Comments - Incoming
Posted on June 20, 2008 - Filed Under Site Info, Writing/Blogging
I’ve thought about this a lot and think I have come to the right solution for myself on this front. I’ve talked about it a bit before but wanted to document it completely in a post so I can link to it from my About page. The general consensus from my fellow bloggers was just to do what I felt was right on my own blog. It came up when I switched from a free blogging service to a hosted blog. I thought that would be a good time to make some changes in the way I do things if I were going to make any. I did try to change the way I reply to comments but that only lasted about maybe 2 and a half posts, tops. LOL. So after analyzing it, I’d like to document my method of replying to comments and why it works for me.
I prefer to reply to comments on my site right within the original comment, using bold to distinguish my text from the commenter’s text, a style I copied adopted from my friend Merri. This means that a person will have to come back to the site to read my reply if they care to see it. I will do this unless a time-sensitive, a more personal, or a critical response is required, in which case I will respond by email or both by email and a reply within the original comment to alert the commenter that an email is on its way. There are many ways to reply to comments but I choose this way for the following reasons.
I like to keep an open discussion area. My readers can get to know other wonderful people and learn from each other as well. It can also reduce repetition. If someone asks a question, I can answer it once so that any other readers who have the same question are able to get the answer as well.
Some of the best/funniest conversations I’ve seen have happened in the comments areas of blogs. This type of interaction is one of the most rewarding parts of blogging, in my opinion. I have enjoyed reading discussions at other blogs and would like to give my readers that same opportunity at the Tea Room. If they don’t like that type of thing, they don’t have to read the comments. I won’t rap their knuckles with a ruler, I promise.
Another benefit for replying within the same comment rather than by separate comment is that it doesn’t artificially inflate the count of comments at my blog. Some people may not care about this but I like knowing that half the number of comments on a particular post are not my own, made in response to visitor’s comments. Because of this, I’ve actually gone back through a year’s worth of posts and changed all the responses I had made separately and moved them into the original comment, bolding the text while I was at it (can you say “obsessed?”). I just wanted to know the truest count of the number of comments on my blog. Call it curiosity. Call it insanity. You’d probably be right in both cases. Sometimes I just want to know things. I can’t help it.
So there you have it. As I said, there are many ways to respond to comments and my way is not going to work for everyone, but it works for me and this is just my explanation of why I like it. Each blogger has their own way that works best for them. This is mine. As with anything blog related, it could change. If it does, I’ll keep you posted! Next, I think I’ll post about by outgoing comments. Stay tuned.
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24 Responses to “Comments - Incoming”
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I am totally guilty of not coming back after I comment. I usually answer mine by email, unless my answer would add to the discussion, which it often doesn’t.
Every blogger does what works for them. When I comment on my own blog, I always make it separate, it inflates the number of comments, and I’m just fine with that.
I’m not even gonna respond because I know you’re never going to see this! LOL. I’ll respond for everyone else’s benefit though. I like how you respond to comments. It’s effective and it works for you. I tried to do that too but it didn’t feel right to me. I felt I was missing something that made the Tea Room THE Tea Room. So unless it is something personal, critical, or time sensitive, I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing. I was thinking I could make an exception and always email responses to you, Witchypoo, but I know I’d just forget. I can’t trust my old crappy memory.
I try to respond to every comment, but I don’t think I would have the energy to edit every other comment with a reply (in bold) like you do. You are the only blogger I read who responds to comments this way, and I think its kinda neat.
Thanks, Earl. I am a stay-at-homer so I may have more time than most to do this but I figure if I post every other day or so and I get 20 comments on a post, then I can certainly respond to that many comments easily enough over two days. If it gets to be too much, my posts may become less frequent. But I doubt that I’m going to end up getting 400 comments on each post - I can certainly understand THOSE people not responding to every comment.
Again, this is all just me and I just wanted it documented somewhere how I feel about it so new people will know. But thanks for thinking it’s neat. 
I love how you do it Teeni. In fact, I stole your idea, lol.
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery you know!
