Ohmystinkinheck

First, the kitten…

You know that precious kitty that we painstakingly bottle fed, lovingly moderated his environment’s temperature, and even assisted to POOP (sorry no photo) from 1 week on… until he began managing things better on his own? Yea, that one.

Well, he ain’t so cute no more.
(The sentence above is dedicated to my elementary educators.)

He is methodically biting, chewing, tearing, PUSHING OFF THE SILL, pulling, and/or stripping all the green living things in our home. And? He drinks from the toilet, leaving me a splotchy wet seat to sit on. And no, that isn’t refreshing. I never know if it was the kitten or the 4 year old boy that left me the li’l driplets, so I just wince and think happy thoughts while they absorb into my bum.

All of these things are making me a very, very cranky mommy. And I already have plenty of reasons to have my crankpot on.

Now, the comments…

I need some feedback - honest feedback. I know you are just the crowd to ask about honest feedback. So give it to me straight.

I want to know how you interact with blogs. For instance, when I visit blogs and comment, I have a tendency, depending on the comment, to return and see how the conversation is playing out. This is why I absolutely adore the “Subscribe to Comments” feature available on some of y’all’s blogs. Subscribing allows me to participate in “conversations” I’m interested in as they unfold. Then, when the conversation has slacked or is no longer interesting to me, I can unsubscribe and move on.

As a blog author (ooooh, I’m published!), I respond to your comments within my own comments. However, perhaps that is a bit too presumptuous. Perhaps that is ME expecting YOU to interact like I do. What if you aren’t the type that likes to subscribe to comments? What if you would rather me respond via email? What if you don’t want to keep up with my comments along with all the many other blogs you read?

And let me tell you, sometimes it’d be easier to respond via email to those that comment here, but then does that break the conversation? Do you want to know what I’d say to others, or are you just wanting to know what I’d say in relation to your comment? Does it matter whether I comment on your comments of my comments (say that three times really fast)? And I’m not just talking about my blog, but what you do, want, expect of other bloggers too?

I’m happy to have all of y’all here. I’m not a blogger that says she doesn’t care about comments. I do! I love them! The more the merrier! Weeeeeee! Enough!With!The!Exclamation!Marks! I love to hear from each one of you - even those that email instead of commenting.

So, tell me - how do you handle it on your own blogs and why? And how do you prefer other bloggers to handle it? Just how do you interact with your reads in this great land of web?

I’m going to go and enjoy some of my Bridgehead Canadian Boreal Blend coffee - thank you very much Sara - and sit back to bask in your wisdom.

xoxoxox

56 Responses to “Kitten angst and comment query.”

1. frugalmom

   I have to say that even tho I am not a master blogger such as yourself, I feel like it is only right to try and comment to others comments on my blog. I try very hard to respond to each one personally because I like the interaction. If they respond to me via email then I respond that way.
   I generally come back to a blog when I leave a comment. I don’t normally subscribe for follow-ups. I like to partake in the running commentary.

2. Kami

   I am still learning the whole blog ettiquete thing… I love that I get to see how the comments play out here on yours (I subscribe to comments via email) and the fact that you comment back really is thoughtful and I appreciate it.

   I think it’s very courteous to acknowledge when people comment on my blog and I am getting better at.

3. Kami

   at it.

   Still learning how to type though :-)

4. jen

   I like how you describe it. I always check back to comment, and love to see what you and others say to each other. I try to do it in my blog but I guess I’m not cool or chatty because only rarely do I get a “conversation” going.

   I always feel like my comment was annoying, if I comment to someone and they don’t reply!

5. Angella

   I’m clueless as to what I “prefer”. I like the way you handle your comments, because I never have the time to come back and see what everyone says.

   I’ve been wondering what the best thing to do on my own site is, so I’m interested to hear what the conversation on this turns out to be.

   Sorry about the plant :(

6. Loralee

   I WANT to put subscriptions on my blog I just don’t know how (I am the genius who still cannot figure out plugins no matter how easy everyone says it is.)

   I know bloggers who only reply to comments through email. I think that you lose something there. Someone will make a point and I want to see how it plays out.

