Any feedback for this blog, even something mean and especially a
nasty insult, brings me flutters of joy.
There are, however,
some ‘known issues’ with the commenting software, and if “known issues”
sounds like someone’s working on the problem, rest assured that nobody
is.This blog is published on software by Blogger, a subsidiary of
Google. It’s free and easy and I’m generally happy with it, but we’re
not in Google’s top 10 or 100 or 1,000 priorities, so the same issues
keep popping up and no
‘fix’ is on the way.Google’s commenting system usually works, but there’s a labyrinth of
things eager to occasionally go wrong. Here’s what I’ve learned about the basics of commenting here, and the
workarounds when something goes wrong.Always always always
compose your comments off-lineThe commenting system sometimes eats comments, and everything you’ve typed simply disappears. It doesn’t happen often, but once is more than enough.It’s a good idea to always, always, always compose your comments — especially any lengthy comments — in a word processor or text editor, and then paste the text into the website’s comment box.
“Your comment has been added”
(except that it hasn’t)If
you post a comment or reply, and the software says “Your comment has
been added,” but it’s not visible or it immediately disappears, welcome to Google’s spam filter. Send an email, and I’ll get your comment posted.And if you’re wondering, here’s what’s happening behind the scenes:
This platform has the worst spam filter I’ve
ever seen — it simply doesn’t catch spam, but genuine
comments sometimes trigger a false-positive.I have never figured out what the spam filter sees. It’s random, or maybe it calculates the total binary value of all the characters typed into a comment, and if it’s divisible by 27 then Google calls it spam.
Having decided that your comment is spam, Google’s software doesn’t tell you, and doesn’t tell me. Your comment
is visible to me as blog-owner (but no-one else can see it), and there’s a small
check-mark, indicating that I need to ‘check’ and approve or delete the
suspected-spam.That vital check-mark, though, can only be seen by me, and only while my mouse hovers over the comment. Do you hover your mouse over everything you read? No, and neither do I, but there’s no other notification, so I might never know there’s a problem unless you send me that email.“Your comment has not been added”If you get the message, “Your comment has not been added,” that’s trickier. It happens rarely, and means that something in your comment has triggered
Google’s blue-nose censorship software. But there’s no telling what’s
offended the Googs.Posting the same comment or reply from a different browser or device is usually successful.When it isn’t, try turning your VPN off or on. That sometimes helps.If it’s still no go, re-wording your text even slightly, or inserting paragraph breaks, or
making one comment into multiple comments will usually get past
whatever’s gone wrong.Believe it or not, Google is prudish about anal and oral sex, so if you’ve used the word ‘butt-hurt’ or ‘blow-job’,
try it again with asterisks instead of the vowels.I’d suggest asterisks for any profanity, if a comment or reply proves difficult, but usually it’s anal or oral.If you’ve tried all these workarounds and your comment or reply is still rejected, please drop me an email, include your rejected text, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get it published.Heads up — I’ll
need to make changes to what you’ve written, but they’ll be
tiny changes — asterisks, paragraph breaks, or reworking it into multiple comments. Other than that, I won’t mess with your words.Changing your nameWhen you click ‘Comment’ or ‘Reply’, the software will either call you ‘Anonymous’ or show your name with Google, if you’re logged in to Google.
You
can change the name, by clicking
whatever’s shown after “Comment as:” to select either “Google Account,”
“Anonymous,” or “Name/URL.”Google wants you to sign in with
Google, of course, so the software treats you nicer if you’re logged in. It’s the
only way to have a picture next to your comment, and to have your name
waiting for you without typing it every time. It’s also supposed to
allow editing or deleting your
comment after it’s posted, but I’ve never tried that.If you
select “Anonymous,” it’s not anonymous, of course — the Googs always know who you are — but your comments are
anonymous to me and to readers.
If
you select “Name/URL,” you can type whatever name you wish, even add
your URL (optional) for a live link. Other than that, there’s no difference between “Anonymous” and “Name/URL.” No matter which of the three options you choose, I
can’t see any tracking info, and have no curiosity about it anyway.
‘Commenting’ vs ‘Replying’If you’re commenting on the post itself, click ‘Comment’ and you’ll be the star of a new thread.If you’re replying to someone else, click ‘Reply’, directly under that person’s comment.The
difference between ‘Comment’ and ‘Reply’ is only about keeping replies near
whatever you’re replying to. ‘Comment’ starts a new thread, so if your ‘comment’ is actually a ‘reply’, it might be a
little harder to find.
Wait, there’s no ‘Reply’ optionOn
busy threads, where there are more than a few replies, the ‘Reply’ link
is only offered after all the replies, not after each reply.That’s
annoying, and makes it difficult to know who’s replying to what, so
it’s a good idea to include the name of the person you’re replying to —
type “Hey, Binky…” instead of just “Hey.”If anything else goes wrong,
please let me know.