Wow. I’m honored to have you imitate me, then Hay! I wish I could imitate some of your photos and writing!!!
I do it that way too when I can respond that is
Hi Kaylee. I hope you are feeling well.
I find it so hard to remember to come back to look for the replies! I do it periodically, but there are many that I miss.
I read over 100 blogs!
I wish I had time to reply to all my comments, but I just don’t
If I do want to comment, I email. You know that though, LOL
Your system is wonderful and totally works for the Tea Room, keep it up
I hear you, Hannah. Sometimes I forget to go back and look but I just got into the habit of when I do go comment at someone’s site, I now scroll back a few posts and sometimes it spurs a memory so I will go back check comments I’ve made previously. This is not something for everyone and I am looking into Chip’s suggestion about the email notification so maybe that will help people who don’t want to come back and check for comments.
It works for me, Teeni, and I’m glad it works for you. I think it gives my/your comment section a conversation feel to it. A back and for interaction with the readers.
I also agree with you on the comment count point. I’m not quite as obsessed,
but I do like knowing that almost all of my comment count is that of my readers. 
Yeah, it was kind of obsessive to go back and do all that to make them all the same. I wish I was as obsessive about other things like cleaning my house. LOL. Thanks for the kind words - that back and forth interaction is exactly what I like.
I do it like you do. I appreciate the responses to my comments too.
Thanks, Birdpress. I guess I just feel if people took the time to comment at my blog, then the least I can do is respond somehow. And I wanted to document it somewhere so newcomers would be aware. I remember visiting new blogs and commenting on them and never receiving either an email response or a response in the comments section. It made me feel unvalued and ignored. I don’t ever want a reader to feel that way here, especially if they took the time to provide a relevant comment.
I like how yours looks on the site, but I’d really like to get an email notice of when you respond. Seems like “just add PHP” should be the solution to that problem.
Intriguing. I sent you an email to learn more of this adding PHP that you speak of.
I prefer the way that you do it. I follow much the same process.
I see it works for you too. I like going back and seeing what you’ve said in response. To me that is half the fun. But I understand as Opal said, some bloggers get too many comments to do it our way or have other reasons not to. But for me - I consider my blog a social blog, which is quite handy since I seem to love to blabber on so, and so it makes sense for me to do it my way. If it changes in the future, then it changes and I’ll keep everyone updated.
Will you reply to this one?
Nope.
LOL.
You are one of the most professional bloggers I know! and have such high standards - you have my admiration. I try to follow your philosophy on commenting, too. and I try to remember to go check for responses to my comments.
Wow. That’s quite a compliment! Thanks, C. I don’t know about being professional, but I do like to think I have high standards. And I’m learning what works best and makes the most sense to me after doing this for a year now. You should always do what works best for you.
I do think that documenting it somewhere on your blog is a good idea though, so that new people to your blog won’t be expecting an email response if you happen to respond to comments the same way I do. Actually, that is the main reason for this post for me. I’m linking to it from my About page!
There’s a plug in that takes care of that but It hasn’t been working on my blog so I don’t use it. I really don’t care about inflating the comments so I respond at the end I do use a plug in that takes people right to the orignal commentator.
I definitely don’t have the time to respond to comments as I used to I have several personal blogs and professionally write at a few websites when it comes to comments those websites take top priority these days.
One of my smaller websites receives a lot more comments than Vegan Momma. I think the most I received is about 60 comments from readers. The average is 30. Although I do respond to my personal comments if I cannot get to all of them I usually respond to everyone with a general comment or turn a comment into a post.
