Hello everyone!
Hope you have all had a good week. Some strange weather again, but some beautiful scenes with the combination of sun and rain. I am scheduling this post as I shall be away for Handmade Monday this time. We are having a weekend in St. Ives down in cornwall, one of these £10 jobbies out of the paper.
My question is:
I always look forward to receiving your lovely comments and being a chatty person find it difficult not to reply! But whilst I find it difficult not to reply, I find it equally difficult to reply! It takes a tremendous amount of time, as I am sure you all understand. I'm torn between the two! If we were all in a room together I'd have no problem. The problem would be yours trying to shut me up!
Then there is the other side of the coin. If I do reply do you all really want to have to keep checking back to my blog to see when I reply? As much as I like to comment on all your lovely blogs I know it eats into valuable crafting time when you have to keep a check on replies etc. It's very difficult juggling blogging and crafting. I want to do them both!!!!
So what I am asking (is probably the impossible!) how can I reply to all the fantastic comments so that you lovely bloggers out there don't have to check back to my blog each time to see what I have said, and how can I make it easier for you to see what has been said without spending hours trawling through blogs to see who has written you a reply and who hasn't? What do you all think? Do you have the same problems? Have you found any solutions?
I have added a box for you to add email addresses so you get an email when I post on my blog, does this help?
I would value your views on this as I really want to keep in touch with everyone but I'm struggling to fit in the crafting! Do you like to get individual replies or would one general reply suffice? Would it be better if I started the next post with a response to the previous one?
Have a good week. I'll try and answer each one of your comments this week!
Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post but I'll take lots in St. Ives and make up for it next week!
Bye for now
Alison
It's tricky isn't it? I don't think every comment warrants a reply and so sometimes a general reply does the trick. Other replies do cry out for a reply so I would reply to those individually. It's tough juggling the two and I'm afraid I don't have an easy answer for you!
ReplyDeleteAn interesting post Alison and one which I am sure will bring lots of comments (sorry, that means remembering to check). One of my problems is that very often people respond to comments I have made on their blog and I miss them. They may not need a response, but sometimes they do and I have forgotten to go back, or not had the time to be so vigilant. Adding the subscribe by email box is good, but not sure if it works for the blogger or more for the person who comments on the blog - think they get an email reminder if another message/comment is added? So long story, not so short, I hope other HM bloggers will have a solution.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure there are any hard and fast rules...I think blogging should be fun and never a chore, if I found it a chore I would take a sabbatical. ;)
ReplyDeleteUnless there is a specific question I don't think there is any need to reply. Blogging should be fun as the above comment says.
ReplyDeleteA good question, but there's no easy answer and I suspect the answer is different for everyone.
ReplyDeleteSorry this is not a solution, but I think you have to just do what's best for you (which may change from week to week, comment to comment!). I totally agree that blogging should be fun. How awful it would be if we had hard and fast rules we all had to follow!
this is a good question and i know exactly what you mean - i also tend to feel the urge to reply to comments on my blog yet i'm aware at the same time that they probably don't get read 99% of the time - perhaps one answer to cover all the comments at the end of the day is the answer, or perhaps leaving a reply on the other person's blog if they've written a longer or more detailed remark...
ReplyDeletei also tend to feel a bit unsatisfied by leaving a comment without returning to find out if there is a reply - yet as you say, there are only so many hours in the day!!
I think Wendy is right and it probably all comes down to what's going on in that exact moment, i do think that it would be great if you could tick a little box to be emailed with a reply to your comments though - i can't imagine it would be that difficult for Blogger etc to set that up!!!
Hope you had a nice time away (if you are back now!) - It is difficult - I love reading all the blogs on HM but it is so busy now that I can't do it all in the one day! I try to remember those blogs where I've maybe asked something or suggested something and will check back, but it is hard to remember which one! I really don't know the answer either! Michx
ReplyDeleteI am back now and yes we had a gorgeous few days down in St.Ives, thank you. Plenty of sunshine and very few showers until today but we were on the way back by then (good timing what!).
DeleteI'm really happy to have found your blog through handmade Monday. I am more than a little jealous of your visit to St Ives too!
ReplyDeletejust thought i'd pop back to say that it was really nice to get your reply to what i'd written here on my blog - i think i will start to reply to people more often this way too - it feels more like a natural conversation! (i still can't seem to resist replying to posts on my blog though - it just feels really odd when someone's said something nice and i haven't said thank you!!! :)
ReplyDeletei'm glad you like the idea of the circle of love giveaway and i'd love you to be involved! :)
Some blogs have a 'notify me of follow-on comments' check box - I wish I knew how to do that. I've just had a whole blog post disappear over the weekend and because it was my nominations for the Versatile blogger award (thanks again for nominating me for that :-) it took me at least two hours as I went into detail about why I thought each site deserved the award. That was so much wasted time and effort for nothing, which is very annoying. If you find out how to get that 'notify' check box, please do let me know.
