Which blog commenting systems do you prefer?
Taking part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge has forced me to think about blog commenting systems again.
As part of the Challenge you are encouraged to visit and comment on other peoples blogs.
Contents
Blog Commenting and Online Visibility
The Challenge a great system. You support other bloggers out there by reading, commenting and sharing.
In return you start to build relationships and reach a wider audience.
Blog commenting can be a great marketing tactic when done right. I suggest you pop over to Valerie’s blog as she wrote about this aspect of commenting earlier in the week.
This post comes from my view-point as a blog commenter – one who is really busy and has no inclination to faff around.
Making The Time To Comment
I knew when I decided to take part in this quarter’s challenge that I would be pushed for time even to get my own posts written and out there, let alone committing to commenting. That was the whole point in taking part. I know that blogging regularly works well and I needed focus.
I need to prioritise what I am doing to make the most of my time. I am not going to waste time logging in, registering and generally jumping through hoops to leave a comment.
Blog commenting should be simple and easy with no roadblocks put in the way.
It can be a bit difficult as there are so many blogging systems used by the participants of the Blog Challenge. They fall into 3 main groups
Blogger from Google
I have a Google account and I am always logged in to at least one… If I see a post that catches my eye, Blogger generally doesn’t throw up any road blocks. The main issue is making sure I am logged in as me and not as a client!
WordPress.com
I have yet to come across a WP.com blog that does not require you to log in with a WordPress account. Just leaving my email address stops the comment.
I discovered on the last challenge my WP account that I want associated with me as MLBO has been suspended. I do have a really old account that I have Akismet and Jetpack registered on, but quite frankly it was created years ago and it is not me now.
If you’re blogging on WordPress.com, I may share the post but won’t be commenting.
Self-Hosted WordPress
Like this blog, there are many self-hosted WP blogs out there. You would think that commenting systems would be nice and simple…
I will not take the time to register on a WordPress site to leave a comment. Why should I? It may only be 5 minutes, but it’s my 5 minutes and I could read another post and comment in that time.
Disqus is a popular commenting system used. If I see a blog with Disqus installed I may share that post, I will not waste my time trying to comment.
For some reason Disqus does not like my business email address and throws up all sorts of issues when trying to log in via Google. I am not going to stick around fighting with it. I don’t even try these days.
Facebook only comments…
Just no.
I understand why people like the commenting with FB system, it helps a post reach a wider audience. However, I do not want my personal profile splattered on other peoples websites. If there is no other way to comment, then I don’t comment.
Blog Commenting Blinkers
I’m the first to admit I let my personal experience and preferences dictate how my blog is run. It’s my blog, my home online…
I spent months trying to find a subscribe to comments plugin that worked – because I find that useful as a commenter. I now use the WordPress Jetpack for these feature alone. I used Commentluv in the past and love it’s features as a commenter too – so it’s here on this blog.
Blogging for business does mean that my audience is quite limited, we’re not here for lifestyle chat or passing the time of day. I do find in the normal running of things I get more emails than I do comments – and that is fine by me. Some people don’t want to ask their questions so publicly.
Making Blog Commenting Simple?
My aim is to make it as easy as possible to leave a comment if you wish to do so. I find that the standard WordPress commenting system does that perfectly well – it’s not difficult for me to maintain. I’m not here to build a huge community or become an A list (or any list) blogger.
But my opinions and preferences as a blog commenter are not as important as those who do comment on my blog. So over to you…
As a blog commenter, what blog commenting systems do you prefer and why?
To Comment or Not To Comment... Thoughts on Blog Commenting Systems by Jan Kearney
Hi Jan
I agree totally with you .. It seems that you hit so many different systems when trying to add a simple comment to a blog these days that 60% of the time you end up leaving the blog disappointed that you couldn’t post. I really am not comfortable with the lack of control that the facebook comment boxes leave you and am a very private person so really need some knowledge that the whole world is not seeing what I’m up to!!
I love blogging and connecting and feel that people should make their blogs as user friendly as possible.
