Hello readers.
I have a few new readers. Since I like to visit and comment on the blogs of my readers ... it is time once again to make a Public Service Announcement about Blogspot.com commenting pluses and minuses - the blogging platform you are visiting now that is used by me and many others.
The Pluses and the minuses There are 2 methods of Blogspot.com comments: Embedded Commenting and PopUp Commenting.
PopUp Commenting seems to work consistently well for most readers - except that the blog owner cannot respond individually to each comment received. I use PopUp Commenting.
Embedded Commenting does not work well for some us. Comments ‘appear' to be submitted to the blog you are visiting, but they never show up. No error message is provided to alert you to this problem. And when I have back-tracked with the blog owner through a private email - just to confirm they got the comment - they report they never saw it. Very frustrating for the visitor. If it works, however, it lets the blog owner reply individually to each visitor comment. Very satisfying for all.
What happened:
A few years ago Blogspot made some adjustments to their blog platform. It was at this time the commenting problem cropped up. Embedded Commenting would only work if the blog I was visiting recognized me as “signed in” to Google. I am always signed into Google, but the software just didn’t see it that way on some blogs. I spent considerable time trying to get “signed in” in the eyes of some blogs. I reported this issue to Blogger over a year ago and got no response - and, more importantly - no fix. I gave up trying.
While I understand that Embedded Commenting is the preferred method of accepting comments for most of us, it blocks some of the readers from leaving a comment.
My Fix:
My own personal work-a-round with some Embedded Commenting blogs is to send my comment to the blog owner's personal email. My comment doesn’t show up on the owner’s blog, but it lets the blog owner know I visited. I comment less often with that approach. Lately, however, I have found that some blogs don’t provide an email. I still visit, but I am totally invisible to the blog owner, with the exception that I probably count in your Blog Visitor statistics.
Bottom Line: Regardless of where you stand on how you receive comments on your blog, I just wanted to make readers aware of the problems some readers have with the Embedded Comments feature. And I think twice about starting up with new blogs that use an Embedded Comments method. If I haven’t visited or commented on your blog, that may be the problem.
Thanks for reading/listening! Happy Blogging everyone.
8 comments:
I have tried making my comment sections both ways. The biggest issue I personally have with pop up comments is, if I want to go back to get a little reminder off the blog, you can not do that unless you are on a computer and can bring up more tabs. I do most of my blog reading on my phone so that causes me issues. Blogger has done so many changes in the past few years. I have played with wordpress but just can not seem to get it to work for me.
I appreciated this explanation and went to check on which comment method was on my blog. It is set for PopUp and I have never used Embedded as many others do. While I know that bloggers DO reply to comments directly in the comments section, that practice seems far too time consuming for myself. I read and certainly appreciate every comment and will often post a statement to that effect in a blog post but rarely contact bloggers through their email address. I do include one on my blog if anyone wishes to contact me directly.
Excellent explanation. Embedded comments are a neat idea, but as you point out, they aren't reliable. I'm not sure what they're tied to in the code, but their ability to function properly seems to be related to tweaks and upgrades to that code.
My daughter is a senior developer and has a view from inside the industry. Google, apparently, goes through a lot of junior developers and lets them 'cut their teeth' (so to speak) on their least important products - like blogger! So, it seems that either they have little oversight, or they don't want to ask for help when they're having problems.
Just one of the reasons that I shifted over to Wordpress :-)
I've always used embedded comments on all of my blogs, and am not aware of any problems with it. I try to limit how many wordpress blogs I visit, hate their set up. YEARS ago I had an account and despite deleting said account LONG ago, it still wants me to sign in to leave a comment. So I have to use a fake email address when commenting on a wordpress blog, plus they're boring...all white, less interesting to my way of thinking. I've been wondering why you no longer visited or left comments on my blog after I visited your blog; so now am wondering if you would check it out for me. I don't like people who email instead of returning the favor of visiting the blog and leaving a comment. I think, I turned off that feature; but find trying to make my way through the settings more difficult that it used to be here on blogger.
Yes, Sandy, your blog is one of about 3 or 4 blogs that I follow that I cannot leave a comment on. You asked me to check it out again - and I did. Your blog did not recognize me as signed into Google. So when I sent the “test” comment, it did what it always does - the comment disappears and no message is given to me (like waiting Moderation or whatever.) I checked the top corner of your blog - where you can “sign in.” I hit that button and it dropped me into my own Blogspot account where I create a post. I was logged in there already. I check back to your blog - and it still did not recognize me as signed in - when I clearly was. I hit the “follow” button - which I may have missed since I get your posts in my email box. My picture now shows in your Follow list. But I still can’t leave a message.
Since your blog does not have an email option, I hope that you think to check back to this post to see if I have responded.
With regard to your comment “not aware of any problems” with your blog using Embedded Comments - that might be simply explained. Followers with my problem may have dropped off reading your blog without letting you know when they had problems. I did that with a few blogs I wasn’t committed to. And if you don’t have an email to offer, they can’t even send you an email to let you know.
I should include the fact that SOME blogs that use Embedded Commenting AREN’T a problem for me. Those blogs see me as “signed in”. So it isn’t an issue across ALL blogs - just SOME blogs. My research and efforts to fix this problem have not explained why this is. And after so long of dealing with this, I have stopped trying.
By “so long” I mean that I have had this problem since June 19, 2018. Yes, almost 4 years!! And I know it isn’t ONLY my problem because it has been reported by others. I have written about it on the following dates: June 19, 2018, October 22, 2018,, December 13, 2018, March 21, 2019, January 20, 2020 and finally yesterday, February 28, 2022! I bring it up often because although Blogspot chose to ignore my reporting of the problem, I live in hope that one of my readers might have found a work-around that would correct this issue - and let me know. I did notice that you followed me back as far as 2018. That is one of the reason I don’t stop reading your posts. We have a history together and maybe someday this problem will be fixed.
With regard to other Blog Platforms available, I have often been tempted to shift to something else. But I started here on July 20, 2010, a lot a personal history resides here - and my caregiver story related to my time with my elderly mother lives on this site. By leaving Blogspot, I feel like I would be leaving that history behind, so I struggle on.
Sandy, I would love to comment on your blog again - I still follow you - but I can’t find a way to reach you if you use Embedded Comments. I sincerely hope that the other blogs that I have this problem with will also read this post and these comments and say, “OH, that is where Elaine is!"
Cathy, just read your most recent post on your blog. Hoping you get this message. This is a very difficult time for you with your mom. I remember most clearly my time with mom - not eating, sleeping mostly and basically not involved in living. It tore at my heart to watch her fail after 8 years of fighting back against the dementia. It still hurts my heart today - 8 years after her passing. My heart is with you as you work through this time. There is no easy way through it.
Hugs.
I appreciate your post here, Elaine. I know my blog is one that you can't post to. I'm sorry about that. The comments here are enlightening. That anyone doesn't think WP blogs have similar issues, just doesn't realize it. I actually created a WP account, but WP won't let me leave comments using that account. On a whim, I tried commenting logged out of my WP account, but using an old defunct e-mail address and it let's me leave a comment. It's crazy.
Leigh's comment above makes a lot of sense. It's disturbing, but it also explains the great lack of help in the helps documents whenever I've gone in there to try to find a solution to something. I've tried to adopt the attitude that a person typically gets what they pay for. With that mindset Blogger kind of seems amazing! It doesn't cost me a cent. For a free platform, it could be a whole lot worse.
Meanwhile, I appreciate knowing you stop by my blog. I've enjoyed your e-mails, but please don't feel like you have to send them. I know that's extra work on your part.
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