Being thrust into a situation where I write for a highly trafficked website (receives over 200k weekly) makes me realize even more why at times people cannot always respond to individual comments. Granted not everyone has websites that have that amount of traffic but there are other things that can keep people from commenting. Some of those websites still manage to engage their readers which is why I keep coming back to their spots.;-)
Oh yes, definitely there are bloggers who get too many comments to respond to. I understand that completely. I’m just doing what feels right to me and that is what everyone should do with their own blog. There are several plug-ins that WordPress has that I do not have access to at the moment because my hoster is not comfortable with their security risks. Comment Luv is one of them also, which is sad because I really LOVE that plug in. But each person should do what works best for them. I just want my method documented somewhere on my blog so newbies will know what to expect. I’ve actually felt bad sometimes visiting a new blog and making a comment and never getting a response either within comments or through email. I’d go back over and over to see if I missed anything. It would have saved me a lot of time if they just let me know somewhere how they respond or whether they even respond or not! LOL. So I’m learning what I like and don’t like and making my blog the way I think it should be and that is how everyone should run their blogs, yes?
i like the conversations and comment interactions here in your tea room, and i often come back here to check your replies.
the times i don’t respond to each comment are the times when all i have to answer to everybody is all the same. usually i make just one comment to express my general reaction/thought.
but you do very well here teeni, i like the atmosphere of your comments box, anyone can feel so right at home immediately.
keep it up!
Aww, I’m so glad you feel at home here Odette, because you know, you ARE always most welcome!
Yes, I quite like it as a way of responding to comments but I am not sure it is possible in blogger? Maybe it is but I don’t know how. Would i change to it? I think I would give it a try. The downside for me I suppose is that you lose the sequence of comments which I quite like - the comments in my box are in the exact order in which they appear, including my replies (and I do always reply) which makes discussion a little clearer on occasion, whereas by replying to individuals on their comment you are sometimes replying higher up the page but after other comments have been received - do you see what I mean? But I would definitely try it and see if I liked it if I knew how to do it.
And yes, def you do what you like. I love your comment box - it always feels like a nice chatty place. And I do love it that you reply to us individually. I think that where people don’t do that it sometimes feels like posting stuff on a wall and you invest less in the comment you make - well I do because it is not initiating a response/discussion.
hmm - I’m not sure what you mean by losing the sequence of comments. My comments still appear in the order in which they were submitted. I respond to the comments a bunch at a time though because even I cannot be at my computer ALL the time!
LOL. I like how you described that about it feeling like you are posting stuff on a wall. That is how it feels to me too!
Up until about two years ago I felt the same way as you do now regarding people not responding to my comments, lol. In fact if you dig through my website you’ll find some of those posts.
Anyway here is the plug in that does what you do however it colors your post differently.
http://cnpstudio.com/blog/comment-replies/
If you want to see it in action check out Pete at My GPS Camera Phone he uses it. If you google that name his website will come up. I just don’t want to keep adding links here don’t want to be flagged as spam.
A hoster not comfortable with the comment luv plug in? Now that is interesting…
You can check in the admin panel to be alerted every time someone comments on your blog. It definitely helps me out since the readers that have questions get responded via email and at times I don’t get to in until days later.
The one thing I don’t like about responding within comments is you don’t receive a follow-up within email since you are editing the persons comment. Occasionally I like following the comments because of the responses I’ve seen ahead of mine. I like to see how the author responds. However, it they edit and respond within the original comment I cannot follow the author.
However, the WP Plug-in that inserts your reply within the post I believe will alert the reader.
That is an interesting plug-in. I’ll have to look into that one more. Thanks for the info, Opal! I was also looking into the mail alert thing. I am probably going to put something in for that too so it will help my readers who want an alert or an email. Yes, there are some backdoor security issues with that plug in that she is aware of (I haven’t a clue) and she would rather not risk it. I don’t know anything about backing up my blog and fixing security issues so I’ll let her deal with that stuff until someday when I feel more comfy with all that techno-stuff. LOL.
I love that you liked the commenting idea enough to do it too!
I got the idea from Spo(sporeflections)
He gets a LOT of comments like you though and simply cannot answer all. SOMETIMES he emails instead.
But for me, I answer all because I have yet to get so many commenters..
I like to keep the volume down too, and it seems a nice way to keep communication flowing; like a chat room but nicer, some how!
Thanks, Merri! I hear you! That is just it - like a chat room but nicer. Great description.
I notice since I am using a different email address it says that I have only commented ONCE; you KNOW that isn’t so!
LOL
LOL. Yes, I see what you mean. I guess it goes by email address in case there are some users with the same name. It’s okay. I will not penalize you for only commenting once. LOL.
