Thursday 21 June 2018

Google Fix Re: Changes to Commenting on Blogger Blogs

Regular readers to Threading My Way will have noticed an absence of blog posts in recent times. Apart from Features and Showcasing posts, it's been three weeks since I've written a blog post, and almost a month since a sewing post.


For a number of reasons, I've been de-motivated, and most of my energies have been spent out in the garden. Blogging has taken a back seat. There's been a little sewing going on, but not much.


The lack of email notifications for blog comments has definitely been a factor in my not blogging. If you've left me a comment and I haven't replied, I do apologise. I have read them all.

There's been a lot of talk on the Blogger Help Forum - not all of it constructive. Whilst I wanted a fix, and I wanted it NOW, I realise that's not how these things work. 

There's a lot that goes on behind the scenes at a large corporation like Google, and just because we want it fixed, doesn't make it a priority. Blogger is, after all, a free product, and from Google's perspective, much further down the list than their business applications. On top of that, what may seem like an easy thing to us, may, in reality, be much harder to find a solution to. 


The good news is that, as from today, we are once again receiving email notifications for comments left on blog posts. But, it may not happen automatically. Read the details at the top of this thread on the Blogger Forum.

Basically, I had to delete the Comment Notification Email in my settings > Save > Re-add the email > Save again > Wait for an email to be sent from Blogger > Accept the subscription

However, there's a catch. All replies to comments now appear to be noreply.

Here's my reply to the thread on the Blogger Forums today...
Thanks, Kelly, and the team working behind the scenes at Google. The issue of not receiving email notifications for comments has been resolved, but in the process, functionality has been taken away.

After deleting the existing email in Comment Notification Emails (Settings > Email > Comment Notification Email), and re-adding it again, I am once again receiving email notifications of comments left on my blog. Unfortunately, those emails are now noreply, even when the commenter has NOT chosen to be a noreply blogger.

I appreciate the time taken to roll out the changes, but from a blog owner's perspective, whilst necessary to comply with GDPR, I would hesitate to call them improvements. The reality is, blog owners can no longer reply directly to the commenter - unless their email address is already known, or time is taken to click through to their profile to see if there is an email address associated with it.

I don't know all the ins and outs of the GDPR, but I do know that WordPress bloggers still have the functionality that we have lost.

Kelly, I realise that you don't have the time to reply individually to replies on this post, but I do hope that at some point in time, one of the Google team will be able to address the issue.


Although not perfect, the situation is now workable. And so, blogging will return to normal here at Threading My Way

If I already know your email address, easy - I'll reply to the noreply email I receive, and add your email in the To field. If I don't know your email address, I'll check to see if your email is associated with your profile, and again, reply via email. If your email is not associated with your profile (ie; you are a noreply blogger), I'll leave a comment under your comment as I've always done.

I've noticed quite a few bloggers posting less this month. How have you found the changes, either as a blogger or as a reader?

In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed the pics of my garden.

... Pam




7 comments:


  1. Hi Pam,
    you have a wonderful garden ... wonderful to look at.
    With the comment notification, I find very annoying and I hope that Google can eliminate it as soon as possible. I have deleted my email address, according to your instructions and re-inserted and am now curious if it has brought anything.
    Yes, unfortunately it has become very quiet in the bloggers world, since the DSGVO.Lassen we do not spoil it.
    Greetings from Klaudia from Germany

    (Created with goggle translation - unfortunately the Google translation may not be directly on my blog because of the DSGVO)

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  2. I love your garden and would leave my sewing room for a spot on your garden in a heartbeat. Thank you for the background on your much-missed blogging. Sally

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind words, Sally. I feel motivated once again.

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  3. Pam I just found how to fix the comments from this blog posting: https://amityquilter.blogspot.com/2018/06/blogger-comments-home-grown-fix.html#comment-form

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  4. Unless my blog fails to function, period, I guess I've been undeterred by the behind the scenes goings on at Blogger. I don't receive enough comments to be stressed out about not knowing exactly when someone has commented or about whether I can respond via their email addresses. And if I left a comment elsewhere, I knew it might take awhile for the blogger to know about it. A saying (that I rather dislike) applies here: "it is what it is" given that it's a freebie. It would have been nice for the techie folks to have had the whole fix in hand before breaking the system, but then I know how that goes, too.

    On the other hand, good that you've been distracted by gardening. I looked at my plant pots in early May and decided that I didn't even want to put in my usual fake flowers this year. Not into it!

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  5. Isn't it frustrating when something that was working just fine is changed without any warning. The GDPR seems like a convenient excuse!

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  6. Thanks for giving me this useful information in your blog separation agreement in virginia. It is really good and interesting. I would hesitate to call them improvements. The reality is, blog owners can no longer reply directly to the commenter - unless their email address is already known, or time is taken to click through to their profile to see if there is an email address associated with it. Keep sharing more useful blogs...

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