Confession: I've been a naughty blogger.
Yep, that's right. Because lately, I've become a slacker when it comes to replying to all of your comments. I know, I know. I can come up with all the excuses--I'm writing a book against a deadline, my kidlet has been sick a lot this winter, my time seems to be an endangered species, Twitter has sucked me into the vortex.
But really, they're not the true reasons. It's definitely not because I'm not interested in doing it. You guys always have great things to say and I love reading and responding to them. However, the real reason is that the commenting system on blogger makes the process so tedious, that sometimes by the end of the day, I just am not very motivated to put forth the effort. Shame on me.
I've waited for a year and a half, hoping Blogger could figure out a way to get threaded comments a la Wordpress. I don't want to leave the Blogger platform because I love all the other features and the ease of use. But alas, there is still no indication that Blogger is going to be implementing this change anytime soon. Therefore, I have decided to go for the best of both worlds and to try a new outside commenting system so that I can have threaded comments--yay!--but can still stay on Blogger.
Hopefully this new IntenseDebate system will help me be a better bloggy friend.
Here's what I think about it so far...
Benefits:
- I can reply directly under each comment to that specific person instead of having to do the long list of @ in one big comment.
- You guys can now reply to each other if you're so inclined.
- Makes discussion easier.
- Anyone can leave a comment easily--as a guest, an OpenID, or a Twitter ID.
- Installing it does not effect any of my old posts or the previous comments made, only future posts.
- It was super easy to install.
- UPDATE: New benefit discovered--when I receive the comment notification in my inbox, I can just hit reply to the email and it will post my reply to the comment on the blog. Awesome.
Drawbacks:
- We shall see. Hopefully it doesn't discourage people from making comments because you have to type in your name and email the first time you comment.
- My blogger dashboard won't show how many comments each post has when I view the screen that lists all my posts.
- UPDATE: New drawback--if someone just clicks onto the main blog and not the title of the post, no comment form shows up. :( I am adding a line at the bottom of the post to click through. This seems to be the biggest drawback so far. (Thanks to Terry Odell for bringing it to my attention.) Yay! Problem fixed itself. Woot.
- UPDATE: When someone clicks to follow comments, they get an email to confirm the subscription by clicking, so one extra step.
Thanks to Sierra for trying it first, which made it less scary for me to make the switch (I fear change) because I was able to get her feedback on how she liked it. :)
SO here's the deal: You will have to enter your name, email, and (optional) website to make a comment the first time or sign in with your twitter or openID to make a comment. However, once you do that the first time, when you come back to the site again, all your information will already be filled in. So hopefully it will be pretty painless for everyone. It also will also allow non-Blogger people greater ease in commenting.
I'm looking for your feedback, however, so leave a comment and let me know what you think of the new system.
And now a PSA...
My rockstar of an agent, Sara Megibow, is giving a really cool workshop (January 13) via webinar on opening pages and with your registration, you'll get a critique of your first three pages! How awesome is that? You know those first few pages are vital in hooking an agent or publisher and sometimes they feel impossible to get right. So this is a way to a) learn more about openings and b) get actual professional feedback on your opening. If you're interested, all the registration info is on the Writer's Digest site HERE.
Alright, so I hope you all have a great weekend!. But don't forget to tell me what you think. I'd love to hear back from all of you. :)
What do you think of the new commenting system? Are you as desperate for threaded comments as I am? Have you found a good system or method to replying to comments on your own site? And when you make a comment on a blog and don't get a response, does it make you less likely to visit again?