bye-bye no-reply!

Casey, I hope you don’t mind that I’m pretty much stealing this post title from you.

I’ve mentioned before that I’ve noticed a lot of my comments come from no-reply bloggers, which means that you’re either a] completely ignorant of your no-reply status/how to remedy it or b] just plain mean.  hopefully you fall into the former category, because that’s easier to fix.

first, let’s just clarify things a bit.  what makes someone a no-reply blogger?  when your Blogger profile is set to not include/display your email address, so that when you leave a comment on a blog it appears as being from noreply-comment @ blogger.com [see the image above – sorry Liesel, I’m picking on you!].  this means that I, the writer of the blog on which you commented, can not reply to said comment via email.  it’s not such a big deal if you have threaded comments on your blog [as I recently installed here!], as there is that handy little reply button.  but [correct me if I’m wrong] that doesn’t send you a notification about receiving a reply to comment, so you have to remember to come back to the post later to see a response.  that’s where email comes in handy. 

now, I know I’m not the most reliable person when it comes to responding to comments, but I swear guys, I’m trying.  I love interacting with my readers, but there’s only so much replying and emailing I can do before my brain starts to go fuzzy [usually after about 10 comments, I’ve noticed].  being a no-reply blogger does not help the process. I’ve had SO MANY comments come in asking questions or doing something similar that prompted a response on my part that I cannot answer because I can’t email you back.  it’s possible for me to track you down through your blogger profile [if you have one] and maybe find an email address on your blog and then message you all “hey, remember that comment you left on xxxx post on my blog?  well, I thought it was funny,” but that’s a lot of work.  guys, I’m a college senior.  I have work coming out of my ears before you add in blogging.  please just be nice people and go check your no-reply status.

all that being said, I’m now going to direct you to a couple of links that can help with this issue.

1] Casey has a good explanation of how to fix the no-reply problem, including lots of step-by-step pictures to make sure you don’t get confused.

2] Jenniffier and Rachel talk about the Google+ issue – did you know that if you use Google+ for your profile instead of Blogger, it makes you a no-reply?

consider this your homework for the weekend: EVERYONE, go check your no-reply status.  just do it.  it’s not complicated and it’ll make everyone’s life better.