Over the past several weeks the number of comments left on the blog have dropped. I have been notified by one reader that she has encountered problems adding a comment, usually in the form of a a multi-step captcha process.
I have made no change to the comment verification requirement to the blog. For older posts I do review the comment before it is added. But, for newer posts, I find it easier to simply delete the occasional ones that don't fit. Also, Google seems to do a decent job of detecting obviously inappropriate attempts.
So, I have a two part question to my regular readers:
1) Have you had problems adding comments over the last few weeks? If so, please email me at satisfyingretirement@gmail.com to let me know.
2) If you have been commenting less, is it because the posts aren't the type that prompt you to leave your thoughts, or is your schedule just too busy at this time of year to be quite as active?
Your feedback will help me alert Google if there is a problem on their end. If the recent posts aren't as stimulating as they have been in the past, that is helpful to know, too.
Thanks for your feedback.
Bob
Now you'll get lots of comments, Bob.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had any problem leaving a comment, but I only occasionally leave comments.
Not A Robot
Thanks, and I am glad you are not a robot!
DeleteThis is my second attempt to post a comment. The first comment disappeared when I clicked on the preview button. First time this has happened!
ReplyDeleteI don't comment as often, but that is because my focus these days is more on my husband's health changes. My energies are put into keeping our days on an even keel.
Your content is relevant to all retirees. I know I speak for many when I say thanks for writing!
I have had the same "disappearing" act occasionally with my reply to comments. Sometimes Google has an attack of the stupids and a comment simply disappears. I stopped using the preview function for that very reason.
DeleteThanks for your extra effort.
Dealing with Family Heath issues and managing seasonal demands are taking up all my energies right now. Having good health is really important and it becomes even more apparent as spouse,, parents and siblings are effected by aging process. The political situation is making me anxious about planning for the future as a retiree adding a bit of stress. The topics in your blog are relevant and I say thank you for writing
ReplyDeleteThank you, MaryAnn. I hope the family health issues don't cause you too much anxiety - the political situation contributes enough as it is.
DeleteI have never left a comment before, but I am a regular reader. I started reading two years ago when I was planning to retire and now that I am retired I find all of your posts enlightening and timely. I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I enjoy your blog.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your kind words, Jeanie, and the fact that you had no problem adding your comment this morning.
DeleteI have had a couple of comments drop in the past few weeks. Not just your site but some other blogs I follow as well.
ReplyDeleteBlame it on the election...no, probably not fair.
DeleteBob I have had problems for several months. When I click the link to comment it says a problem occurred 4302 or some number like that. Then it says I don't know why. This also happened 1 week ago. It has happened on my iphone7 and also android Samsung galaxy 4.
ReplyDeleteI just tried again this morning and got an error 404.
(comment submitted by email)
I am very sorry you are having these problems, Ellen. Thank you for submitting this issues to me by email. In doing a little research on these error codes I find typical computer gibberish. It basically points to an error on your end. But, that doesn't make a lot of sense.
DeleteOne suggestion I can make for you, and anyone else who may be having problems is to clear out your history/cache data. If there was a random problem a few weeks ago, the computer will keep using the same flawed entry over and over until it is deleted.
By deleting all the stuff stored in your cache files, the next time you come to the blog any glitch from the past will be gone. Besides being a good thing to do on a regular basis anyway, this may solve the problem for you. Than again, it may not.
If you need help in performing this cleanup, drop me an email and I will walk you through the process. Just let me know if you are using Internet Explorer or Chrome or some other browser.
Please know that most of us value your blog and choose to not comment
ReplyDeleteTypically, only 1-2% of blog readers leave comments, so you are in the overwhelming majority, Bruce!
DeleteMy concern is from a few emails from readers who have told me they have tried to comment and couldn't. Also, the number of comments has fallen well below the normal 1% level, so I wanted to be proactive and check on any problems, both technical and editorial.
Great blog!
ReplyDeleteYes, I had a comment totally disappear recently. It was the post a few weeks ago about finances.
On the other hand, another comment to a different post was published just fine.
Good luck tracking this down...
I am afraid this is like an intermittent problem with your car. Whatever noise it makes stops as soon as you pull into the repair shop.
