Here are my thoughts on the situation:
1.) I think we can all agree that word verification (AKA captchas) are annoying. As an experienced Blogger user, and from what I have read out and about on the blogs (this issue seems to particularly inflame crafty bloggers...heh heh!), this may indeed hinder the comments you could receive on your posts (since people may just not bother if the process is too cumbersome). If you are worried about Spam (and we have all got hit more than once), I can attest to Blogger's abilities to catch Spam (in fact, it is a good idea to check your Spam folder from time to time [found at Comments>Spam] in case it gets a little overzealous). Particularly in the last year or so, Blogger has become a much more competent platform as a blogging solution (which is great since it is free!). So perhaps instead of word verification, consider comment moderation. To do so (and ensure a more pleasant experience for your readers):a) From your Dashboard, at the Settings tab, navigate to Comments.
b) Where it says 'Show Word Verification', select the No radio button.
d) Save your changes.
2. Now about Comment windows. I only recently changed mine which speaks to how one might not even realize what their settings are until they go have a good look! Here's a suggestion on what is probably most pleasing to your readers:
a) From your Dashboard, at the Settings tab, navigate to Comments.
b) In the Comment Form Placement field, try "Embedded below post" so that one, your readers can see the image they are commenting and two, they don't have any number of windows open (which can cause some browsers to crash or dramatically slow the process.
(Note: This really is your own decision...I am just basing my commentary here on "what's popular" out there.)
Was anything not clear? Let me know (lord knows I got lots of time now...ha!).
16 comments:
Very clear my friend - and thank you! I'm glad that Blogger has a spam check now - there was a lot or porn on my comments lol!
So I changed mine...if I get nasty spam again, I am sending it to you! I got one thru an old program I haven't used in like two years asking me to have cyber sex tonight. I guess SHE thought I had some other appendage. I googled her name and she lives in Minnesota. Stupid to use your real name and address ya think?
Awesome instructions!!! I've been thinking of changing my settings and this gave me the push I needed :)
Thanks
Thanks for the tips. I really don't know what mine is set at but I'm going to check it out right now.
I agree but why have you got a pop -up window ? or have I miss read your preferences ?
woooooooo hooooooooo....thanks so much sista...I appreciate your techie'ness....and the fact that you reach such a large audience. Crackin' up about Jan's comment...I'm planning on linking to your post this week...thanks again:)
Off to check!
It figures Amy would be the one to start this ;>)
Great tips! Gonna have to check then out on blogspot!
This is a wonderful post....thanks for sharing the info...shall pass this on.
Crystal clear - thanks so much. Sometimes it seems there are so many options in setting up a blog that you just overlook one or two! ~chris
BTW - did you know that when I comment on a post on your blog in Blogger and hit the post button, it bumps me out of my reader and opens your blog up in the tab instead? Any idea on why that happens? ~chris
p.s. I use a Greasemonkey script that lets me preview and comment from within Google Reader.
Great tips, as always Allison! Thanks!
thanks Amy for asking the questing and a HUGE thank you Allison for answering! perfect instructions.
it will help those of us that do a lot of blog commenting :)
Well, bless your pee-picking heart for this. I've been blogging about this for months, and even emailing other crafty bloggers asking them to modify their settings, especially since thousands of us utilize SmartPhones for blurfing, and nothing is worse on a tiny display than trying to figure out where the stupid word verification pop-up went.
I had a really unfortunate experience yesterday with emailing the GinaK folks and asking them to modify the word verification pop-up setting, a quick 10-second fix. Rather than walk down the hall and ask what they call the "IT department," I received an email from a customer service rep saying essentially "maybe the IT department may or may not make the change, based on security settings and spammers" - as for security, pop-ups are horrible because they don't comply with SSL aaaaaaannnnnnndddddd they typically generate Adware and Spyware, so this customer service rep actually made my argument for me. Other ladies who I've emailed to make the change have been extremely accommodating, it's just sad when somebody responds to something but knows nothing about it.
I would so love to email them back today and say Hey, a friend of a friend of mine has easy, step-by-step instructions for making this important change. I very rarely make comments on the GinaK blog because it's ridiculously and unnecessarily cumbersome.
I'm with you on word verification...hate it, and can almost NEVER get it correct LOL!
I get bombarded with spam comments, many times a day, but I deal with it.
BUT, as a frequent commenter on many, many blogs, I HATE it when the comments are below the post. It drives me bonkers to have to continue scrolling back up to look at the project and then scrolling down to type. I MUCH prefer a pop up window with the comments...that way the picture can be in full view WHILE I type and I can refer to it.
Just my two cents though! *wink*
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