   It does irritate me when bloggers never or rarely post replies to the comments they receive. It seems rude. Besides, I like to see the authors reactions to what people say.

   I get about 5-10% of my readers commenting, and on a lot of posts I get more emails than comments. I have to admit, though. I am better at responding to the emails than replying to every comment on my blog.

   So here is a question to you-I love how you reply to everyone’s comment, but what do you think about bloggers that just a reply to one or two of the comments? I actually do both. It depends on what is going on around me. If I can I try to talk to everyone, though.

7. Atomic Bombshell

   This is why I won’t have pets. I’m also a big fan of the subscribe to comments feature and I use it exactly as you do.

8. Jeana

   Sometimes I check back on discussions and sometimes I don’t, depending on how interested I am, whether or not my cats have done what yours did, and the position of Venus that day. I almost never subscribe to comment follow-up.

   I usually respond via e-mail if I can, so I’m glad when people have checked their box making this possible. If I feel it adds to a discussion I’ll also post under comments. Sometimes. If I can’t find their e-mail sometimes I’ll respond in the comment section at their blog.

   As you can see I’m all about consistency.

9. PlainJane

   I occasionally leave comments on blogs, but I am basically a “Lurker” I suppose. When there are things I really WANT TO SAY, then I will leave a comment. If not it may be months ( or never). If I have left a comment, I will usually check back to see replies or additional comments. I like how yours is formatted to have notifications of comments. VERY nice!

10. moosh in indy.

    I’ll take the love and give the love any way I can get it, one may say I’m one of those free spirit blog hippies.

11. Nadine

    I always try to respond via e-mail. But I have considered the “subscribe to comments” thing too. But doing both (e-mailing and replying in the comments) seems overkill. Although some bloggers do that.

    Personally I never subscribe to comments. When I’m interested in a post, I go back and check it myself. If I remember :)

12. SmocknMama

    I seldom go to blogs anymore. Sad, but true. I used to visit many blogs daily, now I just read them in my lovely Google Reader and comment if I feel like it. Bad thing ’bout this: I don’t comment so much anymore and I see a relevance to the decline in comments at my place (besides the fact that I haven’t done much lately). Good thing about the reader: I’ve exposed myself (no, not that way) to more bloggers than I have before, because it’s all in one place.

    Now to answer more clearly the question/s you asked. I love the back and forth you have (I used to have that too. I definitely need to get active again). I love the subscribe to plugin, I have it and love it on other blogs - same reason as you. I do the same thing.

    And I’d like to ditto Jeana: it just all depends. And this summer - man, it smacked my on the butt five times already. sheesh. I’m waiting on one more smack down, one per child, ya know.

    I’ve been thinking along these same lines lately and wondering how to juice up my readership and commenting-ship (I just made that up). I know, write better, more interesting.

    p.s. I got my ideal bite e-mail the other day and yet have done anything thing with - story of my life. I like the big ol’ ad on the bottom like that.

13. Kelly

    eek! yeah, no cats for us, sorry. I can’t stand litter boxes though, so that’s why. (let alone, the cat making a litter box in my tub!)

    I LOVE the subscribe dealie in the comments. In fact, if I weren’t mentally handicapped with all this website stuff, I would add it to my blog! haha! And I like that you comment back to everyone, because when I get the email, I can read your comment back to me, and if I need to respond, I do… if not, I don’t have to go back to your blog to read, kwim? Not that I don’t like your blog, but it sure saves time to read in my email ;)

14. MMM

    I LOVE comments AND getting responses to them!

15. sam

    See, I always love getting an email response back to what I have wrote on someone’s site, so that’s what I started doing. I honestly hadn’t put a lot of thought in to the fact that others (unless they are commenting) would know that I actually do respond, because they don’t see anything in the comments part…

    But! What about the readers that comment and don’t come back to see if there’s a response. I rarely go back to check myself. So would those people then feel left out?

    Too much thinking for a Friday afternoon…..