ReplyDeletejust thought too - if you could get rid of CAPTCHA I personally would be grateful as it adds to the task of leaving a comment :-)
ReplyDeleteHi, glad you had a good time away. Question of comments, well how about responding to questions on the next blog befor you let rip with your new blog, are you still with me. That way people once they realise you might be commenting on their response to your blog will be eagerly looking forward to your next blog and you only need to be doing bloggy things on bloggy days,wala, love Liz x
ReplyDelete'Simples' says Liz - that sounds like a rather good idea I may consider that. Thanks for your comment!
DeleteI love top read comment s made on my blog and also replies from comments I have made. As said before some blogs advise of replies and comments etc. I also think reading the comments etc is a valuable part of blogging so for me not a waste of time
ReplyDeleteI agree,but could I have a few more hours in each day please :) Thanks for your comment Caroline
DeleteSorry it's me again. I've done some research and your site seems well set up for communication but it's a global issue I feel at the minute - there's just too much choice out there for internet communication. Thecraftynetwork have just done an article on this very problem -- http://thecraftynetwork.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/getting-the-most-out-of-being-on-line/
ReplyDeleteThere's also a good Blogger help page (sorry this is such a long reply but hopefully helpful and I'm going to 'subscribe by email' :-)
Threaded comments
Single level commenting allows a reader to post a comment to a post. Threaded commenting allows a reader to reply to other reader comments on that post. Blogger supports threaded commenting with two levels -- the original comment, and the replies to that comment.
For example, let's say that Fred reads Julie's baking blog, and comments on a post she wrote about chocolate lava cake, suggesting that it tastes great with raspberries. Sarah, another reader of Julie's blog and also a huge fan of raspberries, wants to reply directly to Fred. With 2-level commenting, Sarah can click "Reply to this comment" directly under Fred's text, and respond to him. Anyone else interested in responding to Fred's comment can do so as well, adding onto the second tier of comments.
Enabling threaded commenting
If you have commenting enabled on your blog, then threaded commenting will work provided you have your blog feed set to "Full," and have chosen the “Embedded" option as opposed to “Full page” or “Popup window.” To change your commenting settings, just go to the Comments section under Settings | Posts and comments. The setting to change your blog feed can be found under Settings | Other.
Notifications
A threaded commenting system means more discussion and back-and-forth dialogue. If you’d like to be notified of any updates to a discussion, just click “Follow by email” to subscribe to the thread. This way, you’ll be notified via email so you can keep up with the conversation. Keep in mind that this is a different subscription than the “Follow by email” gadget used to follow another blogger’s blog posts.
Thank you so much Diane for all the research you've done, I hope this will help other bloggers as well. Next time I leave a comment on someone's blog I shall remember to 'subscribe by email' at the bottom of the comment, then I can be notified when a reply is made. Assuming you clicked subscribe by email when you posted your comment on my blog, then my reply to you will now come up on your email!! Hope that's right :)
Deletehow cool! The email I got telling me that someone had made a comment on this post, even had a link bringing straight back to the post. Now we're cooking with gas :-)
ReplyDeleteYay! Perhaps we've cracked it!
DeleteI usually don't expect a reply to a comment that I make on someone's blog, but if I post something I think they would reply to, I will either come back and check or click the box to let me know if there are further posts (if that's an option).
ReplyDeleteBut I know what you mean, it's just one of those things, and we probably all miss some replies. If someone posted something on my blog that REALLY needed an answer I would try to email them or something. I hate to leave someone hanging because it does seem a little rude. But, I know it's not really, we are all just really busy.
BTW I love the look of your blog, and your font is really cool. And this is an interesting topic! :)
Thank you Susie. I'm glad you enjoyed your time over here! I just popped over to your blog and found some very interesting makes on there. I shall definitely be returning from time to time :)
DeleteAn interesting conundrum and some great replies. I don't usually expect an answer or even a thank you to a comment I make, after all it is a comment and not a question. If I do ask a question that I think would be answered then I would check back a day or two later.
ReplyDeleteIf someone asks me a specific question that needs an answer I would usually go to their blog and answer the query.
Jan x
Thank you Picto! It's really interesting to hear how different people think. I've learnt a lot from all these comments. I am thinking in future I will pop over to their blog to answer any comment as you say you do. 'After all it is a comment and not a question' - This is a very good point!!! :)
DeleteHave a wonderful time in St. Ives! I absolutely ADORE the place. My auntie and uncle live on the hill above Porthmeor Beach so have a stunning view of the coast. I cannot wait to see your photos!
ReplyDeleteAs I'm sure lots of people have said already - On most of the blog I comment on, there is an option to be emailed when there is follow up comments. I can't see a link one on your blog though. xx
Thank you for your comment Nicola. St. Ives is stunning especially with the sunshine and showers we had last weekend. The dark skies made the sea a dark blue and the sun highlighted the lovely frothy white waves - absolutely beautiful!
DeleteI think you can click on 'subscribe by email' just below the comment box on the right hand side, on the same line as the 'publish' button, then you should receive an email when another comment is made :)
I'm glad you had a lovley break in St Ives! I've enjoyed reading the comments as much as the post this week! I'd actually come on here to say I've written a post about a question you'd asked me a while back, and to say thank-you for the blogger award!
ReplyDeleteJo x