You know when you do something stupid and it took you so long to realize it that you have to do something right away to apologize for it? So even though it's 5:30 am when I started writing this, it was 4:45 am when I discovered I had done (or not done) something stupid and I have to apologize for it.
I'm talking about the ability to post comments on my blog. Awhile back - I can't remember when but it must've been at least a few years ago - I engaged the blogger feature to moderate the comments posted on my blog. I wasn't trying to censor genuine comments about my blog posts (whether you like or didn't like what I wrote, I respect people's right to comment about it) but I was trying to control the annoying amount of spam that seemed to overwhelm the comments. Nothing worse than posting about a recipe or a small business bakery one day then going back the next to find nothing but spam in the comments. So I turned on comment moderation.
When I first did it, blogger flagged comments that had been posted but awaited my moderation. As a rule, I don't get a lot of comments anyway as I don't do much to promote my blog or monetize it. I just write up the recipes I try and post foodie pictures because I like doing it. Plus I want a place to access the recipes I want to keep or an easy way to send the link to someone who asks for a recipe when I bake them something.
Then, don't ask me why because blogger keeps making changes I can't keep up with, they stopped flagging comments awaiting moderation and I stopped remembering I had engaged that feature. You can guess what happened, or didn't happen, next. Yup, turns out people have been commenting for the last couple of years and I never thought to check the comments tab to see if I needed to approve any. So I've spent the past 45 minutes "moderating" the comments from the last 2-3 years. I feel terrible about never responding to the genuine comments when people had a question or posted a compliment. Eek. So sorry!
On the one hand, engaging the moderation filter did save y'all from spam comments about online call girls, panini presses, classes in Dubai and links to diets (*eyeroll* on the last one because who are we kidding). On the other hand, for people who posted non-spam, real comments, my sincerest apologies. I wasn't ignoring you, I just didn't know you had commented. I've moderated them all now and will stay on top of the comments going forward, I promise.
I will try to respond to the comments I just approved, even if some of them are pretty old (sorry again) but give me a few days as I'm back to work this week and need to catch up. Oops.
Wow! I always wondered why my comments/questions were never approved. I thoroughly enjoy your posts, so I am glad to hear this. No rush on my comments. :)
ReplyDeleteDefinitely user error :). I tried to answer what I could in the past but let me know if I missed any.
ReplyDeleteI like it better when comments are auto accepted because then I can come back and reply.
ReplyDeletecarson
The issue is I get too many spammers “commenting”. For every non-spam comment I get, there are 10 spam comments. So I’d rather moderate and keep the spammers at bay, especially when they provide links I don’t want people to take a risk on clicking.
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