One thing I have noticed when commenting some of the blogs I have had an opportunity to visit is Blogger's new "word verification."
It seems to me that about two or so years ago, Blogger went from words which were difficult to type, to words which had a natural rhythm to them, making their "captcha" fairly easy to type.
Not any more.
This is what it looks like now.
(Image stolen borrowed from TexWisGirl who wrote a very well-expressed post on The Run*A*Round Ranch Report, which mirrors my own opinions about WV.)
In the past few days, it seems that Blogger has gone over to a really difficult-to-decipher word verification, and it slows down the process of commenting on blogs considerably. I don't like it, and I'm finding that I'm less inclined to want to leave a comment when I know I'll have to battle the verification process.
I know that some bloggers don't even realize that they have word verification enabled because when they go to the comments sections of their own blogs, it isn't a requirement to identify themselves as a valid visitor in order to leave a comment to themselves. I encourage you all to check your settings just in case you don't realize your word verification is on. You might be surprised to find that it's on. And while there, please consider turning it off.
Some folks are concerned about possible spam. You needn't worry. Blogger is very good at filtering spam. I even allow anonymous comments on my blog. I haven't used word verification for well over fours years and I don't think I've had as many as three spam messages. Most of the spam generated on Blogger is caught by their filters. You can remove word verification from your blog in two short minutes. Please consider it for the sake of the many of us who do not wish to struggle through heavily-guarded blogs just to leave a friendly message.
I'm going to walk you through the process whether you are in the old Blogger interface (as I am) or the new. You'll have to switch back to the old briefly in order to disable word verification.
1) Make sure you are in the old Blogger interface. If you're on the new Blogger Interface, click the cog-like icon in the upper right corner of your blog settings screens. Select "Old Blogger Interface."
Edited to add: Ellen tells me that she can't access the old Blogger interface in the above manner. You can still get to the old Blogger by clicking on your "Settings," select the "Basic" tab, scroll down to "Global Settings" and select "Old Editor." Save your settings.
2) Go into your settings.
3) Select "Comments" tab.
4) Under "Who Can Comment?" I would suggest either "Anyone" or "Registered Users (this one keeps anonymous posters from commenting if you so desire). If you allow anonymous comments, they will be filtered by blogger and not appear in your blog comments. You will, however, continue to get email notices of their existence if you're set up to allow email notifications regarding your comments. They can all be found in the spam filter.
5) Under "Comment Form Placement" I would suggest "Full Page" or "Pop-up" since some folks are having a tough time viewing and commenting on embedded forms.
6) Scroll down the page a bit and look for "Comment Moderation." You might want to allow moderation on posts older than 14 days because very old posts sometimes seem to be spam magnets. Include your email address if you want notifications of comments left on you blog posts which are older than 14 days, if you selected the above option.
7) Under "Show Word Verification for Comments?" Please select NO.
8) Save these changes to your settings.
9) Return to the new Blogger interface, if you wish by clicking on your Dashboard and clicking "Try the updated Blogger interface."
That's all there is to it. After that, you'll probably find an increase in comments as folks won't have to try to read the word verification a few times before giving up and moving on.
Thanks for listening. The choice is yours, of course and I'll understand if you prefer to leave word verification intact. My choice is to refrain from leaving comments while word verification is in this silly state. I hope you'll understand that as well.
And now, without further delay, here are a very few Posts of the Week. The icon below is yours for the taking if if your blog post is named as a POTW.
A GOOD READ
Whistle in the Wilderness
by Betty
at Bossy Betty
FUNNY
A Ticklish Situation
by Sandra
at Add Humor and Faith
JUST PLAIN GOOD
I'm So Sorry..
by Beth
at Be Yourself
Honey Cake Dream
by Cloudia
at Comfort Spiral
Please drop by their blogs for a visit and leave a kind comment if you have the time. Also, please feel free to add your own choices (for any blog except this one) for a specific blog post in the comments section below, where others can see them.
Thank you.
