I've updated my thoughts on this post.
Edited and Updated....
I've heard back from a couple of you that have had problems with spam once turning off word verification. I am really sorry that has happened to you!
So how about this? Can we place the word verification box directly under the comment box so that it can be filled out at the same time as the comments?
I think the frustration with word verification comes when the comment is entered and you think you've left a comment only to find that you now have to leave a verification word - sometimes you've already moved on before you realize this and your comment is not saved- all that comment love doesn't show up. :(
That being said- I totally understand that this whole word verification thing is there to prevent spam so have a go without it- see what you think, but if you get spam, then by all means, turn it back on! :)
xo
Original Post:
OK friends. I would like to make a suggestion.
We all blog to share ideas, inspiration, good news and creativity. And we all want to make connections- so wouldn't it be great if it was super easy to leave a comment?
Might I suggest we do away with word verification? Or at the least, make it so that you can type the word in at the same time you comment.
Come this way- you'll see- it's super easy.
Take a look at your comments settings in Blogger.
Go to:
Dashboard
Settings
Comments
Now, scroll down to the section entitled Show Word Verification.
Now, change your settings to NO on word verification and everyone will be able to leave you comments much more easily. Then go down to the bottom of the page and click SAVE.
Done!
Try it out and let me know what you think. And if you don't like it, you can always change it back, easy as pie.
Oh and while you are tweaking things, perhaps you might like to check to make sure you aren't a no-reply blogger as well. If you are, I bet you have no idea! You can find out how to check if you are, click here.
42 comments:
Amen! I've never had the word verification on my blog, granted my blog is only a couple of months old, but I find it annoying so didn't include it when I set up my preferences, and I've NEVER had a spam message. I hope people listen to your suggestion!
YAY!!! That is one thing that annoys me about Blogger (I use Wordpress). The other commenting thing I dont' like about Blogger is when the only option is for me to use my gmail account. I like the ones where I can do name & URL. (Not to be whiny... :) )
I turned word verification off and in 10 months have only had 2 spam comments. I suppose it might be different if I got hundreds and hundreds of comments... lol but its working fine for me!
Blogger's spam detection is pretty good, but I administer a blog that's on the wordpress platform and it gets a LOT of spam comments.
Another suggestion if I may - I blogged about it here - if you have the comment box embedded within your posts as you have here, then people using Internet Explorer 7 or better can't comment with their Google profile. It's some glitch or other. Everything is okay with the other two options - a new page or a pop up box.
p.s. thanks for this post - I really don't like the word verification thingy.
I am so used to the word verification thing I hardly notice it anymore. I added it to my blog after receving spam several days running but I think I'll see what happens if I remove it!
Do you think I should go on moderating comments (which I set up for the same spamming reason)?
I am going to link to this post for my Friday post (I have already published Thursday's post)
Thanks Jennifer. I turned mine off and I'll see how it goes.
I'm with you. I find those verifications very annoying.
I hope bloggers will go along with this! I find it a big nuisance!
And please read Felicity's suggestion. When comments come at the end of the post (like yours does) instead of as a Pop-up, I have to resign in & uncheck the box, then resign in again next time I check blogger. As a consequence, I rarely comment on your blog or any other blog set up this way! So excuse me while I go jump thru hoops, but I thought it was worth mentioning & am so glad Felity left the link!
Love your blog-I read it all the time!
From your mouth to every other blogger's ear. It drives me up a wall to have to type word verification for each comment, especially when the page jumps me up to the top and I have to scroll down to the bottom to make sure my comment was saved!!
I don't like word verification either and that is why I don't use it. If you have comment moderation anyway, then you don't really need the word verification because you see the comments before they post anyway. You can delete the spam ones that one. I have never had spam on either of my blogs.
~Linnea
Also regarding the no-reply part. I return response to those leaving comments usually by clicking on their name in my comments and that takes me to their profile. I then go to their blog and then leave a comment that way.
~Linnea
I mostly agree. I did away with word verification when blogger got better at stopping spam. However, I do use a popup window for comments because the embedded version sometimes does not allow posts.
Perfect!!!!! No more endless loop!
Amen!! Do you show or hide Backlinks? I have mine hidden because I don't get it?? :)
I took my verification off last spring b/c I can't stand doing it myself when I comment on other blogs and I've only received 3 or 4 anonymous invitations from porn sites (no, really!). Blogger blocks them from showing up in my blog comments luckily, but they have come through to my email.
Thank you for saying what I have wanted to say for a long time. I love leaving comments and want my peeps to know I am reading but do not like the word verification. I might repost this to my blog...and while I am complaining, I do not like black backgrounds or music automatically on the post. A video or a link to a song is fine, but turn off the music, too! There, I had my say!
There have been many times that I have typed out a very long comment, hit the Publish button the screen flashes, I go hit that red X in the top right corner, just as the window pops BACK up wanting word verification.......guess what? Too late, blog is closed and I am not going back and retyping my comment. Period. There are a few blogs I love following, but won't comment on them because of it too. I have suggested this too a few and their response was they don't want to get spammed. My blog gets spam, but blogger filters it all out, and it doesn't get published....so I can't explain their reasoning. Their loss, not mine!
i could kiss you! i hate word verification but i muster through because i want to comment. i turned mine off ages ago and have NEVER had a spam comment. i probably just jinxed myself...
