Another chance to vote!
I've spent the past couple of hours drowning my election-related sorrows in the Internet, surfing around and reading and commenting. Also, incidentally, procrastinating on both the bills my NaNoWriMo novel [Hey, it's procrastination multitasking!]. I'm now several thousand words behind schedule already. I guess I could blame the election but really I'm afraid I've picked the wrong topic and it won't go anywhere.
Like Suzanne, I'm even more disturbed by the 11 anti-gay-marriage bans passed than about the Presidential election. We knew it would be close. And doing a little activism before the election made me feel slightly less hopeless. Like exercising makes you less tired, I guess.
But that's not why I've called you all here today!
See, here's the thing: someone has actually offered me the help I pleaded for a while ago with the Haloscan crisis. But I don't know whether to take it.
To recap: about 10 days ago, I did a wild, impetuous thing: I added Haloscan comments to this blog. Then I discovered that Haloscan did some stuff I didn't like, like disappearing comments after four months. Also, they don't send me a nice little e-mail when someone comments, the way Blogger does. Thanks to some helpful tips from the Haloscan forums, I was able to make my Blogger comments re-appear, but by then several lovely folks had used the Haloscan feature and I started to have second thoughts.
So now I have two kinds of comments. I don't like this. It's confusing. I like seeing my comments in one neat list.
And now someone has kindly e-mailed me, offering to help me take the HaloScan code off my blog template [I couldn't figure out how because I am an HTML goober].
So here's the question: should I do it? Or should I go cold turkey on Blogger comments and throw my lot in with HaloScan?
I leave it up to you, my ever-growing [now in the double digits! Woohoo! Thanks lesbian moms and comment-repliers and BlogExplosion!] readership. Just leave a comment below. If you use "Blogger Comments," I'll count your vote towards... Blogger comments. A comment in just plain "Comments" is a vote for Haloscan.
Here is a short voting guide with the advantages of each:
Blogger Comments:
Pros:
*Your deathless prose will stay on this blog forever.
*You, the commenter, can be anonymous if you wish.
*Your comment can be as long as you want.
*No ads.
*I'll automatically get an e-mail so I know you commented, even on an old post.
*[Updated] As Jen points out below, they're transferable in case I ever get my act together and move to my own domain.
Cons:
*They're a pain to use if you don't have a Blogger account.
*[Updated] As The Zero Boss points out below, they're less likely to generate traffic back to the commenter's blog, since they only link to the Blogger profile.
Haloscan Comments:
Pros:
*Pop up in a cute little window.
*You, the commenter, can link directly to your site and/or e-mail without opening a Blogger account.
*Maybe there are other advantages that I don't know about?
*Mir has them, which makes them cool.
Cons:
*Are "archived" after four months. [What does that mean?!? Could I still read them?]
*Include ads.
*You can't comment anonymously.
*1,000-character limit on comment length.
*I don't get an e-mail notification, so I might miss a comment on an old post.
Now get out there and vote! Let your voice be heard! Don't make me knock on your door with my clipboard!
I'll check back this weekend and do something about the whole mess.
Like Suzanne, I'm even more disturbed by the 11 anti-gay-marriage bans passed than about the Presidential election. We knew it would be close. And doing a little activism before the election made me feel slightly less hopeless. Like exercising makes you less tired, I guess.
But that's not why I've called you all here today!
See, here's the thing: someone has actually offered me the help I pleaded for a while ago with the Haloscan crisis. But I don't know whether to take it.
To recap: about 10 days ago, I did a wild, impetuous thing: I added Haloscan comments to this blog. Then I discovered that Haloscan did some stuff I didn't like, like disappearing comments after four months. Also, they don't send me a nice little e-mail when someone comments, the way Blogger does. Thanks to some helpful tips from the Haloscan forums, I was able to make my Blogger comments re-appear, but by then several lovely folks had used the Haloscan feature and I started to have second thoughts.
So now I have two kinds of comments. I don't like this. It's confusing. I like seeing my comments in one neat list.
And now someone has kindly e-mailed me, offering to help me take the HaloScan code off my blog template [I couldn't figure out how because I am an HTML goober].
