I'm thinking ahead to the A to Z Challenge in April and how I intend to visit as many new blogs as I possibly can and leave comments. But something concerns me-- word verification. When I only visit a few blogs and leave comments, word verif isn't a big deal.
But when you're trying to get to a hundred different posts a day? Come on people, word verif is the pits. It is the biggest waste of time on Bloggerland. Take those extra ninety seconds it takes to type in the captcha word, make sure you get it right so that your comment posts, and sometimes redo it-- multiply this by a hundred and you see why I hate word verification on blogs. Really, I don't see the point of it. It's easy to get rid of and I have never had a problem with spam. I require blog owner approval on comments that appear on posts older than 10 days, this avoids any nasty stuff appearing where I won't notice.
Sometimes I fear that blogs will become the dinosaurs of social media as Twitter and Facebook which are way faster and more efficient take over. Well, I don't know what killed the dinosaurs but I'll bet you anything it will be word verification that kills blogging.
Ugh, you're right. The word verification thing KILLS me.
ReplyDeleteA M E N!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBLOGGER can be set to moderate comments too...
Anything commented to a post over five days old goes into a bin to see or sent to spam!
Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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I agree Karen. I don't know how many times in my early days of commenting I thought I had commented and found out I hadn't because I didn't complete the word verification. I have not put it on mine for the same reasons - and I haven't had any trouble with spam. I'm looking forward (I think) to the A to Z Challenge!
ReplyDeleteSheila, Yes I didn't even bring up that issue-- where you move on and the comment disappears. I may end up not leaving comments on the blogs that have it. I'm just trying to figure out how to be a super blogger in April!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. But I think a lot of newer bloggers (like me) think that BAD stuff will happen if you don't use word verification. I don't think it's a purposeful thing, more a lack of education thing. I didn't remove word verification until I read the advice of another blogger that you don't need it.
ReplyDeletei hope not. though facebook is faster, blogging seems more personal.
ReplyDeleteWord verification still catches me out on some blogs.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen, blogger seems to pick up most of the spam now. What I find when I comment is even without word verification sometimes it takes several clicks to get the comment up. Seems to go through stages or something. I dont know if it's my computer being naughty or what.
ReplyDeleteSome captchas confuse me to no end.
ReplyDeleteI even wonder if I should remove verification on my blog and to comment moderation instead.
Thanks for letting me know that I unintentionally lied in my previous comment. I had word verif on and didn't remember! I'm sorry. I have taken it off. Thanks for letting me know. :)
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm such a non-techie. I didn't know you can remove it.
ReplyDeleteBefore Blogger put in the new spam detector, I think the word verification was necessary. Trust me, some people do get a lot of spam. I sure did. You would be surprised how many people spam a blog like mine when it's easy to do. With the word verification in place, it became too much effort and it slowed spam to a trickle.
ReplyDeleteHowever, now that Blogger has this new spam file in place, the word verification is not as necessary. In fact, I took mine off three days ago to see what would happen. Sure enough, my spam went up again, BUT, it's all gone into the spam box. Only one spam slipped through and I manually deleted it before publishing other comments. I manually approve all comments, just to save viewers from spammers.
So, yes, by all means, lose the word verifications! The spam box does work well, IMO.
Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse
Angela, How come you get spam and I don't? *whiny voice* Good comment about the new spam file. They caught one on mine the other day as well. Blogger keeps adding new and improved features, and the spam file is definitely helpful.
ReplyDeleteManzanita, Go into your settings and click under the tab that says permissions. It gives you a place where you can remove word verification on your blog.
Sheila, I just took it off the Celery Tree blog yesterday LOL! Sometimes it's easy to overlook these little details!
ReplyDeleteAmen! Much easier without it.
ReplyDeleteI used to not have word verification, then I was hit with a bunch of spam comments, so I enabled it. Maybe I should try it without the verification again.
ReplyDeleteI loathe word verification. I don't have time to keep "trying" to get the word right!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's so easy for every blogger to just turn it off. I really don't know what kind of security we as writer's need. I haven't ever seen any ads on a comment.
And the extra comment time that it causes is annoying, so true.