16. bethany actually

    I comment whenever I have something to say, which is often, and if it’s something I am really interested in I check back at the blog. I really like it when blog authors respond, either in comments or email. Usually a comment is fine unless it requires a more in-depth or private answer.

    Sorry the kitty’s annoying you, but…he’s a kitten. He’ll outgrow the hiinks eventually, I hope.

17. Amanda

    I read almost exclusively from Bloglines, so I rarely go back and re-read a post for additional comments. (Dude, I read so many blogs as it is! It would be almost impossible to read them all twice!) I do like your subscribe feature, though, and I’ve used it.

    For myself, I used to be REALLY good about responding to comments by e-mail. In fact, it used to be my goal to respond to every. single. comment. But with THREE blogs, I just can’t anymore. I’d have to hire a babysitter.

18. Melinda

    I try and respond to comments in the comments. I just wish I had more comments. Did I mention comments? he he

19. daisyaday

    Color me silly, but I didn’t even know I could subscribe to comments. How cool is that? I think I’ll have to start looking for that, and enable it on my blog if I can.

    I sometimes get conversations going, but I tend to see comments as a “hi, how’r'ya, I was here” and “by the way, here’s what I think” kind of thing.

    LOL. How eloquent is that?

20. Moose

    I adore comments but I am notoriously bad at responding to them - sometimes I email the person directly, sometimes I answer in the comments, sometimes I look up three weeks later and realize I never replied at all.

    So, uh, whatever you’re doing you’re undoubtedly doing better than I am.

    As for my own comment reading habits, I use google reader and so tend to forget. If I’m really intrigued by the post or have something contribute, I’ll head to the comments. Obviously, I am fickle.

21. Lanna

    I love that you come back and reply, and that it’s emailed to my inbox so I can follow the discussion as it happens. So if I forget to click your blog for a day or a week (yeah, sorry), I still know what was going on with that one thing.

    My own blog is a freebie thing, so you have to sign up for an account to leave a comment, which I’m sure could be/is a PITA for most folks. Or at least that’s what I tell myself when I get zero comments for two weeks straight.

22. OMSH

    frugalmom - Thank you for your feedback - I’m looking forward to gaging everyone’s expectations.

    And? “Master blogger?” I’m not sure I can take that kind of pressure.

    Kami - I am still learning the blog etiquette thing as well. I thought perhaps I had a grip, but then realized I was assuming I knew. It seems that etiquette rule #1, in the internet world where body language and facial expressions are lost to the wind, would be NOT TO ASSUME.

    jen - I too have felt that perhaps I said something off-beat (which would be easy for me) at times when I either was the last commentor (comment killer) or didn’t receive a response from the blogger.

    I realize now that this isn’t necessarily the case, but it was my initial impression.

    Angella - That’s why I like “Subscribe to Comments” b/c I don’t have to go BACK to a blog to know the conversation has continued. It drops into my inbox and I can read or delete at will.

    Loralee - Plugins are not always easy. Dropping the file into the right directory is simple, but not all of them have adequate instructions for applying bits of code and it take some finnagling sometimes. So, don’t feel bad. :)

    In response to your question … I am an extreme person (no surprise there, right?). So, I feel like I need to either respond here in the comments to everyone or not respond to anyone. I do not like the idea of leaving someone out. How would I pick who to respond to and who to leave alone?

    I look at it like this. YOU do not have to read my blog. My blog is a time commitment in your otherwise busy day. By reading AND commenting you’ve made a sort of commitment to me. For that, in my opinion, you have earned a response. I have a need for consistency, so either I’ll write everyone back via email or via the comments. I’m glad to hear I’m not too totally off the mark so far - at least with many of you that are reading here.

    Plus … well, it’s a fun way to wind down a day or begin a morning.

    Atomic Bombshells - Our pets outnumber the humans in our home. Of course nine of them - the chickens, one cat and one turtle - are outside, but damage still occurs.

    Thanks for your response. :)

    Jeana - Personally, the position of Mars is much more important to me than Venus, but y’know … whatever. ;)

    I appreciate email responses when I’m reading elsewhere - I just like responses, period. But who doesn’t. We comment to communicate. If I have nothing to communicate, I won’t comment.

