(i’ll be showing the rest of this quilt tomorrow, with a little tutorial)
anyways, on to my question.
here’s my problem: so many times I can’t reply to comments or questions on my blog, because either your account is set to no-reply, or you’re commenting from a different blogging platform. i really haven’t a clue why or how this is, but i do know that it’s a bit frustrating.
a lot of times you folks are leaving lovely comments that i’d like to reply to, or asking a question that i’d be happy to answer. but because of ‘whatever-it-is’ (yah, I’m really techy and smart:) i’m not able to reply! grrrrr….
so i’ve been wondering if i should start replying in the comments. i’ve never done that before cause it seemed like who would ever go back to a blog where they had left a comment or asked a question to see if the blog author had posted a reply.
but, it does seem nice from the standpoint that anyone could see the answer to a question, and maybe it would seem more like i’m hanging around my blog and chatting.
what do you think? i’d love to hear how you all do it on your blogs….
I'm not very tech savvy either, but the issue is on the commenter's side, not yours, I believe. As far as questions go, I would love to see the answer right there in a comment response. It sounds like a nice solution.
You're right about it being the commenter's choice (knowingly or not) that decides if I can reply. Thing is, there will always be new folks signing up for Blogger accounts who don't realize this, or a host of other reasons, and it's some of the questions from those people that I'm really sad if they don't hear back from me.
I love getting comments back after I've left a comment. Makes me feel good that someone knows I left a comment and thought enough to send one back. If it is a no-reply I will try to leave a comment on their blog, if they have one. I didn't realize thought that you couldn't send comments to anyone. I hope people are getting my reply because I answer everyone.
Yes, getting a reply does feel so good, doesn't it! and I probably wasn't totally clear, but I am able to reply to approximately half the comments I receive, while the other half are no-reply. And if they don't say no-reply, I'm sure they're receiving them.
looove the quilt, so excited to see your tutorial. and as for the replying, that's a good question. In your blog set up there's a place where you can have the comments emailed to you, then you can reply from there (only when the commenters have the email address connected). I think it is a good idea to have answers to questions in the comments section, I need to start doing that!
Thanks Anna! I'm actually pretty excited about this quilt, it turned out better than I'd hoped for.
Actually I do have comments connected to my email. So I'm guessing that when they say no-reply, that means they don't have their email available.
Blogger JUST rolled out a new thing where anyone can reply directly to that comment. The trouble, in my opinion, is that your reply isn't sent to the original commenter. Oversight? Not possible? I don't know, but to me, if Blogger is trying to "build community and conversation" then it would have been better to make it so the reply went to the original commenter! Now, with that said, once you leave a reply, you can choose to subscribe to follow-up comments by email, but that still leaves the original commenter in the dark.
Unless they check back and lurk in your comments hoping for a reply from you! Which, if that's the case, then they should change their settings so you can reply directly! 🙂
Good luck.
Melissa, thanks for the heads up! I was just thinking the other day that it was absolutely crazy that Blogger didn't have this option to reply to comments. As you can see, I'm trying it out today. Although I totally agree that it would be awesome if this reply would also be sent to the original commenter. I mean, isn't that a no-brainer?!
Or you could give an answer in your next blog post! I have a link on my blog regarding no-reply commenters but quite often get caught out writing an email reply only to find out I cannot send it – duh!
The quilt is gorgeous! Will be back for the tute!
I never ever go back to old posts and re-read the comments. I would never see you reply…but that's just me, some people might like it…
As for the no-reply issue…If the person has got their setting set to no-reply then I'll try and answer any questions by leaving a comment on their blog…and if they don't have a blog then I'm afraid it is their loss. Life too short to worry about it.
I think that is a great idea…i've done that before and have asked that question too…are they ever going to come back and look? I think they would, I usually comment on someones blog if I really like what they have done and will go back a second time around to look again or read other comments.
Man I always love your work! That quilt is awesome! Wish I had you looking over my shoulder with the quilt I'm working on. Thinking about hand quilting it but can't decide how it should look. And, I still havent decided on a backing!
Love that quilt! Can't wait to see more of it soon. I always go back and see if my comment was replied to. Sometimes it is and sometimes not, but its ok.
Well, today I'm replying with Blogger's 'fancy' (ha ha) new option of replying directly to comments in the comment section. I noticed that your account is set to no-reply, and that your profile does not have a way to contact you. If that's your choice, then that's no problem. Just thought I'd mention, since it would be easier to reply if you changed this setting. Thanks for sharing!
Neat! Does this alert the original comment poster that you've replied? That would obviously be useful, lol.
Oh,nut goodness, can't wait to see the rest of that quilt!!! I have the same issue on my blog. I tend to think no one would come back to check for a reply, but, who knows? Curious to see your responses!
Sorry, my typing is bad, think that was supposed to be "my" goodness!
A LOT of people don't know that they are set as "no-reply". I was until I read how to change that setting in someone's blog post about it. However, those who don't know are also less likely to check back for comments in the comment thread. I rarely pop back to check the comments afterwards, (and I'm never offended if my comment isn't acknowledged in some way) but how you choose to do it is completely up to you. It's your blog. And I like it.
