WANA: We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.
This post is for Friday, March 17. I’m posting a day early because I won’t have web access to post tomorrow. I probably won’t be able to reply to comments, either, but please do comment anyhow.
My friend Marji Laine is in the process of moving her blog from Blogspot to WordPress. While doing this, she discovered something that has bothered me ever since I began reading and commenting on other writers’ blogs: the unfriendliness of the interfaces among different blog hosts.
Almost everyone I know uses one of these two, so I’ll limit my cursing discussion here to them. If you use WordPress for your own blog, commenting on other WordPress blogs is a simple process. You write your comment and then click a button to confirm your identity. Voila! From what Marji said in her Wednesday blog “Commenting on Blogspot,” I suppose it’s a relatively simple matter for a Blogspot blogger to comment on another Blogspot blog, too.
The problems arise when a WordPress blogger wants to comment on a Blogspot blog or, I suppose, vice-versa. It’s as if you were in a store in a strip shopping center and wanted to go to the store next door but the strip owner has erected walls between stores that require you to leave the parking lot you’re in, drive back out into the busy street, and pull into the adjacent parking lot.
Most retailers and real estate developers have more sense than that. They build a parking lot common to all stores in the strip and put in a sidewalk that passes easily from store to store. You simply leave your car where it is and walk next door.
Due to the childishness of the blog hosts, we have to drive out into the street and over to the next parking lot to get from one to the other. Every time I comment on a post on Blogspot, I have to enter my name and email address and WordPress name. I understand it’s just as bad for Blogspotters trying to comment on a WordPress site.
Lots of times I even have to play the CAPTCHA game. You know, where I have to guess what letters are represented by a bunch of indecipherable squiggles. Does anyone get those right every time? I think not.
Does Blogspot think it’s attracting me as a potential customer by making it as difficult as possible to do this? Does WordPress think it makes itself desirable to people from other blog hosts? I’ve got news for both of them. The way to impress me would be to make my life as simple as possible. Let me comment on a Blogspot post by clicking on a simple button, and let Blogspotters have just as easy a time commenting on WordPress posts.
While I’m railing and ranting discussing this subject, let me air another problem I have peculiar to Blogspot. When I want to reply to a comment on my site, or any other WordPress site, I can click the word “Reply” and enter what I want to say right under the comment I’m replying to. With Blogspot I’ve never found any such feature. I have to enter my reply as a new comment not attached to anyone else’s. This prevents me from thanking commenters when I guest post on a Blogspot site.
If some brilliant techie would develop a blog hosting site that incorporated the solutions to these problems, we might hear a large sucking sound as that new host sucked all the customers away from the current hosts.
What sort of problems have you run into in commenting on a competing blog host site? Have you found things I haven’t mentioned?
David N. Walker is a Christian father and grandfather, a grounded pilot and a near-scratch golfer who had to give up the game because of shoulder problems. A graduate of Duke University, he spent 42 years as a health insurance agent. Most of that career was spent in Texas, but for a few years he traveled many other states. He started writing about 20 years ago, and has six unpublished novels to use as primers on how NOT to write fiction. He is currently putting the finishing touches on his non-fiction Web Wisdom: Godly Inspiration from the Inbox and starting his new fiction work—a series of novellas set during the period from 1860 to 1880.
Contact me at davwalktx@yahoo.com or tweet me at @davidnwalkertx
David N Walker 
Hey, David. All things that you wrote is really true. A very educative post that indeed revamps my perception on the same. I am also facing some problem while doing blog commenting. Its too frustrating me. Sometimes it treats my blog commenting as spam.
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Hi David! You’ve summed up some of the difficulties nicely. Unfortunately, WordPress just made it *harder* to comment, with an update on March 15th. Check out http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/you-must-be-logged-in-to-comment/ – I’ve had a few people notice this on my site, and I was stung by it myself earlier. Their new system deletes user comments BEFORE users are told to log in. Very frustrating.
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Hmmm. I haven’t run across that problem or heard any of my commenters mention it. Thanks. I’ll keep my ears to the ground.