I, too, respond to my comments as you do. I started doing this about a month into my blogging career. I felt it was more personal (even if it is more time consuming) to do it this way. Great minds think alike, Teeni! Hahaha!
You said it, buddy! **high fives**
As you know I just started doing it this way too. I have gone back and forth doing it one way and then the other. Personally, I find this way of doing it easier and faster because then I don’t have to keep scrolling up to remember what someone said in their comment. So I am going to stick with it for a while. I don’t feel the need to e-mail anyone to let them know I have commented back to them because like you I always comment back. It may take a day or two but I will do it because like you I am home and have the time. The WP plug sounds interesting as long as it alerts the reader without me physically having to do anything. Anyway whatever works for anyone is the way they should do it.
I wholeheartedly agree with you!
Hey Teens,
I too, like to respond within the comment - not just because of the count but also, in the event the reader wants to see the response it is easy for them to find as well - plus it just seems easier for my pea brain to track with. I can’t believe you went through a year’s worth of posts and redid them. Wow! That’s amazing. But then, so are you.
Annie
LOL@ pea brain. You definitely don’t have a pea brain, my dear. Yours is a super computer and you have the heart of a lion.
And yeah, I did go through all those posts. What’s amazing is that I can be so crazy, I think. 
It’s good that you’ve worked out a system for comments - I love reading comments, but rarely reply to them. Sometimes I do in email. I tried replying on every comment, since typepad lets me do this too. The thing that I found is that I spent more time doing this than reading peoples’ blogs and actually writing blog posts. So what I usually do is go over to my commenters’ blogs, read their posts and answer any questions they might have. No doubt it annoys people who might want to come back to my blog and see what I’ve said in response. But after having hit 50, I’m discovering that I need to do what works for me.
I had the same reaction to the pentagram shape of the columbines - what took me so long to see this?
Once people are regular visitors, they probably start to figure out how you do things, like how you respond through email when you have something to say or to answer questions. You are one of those people who get a LOT of comments on each post so I wouldn’t expect you to be able to respond to each one individually.
If things start getting too difficult for me to continue this way then I’ll change but I’ll update my About page to describe it there.
Ooops sorry I wasn’t being very clear was I? What I meant was that because you reply individually to the commenter ie underneath the comment (which I think works well) it means that when you reply to commenter 1 you reply will appear in your comment box above the comments made by commenters 2-6 even though they made their comments before you wrote your reply. Does that make sense?
It doesn’t matter greatly except where you say something in reply to commentor one that makes commenters 2-6 look as if they didn’t read it first when of course they couldn’t have done because it wasn’t there when they left their comments.
Oh dear I’m getting even more confusing aren’t I?
I think the way you run your comment box works very well anyway - one of the best around!
Oh, LOL! I see what you are saying now. I’m just slow. Yes, you are right, I guess it WOULD make it look like the other commenters didn’t read the earlier responses. Hmm. I don’t know a way around that. But I will keep that in mind. Also some commenters may not read all the other comments and responses anyway though. Oh well. I guess that is also why I sometimes repeat myself in my replies - I never know if the person is reading other comments and responses or just looking for their own. As long as I remember that the later commenters could not have seen my earlier responses then we should be okay. I hope.
If not, things can always be changed. Thanks for pointing that out to me. I think I kind of was aware of it, under the surface of my brain, but now you have forced me to think about it. 
I like the way you reply to comments. I love coming back to see if you have a response to my comment. It’s nice to know that you read all of them and take the time to acknowledge us and give us something back.
Thanks, Paige. I appreciate that you feel I’m giving something back. That’s such a nice way of looking at it.
I find I’m hit and miss with the replies and the comments…. I enjoy reading lots and lots - but try to return someone’s visit in some shape or form. Miss inconsistent I believe my name is
It’s not easy to stick with the same method. And sometimes things mandate that you change how you do things. It’s totally understandable. Sometimes it becomes physically impossible to keep up with things. I just like making sure people know how I’m trying to do things here so they won’t be expecting an email or something.