please try again later. [ERROR: 'st1' is an undeclared namespace. Line 67, position 69.]

Example 2Unable to store blog. Please try again later. [ERROR: 'o' is an undeclared namespace. Line 197, position 420.]

To troubleshoot the error, I always find checking on the XML RSS feed to be helpful.

To do this, open your blog's XML feed link on you browser "http://[yourblogname].blogspot.com/atom.xml", e.g. the feed for this site is at http://kuancheen.blogspot.com/atom.xml.

In the case of Example 1, it threw this error:-

The XML page cannot be displayed Cannot view XML input using CSS style sheet. Please correct the error and then click the Refresh button, or try again later. Reference to undeclared namespace prefix: 'st1'. Error processing resource 'http://[yourblogname].blogspot.com/atom.xml'. Line 67... <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">[Written on Sunday 10/16/<st1:time hour="17" minute="0">05 3PM</st...

Basically, XML does not recognised the <st1:time> tag that is used to display the time entry.

To rectify this, just edit the entry manually and replace it with plain text, that is , instead of
[Written on Sunday 10/16/7<st1:time minute="0" hour="17">05 3PM</st1:time> (Bud time)]
change it to simply
[Written on Sunday 10/16/05 3PM (Bud time)]

For Example 2, one suggestion is to edit the entry with a text editor and replace the occurance of <o> and </o> tags.

Hope this helps!

kuancheen|singapore|20060516.0210
... XML: fickle fickle fickle

kuancheen
blog
blogmap
FAQ
XML
Error