More About New Blogger Commenting System
Stuff I hate December 3rd, 2007Yesterday I posted about the recent unannounced change to Google’s commenting system on Blogger blogs. If you host with Blogger, this change is significant and will likely cause a drop in your readership.
The post I wrote didn’t include a complete enough explanation of why this will impact you, so I would encourage you to visit BlogCatalog, where there is a more involved explanation of the problem and links to other blogs where the issue is being discussed.
There is also a link to the appropriate place to voice your concern to Google about this change.
Check out the discussion on BlogCatalog today!
And speaking of problems with Blogger, there is a problem with the way pictures are handled in posts. When a reader clicks on a picture, they are asked to download it or open it with a program of their choosing. Before, the picture would simply open within the browser. This is a known bug and Google is working on a solution.
Stumble it!
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Yes, this is indeed the work of “poopy heads”. Sorry you are having the problems. I still like Google, but all this sort of thing is one of the main reasons I just host my own blog using WordPress. Places like GoDaddy and others set it all up for you and it ends up only costing like $4 per month.
Good luck whatever you choose though!
Michael
December 3rd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Well, this is Regan from her AIM. Because there isn’t nickname anymore. Which sticks. Poopy Head Google…
And I have my own website. Sorta.
http://www.neopets.com/~tyidyi71496
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:15 pm
Hi Kathy,
This has me bummed out. It is a constant story line in my life of buyer’s remorse. I chose Blogger over other formats because it is owned by Google and I figured I’d show up in search results easier (I do get a lot of traffic from organic Google searches). However, this move seems manipulative, if not downright callous. After all for the work I’ve done to get a domain name, and to create repeat traffic, I am hard pressed to extricate myself from Blogger because of this particular issue. I’m not sure what to do about it. Thanks for your input. -Mike.
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:13 pm
@ Michael — Thanks. We take all forms of sympathy here. In my case, the money is not so much the issue as the time it will take me to make the move elsewhere. All I wanted to do was write. I didn’t want to worry about site administration.
@ Regan (aka superxcat) — I fixed that issue with no Nickname field. I was using Blogger in Draft (beta) yesterday, with the new login setting. But somehow that went missing. Nickname is back.
@ Mike — If it helps, I’m not sure what to do either. I’m waiting a week before I do anything, so I can consider all my options. I’m rethinking the Haloscan option. I really need time to think about it. Check back for updates. I’ll let everyone know what I plan to do, before I do it. Yeah, and you and I just got on our own domains, and now this. Ain’t that a kick in the teeth?
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:52 pm
It’s good that we have you as our Blogger advocate. Without your passion for having to make sure everything is right with the blogsphere, I would probably just let the Google giants walk all over me.
I say ENOUGH! With Kathy at the helm we can conquer!
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:58 pm
@ Jeff — That’s so funny. I was telling a friend this morning that this whole thing has a ‘grass roots’ quality about it. I feel a responsibility to fight it for all of the bloggers who might not even know how bad it is. Keep the fires stoked, you know? I told him if we are successful at complaining enough to have the URL feature reinstated, I’m running for office.
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:30 pm
Ok, I may not be totally getting all this but…
I’m with Blogger. I also have a Google account, which is free and takes a nano second to get. So now when I leave a comment on people’s blogs, I make sure I have the Blogger window opened. I just leave it diminished all day and whenever I comment anywhere, it always turns my name into a link, like I’m going to do here.
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm
P.S., I wish the link took me directly to the blogs I’m commenting on but it takes half a second to scroll down and click on the link to the blog on the profile page I’ve been directed to.
That being said, I still complained on Wishlist.
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Hi, Suzy. Yes, you are correct. If you have a Blogger blog (Google) and login that way to leave a comment, your name shows up on the comment as a clickable link to your PROFILE. Now, that’s great if you only have one blog in your profile, as you do. It’ll be obvious that “Where hot comes to die” is where I want to go visit you.
The problem is when people have multiple blogs. Let’s say you have one for “Hot” and one for “Not Hot” and you leave me a comment. When I click on the Suzy link, it goes to your profile and I see “Hot” and “Not Hot”. How will I know which one is relevant to the discussion? I can’t assume that it’s “Hot” (just because I think I’m hot). So I become confused which blog I should follow.
With the old way, you could have just entered the address to the Hot blog in the Other, Website field and I would know to go check out the Hot blog.
I hope I made sense 🙂 If it doesn’t, be sure to check out the BlogCatalog link on this post. It explains everything better than I can. I know I’m not doing it justice.