Great idea! I really only have time to blog while holding the baby to feed her or while she's dozing... I hate having to finger peck some strange word in AFTER finger pecking my comment with one hand! I would love for you to stop by my blog and give me any suggestions for improvement. I am in the process of redesigning it, but I am looking for input from other bloggers with awesome blogs! Also, if you have time, poke around! If you like what you see, follow me!
www.mommyforreals.blogspot.com
YES! The word verification drives me crazy! And I'm sorry to hear that some people have trouble with the embedded comment form, because I kinda hate the pop-up box. Is it just a problem with IE? I've never had trouble with either Safari or Firefox, but haven't used IE in years.
I got rid of word verification a long time ago and I may get some spam but blogger filters it out.
Oooo I had no idea there was an option to turn this annoying word thing off. I'm going to do it straight away. Thanks for the post x
Very good idea. control word is not good.
ok now seriously.. I LOVE YOU for this post :D I love commenting posts.. really I do it a LOT! But when I have to type the words on some blogs every time I comment I just think.. uff.. it's too annoying for a person who is leaving a lot of comments like me;p
But its good you showed how to do it cuz some of the bloggers really don't know how to do it :D And some of them really don't know they have a password :D
You rock! I sure wish everyone would do this! AND I wish everyone would have a pop up window. When I am entering a giveaway a pop up window allows me to see what I am supposed to do without have to scroll up and down the page a million times. Especially if they require 4 million things to enter.
For some reason one of my older posts gets a lot of spam comments. More than anyone else here has commented on receiving spam. Weird. I don't mind the word verification thingy, maybe because I get those spams, so I understand why it is there.
I certainly don't like it either, have toyed with the idea of removing it on my blog, so I did last night just to see. I had 3 SPAM comments this morning! Go figure! Blogger blocked them from showing up, so I'm going to let it be as long as it doesn't get excessive. Otherwise I'll be putting it back because I don't want to moderate comments.
Very informative post. :)
I've never had word verification and have had no automated spam comments. I do find it frustrating as often if there are glitches with leaving comments it seems to be on blogs that use word verification. Also I've lost count of the number of times I've hit send to a comment, then assumed it's been posted so leave the page, but as I do so I see the word verification thingy has appeared. I don't bother to go back and re comment!
I turned off my word verification ages ago and in all honesty, I do get spam - a half dozen a week or so. But not enough to really annoy me and easily deleted. Inless it ramps up into intolerable levels I will leave the verification turned off.
Amen sister!
I shut off word verification about a month ago and haven't had a problem yet. Blogger has filtered out the spam quite nicely.
I don't mind the word verification, but I DO mind embedded comments because I can't comment at work in my lunch hour as we're on IE (and it's not just IE7 on that have issues, it's IE6 in here) and I CAN'T change it/download another browser or anything else like that. It's when I do most of my commenting, and if it's a blog I like I will actually e-mail myself home a list of comments to go back to, however some days I just don't have time for extra hoops. Either pop ups (like you've just changed to) or the whole other page forms work fine though :o)
I had already thought of turning off the word thingy, and just been too lazy to do it! I hope others turn theirs off too. I must admit to a geeky interest in the words themselves...they're like real words, but not. Not just alphabet soup. Am I alone in wondering about things like this???
I changed it about 6 months ago and have gotton no more spammer comments, which I know has been a concern for some. It seems to filter them out still!
I totally agree on all points!!! Do you mind if I put a link to this post on my blog?
I was a non-reply blogger !! Thank you a hundred times for this !!
I'm excited - I've tried commenting a bunch on your blog when I get to the endless loop and have just given up, but I guess it depends on which computer I've been trying to comment from! Hopefully this change will fix that problem, since I like being able to tell you how much I enjoy your blog!
I had a spate of crappy spam which I didn't think other people would want to see, hence the verification - if I switch it off, I will blame you for the penile enlargement ads!
PS. Everyone tick the 'Show Mobile Template'button!!!
It is with great apprehension that I have made these changes!!!! I had a whole bunch of spam on my business blog, so I'm hoping that doesn't happen here. I'm all for making it easy to comment, but I'm a little scared. We'll see how it goes.... :)
yes yes yes - I hate the word thing and have had it turned off for a long time on my blog. It has been forever since I've had any spam as well. So blogger is doing a great job with spam and we don't have to type all those crazy extra words!
Man, I just recently tried turning my word verification thingy off, and I got ridiculous spam everyday (and most of it gross too). On both old posts and new posts. That and Blogger sent comments from real people that I actually wanted to hear from (usually if they were no-reply folks or non-gmail folks) to my spam folder. It was so frustrating. I spent so much time each day sorting through the disturbing spam and making sure I didn't miss nice comments from real people that I decided I had to turn the word verification back on just to save me that time each day. I felt bad because I know how annoying the word verification is. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Any suggestions?
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