Tuesday 28 February 2012

Am I The Only One

who is unhappy with the new arrangement for comments on Blogger?

This relates to blogs which have now had 'subscribe to this post' removed by Blogger.

Now when I make a comment on a blog which is moderated (quite a few that I follow) I have no way of knowing whether the comment has been put on the blog unless I go back and look.  I have no way of knowing what other comments have been made unless I go back and look.  And it would appear that I have no way of knowing whether the original blogger has replied or commented on my comment unless I go back and look.

I know that quite a few of you from the comments on my recent post on the subject of commenting didn't tick for replies anyway and have no interest on what others say on a blog you have commented on.  

So what is the point of commenting if the comment is simply seen only by the original blogger (in the case of a comment made on a blog with moderated comments when none were showing when the comment was made?).  Or is that what most bloggers want?  

On many of the blogs I follow the bloggers always follow up on a comment.  Will I now have to scour their posts to see what they have said?  Will they bother?  Will I bother?

This seems totally at odds with Bloggers new threaded commenting.

Is this a knee-jerk reaction to something that is going to alter again?  Is there a way around it?

One Good Thing from Blogger seems to be the inclusion wef three hours ago of gadgets on the new Dynamic Views.  I've been a bit puzzled as to why we have profiles when they can't be seen on the blog in dynamic view.  Presumably you have to join Google + or go via the Followers (which are to be removed did someone say?).

It used to be so simple.

Rant over.  For now!


16 comments:

  1. They must have done this over night! I did not even know what you were referring to when I first came to this post! Now I see that it's the same on my blogs where I use pop-up comments (although I do not have comment moderation). I don't like this at all! The big problem is that if I switch to embedded I have two followers who always comment who then won't be able to because embedded does not work for them. This is a MESS!

    I also had a look at the dynamic views for the first time. I'm not a fan! Most bloggers put some effort into layout - and then it seems that it does not really matter since the reader can choose their own layout??

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    1. Monica, I have tried embedded comments on three common browsers and they work. I suspect the browsers that don't support them are either very old, esoteric or both. Chrome, Explorer are fine and free.

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    2. Adrian, I have no technical problems personally with the embedded comments, but two of my most frequent commentators do, whenever I've tried introducing embedded on my two main blogs. (They say they get thrown out and asked to sign in and when they try, that doesn't work either). And my blogs are not the only ones that it happens with. The really weird thing is though that on my newest blog where I do use embedded, the same two people have no problems. So it can't really have anything to do with their browsers. The whole thing goes beyond my understanding. (I think all I've come across who've complained about similar problems have been Americans.) This has been the same for months or even 1-2 years. I've made new attempts now and then to switch but the same thing happens each time.

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    3. Perhaps should add that I'm trying out the embedded version again on my 'Beyond' blog since yesterday. So far so good except I still haven't heard from ONE of those who had trouble with it in the past...

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  2. It seems that the subscribe link is still there when you use the embedded comment form, but not with any of the other options.

    Annoyingly the changes to dynamic views (i.e. gadgets) has broken the approach I was using to suppress them as now if you view the page without javascript enabled you just get a blank page rather than the original blog template. I hate dynamic views so hopefully I'll figure out a work around but I'm not holding my breath.

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    1. Mark, I noticed that they have got wise to you. The gadgets are still limited even with their so called mprovement.

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  3. Graham, they are just being annoying. I have started checking Blogger Buzz. Keeps me abreast of what the annoying Bees are up to.
    I like thread commenting but rarely tick the box for e-mail notification. If I have queried something I make a little note on my pad...paper pad.....and pop back for a look.

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    1. I find it easier to tick the box and just discard comments I don't want to pursue. There are a few blogs, such as yours, that I always follow in detail but having to go back time and again just isn't going to happen realistically. Apart from anything else it takes up too much time and broadband. Doubtless I'll find a way around the problem for the blogs I really want to follow.

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  4. I, too, keep up with Blogger Buzz. I had no idea about the change until I visited. I would like to see that the 'reply' feature be used in a way that the one it's directed to could receive that comment through their own email. I prefer replying through my email, but not everyone will offer their address into a wide range as such. When I first began blogging, I would go back to visit and see if anyone commented on a comment that I made but it got really tiring and time consuming.

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  5. I don't think it's ever been simple. They have been changing blogger since the day I joined in 2007. Ironically, the reason I took my earlier blogs off Angelfire was because they kept changing things around!!! I've given up worrying about it. But if they take 'following' off I shall inevitably lose touch with a lot of people whose blogs I follow at the moment because some don't post from one month to the next and I couldn't be going backwards and forwards to check all the time.

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    1. Yes, CJ, I know but it really is a pain and I don't want to lose touch with those I follow in detail.

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  6. Im not even sure what settings I have now - will have to investigate...
    I guess when the follow option goes, I will just have to add them all to a reader - or subscribe by email - really dont want to run it all through google plus!

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    1. I suppose I've calmed down this evening Fi. It's not so bad with your blog because I follow on FB as well. But I do like to see all the comments and replies.

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  7. Who says/where does it say that the follow option is going to go? I've seen it rumoured but not any official statement.

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    1. Don't panic I don't think it's quite what you think! From everything I've seen and read I think the idea is that the Google Friend Connect stuff will disappear and all they will retain is the followers gadget for blogger. In fact I think it is already the case that you can't embed the gadget on anything other than a blog now. I assume though that at some point that will probably get merged with Google+ circles or something similar so the functionality might change but hopefully they won't lose any data in the process (fingers crossed).

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    2. Thanks Mark. I never "got" all the Friend Connect stuff in the first place - what other purposes it might serve! ;) Not had the energy to get my head round Google+ either. Doubt I can handle more networking than blogging and Facebook. With all the changes I sometimes feel I hardly get time for actual communication!

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