Thursday, July 26, 2012

WHY SHOULD I COMMENT ON A BLOG…AND HOW THE HECK DO I DO IT?



These may seem like a ridiculous post, but, readers have let me know that they are confused by how to ‘comment’ on blogs.  Not so surprising that a novice would be intimidated, considering how many variations on the ‘commenting’ theme exist. If you are having trouble, I hope this tutorial will help you develop into a person who actively comments.

Why should I bother to comment on a blog?
It is considered a courtesy to comment on blogs that you read, and find interesting.  Doing so functions in much the same fashion as commenting on Facebook. It is the foundation of a dialogue and a means of interacting with the blogger to form friendships.  Most blog owners are conscientious about replying to comments posted on their blogs and are diligent about reciprocating and leaving comments on their visitor’s blog.  This is how the blogging community flourishes. Bloggers not only value your opinion, and friendship, but the number of comments (and followers) a blog has is also a measure of the blogger’s success.
All right. You sold me.  So, how the heck do I comment on a blog?
That’s the tricky part.  It depends on the type of blog: Blogger, WordPress or others.  Don’t run!  I’ll make this painless and give you plenty of clear examples.  Put down that Zanex!!!

Posting a comment:

The following is a common means of posting a comment on Blogger:
  1. Look for the word "comment" somewhere at the bottom, or top, of the post and click on it.  If you can’t find it you can click on the title of the post and the comment form will open up below the post.
       
  1. This is what the Blogger comment form typically looks like when it opens:
  1. 3.    And now for WordPress (WP).  With WP, you may find the comment box anywhere. The first example is from my friend, Nancy Jill Thames’s blog.  Nancy’s comment box link is at the top.


Another WP example is found on my friend, Amelia Curzon’s lovely blog.  Amelia has the number of comments as a link at the top of the post.  If you click it, the second box opens up.  OR! Just ignore that number and scroll down to the bottom of the post and…

4.    the typical WordPress comment box awaits that will require entering your email address, username and website in a secure log in.





As you can see there are variations on the theme but, now that you have the idea, it is not so difficult to find the comment links.


One more thing:
Don’t freak out if your comment doesn’t show up right away, or a message pops up that says something like, “Your comment will be available after moderation”.   The blogger is just screening comments for spam and that sort of nonsense. No harm, no foul.  You can test your readiness to conquer your commenting fear by leaving me a lovely comment below. 


About Scarlett Rains:

Scarlett is a mom, wife, granny, loyal friend, blog-a-holic and, oh yes, author. Scarlett loves to laugh and believes most people would benefit from a few, soul-cleansing, belly laughs.

Thank you so much for your comment at Scarlett Rains Sisters of the Hearts Blog. Every comment is read and appreciated. Don't forget to subscribe either by RSS feed  or by email . Hope to see you again soon!

30 comments:

  1. Fabulous post! I comment mostly on blogger blogs (wow a bit of a tongue twister there)so it was interesting to read the information about wordpress as well.

    www.tameliatumlin.com

    https://www.facebook.com/pages/Romance-Author-Tamelia-Tumlin/136280626492728?ref=hl

    https://twitter.com/tameliatumlin

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    1. Thanks, Tamelia. I appreciate your coming by and being mesmerized into leaving a comment. :)

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  2. Funny post - and then I got to the bottom and you had no comments... So, remembering the voice box above noting an empty comment list by saying the blogger is probably crying, I thought I'd better step in and say something so you can dry your tears!!

    Love to see you over on my site sometime - we're friends on the book blogs site, but I don't know if you've got around to visiting my site yet...

    Hopefully you'll be swamped with comments from here on in!

    K

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    1. Heh, Kaz. As soon as I saw your picture, I remembered some of our funny exchanges on BB. Good to see you here and I'll see you soon on your site. :)

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  3. Aw look, I'm posting a lonely comment to make you, the blogger, smile! I came over after you posted on my profile on BookBlogs! I'll be sure to look around your blog some more.

    I'm blogging at The Cosy Dragon - rosesbookreviews.blogspot.com.au - come and visit me because I'll be having a giveaway really soon!

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    1. Thanks, Rose. I will. Welcome to our blogging community.

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  4. Great post, Scarlett :) I love finding new Blogs and nearly always find myself commenting if no-one else has
    Good deed for the day and all that!
    RB

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    1. Thanks, R.B. You are a kind soul. I'm able to put aside my tissue box now. :)

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  5. Hi Scarlett. I really like your blog. :)

    I blog at http://myfictionnook.com about all the amazing (and sometimes not so amazing) books I read. I'm also on Goodreads.