    PlainJane - There are blogs I have lurked on b/c it seemed like a more closed community and when I’ve commented before no one has responded, but they HAVE responded to others.

    I find that I am lurking more and more, but I think it is because I am reading more and more blogs and it is just too much to keep up with commenting across all of them.

    So, I understand why MANY lurk here (or at least the stats seem to show that) and not comment.

    moosh in indy - free spirited indeed - we all know just HOW free after BlogHer! hahahahah *wink*

    Nadine - I used to not subscribe either, but oh how it helps now. Man, does it help!

    But I agree - one or the other. Email or within the comments. Both is almost … um… desperate?

    SmocknMama - I like the back and forth too. Sometimes you guys have me and the OMSH man rolling. When you’re having dinner and giggling about what your readers are saying it’s just good bull.

    I read all my blogs in the reader, but do click thru to comment. Having my reader well organized makes it quick. I have food blogs, tech blogs, plugin blogs, designer blogs, cool crap logs, and then personal blogs, favorites, and sampling. Readers rock!

    Kelly - That’s EXACTLY what I do with other blogs. EXACTLY.

    I hate litter boxes too. That is why we have kitty doors. Those suckers can be trained to ‘go’ outside. However, for some reason they cannot be trained to not DESTROY inside. geez.

    MMM - OKAY! Thank you, Heather. *grin*

    sam - That was one of MY questions that I don’t know the answer to. I felt that perhaps it was presumptuous of me to assume that my readership would return to read, but the majority here seem to be saying that they either subscribe or return to see responses to their comments, so it has been a bit of a relief.

    bethany actually - I KNOW you respond. Especially at flickr. I think we have week long conversations over there. ha!

    And yes, I’m giving the kitty time. I love him to pieces, but man, for a dog person, this kitten has been a LOT of work!

    Amanda - I’ve noticed you normally respond to my comments via email when they are something worth a response.

    I believe you were one of the first bloggers I read that did that actually.

    Melinda - Why yes, you did comment on commenting in the comments. *grin*

    daisyaday - You’re going to start a whole new blog entry for me called “The Philosphy Behind Comments”. heh heh

    When I comment it is normally because I have something to contribute, but I get what you’re saying.

    Moose - I just love when I meet people that are truly just NOT anal retentive. You make me look like a ruler. “Hi, I’m Heather and I’m rigid. Meet my flexible friend Moose!” Too funny.

    Lanna - I don’t expect everyone to click in everyday. Honestly, I’m not even that interesting to myself - I just have a deep need to write. Like, all the time.

    So, glad you’re here when you’re here.
    And? If you ever want to toss your free web hosted blog, I’ve got a great FREE tutorial thing going on with kerflop over here. That goes for anyone that wants to move to their own self-hosted WordPress blog!

    You can DIY people! DIY!

23. Jill - GlossyVeneer

    I respond to comments in my blog and I like to follow a conversation via comments. It’s a lot easier to do so when you can subscribe. But sometimes I find that I’m getting too many e-mails (especially when they’re bumping forward to my Blackberry constantly) so I have to unsubscribe from a post.

    But mainly I like having the whole record associated with the post. It’s kind of fun to see how one topic can veer off into another and the comments is the only real way to see that evolution.

24. MR. OMSH

    I have items of feedback.

    1. Why so many questions? By the time I answer one, there are four more to answer, you know?

    2. When you women use the word “bum” are you referring to your butt, or another private part? I’ve never figured that out…and I live with you. Just curious. Not really feedback I suppose.

25. Tanya

    I love that you answer people’s comments! It’s one of the reasons I finally “de-lurked” and commented here, because I love that there are actual discussions in your comments section.
    I usually subscribe to the comments, but sometimes I don’t because I know I will be back to check them either way. But I really like that I have that option.

26. Kristin

    Honestly, I pretty much only care how/if you respond to ME. I don’t read other comments, nor your responses to others. I don’t sign up for the “notify me of followup comments” because, like I said, I only care how/if you respond to ME. ME. ME. ME. (I’m a bit needy) :)

27. Kristin

    Oh, I do read MR. OMSH’s comments. He’s a clever one.

