Blisters?

Back in the days when rocks were soft my mom would always insist that blisters should be drained and then bandaged. Later, but still pre-Internet, I remember reading something saying this was a bad plan and if the skin did not break on its own it should be left. Now in the age of the Internet I can find all kinds of info saying both yea and nay.

What's the friend consensus? Also, how do you deal with a blister on the underside of a toe? It's sufficiently large that the typical protective pads I could get at CVS wouldn't surround it.