If they have an email address or a link to their blog somewhere, I always respond directly. If they don't I just respond in my comments. If they are really interested, they will come back and look, and if they don't, then they probably weren't that interested anyway.
I go both ways, Jolene. I have been reading blogs seriously for about 5 years and was a no-reply comment person. The thing was I didn't know people couldn't reply to me. Thanks to a kind blogger who made a connection between my flickr avatar and my blogger avatar, I changed that. (Sorry, I digressed.) The point is your post will helpfully get folks to check their profiles.
As for where to reply? I love to get emails back about questions I have asked. I often also have questions similar to other people's and would like the answer. I'm not always good about checking back but when I do have a question, I try to remember to click the subscribe to comments box. There is honestly no super easy answer. I do appreciate your kind comments back on the comments I make. Personally, I like the contact and it makes me feel like my comment mattered. So thank you for taking the time to reply.
Well, I think doing it both ways is nice. I like to receive an e-mail because I generally don't go back, but if I receive a question from someone in a comment, I like to also reply in the comments, that way if anyone else had the same question, they could see the answer. Also, I will generally reply in the comments if I cannot e-mail them…that way if they look back to the question, they'll see that I did answer.
I check back in comment lines for questions I ask when there isn't a way to subscribe to comments. But WordPress has a better feature than Blogger, and asks the commenter to subscribe when they comment. If I ask a question on a wordpress blog, then I subscribe and get to read when the author replies.
PS. Just found your blog recently and subscribed. Looking forward to reading more about your beautiful quilts.
Thanks for your kind words Emily! I agree that the other blogging platforms seem to have better commenting formats.
I'm not a "go back to read more comments" kind of person. I probably follow too many blogs, so I just go through them once.
It's a frustrating issue! I always reply to comments as well and if the commenters email isn't linked to their profile I usually check to see if they have a blog and comment there. If its a question, I will answer in that thread and hope the person checks back. I always feel bad though because I would never want someone to think that I hadn't bothered to answer their question or to say thank you for their comment. 🙂
Your quilts so lovely, I can't wait for your tutorial! 🙂
I never go back and look at replies in the comments that I make on other blogs. That would take forever. And if I had updates emailed to me. I'd have way more email than I could manage. 🙂 I choose to try and inform as many bloggers as I can about the No-Reply. It's such a easy fix. There are only a handful of bloggers that choose to be No-Reply. Most just don't know how to change it. I've done a post about it and I have a button that I share. The button links to the post and anyone can put the button on their blog.
i rarely go back and check for responses on posts… i just set my blogging profile so people can respond back to me if they want.
i love that quilt jolene. it is so pretty. i cant wait for your tutorial. also, can i ask what kind of batting you use?
i just started a blog and i get my comments via email. i like that b/c i can respond there if i need to. yeah, if you are a no-reply commenter, it won't work. maybe use jodi's link to refresh everyone's memory. can't wait to see what you are up to!
I check back if I have asked a question. I find it really useful for when I come to a post or tutorial that is like a year or so old. Then I often read the comments the replies inline can help me a lot as the clarify things and keep me from repeating others mistakes.
I never go back to a post I've already read so if you answered there, I wouldn't see it. Blogger sends my comments to my hotmail account; I answer them from there if I have the return email, if not I go to their blog (if they have one) and comment there.
I usually reply in the comments of my blogs, but I also enjoy receiving emailed responses. And while I don't generally go back to find out if a blogger responded to my comment in the comment section of my blog, there are times when I will, such as when I have a question that I'd like to see answered. In the end, you should simply do whatever you feel most comfortable with. 🙂
if it's an actual question about something like batting or something where the individual may want a real answer I view their profile and hope I can email them from there. If it's dorky rhetorical questions from my sister I answer in the comments.
I usually reply to comments by email and if a person is a no-reply blogger I try to leave a comment on their blog. I follow quite a lot of blogs so I rarely go back to comments, but sometimes, e.g. with tutorials and quilt-a-longs, if other people ask questions in comments too it's great if you can see the answers directly in the comments.
Ooooh another beauty… cant wait to see some more pics and a tutorial! Yes it is sad when someone leaves an awesome comment or asks a question and you cant reply…seems like a good solution posting replies in the comments!
x
It's unlikely anyone will come back looking for a reply. I read only new posts from my blogger dashboard. No time for looking back. The few questions I have asked, I really appreciate an email. I don't expect a comment when I make a comment.
I always reply in comments, and if I take the time to make a comment, I star the post in my feed reader and return to see if it had a response. I don't make a habit of commenting just for the sake of commenting, though, so maybe I'm strange.
My blog is WordPress and it's set up to require an email address to leave a comment. I like it that way because I can choose to respond individually off the blog (if I have a novel length response) or in the threaded comments.
As someone who has no blog of her own (because I really enjoy my time reading everyone elses!) I like it when questions are answered directly on the comments page because i've often wondered the same question! And if it's something dorky(!) sometimes it doesn't even warrant a reply!