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Pinterest verification error message using meta tag

  1. travelgardeneat
    Member

    I read with interest the latest Daily Post update on Pinterest verification:
    http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/pinterest-verification/ -- it appeared to apply to .com blogs, but maybe not? I followed the steps and have tried several times saving the meta tag info as directed but continued to get the response from Pinterest: “We were unable to verify your website. Click here to try again or visit support. Could not find the meta tag from step 1″

    The blog I need help with is travelgardeneat.com.

  2. timethief
    Member

    We provide WordPress.com support here not Pinterest support. The article you linked to is a re-run of what I've been posting into threads like this one. See:
    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/pinterest-new-file-verifications?replies=14#post-1108303
    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/pinterest-new-file-verifications?replies=14#post-1112212
    http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/pinterest-new-file-verifications?replies=14#post-1112216

  3. travelgardeneat
    Member

    Thank you timethief, I reviewed those before posting -- they appeared to relate more to having the Pinterest link on your blog versus following the instructions posted by Daily Post on having your blog verified on Pinterest. Wasn't sure if it was Pinterest's end or WordPress' since steps had to be taken in my blog settings as well as Pinterest settings, so was trying to investigate both ends.

  4. timethief
    Member

    Did you click through to this guide?
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/webmaster-tools/#pinterest-site-verification

  5. travelgardeneat
    Member

    Yes, those are the instructions I had followed.

  6. timethief
    Member

    Sorry but I have a "people" Pinterest account and not a "business"account that requires verification so I haven't gone through this. I tagged this thread for Staff help. If you subscribe to it you will be notified when they respond.

  7. travelgardeneat
    Member

    Hmmm, maybe that's it? I don't think I have a "business" account -- thought it just provided easier awareness/link to the blog, but the old "world" symbol linked through and I could always just leave it at that. Appreciate your input, timethief.

  8. timethief
    Member

    Pinterest does not require that you have a business account. You can have an ordinary account for "people". From: http://blog.pinterest.com/post/35710687813/new-tools-for-businesses-in-the-pinterest-community

    We now have two sets of terms—one for people and one for businesses.

    If all you want to have is a "people" Pinterest account ie. you don't intend to register as a business and profit from pinning other people's content then you can simply do what follows and forget the verification for business process.

    You can use any widget that has pure HTML but you cannot use any widgets that contain restricted codes like iframes or JavaScript widgets. In the case of Pinterest, you cannot use the Pin-it Javascript code on a WordPress.com blog. http://en.support.wordpress.com/code/

    But you can put the code for the Pinterest follow button in a text widget.
    1. Go to this site, choose which one of the red Follow Me images you want, and copy the code for it. http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/

    2. Then, go to your widgets > Appearance > Widgets and select a text widget.http://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/text-widget/

    3. Paste the Pinterest follow button code into the text widget, "save" the widget, "close" the widget and place it where you want it to display in your sidebar.
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/text-widget/
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/links/text-widget-links/
    http://en.support.wordpress.com/widgets/text-widget/#adding-an-image

    4. Please see here for enabling sharing buttons including Pinterest on your blog. http://en.support.wordpress.com/sharing/

  9. timethief
    Member

    P.S. I removed the modlook tag for Staff attention but if you still want a response from them then you can type it into the tags in the sidebar again.

  10. travelgardeneat
    Member

    Thanks again.

  11. timethief
    Member

    You're welcome and best wishes with your blog.

  12. beau
    Staff

    travelgardeneat: It looks like you're copy-pasting the quote marks around the verification code when you're getting it from Pinterest. That means the meta tag on your site ends up looking like this:

    <meta name="p:domain_verify" content=""c910fcd2654aeaea60f402cae0379fc7"" />

    when it should actually look like this:

    <meta name="p:domain_verify" content="c910fcd2654aeaea60f402cae0379fc7" />

    The value you want to enter into the box in your wp-admin is:

    c910fcd2654aeaea60f402cae0379fc7

  13. travelgardeneat
    Member

    It worked like a charm, thank you! I misread the instructions and it appeared the quote marks also were in bold to indicate cut and paste, but once removed, the blog promptly verified.

  14. timethief
    Member

    @beau
    Thanks so much for the assist.

  15. timethief
    Member

    P.S. Staff failed to post my thank you on the announcement thread and my comment previously in "moderation" disappeared -- curious, no?

  16. gailtiv
    Member

    Hi, I had this problem too and had copied the value with quote marks as they were in bold. Maybe this could be fixed so others don't fall into this mistake and think they are unable to verify their blog on Pinterest? Appreciate your advice. Thanks!

  17. beau
    Staff

    I just went ahead and made the code automatically remove any quote marks included in there by mistake :)

  18. gailtiv
    Member

    @beau Cool!

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