Wednesday, January 2, 2013

2 things I've noticed about blogger...No Reply Blogger and Word Verification



So...we are new to blogging but there are 2 things I've learned already that may be helpful to you (veteran or newbie!):

1.  We love comments.  LOVE them.  And we appreciate them.  BUT, and it's a big BUT, there is a problem.  If you comment on our blog, and we reply (and we ALWAYS reply), there is no way to notify you that we commented.  So, when you leave a comment on our post, you have to remember to check back to our reply.  But what if you don't remember??  (I know, I'm the same way when I comment on a blog post- I have a hard time remembering to go back and check, and sometimes I can't remember the post or the person I left the comment to, exactly.  Horrible. I know.)

But there's one way you will know what the reply was.  If your email address is attached to your profile, the blogger can EMAIL you their reply to your comment (instead of commenting on the blog and hoping you come back to check it).  Check this post by Lori at Teaching with Love & Laughter.  It's a super simple post that gives you step by step directions (only 6 steps, WITH pictures!!) on how to link your email to your profile- Thanks Lori!  Soooooooo, now when I see a comment, I email the reply.  BUT I noticed most everyone who comments on our blog is a NO REPLY BLOGGER which means they haven't attached their email yet and I can't email them!  So...even if you think you are NOT a no reply blogger (I thought that too...I was wrong...I'll admit it) go through the steps and see if you do have your email attached.  That way I can reply to you when you so sweetly leave us a comment!!  

We love comments and we want you to know we appreciate the time you take to leave them and we want to thank you, so go...quick!!  Check to see if your email is linked up!!  :O)

Now, if you aren't a blogger, I'm not sure if you can still link it up...I googled and tried everything I could to find out why there is no notification when someone replies, and this is the best info I got.  If you know something I don't know PLEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU, share it.  :O)

2)  That pesky word verification box for comments- we had no idea it was on until someone finally told us it was and that people may not comment if they have to verify that they are not a robot.  So, we of course turned it off.  It's a very simple setting.  Check it out and see if you have it on or off.    Go to your dashboard, go to the left and click on settings, then posts and comments.  Scroll down where it says Show Word Verification?  Make sure it says no.  If it says yes, click the down arrow and change that.  Then we won't have to type that crazy code in your box each time we comment.

Now, if I comment on your blog and you have that robot code thing I'll tell you.  Because most likely you don't know and someone needs to tell you, so please don't take offense.  We're just trying to be helpful!!  :O)

I hope this was helpful!!  What do you think??  Are there any other solutions I don't know about?  :O)
*Amanda*

PS- Head over to see Ash at The Polished Teacher for her 250 follower giveaway!  The winner will get ANY unit, free, from our TpT store, plus much more!


20 comments:

  1. Thank you for telling me about the word verification thing. I had no idea about it!

    I agree with not being able to see reply comments. It is really annoying and I never remember where I commented.

    I totally forgot I hadn't checked that box when I switched over to my new e-mail. Thanks so much for reminding me. This post is saving my life!

    Enter My 250 Follower Giveaway!

    ThePolishedTeacher

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're so funny! It's the little things!! They gitcha (yes, I'm using that as a word) every time!

      :O)

      Delete
  2. I love being able to reply to comments by e-mail! I hate the word verifiers, too. I turned my off. Be sure to turn off anonymous commenters too or you get spammed to death! Now, I have to quit blog stalking and go work on your blog design!!

    ; )
    Megan
    I Teach. What's Your Super Power?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. :O) So psyched about our future design!! :O)

      Delete
    2. Thanks so much Megan for the tip on eliminating anonymous commenters. I have been getting spammed to death and it's driving me crazy!

      ~Traci
      The Bender Bunch

      Delete
  3. I love you, I love you, I love you!! I have been trying to figure this out all day....I knew there must be a way! I read that someone used the Newsify app and google feed so I downloaded those today, but it seems those are just showing me blogs posts I haven't read, not blog comments! And I too hate that code you have to enter and have no clue if I have it or not. Will certainly check it out and head over to Lori's blog now for the tutorial of linking my email. One question....when I reply through my email, does the reply show on my blog page??

    ~Traci
    The Bender Bunch

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aww, thanks!

      No, if you comment via email, it won't show on your blog page. That's the down side. BUT, now you can comment from your phone via email, which IS nice (if the commenter has it set up too). Maybe blogger will fix it soon? There's got to be a way...

      :O) Amanda

      Delete
    2. Thanks Amanda. I'm taking Megan's advice and blocking anonymous commenters, getting way too much spam, but it gives me the option to change it to "registered users" or "user with google account." Do you know which one I choose??

      Thanks!

      Delete
  4. I turned off the robot box, but started getting spam, so I turned it back on. I have anonymous commenters so I hated to block them, but it sounds like that's what I'll have to do. Thanks for the info!
    Mary at Pitner's Potpourri

    ReplyDelete
  5. I turned off the robot box, but started getting spam, so I turned it back on. I have anonymous commenters so I hated to block them, but it sounds like that's what I'll have to do. Thanks for the info!
    Mary at Pitner's Potpourri

    ReplyDelete
  6. I turned off the robot box, but started getting spam, so I turned it back on. I have anonymous commenters so I hated to block them, but it sounds like that's what I'll have to do. Thanks for the info!
    Mary at Pitner's Potpourri

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I hate to block anonymous commenters too. I had no idea there was so much spam out there! I guess because we are so new to blogging we haven't gotten any spam? I'm not sure what the best answer is! :O(

      Delete
  7. Thank you so much for this post! I even mentioned it on my blog! I was guilty of both....

    But now I'm not!
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ok I turned off the Verification thingy! I'll see if I get spam! THANKS!
    Gina
    Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

    ReplyDelete
  9. THANK YOU for getting rid of the capatcha (word verification) I HATE those things... and yes I have typed out several lovely comments on multiple blogs that never got posted because I can't figure out which letters are in the box. (Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a hard time reading those!)

    If you're getting spam because you've turned off your capatcha you can choose to have to verify all comments or I choose to verify comments on posts that are over 2 weeks old. This means you have to go in and accept all your comments, but it's not hard to do and can be done from the dashboard super easily. Hope that helps!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for sharing about the word verification. I didn't know how to turn it on or off. After reading your post, I went and checked my settings and sure enough it was on. Ugh! I turned it off. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for taking the time to direct me to this post and explaining this. I was just googling about some of it yesterday. I am putting these things on my to do list this weekend! I really wish blogger would just notify you when someone responds to your comment, that way everyone has the benefit of seeing the conversation if relevant to all.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I can't wait for my computer to work again so I can fix these things! Thank you for the pointers!
    Amber
    www.laueslittles.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

We love comments!! Like, super love them!! We like to reply by email (so you can see our response and we can chat back and forth) so please make sure that option is turned on in your profile settings or leave your email address here! Thanks again for taking time to comment!! It means a lot!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...