28. Lanna

    I also agree with Kristin. I have a validation thing too, plus you and Mr. OMSH’s comments are amusing. ;)

29. Kami

    Yeah, the validation thing…. I am totally into that too ;-) Glad to see I am not the only one!

30. OMSH

    Jill - GlossyVeneer - You made me sooooooooooooooooooooo happy when you plugged in subscribe! So very happy. :)

    Mr. OMSH - Darling therapist that you are - remember that QUESTIONS are a key to COMMUNICATION. Say it with me. “COM-YOU-NIH-KAY-SHUN”. That means using words to express thoughts. Men use their bodies to express thoughts. Women use their words.

    Let me help you out with the “bum” question. Stand in front of the mirror. There yet? Okay, are you shaven? Did you pick up your laundry off the floor? Did you help clean the kitchen? Wash the dog? Are you wearing clean underwear? THEN, YOU ARE NOT A BUM.

    Now, drop your pants and turn around, facing AWAY from the mirror. Looking over your shoulder into the mirror, look right below your waistline. THAT IS A BUM.

    See, you can both BE and HAVE a bum.

    Lesson is over - put your pants back on.

    Tanya - I’m so glad you delurked. How else could I have found the fabulously funny Life from the Inside online sitcom. I WANT EPISODE 5!

    Kristin - We are all a bit self-absorbed. Me, My, I is my mantra.

    And I too thought of Mr. OMSH as rather clever - until he asked what a “bum” was; now I’m having to rethink that. heh heh

    Lanna and Kami - Give me a “V” - Give me an “A” … I’m too lazy to SPELL the rest.
    VALIDATION! Yea!! *jumping up and down with pom poms*

31. Lanna

    Ummm… Free is my key word. Getting a domain and hosting and all that isn’t in the cards right now. You know how much produce I can buy to can with that kind of money? (Types the gal who filled up an entire car this morning with apples, blackberries, peaches and cucumbers for canning/eating in some way, shape or form.)

32. OMSH

    Lanna - Okay, here we go with trial #2. If you go with wordpress.com’s FREE web hosted blog, then you can use their FREE themes and FREE plugins and no one will have to join Xanga to respond!!!

    Was that better?

    Are you shipping me anything you’ve canned?

33. Kelly

    YEAH!!! I used the tutorials at iblameher.com and managed my own domain! And I am supremely computer illiterate (ask Heather :P )

34. ang

    Omsh, You have me CoNfuSeD! I always thought comments were to reflect on your post not open correspondence?… hhhhmmm, I guess what I dislike the most is one may post a question as to How to? and then never receive an answer, then again how do we move to the next post if we stay lingering on the current post?

    Note: I luuuuvvveee Mr. Omsh’s interjection.
    Although, I was with him on your ‘burning’ situation let’s sit quiet– too much information!

    If you could help me with uploading a Quicktime video to Wordpress I would be forever grateful & I want to participate in the color swap gift thingy-a-ma-jiggy.

    hugs,
    ang.

35. Jill - GlossyVeneer

    The subscription was my gift to you. Any little thing I can do. You brighten my day so often!

36. coolbeans

    I know you respond to my comments on your blog in the comments. So I subscribe and then unsub when I’ve got nothing else to say …and, uh, don’t care what anyone else is saying? Wow, there’s a better way to word that.

    Another blogger replies to me via email, so I don’t check back unless I want to see what other people are saying OR if I’m getting a lot of hits (you know, like, 2) from my comment. If the blogger really responds positively in the email, I feel sad that the positive interaction wasn’t public because HEY! She likes me and you like her so you should come visit me because I like attention.

    But email replies are faster and easier for the blog author.

    On my own blog, if I to one comment, I feel I have to respond to all so no one feels left out and then I end up replying with something totally stupid like, “OMSH - Thank you for that insightful reply and we are intellectually superior.” and then, “Other friend who said something nice but really not anything I have more to say about so I’ll just tell you - You smell nice! OR I like your socks!”