Mine is in its infancy, but will grow as I learn .. hopefully to be as good as yours one day!! 🙂
Thanks for the ongoing support
xxxxcarlxxxx
Hi Carl 🙂 We all learn, and keep learning. This blog is just a baby, and it does change as I learn something new too. I agree with you about the FB comments though!
Hi Jan, I’ve had similar challenges this week with some of the blogs I’ve visited. Of course, I’m guilty too – installed a WP plug in this week that completely disabled the comment feature. Fortunately, there were a lot of people willing to make the extra effort to alert me to the problem. Interestingly, I have horrible time getting Blogger to accept any of my IDs (including Google). Wish they’d add a feature there where you can simply enter your web address the way WP does.
Hi Nanette, I’m not perfect either! Things go wrong and you’re grateful when others point them out. I do it too if I have specific issues with a site 🙂
Well I couldn’t resist a comment! I take on board the points about Facebook commenting – actually you can comment as your page rather than your profile though, which might help other commenters to become aware of your page. I don’t seem to be able to get more than one commenting system on my blog though – do you know if you can have, say, Facebook AND commentluv?
Oh Ginny, I was sobbing into my coffee when I went to comment on your blog, was it last week or the week before? I just saw FB comments and went to nag you on FB instead – I didn’t know you could switch to a FB page, didn’t stick around to look either!
If you have one of the plugins that still allow regular WP comments then I guess you can add commentluv too – I don’t do FB comments and haven’t installed them for clients either (not been asked, so wasn’t me nagging!) Perhaps try the SEO Facebook Comments plugin? I think that one keeps the two systems?
Thanks for your thoughts, it’s good to be reminded about how other people feel about social networks. Although I would imagine some page owners would welcome commenting as their page, and have the choice not to post to Facebook as well. I’ll have a look at the SEO Facebook Comments plugin – not heard of that one.
Hi Ginny, do let me know how you get on with that plugin if you try it out too. If I get some time to play I’ll pop it on a test blog and see how it works. Sue called me the most anti-social social media goddess yesterday – it’s true I prefer to keep my private me private, not that there’s much but nagging my daughter on my FB profile!
Yes, I see your point about page owners would appreciate another outlet to show off their page. I’ll be honest my comment blinkers meant I didn’t even look to see if it switched. I just had a Facebook comment plugin and run moment…
Hehe I can only imagine the nagging! I tried installing the SEO Facebook comments plug in but it seems I need to create an app all over again and I can’t quite face it (especially as I’m not sure whether it’s going to give me what I want anyway). Maybe another day…
Perhaps I am over-simplifying and I haven’t tried it, but the point of the app is to basically connect your FB to your blog. Since it is already connected with 1 app can you not use the same app details rather than create a whole new one? Just a thought…
As a fellow participant in the blogging challenge I have also been frustrated by the differences in what is required to leave a simple comment on somebody’s blog. Some are so easy and others seem to need a secret code to unlock – at which point I’ve given up. But it has been frustrating to read the blog, add my comment only to find the challenges to get it to submit are just too great. Your blog has summed this up well and I found it really helpful the way you’ve identified the different systems and their respective challenges.
I’ll continue to learn and grow from those like yourself and Valerie Cuell who have taken the time to post great content on this subject.
Thanks for sharing,
Lynn
Hi Lynn, thank for popping in. I hope you find plenty of useful info here and not just me ranting! I didn’t even get to the secret codes and anti spam measures either… Don’t start me on those lol
Enjoy your internet journey and the blog challenge – it IS fun if sometimes frustrating!
How wonderful of you to share a link to my blog post, Jan.
I have to agree with everything you say above.
I own up to looking at the domain name of a post in the challenge and if it contains wordpress.com or blogspot, I don’t even go there.
It’s so disheartening to read a post, think up a reply and type it, only to discover you can’t post it.
We have to make it simple and easy for people to comment on our blogs or they’ll vote with their feet – so to speak!
