Do you like your comments scrambled or over easy?
January 8, 2009 · Print This Article
I love my eggs over easy. Crispy fried egg white around the edges, runny yolk in the middle. And a side of buttered toast. And hot coffee. Yum.
Of course, that’s not the only way I eat eggs. I also like softboiled and hardboiled. I like omlettes. I like the simplicity of scrambling eggs for the whole family–so my wife can add peanut butter to hers, my son can add cheese to his, and my daughter and I can eat them plain.
However they’re prepared, I like to eat eggs.
How Do You Cook Up Your Comments?
However comments work on a site, I like to comment. Still, when I visit blogs, I find myself preferring the way some people cook up their comments. Some sites get it just right.
At HighCallingBlogs.com, we’re trying to build an online community that is more than just a link farm. That means comment activity is important. Obviously, we like comments on this site itself, but we believe encouraging comments everywhere is important for building these relationships.
Comments are where this medium let’s us open up to conversation.
This means, we respond to people who comment on our blogs. And it means we comments on the blogs of people who comment on our blogs. Clear as mud right?
So, naturally, we want to make it as easy as possible for people to comment. And we want to demonstrate that we value comments whenever we can. In that vein, I took a look at several different comment options, starting with the highest ranked blogs on Technorati, then finishing up with two comment services, Disqus and Intense Debate.
Your Mission If You Choose to Accept It
Here’s what I’d like you to. Take a look at the design of the 10 comment fields below and tell me which one looks easiest, most inviting, least scary.
In short, which one of these blogs would you feel completely comfortable leaving a comment?
- network blogs (like mine) that use Disqus
- CodyBateman.org, a new network blog that uses Intense Debate.
Remember those questions from above? Which comment section looks easiest, most inviting, least scary? Why?
In the spirit of this post, I invite you to leave a comment with your thoughts…
Also, I just found this hilarious post about building community through comments at Stuff Christians Like:
http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/2009/01/464-official-point-system-of-scl.html
I use IntenseDebate for comments on my blog, but I must say I am blognostic (or perhaps blogneutral) when it comes to comments. I will use what is available. As long as it lets me comment I am fine. The form of comment input isn’t scary, being willing to get out there and take a stand by commenting could be.
I don’t have any issue with any type of comment form format. My only pet peeve is when I have to hunt all over the screen for the link to that form.
1. “a link farm” — really, Marcus… you cook up great phrases ~smile~.
2. I’m not sure I’m qualified to make comment here… I seem to have a comment disability happening somewhere in my soul and my corner of the web. ~blush~
3. But in checking out the various options, I’m partial to Copyblogger… one reads the comments… and then there is a place to comment. I don’t have to click again to another page to comment. The font and spacing is friendly — nothing looming. The size of everything seems just right.
4. I prefer when comments are numbered — easier to have conversation — I can refer to comment # XX
5. @ Copyblogger, the comments sit in these nice little grey bubbles and are sufficiently offset to read easily. When comments are easy to read, it is easier to read each one and participate in the conversation. Having them in word bubbles like that makes it seem like people are really *talking* — creating *community!*
6. Also, at CopyBlogger, the names of the commenters is in a nice, bold font, directly over the comment — easier to pair the person with the words and begin to connect with people — in other formats, the name is disconnected more from the comment, or underneath— so you seem to be reading the comment out of context. Faceless words!
7. Okay… for someone who has a commentless blog ~sigh~, I’ve rambled long enough. ~blush~ Fascinating, however, to examine the various possibilities and probe what maybe is more inviting and what is less inviting — things we may not even be consciously aware of — until you, Marcus, ask us to wake up and smell the coffee and think about it! (or is that smell the eggs?)
My big hangup with comment formats follows what Jen, above, is saying. There were a few of these that I felt were hard to find the place where you could leave a comment.
And while I like Disqus, it seems like I have to type in a password. Is that correct? I have so many passwords, usernames, etc., that I don’t want to keep track of another one.
I liked the first one: Copyblogger.
I like the idea of Intense Debate. But do we have to sign up to use it?
I love (good) comments almost as much as I love good coffee. more coffee, more comments. IMHO, comments on a blog are like the icing on the chocolate cake. The cake tastes good, but I can’t resist another slice because of the sweet icing.
I like any comment box that doesn’t require you to type in a captcha, or however you spell it.
@AndyC I love the idea of being Blognostic. That cracks me up. And I really ought to test Intense Debate over at GoodWordEditing.com.
@Jenl So you don’t like to hunt. I can appreciate that. Do you expect to find that form at the bottom of the post?
@Ann Voskamp Always fun to pull you into comments somewhere! I can’t take credit for the phrase “link farm” though I don’t remember where I read it. I appreciate your reminder that comments are always best when they simulate real conversation and remind us that these are real people talking.
