In addition to appreciating the comments I receive, I love leaving comments, too. I do it a lot. Some of you regular posters may have noticed that. Really, I'm not virtually stalking you. I comment on the majority of the blog posts I read.
Lately, however, it seems that a large portion of bloggers have set up word verification. Often the "words" are ridiculously difficult to read such as these examples posted on
Markd60's blog:
Who has the time to try to figure out what these things say? A big thank you to Mark for taking the time to collect these. I haven't had the patience to stick around and copy them. I'm usually so frustrated by that point that I just click out. Of course my nice, carefully written comment is then nothing more than wasted time.
I know that I could just NOT comment on your blogs while still keeping them on my list. However, there's no way to know that word verification is needed until after I've taken the time to compose a comment. It's the equivalent of starting a conversation with someone and then. just as that person is about to respond, asking them for two forms of identification. I read too many blogs to keep track of which ones are using WV. If you're on my list, I obviously love your blog, but I have to say that I'm seriously considering dropping some blogs to avoid the frustration and wasted time.
There are two possible solutions I want to share with you (with tutorials for Blogspot blogs). Please, please consider either:
- giving a warning that verification is needed BEFORE the comment box or
- removing the word verification.
Tutorials for each:
Removing Word Verification (preferred method to keep me following your blog AND commenting):
1.Go to your dashboard:
2. Click "Settings"
3. Click "Comments" in the Settings submenu (There is also a tab named "Comments" along side the above mentioned "Settings", but that is the not the place. First click "Settings", then there will be a "Comments" there for you to click on.
4. Scroll down to where it says "Show word verification for comments?" and click on the "No" button.
5. Scroll down and click the "SAVE SETTINGS" button.
Keeping Word Verification with a Note Warning Would-be Writers of Comments (I'll keep following, but probably will not comment):
1. Go into "Settings" as above
2. Click on "Comments"
3. Scroll down to "Comment Form Message"
4. Type a note in the box there stating that word verification is needed for commenting. It could be a simple," Word verification is needed in order to comment." This forwarning will let allow readers to decide whether they have the time and/or energy to deal with the extra work involved.
5. Scroll down and click on "Save Settings" at the bottom
If you use something other than Blogger, I'm sure your blog support company would be more than happy to show you how to do these. Thanks for your consideration.