How do I "Comment" in "Blogger"?

All About Blogger Comments

The blogs are the space where you will get to interact with other people in the class: you will be commenting on other people's blogs, and they will be comment on your blog posts. I hope you will enjoy this way of interacting! Of course you can also leave comments for each other on any post at any time, totally separate from the weekly assignment. This page should answer any questions you have about commenting, and there is also a page of Blogger FAQs. If you have a question I have not answered, just let me know!

In this page, you will learn about leaving a comment, value of comments, viewing your posts’ comments, blogger comment settings, and spam/problem comments.

Leaving a Comment: When you want to leave a comment on someone's post, first make sure you are logged on with your Google account. An easy way to do this is to go to your own blog, and look up in the right-hand corner. Do you see "New Post" there? You only see that if you are logged in. Otherwise, you will see a link prompting you to "Sign In." If you see the sign-in prompt, sign in with your Google Account. Now you are ready to comment!

So, go to the blog where you want to comment, find the post, and scroll down to the bottom of the post, and you will see a comments link showing the number of comments: No comments, 1 comment, 2 comments, etc. Click on that link, and you should see a comment box open up right there on the page (i.e. "embedded"), or the comment box may open on a separate page, depending on the blog settings. Here is an example of how it looks-

You should see that your Google Account name displayed there, along with a box where you can type your comment.

Read your comment after typing because you cannot edit it after you publish! Then, when you are done, hit Publish. You should see your comment appear there on the page. 

The Value of Feedback/Comments: Feedback is something really important not just for school, but also for work and any kind of life learning. Especially when you are doing something for others or together with others, you need their feedback to improve your work. So, for example, in your writing for this class, you are writing for yourself (your blog is a kind of personal learning journal), but you are also writing for others. In order to develop your skills and make an impact as a writer, you need feedback from your readers. The same is true for other creative endeavors. As a teacher, I need feedback from you about how the class is going (that's why there is “Suggestion Box” form in the class announcements page and multiple evaluation opportunities throughout the semester, for example).

·       Feedback and Criticism. So, feedback is incredibly important... but it can also be frustrating, and even painful. People are sometimes fearful about receiving negative feedback, and a big part of growth mindset is learning how to overcome that fear. Negative feedback can be painful, but it can also be extremely useful. When students tell me they like this class, for example, it definitely makes me feel good, but that doesn't push me to experiment and grow as a teacher. What makes me grow is when students tell me something is not working, so I have to try to find a better approach.

The same is true for growing as a professional or becoming a good writer: students have told me that it's nice to get compliments on their projects from other students, but those compliments don't really help to improve the writing. Yet, at the same time, it can be frustrating to hear criticism, especially when you know you have been trying really hard and/or when you are working on something that is new and challenging for you, which is usually the case with this course’s creative tasks applications.

When you look back over your many years as a student, what are the most productive feedback experiences you can remember? The most negative? Think about learning beyond school too: what kinds of feedback have helped you to grow as a learner in your extracurricular activities? So challenge yourself in providing quality feedback/comments to others work and also work on growing your own ability to receive criticism in positive spirits as how you enjoy a positive complimentary comment.

Make sure to read your peer's blogs and comment on  AT LEAST ONE POST for each assignment. Preferably each time you view and comment on a new person's blog.

Length. Each comment should be at least 150 words long. (If you have not installed a word counter in your browser, you can use this link:  Word Counter.) 

Viewing Comments on Your Posts: There are different ways you can read the comments left on your posts:

·       Email. You will get an email notification with a link to the comment (see comment settings below).

·       Post Editing. You can see the number of comments per post listed on the post editing screen next to a "bubble dialogue" icon. Click on the bubble dialogue icon to view the post comments.

Here’s an example:

·       Design: Comments. If you click on "Design" in the upper right-hand corner of your blog, and then select Comments, you will see all the comments displayed together. 

Blogger Comment Settings: Make sure to look at this carefully if you did not configure your comments settings when you created your blog in Week 1. There are many different options for configuring blog comments; here are the options I would recommend:

• Embedded. The default option of "embedded" means that the commenting box appears together on the same page with the post. It's a convenient option, and there's no reason to change it from the default. 
• Google Accounts only.  My experience is that if you limit comments to Google Accounts, it stops spam very effectively. If you did not adjust this setting when you created your blog, click on "Design" in the upper right-hand corner of your blog, choose "Settings" in the left-hand column, then choose "Posts and Comments," and then choose "Users with Google Accounts" for who can comment. Since everyone in this class will have a Google Account, that will work nicely!
• No comment moderation. Please do not use comment moderation; people need to see that their comment was published successfully. If you do get an occasional spam comment, you can always just delete it, no problem. 
• No word verification. My experience with the Google-Account-only setting is that it effectively prevents spam, so you do not need the extra protection of word verification.
• Comment notification email. The email address for comment notifications is on the "Mobile and Email" settings page. You can enter the address here where you would like to get comment notifications; by default, it is set to the email associated with your Google Account, but you can change that to a different email address if you want.

Spam and Problem Comments: In my experience, I’ve had no problems with spam comments on the blogs, but if you do run into a spam comment, you can just delete the comment. Please let me know if that happens! I'm feeling very confident about the comment setting recommendations below, but if people run into problems with unwanted comments, then we'll need to figure out which settings are best for avoiding that problem.

To delete a comment, you can just click on the little trash-can icon you see below the comment; click the icon, and say "delete forever." Alternatively, you can go into your comments panel where you see all the comments, and if you hover on the comment, beneath it you will see a little link that says "spam" and you can click that. Both ways work!

Also, I've never had a problem with the actual comments people leave on the blogs: as a rule, the comments have always been positive and helpful. If you do receive a comment that you are concerned about for some reason, please let me know!

Reply to Other's Comments: Be sure to read comments of your peers on your blog-post. Getting comments is one of the most rewarding parts of blogging and these interactions are what will make you feel like you are part of a community of your peers. Don't leave your peers hanging. Be mindful and appreciate of the time your peers have taken to read and comment on your thoughts. Be considerate of their view points and ask for clarifications if you don't quite understand their point of view or want to learn more.