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    1. Thanks, MFN. Kind of you to comment. I appreciate it. I'll stop by for a visit. :)

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  6. Hi Scarlett! This is a really great post and I love your blog! new follower, thanks for commenting on book blogs, you are really sweet :)

    http://youonlywritesomuch.blogspot.com/

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    1. How nice of you, Josie. Thanks for keeping me dry-eyed with your comment. :) I'll stop by for a chat later.

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  7. Great post ... informative. I created "Dialogue" for my creative writing students, a place for them to hang out, ask questions, share successes. Many of them do follow the blog, but will only comment by email. Would you mind if I mention this posting and sent them your way by link? Thanks Scarlett!

    "Dialogue" http://patriciapunt.blogspot.com/

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    1. Thank you, Patricia, on all counts. That would be lovely. I'll stop by "Dialogue" to see what I'm getting myself in to. :)

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    2. Thank you ... and, please stop by anytime.

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    3. I will. I really like your blog.

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  8. If there's anything I hate about clcommenting on blogs, it's the captchas. I can't count the number of times I've commented on something, come back a day later, and the comment is nowhere to be found--all because I nissed the damned captcha.

    For my blog I turned them off. Some may find them valuable for preventing spam, but I don't have a big enough blog to *get much spam, so why make things more complicated than they have to be?

    Anyeay, great post, Scarlett. Valuable information here.

    Jonathan
    www.ireadabookonce.com

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    1. Nice to see you again, Jonathan. You know how much I love your book reviews!

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  9. Hi Jonathan,
    You just touched on my pet peeve. I disabled the stupid things on my blogs because, to my way of thinking, moderating blog comments serves the same function. I think captcha's discourage people from commenting. They did me.
    Thanks for coming by. :)

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  10. Thanks for the blog post! Interesting and informative - especially the parts about why people should comment. I'm trying to be better about commenting myself :-)

    Cheers,
    M.
    zigzagtl.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks, M. Fan. I know it's tough sometimes to find the time and there are so many wonderful blogs to explore. I do appreciate your visiting mine. :)

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  11. You have a lovely, welcoming site brimming with positive, life-affirming energy! We need more sites like this. I am a longtime writer and my current focus is on marketing my movie scripts and promoting my soon-to-be-released self-help book, "Overcome Any Personal Obstacle, including Alcoholism, by Understanding Your Ego". Book was inspired by personal tragedy -- my wife Amy of 19 years committed a slow suicide via alcohol abuse and died a month short of her 42nd birthday. I quit drinking a month later and nearly died from alcohol withdrawal. Anyway, I couldn't understand how she and I could continue abusing alcohol despite knowing it was killing us. I figured out the answer after reading Eckhart Tolle's "A New Earth". It was the EGO. So my book shows people how they can live with their ego, which is a wholly dysfunctional but very real entity within everyone.

    My links are:
    Blog: http://www.youregosucks.blogspot.com/2012/07
    Face Book: http://www.facebook.com/lee.a.eide
    Twitter: @leewriter999

    Thanks for your time.

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    1. I applaud your courage and regret the loss of your wife to such a terrible disease. All the best to you.

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  12. Very encouraging and useful post! It makes me leave a comment now.

    I'm your new follower.

    My blog

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    1. My evil genius plan worked! :) Thanks for coming by Laksmi.

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  13. Very cool! I usually don't comment on blogs because I feel I have nothing to say.
    Thanx a bunch!

    Rebekah Rose
    www.VampiresWerewolvesZombies.blogspot.com
    https://twitter.com/VampWereZombie

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  14. Wow, clicking on "comment" works! Who woulda thought? Thank you, Scarlet, and here is a couple links to my sites.
    http://morninginapril.blogspot.com/
    http://morningshinestories.com
    https://www.facebook.com/

    Thanks again,
    James W. Nelson

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    1. Oops! There is humor in the fact that I replied to your post in the wrong field. :)

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  15. Hi, James. I'm glad you figured it out. :) I thought it very nice of you to email me your thoughts on my short-story. I'm looking forward to getting to know you.

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Folks who are kind enough to nominate me for blog awards and such, thank you so much, but...please, don't. I barely have time to comb my hair. :)


Blessings,
Scarlett