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for the heads up on the images. Just what we need….
I installed halsocan and their neat Recent Comments Widget. I bit the bullet and did it. At least everyone can leave a link now.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:07 pm
@ Windyridge — See http://knownissues.blogspot.com/ for the workaround on the image problem. I’ve heard from another Blogger reader that it works. I’ll be trying it soon myself.
Also, I’m very interested to hear how you like Haloscan.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:31 am
Did anyone look at my website? It’s not really a website, but it’s cool… And not very big…
December 4th, 2007 at 2:09 am
I have another issue with images since setting up my custom domain. If I link to, or upload an image to Blogger/Picassa, it will not show up in my blog. I just get a blank box with the name of the file. My work around is to put the image file in Webshots and link to it. I’m not happy about that because I purposely paid to upgrade my storage in Picassa to make sure I had enough room for images in my blog. I’m not a happy camper. I have even tried reducing the size of my images to less than 200px with no luck.
Anyway, thanks for championing our cause, Kathy.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:21 am
@ Lee — I’m not a happy camper, either, as you can see. If Google doesn’t rescind the change they made by the end of the week, it’s Hello WordPress.
Re: the pictures problem… this happened to me, too. I would visit an older post and find that the picture wasn’t there! My Scary, Hairy, Choc-Covered Cherry post is quite popular, and I was upset that the hairy picture was missing. I re-added it, and it seems to have stuck.
There is a massive discussion about this problem going on over at the Google Blogger Groups (go to your Dashboard, click Help, then Help Group, then “Something is Broken.” You’ll also find lots of irate people screaming about the comments change they made.
For now, maybe reload your missing images. Hopefully, they’ll stay put.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:52 am
I tried reposting the images, that didn’t work. I’ve got WordPress all set up to make the switch, I just haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I’m not sure what my hesitation is, other than I pretty much have things set up the way I want them on Blogger.
If I were honest about it, my Blogger blog is probably a little two busy with two much junk in the sidebar and at the bottom, below the posts. But I spent so much time adding all that junk I’m not ready to just let it go. [sigh]
December 4th, 2007 at 2:56 am
@ Lee — I’m jealous that you’re ready to go with WordPress. I’m fuzzy on the hosting part of it. Not so worried about using the new software. Just worried my data will go missing. I’d actually like to hear from you directly about the process you followed. If you want to chat about that, please email me at kathyblog07(at)gmail(dot)com. Thanks!
December 4th, 2007 at 3:17 am
Is there a way to import my stuff to another place?? Or did you already tell that and I missed it?
Wait – so now, below where I type this is some pull down menu about signing in using a few things..wordpress is one of them.
I am soooo confused.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:32 am
Yeah, Google definitely sucks for doing this. I wonder what their rationale is (other than to suck, of course)?
December 4th, 2007 at 4:10 am
I’m not waiting while I learn, Kathy. I have my WP blog working and am migrating the content now. IMHO, since they made this change without notice and with a bizzare publicity spin that got them good press while us users were fuming tells me they knew Exactly what they were doing and are banking on the idea that the defectors to other platforms will be far less than all the new users they will corral with their new gate.
If they were going to respond to the complaints they would have done it today. The writing on the wall reads clear to me, so I am working as fast as I can to bring my WordPress blog up to speed.
The Thin Red Line
December 4th, 2007 at 10:45 am
Testing OpenID URL to see if it points back to my blog!
December 4th, 2007 at 10:48 am
Testing once more.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Third time’s the charm?
December 4th, 2007 at 11:03 am
@ Margaret — If by “import to another place” you mean move to WordPress, yes we can do that. I still might move my blog there, but I’m working on something that might work fine for me. That is, to create an OpenID and make it point to my blog instead of an OpenID profile. This way,I can still leave my blog’s URL in the url field when commenting (when signing on with “Any OpenID.” You can see I’ve been testing here. Not quite working yet, but I’m in contact with the person who suggested this new method to see what’s going wrong. If I figure it out, I’ll post back about how it’s done. I’m hoping to get this working, because it’ll mean I don’t have to move to WordPress, and neither would anyone else.
@ Kev — Their rationale apparently is to stop URL spoofing in comments. Anyone can leave anyone else’s url and say that it’s theirs. I believe this is the way things are moving in general. Another reason for me to stay with Blogger if at all possible. If WordPress implements the same thing down the road, then why bother moving?