DeleteI have comments disappear every once in awhile, too. But, then, I retype it and everything goes as planned. Google is a rather busy boy. A gone-missing comment may just have tried to access the server at a moment when the server was overloaded. I don't think it has anything to do with hackers, though I imagine Google fends off thousands of those a day.
Based on the comments left today, this must be a random problem that can;t be solved by me, though my suggestion to Ellen to regularly delete history and cache files may help.
Thanks, Dan.
Two people have emailed me that they are having problems commenting on my blog! What's up with this?! I still use comment moderation, but their comments are not showing in the pending folder or even in the spam folder. They just disappear. If you figure this out, let me know.
ReplyDeleteI doubt I will find a solution that solves this random problem. At least for today, only one person has reported a problem and that may be related to a cache/history file that needs to be cleaned out.
DeleteFor those who email me that a comment issue is frequent, I urge them to send their thoughts by email and I will convert that into a blog comment. That is the only fail-proof workaround I can come up with.
I am having the same issues reported by users on my blog. I wondered if it was conflicts with plugins after the recent wordpress update - the only comments plugging I'm using are Simple Comment Editing and Comments Signature. Are you using either of these?
DeleteBob, I too very much enjoy your articles. I almost always read your stories in my Outlook email inbox on my laptop.
ReplyDeleteThe few times I tried to comment, I could never find anything to click on to initiate the communication.
Perhaps you should continue to embed the link in your communications as you did today.
Bill
Thanks for the compliment, Bill.
DeleteYou have two ways to get to the comment form: At the bottom of each post you will see a reference to comments, such as "no comments", or "12 comments", etc. Click that reference to be taken to the comment section. You can read the ones that have left so far and then add yours after the last comment by clicking the "Add comment" wording. You can "Reply as" with your name (leave URL blank unless you have a blog you want to link to) or anonymous.
Hello, I haven't tried to comment for some time, but I have in the past, so I don't know if the system is working or not. For the last several weeks, the content of the posts hasn't provoked me to comment. Some of the posts weren't relevant to me, and I didn't see any use in saying that! I'm still reading through, or in some cases glancing through your posts though!
ReplyDeleteOk, helpful info, B.E. It is the nature of blogging on a topic like this that some posts just won't fit your needs or interests. But, as long as you keep coming back and you have not had any comment problems, I am happy.
DeleteI have tried leaving comments in the past but they never appear in the comment section. I select anonymous as the comment type....on an iPad. Love your blog though
ReplyDeleteThanks for trying! I have noticed that Apple products tend to have issues more than Android. It maybe Google's subtle way of discouraging the competition.
DeleteWhatever the reason for the problem, in the future I invite you to send any comments to me by email. I will be sure your thoughts are added to the discussion. Specify how you want your identity to be used and i will take care of it.
I haven't posted a lot here, so can't say I have had any problems, but in general I'm trying to post less.
ReplyDeleteNo problems commenting....good. Thanks.
DeleteI must say that I have quite a different commenting experience on WordPress blogs (easy peasy) as opposed to Blogger blogs (it can be challenging, especially if using a phone or tablet). I really dislike having to jump through hoops to figure out which "profile" to choose and then to authenticate myself. I realize that it's not the blogger's fault, but it just doesn't seem to be very user-friendly. That being said, I'm usually able to get my comments to go through if I'm on my desktop.
ReplyDeleteIf i had it to do over again I would start with WordPress. But, after 6+ years I don't want to lose all the links and history all over the Internet, so I will stick with Blogger even though it is an inferior product.
DeleteYou can choose name/url and just fill in the url section which should put your web address in as the name.
I've commented in the past and generally haven't had problems. The only time I did was when I used the Preview function, so maybe that's an issue.
ReplyDeleteHave been consumed by getting holiday shopping finished before helping son & DIL with 3 year old when new baby arrives, so have not had time to comment, although I still read. We are now complete with both tasks and have a healthy, beautiful new grandson. And being retired, I had time to stay with them for five days when needed. Life is good! (And there is a reason one has tiny children when younger than we are...we're pooped! :-))
--Hope
Preview does seem to be a sticking point. I have lost comments when I have used it. I suggest it be ignored since it is not ready for prime time.