@Jennifer Dukes Lee Disqus doesn’t require a pasword, but it does automatically thread your comments around the email address. Some people don’t like this. I assume you all are talking about Lifehacker and Gizmodo as being the ones that made it difficult to find the comment field? My understanding with Intense Debate is that users can sign up or not. Bloggers using the service would need to sign up, I believe.
@Monica Great analogy! Everyone like good moist cake. But no one forgets great frosting.
Thanks for all of the frosting you folks helped provide today!
I’d still love to hear from others who have an opinion on this.
Marcus - I’m no expert. But whatever is easy, clean, convenient and elegant is the winner. Yes, Copyblogger fits that bill - the little gray boxes distinguish the individual commentors better.
I also hate the security features where you have to click which kind of user you are and then copy some kind of code. I have actually given up on my comments with some blogs after I got hung up on some of those small security features.
Hope this helps!
The form I am using at this very moment is precisely the thing. And if I want to follow comments by email I can click that.
Graphically, simple lines delineate comments, which satisfies my Graphic Designer side.
No hassle. No commitments. No clutter.
I guess the web is always offering the latest and greatest. I don’t feel the need for it, because community is in the participation not the promise of a fancier package.
I’m the newbie here, but I’ll add my two bits.
I echo what the other commenters have said. Simple, clean, easy to follow. And please don’t make me jump through passwords, secret cods, and scrambled letters.
I like this format that you’re using now.
Simple, 3 blanks: name, email, URL are what I prefer. I like to be able to easily find the form. Notify of followup comments is nice, but as a commenter I use commentful to track the posts I’ve commented on or am interested in, so I won’t miss followups on blogs that don’t offer that choice…so even when it’s there, honestly, I don’t use it. This is kind of head-nodding comment, but it’s where I stand, too, for what it’s worth.
My own blog would never be terribly difficult to navigate its few comments, but numbering is also nice for those blogs where you have to scroll and scroll. I prefer to click the comment thing at the end, but it’s nice to see if there are comments at the top with the post title, too. That should do it for my random thoughts!
marcus,
thanks for asking. here are of my thoughts, in no particular order:
- i really like gizmodo’s permalink threads to help keep commentsations (like that?) together. this is especially helpful when there are numerous tangents from the original post.
- similar to permalink threads is something like what gordon has at reallivepreacher. replies to individual comments are tabbed over accordingly so that you can see who’s talking to who/whom.
- gizmodo also has a popular commentsation feature, which may be helpful in cases where there are 50 or more comments and you really just want to find the relevant ones.
- option to include pic/avatar. i remember seeing l.l.’s request for more of an olan-mills look than her (and my) current grey fbi stamp.
- problogger has too much clutter between the post and comment sections
- “notify me” box is essential. i can’t stand leaving a comment and having to find my way back there later just to see if any replies came. this is important when a good commentsation is taking place or when you ask the blogger a question. in many cases, it’s nice to know when a new comment is made. (guilty: i don’t think my own blog has a “notify me” unless you sign in with a google/blogger account).
- echoing someone’s comment above, i really like comment balloons as seen at copyblogger and doshdosh.
- trackbacks/pings distract me visually when listed among personal comments. and when they are mixed in AND numerous, i often stop reading altogether.
- doshdosh has a nice format for quotes taken from the post. (see Dawud Miracle’s comment on march 20th in the doshdosh link above.)
- it’s nice to have simple helps for new users: “if you want to speak your mind, you can do that here,” and “we won’t publicize your e-mail.”
i believe lifehacker had some interesting helps, like options for commenting via different locations (facebook, etc.)
- note to say the comment box is html attributes-ready (with a couple of examples: , ) ?
as it has been said, form can’t make content, but it’s still nice to have good form, so thanks for working on this, marcus and company.
now i’m going to click the “notify me” box.
ooh, how about a “preview comment” option. this is great when you use code to italicize or hyperlink.
The “link farm” idea made me smile.
“Mashable” made me want to hyperventilate just looking at it. There’s too much going on and I hate ads on blogs–or anywhere. Maybe it’s just me. “Problogger” was simple, understated and what I’d personally gravitate to. That said, I am going on appearance alone and not experience. Not something I’d recommend for most of life, but necessary right now, as it is time for me to get off the computer.
For the record, my favorite part of this conversation on comments is the fact that we’re having a conversation.
My favorite part about HCB is the sense of community. It’s always good to see community come to life here in the form of conversation! I’m a newbie, too, like some of you who are posting comments. It’s so good to hear new voices, thoughts, ideas here. Let’s keep the conversation going all over the HCB blog.
Just my two cents’ worth …
Any of them is fine. It’s more about what is written on whether I’ll comment. If I find something I like and am able to comment, I do.