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I’m a wordpress user and I always groan when I find a really cool post on blogspot that I wish to comment on. The headache starts and I know it’s going to be challenging to actually post a comment. Sometimes I simply can’t be bothered to go to the trouble of attempting to decipher the two words they ask you to type to prove you’re not a robot. As a result of this difficulty I tend to follow many more wordpress blogs than blogspot.
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Me, too, Emma. Thanks for your comments.
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These are great comparisons. I use WordPress and do find it difficult to comment on Blogspot sights. You have outlined many of my frustrations here! I do feel better after reading your post to know that I am not alone!!
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Thanks, Christy. Now, if there were just some way to get these comments to the attention of both WordPress and Blogspot.
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Perhaps by submitting the post to social media sites such as Twitter and Google+ with the user names for WordPress and Blogspot attached (for example the ‘@’ for Twitter handle names). How neat would that be to impact the programs with your post!
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I’ve done posts on this same thing. I finally found that using the Name/URL option works best on Blogspot, but a lot of people don’t have their blogs set up to offer that option. And the WordPress option rarely works at all.
I’ve noticed lately that Blogspot is making it even harder with the Captcha codes. At least I used to be able to read that one word I had to type in. But there are now TWO words you have to key in and you can barely read them.
One of my biggest beefs with Blogspot is there’s no option to notify me of follow up comments. So I never know if someone answered my comment.
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I’ve faced challenges with Blogspot and Blogger. I also hate when the internet connection fizzles just after I’ve written something brilliant (LOL) and hit ‘submit.’ Agh!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who struggles with captcha boxes. I feared my contacts weren’t working. 😉
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Thanks, August. I wondered as I wrote this whether or not it was something that bothered other bloggers. Apparently it is.
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Oh my gosh, I wanted to clap after reading this! I get so frustrated sometimes just trying to leave a comment. A lot of times I forgo my WP id and log on using Google cause its easier, but then i don’t get any traffic back to my blog. So it’s really irritating. I wish the two forms did synch up better. Perhaps the LLC can write a really heated letter and send it to the powers that be. LOL
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Good idea, Jess. Marcia does so much, we’ll let you write the letter for us.
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I HATE commenting on blogspot. Was just having this issue yesterday! You read my mind 😉
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It’s a lovely mind to read, Ingrid.
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The good news is that on Blogger, there is a wave of people who are turning off the captcha – it’s just as frustrating for blogger clients as for everyone else. I also have an answer for the reply feature – my blog has the reply feature, but you have to enable it. It’s not automatic. I am frustrated with the lack of reciprocity between the two (WP and Blogger), because they are the two main blog sites I know of.
I have considered moving to WP, but am reluctant because it would entail a ton of work, a new address, and I just got something going on over at my blog. Also, many of the people who are “blogging buddies” are on blogger.
Getting a Gravatar seems to have taken care of my problems with having to put my info in each time I want to comment on a WP blog. At least, I think so – still not sure how it all works.
Another frustration was not being able to subscribe to WP blogs, but that was solved by using google reader. I have everyone (including you, David!) in one place. It has been a time saver. So, I’m sticking with Blogger, for the time being! Getting to experiment in WordPress next month might change my mind – who knows! 😉
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Thanks, Lara. Sounds like you’ve figured out more than I have about all this.
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It is very frustrating. And the reason why you can’t reply directly under comments in blogger is because they JUST implemented threaded comments, something users have been asking for forever. Unfortunately, their new reply feature is still very clunky (makes you enter a captcha every time you apply.) I used blogger for 3 years but I’ve just recently moved everything to my website which is through Squarespace. So now I have the Disqus commenting system (which can be installed on Blogger btw, not sure about WordPress), which I’ve found the most user friendly. But yes, it’s all a bit complicated.
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I find the Blogspot blogs frustrating because I have some good WANA friends who use it and I want to reciprocate. I do muddle through most of the time but I hadn’t realized until reading your post that they are muddling through on my blog as well. It would be nice to see this resolved. It is “social” media” after all. Aren’t we supposed to be one big happy family? Thanks for enlightening me David!
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You’re welcome, Kate. Hopefully, some of this anger will get back to both companies, and they’ll do something to make it easier.
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This is such a good point, David. It makes no sense for either one of those sites to want to lose followers but that’s what happens.