    I like using the comment sections of other blogs to host my own blog. The End.

37. coolbeans

    I don’t proofread when I use comment sections of other blogs to host my own blog! It makes me feel like a rebel!

38. Mom2Six

    I don’t have a blog–I consider myself lucky to read a few occasionally—Lucky you to be one of them!

    I like how you have responded in the comments–sometimes I don’t comment because someone has already said or asked what I would. If I’m interested in following the conversation, I try to remember to check back.

    Thanks for making me (and everyone) feel welcomed here!

39. OMSH

    Kelly - I am so proud. SO.PROUD.

    ang - Right now my comments close after 4 days, so that keeps the extended commentary down somewhat. I can see how it “could” get stuck, but not for more than 4 days.

    Need to read Mr.OMSH’s commentary again…not sure where he told me to back off the commentary. Hmmm….

    I’d sit tight, but it feels better to sit loose. *wink*

    Email me about the video. I use FTP to upload and link that way. Are you on wordpress.com or a self hosted wordpress? Never mind - just email. ;) heather [at] ohmystinkinheck [dot] com.

    coolbeans - My friend. My long-time friend from “those” boards. Ahhh, I love this. “Thank you for that insightful reply and we are intellectually superior.”

    love.it.

    And? You are SUCH a rebel.

40. OMSH

    Mom2Six - another long time online friend. I love that you come a’visiting when you have the time. :)

41. Annie

    I just stumbled across your blog, and I’m really enjoying reading your posts and the comments to this one in particular. When I first started my blog a couple years ago, I had no intention of anyone reading it and I never considered what to do about comments. Now that I’ve launched a “new and improved” version, I’ve found that I really want other people to read and comment. And so far (because I have so few comments) I’m able to respond to each one individually. I love responding. And I love, as a blog reader, getting replies to my comments (via the comments section or email, either is great). It doesn’t bother me if a blog author doesn’t respond to one of my comments — I just figure she is busy — but when they do, it makes my day.

42. jen

    i like that you comment here. I too like to come back and see how the conversation evolves.
    Im a habitual commenter. I have a sickness. My other sickness is that I comment as if all the authors of all the blogs i read, and myself, are the best of friends, and have been for quite sometime. Though, I feel like when I comment on a comment on my blog, I am less than witty.
    (that sentence just made me sick to my stomache)

43. ktjrdn

    My theory is that I answer all my comments via emial except if they aska specific quesiton that I htink everyone else will wonder what the answer is and then I post it in the comments too. (I think that’s happened like twice in the last 3 years) I have a small blog, so it works for me. I think I’ve made more friends that way. It’ smore personal and quicker. I used to come back and check the comment sections all the time after I commented, but now that I read so many, I just don’t have time anymore. I try to remmeber to check only the ones I’m interested in, or that I know I will get a response via comment.

44. OMSH

    Annie - Thank you for your kind words. I too enjoy receiving comments to my comments on others’ blogs. And like you, I don’t expect it.

    jen - You wrote “My other sickness is that I comment as if all the authors of all the blogs i read, and myself, are the best of friends, and have been for quite sometime” - and I think a lot of us do this. It is the nature of how personal blogs play out. After reading a while we really DO feel like we know the author. That makes it easier to respond in a personal way.

    ktjrdn - It is a time commitment to come back to a blog to check comments - again why I like the “Subscribe To” feature. However, it is MUCH faster to email. As a blog author, it does take longer to come back here and respond to each comment, but at the same time it just feels “right” for me.

45. Aileen

    Honestly, I like the set up you have going now, Stinky. I don’t have a lot of readers reading my blog, but truthfully I only update it every so often. I’m really technologically challenged and I’m still learning how to add features to my blog like how to subscribe to the conversation. I enjoy checking back to see if you’ve left me a response, and reading what you say to others. If I want a personal e-mail, I can harrass you on Flickr like I do now. :)

46. bethany actually

    Well, for being a dog person, I am impressed that you have been this patient with the kitty so far! Cats really do get better with age…usually. :-)

    And as for week-long conversations, well, it just feels rude to NOT respond when someone has said something to me, unless it’s clearly a statement that needs no response. Paradoxically, though, I don’t expect bloggers to respond to every comment I make. I like it when they do, but I never expect it. Except from you, because you almost always do, which is probably why I like reading your blog so much. You seem to have just as much to say as I do, and that’s a LOT. ;-)

    Oh, and I actually like seeing what other commenters have to say, too. It’s a converation, ya know?

