Showing posts with label no-reply blogger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no-reply blogger. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Feeling Sad About "noreply-comment@blogger.com"

Thank you for all of the comments that you left on my last post about this year's first roses in the garden.  I appreciate each and every kind word that you take the time to leave behind during your visit.  Each comment is a gift, and I am thankful that you choose to spend time on my little slice of the Internet.

I try to send a private email reply to most of the comments that I receive.  (depending on what else is going on, sometimes I'm better about this than other times.)  Six of the comments I received on that last post were from lovely readers who may or may not know that their email addresses are not visible in their profile.  I always return the favor and visit blogs in exchange ... sometimes finding treasures that I continue to return to again and again.  Honestly, though, it's still not the same as being able to share a private conversation with someone ... via email, that is.

Preaching to the choir?  Beating a dead horse?  I still have to give this a shot, in case I can reach just ONE blogger and help them build their network and their friendships.

Do you know if you are a No Reply blogger?  If you are on Blogger, here's how to check. 

1.  Click on the "B" icon at the top of your blog home page.

 
 
2.  Click on the icon in either corner of the Blogger overview page to access your profile.
 
 
 
3.  Click the orange 'Edit Profile' button.
 
 
 
4.  Check the box that says, "Show my email address".
 
 
 
5.  Scroll to the bottom of that page, click "Save Profile".
 
 
 
That's all there is to it!  (If you use another blogging service and do not have a Blogger Profile, I know there are ways to do this, I just don't know what they are.)
 
I make this plea at least twice a year, usually when I receive a frustratingly large number of comments that I cannot reply to.  I know that some of you may have consciously chosen to not reveal your email address ... it's your email and your choice and I respect that.  Others, and I have found this to be the majority of no reply bloggers, don't realize that this is the case for them.  (This is especially true for new bloggers.)
 
Make this change and I guarantee that your blogging experience will be a richer one. For me, direct email contact has led to online and real-live-in-person friendships that I would not have otherwise.
 
Now go check your profile and let me know what you find.
 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Announcing the Winner ... and Asking a Favor

The winner of my spur-of-the-moment fig jam giveaway is .... #24 Kelly Ann, of Kelly Ann's Quilts.  Since you're right up the road, I will bring your jam to you next week.  Congratulations, Kelly!!




Choosing the winner  wasn't as straight forward as it should have been.  My rules were simple ... leave a comment, and be sure that your comment includes your contact information.

It took FIVE tries for me to draw a winner that I could contact directly.  Selections 1, 2, and 4 chose comments from people who do not have their email visible in their blog profile, and who did not leave their email address in the body of their comment.  For each of these, the return address on their comment was the dreaded "noreply-comment @ blogger.com"  (Selection 3 chose Comment #6, which was my own comment ... it would be weird for me to win my own giveaway.)  

Out of 37 comments/entries in the jam giveaway, 13 turned out to be ineligible. This gave much better odds of winning to the folks who played by the rules. 


 
 
I am one of the many bloggers who is on a quest to politely ask everyone to PLEASE do whatever you can to wipe out "noreply-comment @ blogger.com".  Most of the folks I approach about this aren't even aware that they ARE noreply bloggers.  Others have the idea that hiding one's email will make them less of a target for email spam ... not true, from my experience.
 
It is frustrating beyond belief to receive a comment or a question from a reader, and to have no way to answer that person directly.  I am hesitant to answer comments publicly in the comment section ... I don't know the chance of the original commenter seeing my response, and I may want to give info in my response specifically intended for THAT commenter. 
 
Using the Old Blogger Interface, it's a simple matter to make one's email visible in one's blog profile.  (If you use the new Blogger interface, see below.)
 
Click on the Blogger B button to access your Blogger Dashboard.

 
 
Click 'Edit Profile' on the left side of the page.
 
 
 
In the Privacy section, check the box that says 'Show my email address".  Type your email address into the Identity section, if it's not already there.
 
 
 
Scroll to the bottom of the page, click the orange 'Save Profile' button, and your done!
 
 
 
For new Blogger interface users, there are no instructions on how to do this because Google has apparently removed this option in the switch to the new interface and Google+ profiles .  I spent a very frustrating half an hour in the new interface trying to figure it out.  My genius computer guy husband looked for it, too, and it's not there. 
 
As far as I can tell, the only way for a new Blogger interface user to make their email address visible would be to make a temporary switch to the old interface to make the change as outlined above ... then you can switch back.  To access the old interface, click the Gear icon at the top of the new Dashboard page, select Old Blogger Interface from the drop-down menu, and you're there.
 
 
 
Speaking of the new Blogger interface ... I'm going to hold out and use the old interface as long as I can.  Google is going to have to drag me kicking and screaming to the new interface when the time comes for them to eliminate the old one.  It's not that I don't like change ... I don't mind change most of the time ... I just that don't see any of the supposed benefits that Google/Blogger is talking about with the new interface ... this sounds like the subject of a rant for another day.
 
 
Anyway ... back to the original subject of this post ...
 
Congratulations, Kelly!!
 
I know you'll love your jam.
 


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