@ Alan — Glad you’ve made such fast progress. For the reasons stated above, I’d like to not move quite yet. It’ll only be as a last resort. You can tell I’m wavering back and forth, practically by the hour! I just don’t want to make the effort to move if I can help it.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:10 am
Hmm Kathy, looking at your source code everything looks in order. I’m testing my own URL here. Are you selecting “Any Open ID” as the login?
Sorry the code I had pasted didn’t work – I had a bit of problem inserting the code, but I will check it out and update.
December 4th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Hi Kathy,
I see you have implemented the draft.blogger thing!
I have just written an easy turorial and basic explanation of OpenID over at my blog: http://www.therandomforest.info/2007/12/tutorial-get-new-blogger-commenting.html
Hopefully this will be easy enough for anyone who stumbles across it to understand.
Thanks for helping us all find out what on earth was going on!
December 4th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Hey, Forest. That’s great, and I plan to write something up similarly.
The bigger issue that I want to cover soon is the actual creation of an OpenID account. Bloggers who want their URLs pointing to their blogs in comments they leave are burdened with this task.(click my name, and you’ll see I’m doing it now). There are some things to keep in mind while creating an OpenID account. I’ll post about that by Friday (I hope).
Thanks for writing and providing a link to your excellent post. It’s easy to understand and readers will find it helpful, I’m sure.
December 4th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Hey Kathy,
I’ve written about this as well, and I’m compiling a “clearing house” of related posts…seems as if more than a few people have something to say about it!
Thanks for your helpful posts!
Robin @ PENSIEVE
December 4th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Hey, Robin. Send me a link to your clearinghouse post, please. You know, I’m still wavering on staying or leaving. Blogger and I are having a difficult relationship. If it doesn’t change its ways, I’m leaving!
December 4th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Hey! Nickname is working again! Yayy!
And no one ever looked at my link! =P
http://neopets.com/~tyidyi71496
December 4th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Kathy, thanks for the comment on my site. I wanted to post here as well. I used blogger for a few months and quickly switched over to wordpress.org. I had heard a lot of good thinks about wordpress.org. I did a lot of research and that is what has been working out for me. It was an easy switch over and all of my information switched over.
December 4th, 2007 at 11:05 pm
@ Regan — I think it’s because your link is not clickable. Just wait. I’ll be moving to WordPress. It’s official. Then you can leave a link to your site and people can click on it.
@ Hunter’s Wife — It looks like I will have to learn something new. I am moving to WordPress very soon. I can’t hold out hope anymore. Gotta move onto greener pastures. WordPress, here I come.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:30 am
Hi Kathy,
I think I am going to switch.
http://www.snoskred.org is offering wordpress hosting on her dedicated server for $4.99 a month (I think) and she will even help with the moving over process and have wordpress installed for you etc etc.
I read her blog on a very regular basis and she is extremely helpful.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:36 am
@ Forest — That’s it for me. It’s WordPress time. I’ve got someone lined up to assist me with the move. I want to do it as soon as possible because I need to get back to writing about non-Poopy Head Google issues. I’m tired of it. I’ll follow you as you make your move and wish me luck on my own.
Now I understand why everyone says “Get your own domain and use WordPress.” I did neither out of the chute and now I’m suffering for it.
December 5th, 2007 at 1:46 am
Kathy and Forest: Is there some reason you wouldn’t take advantage of the free hosting that WordPress offers? I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m going to do.
Tar Heel Ramblings
December 5th, 2007 at 1:58 am
@ Lee — I can’t answer your question yet, as I’m not sure which way I’m going. I have a feeling that the hosted version is better for its plug-ins and themes. I’m still researching (and having someone else help me out with that).
December 6th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Kathy,
Just thought I would let you know. I pulled the trigger and my blog has been moved to WordPress and a hosted account.
The move really was pretty easy. I’m going to do a mini-tutorial with the steps I did. I’ll be doing it at a high level, so if you need more info you can send me a note at leeattarheelramblingsdotnet.
December 6th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Thanks, Lee. I sent you a note. Got a couple questions. Loved your insanity post. Very funny!
December 11th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
[…] The Junk Drawer – More About New Blogger Comment System […]
December 11th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Blogger has one problem after another.
Rose’s last blog post..Gun hairdryer- Bizarre gadgets for women
December 12th, 2007 at 5:36 am
@ Rose — I’m glad I left Blogger in the dust, but this move to WordPress has been difficult, so I’m not loving them either. Hopefully I’ll be completely satisfied with the way things are working by the weekend. I really need to get back to writing.
Kathy’s last blog post..Pardon My Appearance
January 7th, 2008 at 4:32 am
very interesting.
i’m adding in RSS Reader