Google site verification problem

[Gary]

I have previously verified my site in Google, but do to an error, the sitemap information was deleted from Google. So I can add it to Google with no problem, but when I go into Shopsite it asks for the html verificaion file. I can only get Google sitemap tools to give me the meta tag version.

So my question is, were can I find the html version of the verification file assuming it is on my server (what is it called and where is it hidden) or how can I get Google to offer up the html verification instead of the meta tag version?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[Jim]

Go to your google account dashboard. Click on the "Tools" link in the left navigation area. Click on the "Manage website verification" link and you will probably see a section
Ensure the verification file or meta tag is still in place for your account.
Your verification file: <your file name>

Enter that into the Google Sitemap configuration info in ShopSite and ShopSite will create the file.

If that fails you might need to remove your site from your google account and then recreate it.

Note when I tried to add another site to my account it had this comment:
"We offer two methods of verification. You can either upload an HTML file with a name we specify, or you can add a meta tag to your site's index file. Choose your preferred method below."
So if you have the meta tag you could add it to you main page's meta tag field.

[Gary]

This all makes sense, but it looks like Shopsite specifies the html choice and the only choice I get from Google is the meta tag choice. The meta tag is in place on our main page, but if I put that in step one of the Shopsite setup wizard it says the file can't be created.

I tried deleting the site from the dashboard and putting it back, but Google remembers that the site is still verifed so I never get the choice to pick html or meta tag.

Any more ideas?

[Jim]

When I logged in and went to the Tools >Manage website verification there was an option to Re Verify. and that displayed the file name that Google used for verification. Did you not see that option?

[loren_d_c]

If you have already verified ownership of your site via adding a Google-specified Meta Tag in your own custom home page file, then you don't really need to have it re-verified via an .html file, so just put anything in this field in ShopSite (i.e. somegarbage.html). ShopSite will create this file, however Google will not look for it, it will just continue to verify your site ownership based on the meta tag in your home page.

Note that the only ways I have heard of (i.e. not tried myself) that you can switch between .html page and meta tag verification once you have already done one or the other is to delete the entire site record in your Google Webmaster Tools account and then recreate it, or add the site (and verify it) in another Google Webmaster Tools account and then if their are more than one site owner for the same site they should all be listed in the 'Manage website verification' menu of the Google account and according to Google's documentation you should be able to revoke/remove verification for the other owners there, thus forcing them to reverify.

-Loren

[Gary]

Thanks, that worked like a charm.

[loren_d_c]

Which worked?

-Loren

[Gary]

Putting "somegarbage.html" in the Shopsite Wizard field worked. That got me past the first screen so the sitemap file would get generated properly. I set it up again in Google and they have already read the file and proclaimed that there were no errors.

Thanks again.