Hi Valerie – I’m almost relieved it’s not just me who avoids certain sites. Yes I look and if it’s WordPress.com I tend to skip it. I do feel I could be missing out on some great posts, but there are only so many hours in the day and that’s my filter that keeps me from getting lost reading!
thanks for your comment on my blog Jan. It’s a wordpress site and I have the commentluv plugin, not having a problem posting this comment..did you have problem posting at my blog? I agree that it’s very frustrating to take the time to write a comment and then find you can’t post it.
Hi Ellen, thanks for popping in. I had no problem at all commenting over on your blog, you kept things nice and simple 🙂
Hi Jan,
Very interesting subject, and I have learned quite a bit from it. You are right – blog commenting does not need to be a puzzle, since most people simply won’t bother leaving comments. I too get amused by why some blogs have only Facebook commenting system.
Your post has started me thinking about possible deficiencies with my blogging system. Having set up my blog and learned about all sorts of plugins only recently, I need to check if it is easy and straightforward to use. I love simple to use systems, and want my blog readers to have an easy and enjoyable experience, and the last thing I would want is to annoy anyone wanting to leave a comment! Need to test it out…
I suspect that a vast majority of people are not even aware that the reason they are not getting any comments is that their commenting system is rubbish. :).
Thank you for raising the issue!
Warm wishes,
Galina
P.S. I would be grateful for any feedback on the system I use. Maybe we could exchange some ideas about this in the group, to help each other improve our systems to make the commenting challenge and easy experience? So glad that I have read your article!
Hi Galina – your blog is fine, you keep it nice and simple 🙂 Yes, it’s definately something we could bounce ideas around in the group, blogging after all is the base of all social media (in my opinion anyway!)
Hi Jan
I have the same problem, if it WordPress.com it is not so easy to leave a comment so most of the time I give up which is a shame as there are some interesting blogs in this challenge.
I use commentluv and it works so well, it makes it very easy for my readers to leave comments.
Thanks for sharing, hope you have a great weekend
Pauline
Hi Pauline, yes I think I miss a lot of great posts over on WP.com because I see the url and pass them over in my mad rush to get some commenting and sharing done!
You have a great weekend too 🙂
Thanks so much for your help, I’ve installed the Facebook SEO comments plugin which, as you rightly suggested, allows both this and commentluv. No error messages now either. Your expertise is much appreciated. We’ll see how it goes…
I would call it an educated guess rather than expertise in the Facebook SEO plugin case Ginny 🙂 Glad it works for you though, no doubt I’ll be over trying it out soon!
I don’t get it. In my experience you do not need an account to leave a comment on a a self-hosted WordPress blog. Is that what you meant?
Hi Yeremi – yes and no… Some self-hosted bloggers require registration before you can comment. That does irritate me, and no I won’t sign up just to leave a comment. The main grip is WP.com though, where a WP account is needed.
Thanks for popping in and your question 🙂
I’ve been struggling with this question for weeks now and I agree with the points that you have outlined there. I, for instance, find it absolutely crazy to think that ALL commenters should have a facebook account or be registered to a website to comment. I’ve always used Social Plugins to enable commenting (however on my new look that took away the possibility of commenting with the built-in WordPress comment box–and this really frustrates me). I’ll be looking into fixing that and using commentluv! Thank you for the insightful article.
Hello Astrid, thanks for popping in and taking the time to comment 🙂 I know exactly where you are comming from with the Facebook comments, they drive me crazy too! Good luck with your blog, and enjoy commentluv, it’s a great little plugin.
I love commenting on blogs, I have met so many wonderful people from reading and connecting and sharing quality content. Thing is, if your blog isn’t easy to comment on, unless I have loads of time to kill I wont be leaving a comment any time soon.
I also love to make commenting as simple as possible and I regularly hold simple syndication events on my Facebook Fanpage where people can share their posts in return for sharing their love and commenting.
Great points. It’s my first time here, I hope to stop by again soon,
Beth 🙂
Hi Beth, thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment 🙂 I’ll pop over and have a look at your syndication events too!