Blogger has seen fit to downgrade its comments feature, leaving me seriously considering switching to WordPress. Have you noticed it yet? This graphic is what I get when I attempt to leave a comment on another blog. Notice the "Nickname" field.
This is all well-and-good for Blogger users. But now my Wordpress and users of other blogs -- which, except LiveJournal allow links to any site -- can no longer enter a link to their site.
The reason that I did not choose a LiveJournal blog is because of restrictions like this one. Few LiveJournal users leave comments on this blog, and I leave comments on very few LiveJournal blogs. LiveJournal makes its community very insular. Now Blogger is becoming just like LiveJournal.
I'd rather have a paid account somewhere than be subjected to random downgradings like this one. I would have taken a look at WordPress last night, except my Internet connection was down. My only problem with switching is that everyone who has linked to Fantasy Debut would now have dead links. I could leave a pointer post at this blog, of course, but in many ways it would be almost like starting over.
If you are as seriously peeved about this downgrading as I am, please put a post up about it on your blog and find some way to complain to Blogger.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Blogger Comment Feature Downgraded
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14 comments:
I recommend WordPress. ;)
Oh, so that's what that was all about?
I wonder, though, do you think Blogger would/could change their mind if folks challenged their decision? I hate doing anything without checking it all out first. So maybe if you do go to wordpress you should keep this one for a while...about a couple of months...to see what's what.
-C
I'm pretty bummed about this too, but like you said, switching to WordPress (which I will admit is a much better site) just means starting over. I'll just soldier on...
If I were to start over at WordPress, I'd run a contest to help spur the transition on. And like Carole said, I'd probably run both sites concurrently for a while.
I agree that Wordpress appears to be a much better platform.
Oh man, is THAT what's going on? That was my biggest complaint when I had my book blog on LJ - it was too hard to comment anonymously, etc., etc., and people kept suggesting Blogger. But I thought blogger was pretty hard to deal with even when people could comment with their own URL. Glad to know they're all about MAKING IT HARDER. And they'll never get OpenID, apparently.
Dear Blogger: please suck less.
I like wordpress! I've never used their hosted service, though. I would follow you if you moved, though (you give good recs, for realz).
Other than Eragon, Renay? ;)
I already threw a site out there at WordPress. It imported everything except a few comments, and I think those were comments that I deleted. I'm still test driving it, but here it is:
Srange. It made the date that ordinarily appears below the comment into my link at wordpress.
You can help others out by using Blogger in Draft and adding OpenID and the other logins. That will do a little.
Still, I'm mad that they took away the URL field. Bad, bad move. I want people to connect with my blogs easily, and I want to see theirs. I do not want a big wall around my blogs.
This new change should be an option. And they should have told us about it.
Hee hee, well, Eragon didn't count, it wasn't a debt. ;)
MS, I never heard of these options in Blogger. I'll check around my comments options, but I thought I had them wide open. I'll see if I missed something.
I didn't realize WordPress allowed any blogger to comment. Nice. I might have thought differently about it when I was test-driving blogs earlier this year. I was too much of a blog virgin to understand the subtleties.
Ironically, I was blogging about the Russian take-over of Live Journal today.
I do like Blogger and while I'm not happy about the limitations, I'm not ready to start over again and send readers to yet another link. I'm just now getting established in my present location.
The only thing that will send me packing is if they start this "friending" business. It's fine for socializing, but I think it's a bit distracting for a professional writer.
Until a few days ago, Blogger allowed links to any site from the comments as well. I was so close to switching to WordPress before they started this because they have some great features, including a 3 column blog. I know that Robert and others uses a 3 column blog, but they had to use a third-party template in order to so so.
I also like WordPress's ability to have undated pages on a blog, as well as sticky posts and other features that I've seen elsewhere.
I'm giving WordPress a test drive. The nice thing is that I can keep posting here and every so often I can just suck all my latest posts and comments over to WordPress. It's that easy.
Yup. In fact, it's changed again today. Wait -- I think they fixed it -- click on the drop-down menu!
I think I fixed it on my blog only through the "blogger in draft" mode. Yup, I looked at your blog and your comments have not changed. Check out the post that follows this one for details on how to do the same on your blog.
It's the same suggestion that MS made.
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