How to enable comment links on blogger
It seems I need to clarify something. This post won’t tell you how to fix Blogger’s idiocy, nor how to make the process of enabling comments easier. It will only instruct you on how to go about doing it. So for those of you who are thinking I’m going to walk you through changing Blogger’s assinine policy that isn’t happening here, sorry
In order to combat spoofing Blogger has decided to require that any blog which wishes to allow comment links needs to enable Open ID comment authentication. It is a relatively easy feature (and I use that term loosely) to activate. Take the following steps and you should be fine.
- Log into draft.blogger.com
- Click settings on the blog you want to enable it on
- Click comments near the top
- Put a mark in registered users
Thanks goes to Windyridge who pointed out that blogger.com no longer allows links to non-blogger sites in comments. Clearly Blogger dropped the ball on this as they didn’t even bother to notify their own users of the change or make any effort to make this information easily accesible to the general public.
That takes care of the blogger account holders, but what about the readers? What do they have to do? They need to setup an OpenID account. When you first get to the page it gives you a very limited number of OpenID resources. You can however visit this post about setting up a custom OpenID which will walk you through making one for any website/url. Can anyone say pain in the ass?
I’d say this is just ANOTHER reason that users of the free blogger service should seriously consider switching to Word Press.
I’ve enabled Anyone(even before) and checked to see if everything was fine!
I still stand for blogger.com!
Joel’s last blog post..The struggle within
Joel – Enabling “anyone” doesn’t do the trick. You need to enable “Registered users” and then they need to create an OpenID account.
I have enabled anyone and by that I mean anyone. I have readers who have no idea what a registered user is! If someone wants to give info where he/she can be found, it is always possible to leave an address to the comment and I’ll check it.
I have a Word Press account also related to my work but there is no way I am going to change my personal blog there. The free version of that just does not give me enough space to make it look like me. It also has the unfortunate feature of mixing English with Finnish and I just hate that!
Leena’s last blog post..Finland number one – again
Leena – Enable “Registered Users” if you want them to be able to leave link comments (after they go through the trouble of setting up and openid account). If people don’t know what a registered user is maybe you should write a post about it?
When I say people should use wordpress I’m not talking about the free service. I’m talking about spending $5 a month and getting a hosted account and installing wordpress on it. Host Gator is my host of choice. Takes 5 minutes to setup an account and about 2 minutes to install wordpress on it.
Weird, I don’t see that option in my blogger dashboard for “Registered User-Including anonymous user”. I only have three options: Anyone (includes anonymous users), Users with Google Accounts, and Only members of this blog.
I had seen a post the other day talking about the switch Google made, but I’m not finding it to be a problem on mine. Weird.
Lin’s last blog post..Gold Diggers Get Their Due Reward
I can’t see any of my readers who need a custom OpenID going through all that. I’m really sick about the change Blogger made. WordPress, you might be my new best friend.
My blog is just a blog, a hobby to me. There is no way I am going to change it to Wordpress. I also have bought a domain name and have a host but that is just waiting for me to do something about it. I could add there a blog from wordpress at the same price but all the experience I have had so far with the free service is making sure I won’t even consider that an option.
Writing a post about OpenID is not a solution either. I am trying to get (and teach) people who do know nothing about blogs comment or even read a blog. Mathematics-anxiety is a known problem. I know people with computer-anxiety
Leena’s last blog post..Finland number one – again
I think blogger do a good move because most of the people are there simply for “chatting” with there small group of friend, if they really want to be serious about it they will move to a real blog platform !!! It is a free service so you cannot complaint about it ….
Blackysky’s last blog post..Blogs websites and products promotion, December update, write article or post for free link back
[...] At any rate, if you’re still a poor, oppressed Blogger user, A Blog About Nothing has posted an article on how to enable comments for your non-Blogger friends. [...]
This is not a very user/reader friendly move for Blogger.
Tim’s last blog post..Fans of Junk
I think it’s very ignorant of Blogger to not inform about this – and preferably BEFORE doing the change. It doesn’t count that it’s free, you still have to take care of your customers in a proper way! If I were a Blogger-blogger I would be furious….
Lifecruiser’s last blog post..Blogger sucks more than ever not allowing extern blog links
I totally agree with Lifecruiser, I just went to link build, I mean err add my opinions in the form of some comments on blogger when I noticed. I’m crushed
My biggest problem is with open ID, who owns it anyway. I’m not sure I have it never ue it and won’t use it to comment on blogger blogs. I will comment only on the blooger blogs I already read and no more. Most bloggers have a real life and don’t have time for such stuff.
Like the people who hacked my blogger blog several times said in the template they replaced mine with.
“Get a better blogging platform get a a WordPress blog.”
It’s not the only thing they did though they deleted comments already posted at some blog which were not in that format.
cooper’s last blog post..How Much Wood Would a Wood Chuck Chuck…or… Google Makes Me Want to Up Chuck
I hope everyone finds this tip useful if you choose to use it. I understand some of you don’t feel you should have to do this, and you don’t. But you just might notice a drop in your readers.
Well,
I signed up for an OpenId account, but they offer no blog widget to put on my blog pages to let people know I’ve done it…
I’m an equine veterinarian full time and I don’t have time for all this falderol…
I have a good cache of readers already on both of my blogs but I’m not planning on making any money from them…
They’re just regular blogs…
And I don’t have a clue about HTML coding or anything from the “matrix” either…
LOL
If I start to lose readers because of this sign up, I’m cancelling my OpenId account…
Cheers,
Nick
Nick Carlton’s last blog post..Lone Wolf
Nick – Blog widget? Why not just write your own message and post it telling people about open id? How much time can that take? As much time as this comment took, perhaps?
Or do what I did about my change for comments and stick it at the top sidebar with the subscribe icon…..
windyridge’s last blog post..Stormy!
Windyridge – Great idea!
it’s because of stuff like this that i moved away from blogger to get a lot more control of my blog platform. i didn’t want to have my user experience dictated by the powers that be. i guess it works for some, but i love wordpress.
Thanks for the post, i enjoyed reading it. blogging is not as easy as many think it is, it’s hardwork. any how thanks.
Great article, amazing looking weblog, added it to my favs.
I will be linking this to my post today. AND yes I am in the process of changing to WORDPRESS.
Cheri