DeleteI love your blog and always take the time to read each post, but, November and December are such busy months! I think most women get caught up in trying to provide a " holiday experience" for our families and it's all consuming!I'm looking forward to January, when everything slows down and I can get back to my regular schedule and enjoy my slower paced satisfying retirement!...Glenda
ReplyDeleteThis is a busy time of year for everyone, so less reading and commenting is to be expected. I am glad that most are not having a problem with adding comments and find the content still on target.
DeleteNo problem on this end, Bob. We have been on the road for two months, just getting home. Busy, that's all.
ReplyDeleteI know you and Deb were traveling. I hope you enjoyed yourself.
DeleteYes, I had problems posting for months (a year?) often I gave up. If I was able to get it to work I usually had to end up posting anonymously and even then it took 3-4 tries (I learned to copy my post to notepad so I could paste it back in). Then all of a sudden a month or so ago poof - everything started working as it should and I can post under my own ID. Not sure what changed but yes, it reduced my posts significantly for a very long time.
ReplyDelete- David
Probably one of those "we have made changes for your convenience" software things that Google did. If you start to have issues again, please feel free to email me a comment and I'll be glad to post it under your name.
DeleteHi Bob. I enjoy your blog but I'm not a commenter. Keep up the good worK! I commented to test the posting procedure.
ReplyDeleteTake care....Robin
And it worked! Thaanks, Robin.
DeleteHi, No problem commenting in Blogger. However, I have a heck of a time posting a comment on someone's WordPress blog. Maybe it's because I use Blogger??!!
ReplyDeleteI had the same issues with some Wordpress blogs. I found I couldn't use my gmail address or web site link without all sorts of hassles.
DeleteI have been receiving an error message for the last month or two while posting on a different Blogger-hosted blog, but only when trying to post from "preview" mode. I have had to resort to copying text (after using preview), then going back to square one, pasting my comment and publishing without previewing.
ReplyDeleteThe Preview button should be avoided. It is not working and Google has yet to fix it.
DeleteBob: I'm a longtime reader who usually doesn't comment. I enjoy your blog very much and find your topics relevant and your writing engaging. Hope this gets through.
ReplyDeleteBlessings: Linnea
It did get through and your kind message has been receieved.
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your writing . Recently the format seemed to change for me and there is no longer an area for me to add a comment.
Now, I am still in the work force. I enjoy your blog and read regularly.
I did not comment in the past because was not sure I had much to add.
Now, I don't even see how I could comment.
I enjoy hearing how you and your wife spend your time.
Anyway, for me at least, your blog comment section has completely disappeared!
Hope it gets worked out for you...thought it was just me!
Kind regards,
Pam
That is very odd and first I have heard of someone having that problem.
DeleteIf you check the line at the end of each post, just to the right on my name you should see something that says "no comments" or "6 comments" or whatever the total is to that point. By putting your cursor on that phrase and clicking it you should be taken to the comment section. That is how I added your comment and am typing this response.
Bob,
DeleteI always read your blog posts but only comment when I think I have something of value to add. Hope you'll keep writing for a long time to come.
Diane
Here's my post to say that while I haven't had any issue posting, my posting to ALL blogs probably falls off during the holidays. I'm still reading but don't have a lot of time for extra.
ReplyDeleteCompletely understandable
DeleteBob, I comment from an iPad, and I often use the preview button. I haven't had any trouble commenting on your blog. BTW, I also use Blogger for my blog and recently was looking into was was involved in moving it to WordPress. I came across the following blog post which is quite informative:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.startablog123.com/how-to-move-from-blogger-to-wordpress/
Jude
I will take a look at the article. Thanks, Jude
DeleteI haven't made a lot of comments recently, but I ran into problems maybe a year ago. Id hit publish and the comment disappeared.
ReplyDeleteI'm afraid that happen occasionally with Blogger.
DeleteI always wonder if the Google gurus are trying to tell me something. I'm not paranoid but I do wonder what they are thinking. Capcha could probably be found in you html if you are willing to look. :)
ReplyDelete