Nahno ∗ McLein ™
Yeah, what all those people up there said. :) Are you sure you don't want to try word verification? (LOL) Have a great weekend.
ReplyDeleteJules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
I agree totally, and I THINK I don't have word verification on my blog (at least I don't when I post a comment on it :P). But yeah, doing this Crusading challenge has been...challenging :O Not only because of the volume of blogs we are following, but because of how most of them have word verification!!
ReplyDeleteI took off Word Verification several months ago. When I did, I stopped allowing anonymous comments. I never received many of those anyway, but I did receive a bit of spam. With those changes and the Blogger spam filter, I'm happy.
ReplyDeleteAMEN TO THAT! Those word verifications drive me nuts. They're the single reason I don't read blogs from my iphone. By the time they load, reload, I get a letter wrong, etc. Grrrr. Great tip, Karen.
ReplyDeleteI turned mine off in preparation for the A to Z challenge.
ReplyDeleteI think we might be getting the message across. I'm still running across a lot of blogs that still have it, but my guess is that a lot of them may not realize they have it or still don't understand what exactly we're talking about. Thanks for the continuing education on the topic.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
I don't like word verification either because I often end up typing the wrong letters; then it takes me at least two or three tries to post a comment. I took the word verification thing off of my blog, but I have gotten a few spam comments. A couple of them were trying to use my blog to advertise their (supposedly legitimate) businesses/products; maybe they thought that since I'm a workaholic that it would be okay? I just delete the spam comments on the rare occasion I get them.
ReplyDeleteI probably get 5 to 10 pieces of spam everyday on my blog.
ReplyDeleteI still don't bother with word verification because blogger has a spam filter that will clean the vast bulk. I clean the filter maybe once a week to check no one legitimate has been caught but other than that it isn't a hassle.
Well said, Karen! Yes, it's when you multiply the time required that it really becomes a problem. I could visit 20-25 more blogs a day if not for word verification.
ReplyDeleteI hear you! I can't tell you how many times I post a comment and move on, forgetting to check if word verification is on. Many of my comments disappear into cyberspace as a result.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this -- I just went back there and removed my word verification requirement. And I think I will post something on my blog too. I live in the mountains and have satellite and on some of those fancy blogs, with all the bells and whistles, it takes forever for me to comment.--Inger
ReplyDeleteI'm clearly in the minority here, but I find the word verification to be useful. I know, it takes more time. But when I have turned it off I end with tons of spammed comments (mostly with links to inappropriate places). The spam filter catches most of them, but I have to spend a lot more time checking comments when I turn it off. I keep testing -- turning off every now and then, and within a week I am crashed with spam.
ReplyDeleteColette, Really? You get that much spam? Well no wonder you have it then. My eyes are being opened by those commenters -- you, Angela and Al--who are mentioning all of the spam they get. I don't get any!!! Well, maybe once a year or something. So what's wrong with my blog that the spammers don't like me? *whiny voice again*
ReplyDeleteWord verification doesn't really bother me. I did have a huge problem with spam so I enabled it. Plus I added author approval because I want to make sure I know exactly what's going on in those comments. I've had too many experiences where what's supposed to be a fun expression of community became something much more annoying.
ReplyDeleteBut to each her own, I guess. :)
I hope you do the A - Z challenge. I'm going to do it.
ReplyDeleteWord verification is sorta annoying. Bloggers doesn't bother me as much as some of the online ones... but like you, I've never gotten spam.
Maybe I'll try that 10 day thing... that's a smart idea.
I got rid of word verification ages ago - because it really is annoying. I also moderate comments on posts over a week old. It seems to work well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have word verification... but I agree it's the pits.
ReplyDeleteI got rid of mine a while back and I'm glad. It does take up time and often, it causes the page to not want reload.
ReplyDeleteYou're going to visit 100 per day?!!!!! Yikes!
To be fair however - I've had just as many problems getting a comment published on blogs without word verification. Sometimes you have to click that publish comment button two or three times before blogger accepts the submission.
ReplyDeleteI don't have word verif on my comments, but I think it takes just as many clicks to get past - sometimes longer.