47. Ang in TX

    Thanks Heather! I’ll e-mail you tonight, that’s a good idea about closing comments for I get comments on last years posts, also should help with controlling spam.

    Take care!

48. karen

    I’ve been MUCH less active in the blog world since summer hit! I read fewer blogs and write less on my own - something about these kids who hang around ALL DAY…no school over the summer? What?

    When I am actively blogging, I love watching the conversations that play out in comments. I use the “Notify” followup feature whenever it’s available (like Loralee, though, can’t figure out how to add it to my own blog…) and just try to remember to revisit blogs I’ve commented on where Notify isn’t available.

    I am hoping that fall will allow more time for me to blog - I really do miss it. I feel so out of touch with all of my blog friends!

49. OMSH

    Aileen Okay SCRAPPY, you never harass me … well, other than always callin’ me stinky! HA! Thanks for the input though!

    bethany actually - The “conversation” is my favorite part. I get out of it when you guys start carrying on between each other. Watching it all unfold really makes this a community to me in many ways.

    Ang in TX - The comment time-out is an automated process with a WordPress plugin I use called Comment Time Out. It does help with spam, as does activating the built-in (for current versions of WordPres) Akismet Configuration plugin.

50. OMSH

    karen - Summer has been a bit of a kicker around here as well. I understand that. Subscribe to comments for WordPress is just one of the many plugins, making it easier.

    I’m emailed when anyone comments, so I keep up with YOU guys that way.

    As well, I moderate all first time commentors, or if there is more than a certain number of URLs placed in the comments.

    That makes me sound horribly controlling.

    THANKS TO ALL THE RESPONSES. It seems the way I’m doing it is working out good for the majority. That is good to know. I may ask again at another time in the future, but for now we’ll just maintain the status quo.

    Feel free to continue to comment though!

51. Rocks In My Dryer

    Great questions. I have to admit, when I leave a comment, I almost never go back to check in with the conversation again, unless it’s something unusually heated. Really, I just forget about it.

    On my own blog I answer people via e-mail, if a response is needed. Then sometimes I’ll post that e-mail in the comments section.

52. stephanie

    I love how you answer all comments…it’s very gracious. I am amazed how you keep up with them all as this is a busy place. :) I love when people comment on my blog and do try to reply to all, either on the blog or via email. Sometimes if it’s some tiny little comment I won’t…especially if I “know” the blogger and we comment back & forth a lot. Or if it’s my mom.

    haha!

    I love the notify feature and have used it.

53. OMSH

    Rocks In My Dryer - The posting email in the comments section is smart - never thought of that.

    stephanie - It hasn’t always been so busy - you guys have slowly, but surely, found your way here. I love it. I feel that it is gracious you take the time to place your thoughts here. So, if I can return it by commenting here, then I’m more than happy to do so.

    Thanks for letting me know you’ve used the notify feature too!

54. falwyn

    I do love the back and forth of comments as well; having the subscribe option is nice, though I rarely use it — occasionally on a very interesting topic or if I’m REALLY starved for attention and want to know if my comment gets responded to. What I try to do on my blog (for comments that require/encourage response) is like Rocks above - email them, and copy and paste the email to comments. Course, I don’t get that many comments… :)

55. Chris

    I’m new and non-posty enough that I rarely get comments. I will comment back if the original comment lends itself to conversation or further comment of my own.

    I love blogs where the bloggers interact with readers - good job!

56. OMSH

    falwyn - I think I must always be starved for attention. bwahahaha!

    Chris - thanks for your input and encouragement. I had to giggle at “new and non-posty” - good description. :) *snort*