So here's the question: should I do it? Or should I go cold turkey on Blogger comments and throw my lot in with HaloScan?
I leave it up to you, my ever-growing [now in the double digits! Woohoo! Thanks lesbian moms and comment-repliers and BlogExplosion!] readership. Just leave a comment below. If you use "Blogger Comments," I'll count your vote towards... Blogger comments. A comment in just plain "Comments" is a vote for Haloscan.
Here is a short voting guide with the advantages of each:
Blogger Comments:
Pros:
*Your deathless prose will stay on this blog forever.
*You, the commenter, can be anonymous if you wish.
*Your comment can be as long as you want.
*No ads.
*I'll automatically get an e-mail so I know you commented, even on an old post.
*[Updated] As Jen points out below, they're transferable in case I ever get my act together and move to my own domain.
Cons:
*They're a pain to use if you don't have a Blogger account.
*[Updated] As The Zero Boss points out below, they're less likely to generate traffic back to the commenter's blog, since they only link to the Blogger profile.
Haloscan Comments:
Pros:
*Pop up in a cute little window.
*You, the commenter, can link directly to your site and/or e-mail without opening a Blogger account.
*Maybe there are other advantages that I don't know about?
*Mir has them, which makes them cool.
Cons:
*Are "archived" after four months. [What does that mean?!? Could I still read them?]
*Include ads.
*You can't comment anonymously.
*1,000-character limit on comment length.
*I don't get an e-mail notification, so I might miss a comment on an old post.
Now get out there and vote! Let your voice be heard! Don't make me knock on your door with my clipboard!
I'll check back this weekend and do something about the whole mess.
posted by elswhere | 11:13 PM
8 Comments:
Here's an example of a Blogger comment, so you can see what it looks like.
I like Blogger comments. I used to have Haloscan, but I think Blogger comments are easier and I like that they are emailed to me. :)
Thanks for the nice comment on my blog. I appreciate it, especially after the trolls I've been getting.
I actually prefer Haloscan because of the pop-up thingy, but at end of the day, Blogger is a lot easier to deal with.
I have a little problem with mine - I can't access my email account at the mo, so I can't read any comments that were sent to that account. Urgh! I'm still trying to figure out how to amend the email addy at Blogger. Sign of times, eh? :D Good luck.
I think the fact that Blogger keeps all your comments is great...AND, if you ever upgrade to having your own domain and using something like MovableType, you can "move" these comments over to there. With haloscan, you cannot. Trust me.
It's super easy to get the haloscan crud out of your HTML, so if you do choose to go that route, and run into problems, I'll be more than happy to help. :) Of course, I could have emailed you about it, but apparently I no longer have your email address. (I should really use my gmail account so I don't have delete everything mere days after I get it...)
Anyhow, as you can tell, I vote Blogger comments. Not only for the non-disappearing comment aspect, but that you'll be able to scoot them from here to somewhere else, one day, too. :)
jen
Queerly Canadian
I like Blogger Comments. Am not so fond of the little window. You can also leave your URL if you don't have an account, and if you want to post and do not have an account, do it anonymously when allowed and sign. Quite easy.
(Elswhere, nice of you to visit. I'm glad you liked the shirt - I suppose it was the shirt you were talking abt, i'll come back and read more.)
Hey, it's like way after the weekend and you still haven't cleaned up this mess. :)
I had haloscan, and it seems they sort of froze or something fairly often (like more than twice a month). Then I "lost" some old comments and discovered the four months rule which was annoying. I sacrificed the existing haloscan comments (they'd be gone in a few months anyway) and went over to blogger. I get non-blogger comments all of the time. People sign their "anonymous" comments most of the time so I'll know who they are and where I can look them up. One or two people got blogger accounts just to leave signed comments.
Anyway, that was my choice and that is the fallout. I'm happy I suppose.
OK, this is WAY after the weekend, but I've now posted a haloscan comment & a blogger comment, & both are easy, including easy to post anonymously. I'd definitely go for blogger--sounds like halocan is trying to use its little user-friendly cute window to seduce you to sell your soul to commercialism.
--Angela
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