The biggest slowdown for comments for me is not having that pop-up box. Some blogs have the comment button at the top, and if you don't remember to click it before you start reading, you have to scroll back to the top, click the button, then scroll all the way through the post content and however many comments there are to get to the comment box again. Other times the comment box is at the bottom of the post, but once you click it, it takes you to the top of the post and again, you need to scroll all the way through to find the comment box.
While the lack of the pop-up can be frustrating, I have noticed that not all blog templates come with the same features. Sometimes, a blogger has to make the decision between a specific look, and a couple convenient features.
It is a conundrum.
......dhole
Oh; one more thing about spammers, for Collette and others.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that when I allowed anonymous comments - and some open ID's - that I got spam on my blog posts, and also in my e-mails. I finally had to shut off the anon feature.
Perhaps that's why you don't get a lot of spam Karen. You're not being deliberately left out (lol), you're just have an efficient blog :)
.......dhole
Totally agree. The word verification is really time consuming and irritating too.
ReplyDeleteJai
Now that blogger have added a spam capture it makes life easier for me. I used to spend so long deleting spam when I had it switched off.
ReplyDeleteI am not doing the A-Z but I can see it would be very time consuming. Good point,Karen.
I've already changed mine to no word phrase, but just approval :) I'm happy with the result, and making it easier for everybody to comment. not that I have a million comments, but it feels "right" now. I really like your reviews :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point that I hadn't thought of. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I know what you mean. I sometimes leave a comment but when I go back to that blog it isn't there cos I got the word verification wrong.
ReplyDeleteHowever I did get a bad attack of spam a few months back which is why I keep mine on, although I blogger did upgrade it's spam filters recently.
Maybe I will switch it off for a bit and see what happens :-)
Yes, word verification bugs me, too - sometimes the letters are wrong and I have to do it again, and sometimes again -ergh, but even if just for one time, it's just more seconds out of my day multiplied by how many blogs have WV.
ReplyDeleteI don't have it and spam goes to a special spam folder automatically by blogspot. I do have a thing where I have to approve blog comments after 3 or 4 days have passed from when I posted, but no word verification!
Amen to that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Karen. What a waste of time.
ReplyDeleteI heard a lot of that lately, but we can say a whole lot more on blogs than we can on Twitter and FB. I'm with you though on word verification. EWWWWWWWWWWWW ;)
ReplyDeleteAmen!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why some of us get more SPAM than others -- but I've noticed this in e-mail too -- once the Spam-bots get you you're a target. I was hoping that putting captcha back on again for a while would train them to go elsewhere, but alas, that didn't work.
ReplyDeleteI'm a newbie & couldn't agree more!...:)JP
ReplyDeleteAmen and amen. I only find this word verification thing on blogspot blogs. I wish more people used WordPress. Much friendlier. Also, hate this select profile nonsense, too.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen .. I changed mine!! I immediately got one spam comment - but it did go to spam.
ReplyDeleteI too want an easy life .. tech stuff certainly has its challenges .. but we'll all get there.
Have fun with the A - Z .. I will be .. cheers Hilary
Hi Karen .. that comment took 4 clicks to go thru from IE .. I moved across from Chrome .. where too it takes 4 clicks ..
ReplyDeleteFrustrating that is .. maybe I'll try firefox next .. but tootling around is a bit much .. my whinge for the day! Cheers H
Good point duly noted, Karen! :)
ReplyDeleteSorry, came late to this, but I absolutely agree. I turned my word verification off ages ago. It amazes me people leave it active.
ReplyDeleteWord verification/Captchas are annoying, no doubt. Especially since humans have trouble reading them. Totally ironic considering the "Turing test", which CAPTCHAs are intended to be, is a "Are you human test" to differentiate between humans and bots.
ReplyDeleteWhen the spambots can fill out the captchas, but humans cannot, we'll have come full circle :-)
I'm using "Intense Debate" for comments since I cobbled my blog together myself instead of using Blogger or Wordpress. That's pretty good too and has no word verification/CAPTCHAs either.
That said, on my contact form I do use a plain text "word quiz" to keep spambots away. A question like "What day follows Monday?". Would get spammed awfully otherwise. Has worked 100% on all sites so far.