Thursday, February 16, 2012

Word Verification WOES!!!

WORD VERIFICATION WOES!



Okay, Blogger users, Blogger has switched their word verification format. Instead of legible, repeatable letters, we are now faced with deciphering the 'Captcha' format of letters placed in sometimes indiscernible bubbles and shapes. IT IS MAKING US CRAZY!!!
And just what would be YOUR guess?!

I'm sorry, but I'm just going to be honest, here. If you use word verification on your blog, I will probably stop leaving comments. Not only is word verification very time-consuming, now it is downright frustrating! My eyes don't decode spy messages! And if I now have to try two or three times to repeat the gobbledygook that is being passed off as word verification, I'm just not going to bother!

Sorry if this offends any of you, but I've not used word verification for over a year and have had almost NO problems! If Blogger does one thing well, it is spam filtering. I don't allow Anonymous comments on my blog - you have to use an I.D. of some kind - and that has been more than sufficient.

If you are worried about spammers or inappropriate comments left on your site, then PLEASE switch to comment moderation! I'll be happy to continue to leave comments and let you moderate whether to publish them or not, but at least then you're doing the policing of your site and I'm not driven to madness by spy code garbage!

Just being 100% point blank, here. I follow between 300 and 400 blogs. I leave a TON of comments all over Blogland every day. I CANNOT CONTINUE TO DO SO IF I RUN INTO WORD VERIFICATION AT SO MANY SITES! I don't mean to be rude, but my time is better spent in other pursuits than decoding and typing nonsense. Let's face it, we all have limited time to give to blogging (and I already give too much!)

I don't want to stop leaving comments. We all love getting them on our posts! PLEASE remove word verification altogether or switch to comment moderation, if you feel you must have some stop-gap control. BUT I MAY NOT LET YOU KNOW I'VE STOPPED BY IF YOU HAVE WORD VERIFICATION ENABLED! If you're not certain whether you've got word verification on your blog, check your settings!!!

I have not switched to the new Blogger Interface (tested it, didn't like it, and switched back, at least for now). I hope it allows for easy switches to comment settings. In the old Blogger Interface, settings can be modified through Settings - Comments.

* I use 'Registered Users' so that Anonymous comments cannot be posted.
* I suggest using a pop-up box or full-page format rather than 'embed below post' as that setting so often causes folks problems in trying to leave comments.
* I click NEVER for comment moderation, but you can select it if you wish.
* Click NO for show word verification on posts!
* I have my comments delivered to my email address so I can respond to commenters directly via email if they have email published (which I also highly recommend!) To link your email to your profile, go through Dashboard-Edit User Profile and click 'show email'. This will allow folks to respond to your comments and questions via email!

If any of you faithful Bloggers want to spread this message, feel free to copy and re-post any or all of my ranting or link back to this post. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP AND FOR MAKING WORD VERIFICATION NON-EXISTENT!!! Keep spreading the blogger love without spy code frustration!

Used with permission of TexWisGirl
at:

19 comments:

Chatty Crone said...

I am with you - I posted about it for tomorrow too. One of the words you can read really well - the other forget - it will take all day to figure it out - teehee.

sandie

Elizabeth Edwards said...

i agree with you Jill... i thought it was just me ... but i can't read it. have you tried to use the volume button. does it work? i think i will try that one time to see if it works? wonder why they changed things? so annoying indeed. (:

Julie Marie said...

Hi Jill... I took word verification off a long time ago... I still DO moderate mine though, because even though spam control works quite well, I have been getting a number of people who leave a comment that does not even pertain to my post, but to their own business of some kind, and when I click to see who they are, their blog is nothing but ads selling aluminum siding or something... but because a human has actually gone in and left the comment, spam does not catch it... I won't be an outlet for them, so I will continue to moderate mine... also I don't email back when I receive comments, unless someone has specifically asked me something... I prefer to visit their blog and leave them a comment as well... what the heck is blogger trying to do to us??? Typepad is starting to look pretty good!... xoxo Julie Marie

ღ Jans Life According To Milo ღ said...

I wasn't sure how to turn mine off at first, but figured it out a long time ago. That was one of DebbieDoo's requirements to join her newbie party. : ).. I agree, they are a pain and now? I couldn't figure it out either! Wow. And you follow that many blogs? I probably have around 100. I usually try and visit on the weekends, I don't get a lot of 'puter time during the week. Thank you so much for being such a consistent commentor on my site. If you are posting that many comments, we should all definitely make it easier by dropping the word verification. We definitely appreciate your participation with our blogs. It was one of the reasons you were my first pick for the Liebster award. I knew that you left comments on other blogs, just didnt realize you comment on a lot of blogs!

TexWisGirl said...

THANK YOU!!! YOU ROCK!

Dawnll said...

Amen sister!
My worst nightmare is a blog hop and word verification!
I am also getting to the point of not leaving comments either if it is enabled
Love what you had to say

Michaele said...

I wondered who would be the first to shout out about this. SO frustrating. You can't even post to complain if you can't read the words.

Sharon said...

I tried one comment several times before "getting" it. This is insanity, I am also going to be one of those that does not comment if there is that screwy word verification. Blogger has really gone off it's nut this time!

Blessed Serendipity said...

Amen sister.

xo,
Danielle

dr momi said...

I keep hitting the "new word button till there is one I can read, but it is annoying!

Buttons Thoughts said...

Yes I thought I was the only one that was getting these awful words to type. What a pain in the butt. I cannot get it right I think I am going crazy now. B

Donna said...

Jill,

Would you mind if I re-posted your article in entirety on my blog? I've been running in to it a lot more too now, and honestly I feel the same way, and today, DID NOT leave a message because they've gone to this new 2 word or word/number combo.

The other thing is, since blogger is doing so many things without permission or notice, I think you're right and we should let bloggers know why we aren't leaving messages - just in case they don't know it's been turned on again.

Let me know?
Hugs,
Donna

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

I know - it's KILLING ME!!!!

Busy Bee Suz said...

Yeah, I've noticed it changed recently too....I agree...such a pain in the rear!
I might have to vent about this next week too....ughhh.
Have a great weekend!

Rohrerbot said...

I just noticed this yesterday. I don't do it anymore because I'm with you on the word verification thing....it's too difficult to decipher sometimes. Sometimes I have to do it 2 or 3 times before the message is sent. No me gusta!

Donna said...

YOU said it all Beautifully!!!
Since Google took over, it's been a mess...
hughugs

Janie said...

My WORD Verification has been off for years. Been away from blogging until today. Holy Cow, this is a mess of letters I can't read even with my glasses on!

PEOPLE, get rid of it, I don't want to miss leaving comments on blogs I love to follow.

Jill, good seeing you, wow your blog has changed so much, I feel like a newbie.

Saun said...

Amen sister I don't have this on my blog do I?

Susan said...

Yep, I'm with you Jill. I want to comment, but make it to hard for me and I won't.