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I think you’re right, Patricia.
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I honestly prefer Blogspot to WordPress. I’ve tried WordPress, but it just doesn’t work out well for me. I’ve made commenting as easy as possible for people (you CAN post using just your name and no, you don’t have to enter a captcha). Posting is as easy as it is here where I, a Blogger user, have to enter my email, name, and website. It would be nice if both big blog hosts would play nice and let us comment on each others’ sites without the hoops, but I don’t understand why Blogger gets all the flack.
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David, this is a great and timely post for me, since I’m planning to switch from Blogspot to WP soon.
It’s true for the WP bloggers to run into trouble while trying to leave comments on the Blogspot blogs. I’ve been told many times by several of my WP blogging friends that, despite trying and trying, they often can’t comment on my posts :-((( How frustrating! This problem will naturally disappear when I move my blog to WP, but then I will face the same issue myself, because I have a long list of blogging friends who use Blogger. Now I will be the one to pull my hair in frustration.
I’ve noticed that most of the WP blogs I visit remember me, so I simply enter a comment and I’m done. But there are a handful of WP blogs that don’t retain my information, and I have to type my name, email and my blog address each time I visit. Not a big deal, but it makes me wonder if this is something that can be changed in the WP settings.
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I’ve gotten to a point where I won’t follow Blogspot users. I started over there and deleted my account after getting about 3 views in as many months. I will read friend’s blogs that use it, but it is too frustrating to read on a daily basis.
There are tons of blog sites out there and they are all written differently with their own needs in mind. I love the ease and support of WP. Best of all, they keep improving it! It is my main blogging site.
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I feel your pain, Susie, but isn’t it a shame so many good bloggers are disqualified just because their host is unfriendly?
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I switched over to WP for that reason…
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I hear ya!!! It’s unfortunate that there isn’t a system out there that resolves all these issues because I’m sure we’d all flock to it. It’s a pain. I love a lot of blogs that are hosted on blogspot but the commenting limitations are sooo annoying although I am sure for them to visit me is just as big of a pain…so we all continue to muddle through but why oh WHY can’t the powers that be make it easier?!?!? Alas, maybe someday!
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We can wish, Natalie.
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It is very hard to comment on BlogSpot blogs. I get stuck all the time! Especially on the scrambled letters. It’s true: I have left many good sites, never to return because of the difficulty involved in posting.
That said, self-hosted sites aren’t always easier. Oy! The hoops people make us jump though!
Great post!
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Yeah, Renee. I agree about the self-hosted sites. My friend Nigel Blackwell has one, and I have to fill out the form for each comment AND for each reply to other comments.
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I have encountered every one of the issues you mention, David. If they don’t want to play in the WordPress sandbox, don’t put the dang option there.
Another annoying Blogspot feature is the “redirecting” message that appears when I click POST. When it’s finished redirecting, it lands me at the top of the page, so I get to scroll down to my comment to try again.
Don’t get me started on the POST versus PREVIEW two-step required to generate the secret coded letters.
And, yes, those squigglies ARE sometimes indiscernible. I have excellent vision.
The only things I have difficulty finding on my computer screen are my own typos and the sometimes “what the…?” letters in their cleverly worded “prove you’re not a robot” request.
And, while I’m
ranting and ravingcommenting, why is it that they don’t give me an option to try another coded word? Why must I enter my S.W.A.G. and go through the redirecting routine?Phew. I feel much better now.
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Hmmmm. I seem to have struck a chord, Gloria. Now, how to change things? . . .
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Gloria, this option can be easily disabled in Blogger, which is what I’ve done to make it easier on my readers to comment. And if I get a spam comment, I just delete it.
But the Blogspot is overall not a very user-friendly platform.
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I agree with you 100%. I cannot comment on a Blogspot blog using my WordPress info. I type in all of it and at the end I get an “invalid” something or other when I try to list my blog site. Then I try to do it again… no go.
So then I try to use my Blogspot info, but I can’t read the type in the captcha box. Sometimes it is a success.. most times, I wind up getting frustrated and just clicking the little boxes (interesting, cool, funny) and leaving.
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Thanks, Darlene. Why do they do that?
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