Atom FeedBlogs Without Comments Or RSS?
OK, this is going to be bit of rant…What's the point of blogging about something and not allowing comments or trackbacks? It's one of the reasons I started PolarBlog —Personal Weblog (PWL) that it's based off of didn't have a commenting system, thus I started working on it and realized PWL wasn't going to be continued. As for trackbacks, well…I'm about to start working on that soon.
Without having commenting and/or trackbacks, you don't have a blog, you have a public journal. Which is fine I guess if that's what you want, but what's the point? You spew your opinion for everyone to read, but you have no interest in any feedback on it? How Republican of you! ;) Hell, I spew my writings which are probably better suited to a journal format but nonetheless, they are open and available for comments.
This is where I get to throw my friend Chris under the bus. You post an entry seeking feedback, but you have comments disabled. I have the luxury of talking to you on a daily basis so I can easily provide feedback. But if you're writing what is a public message and seek feedback, how would the average schmuck do that if they don't know you? Sorry Chris, you were just the best/most recent example I have seen of this behavior. :) As for feedback, yeah my site deserves to be there, but then again I'm already there 24x7x365. Thank you.
Onto my next commenting gripe…sites that require you to login to post a comment. I don't want Chris to feel alone, so I'll throw Rob under the bus with you as his site requires you to login to comment. In his case it's a bit different because he has a small community blog where several people gather to post and comment. That's cool I guess. But this is a very common thing you find on the "big sites" whom I'm too lazy to link too. You know who the players are in that arena, I don't need to tell you. I believe it's an option on most of them, but lots of people seem compelled to disallow comments and then spew from their pulpit. Their prerogative I guess, but I'm sorry I find it annoying. I don't want have to sign-up somewhere just to comment on something I may have stumbled upon. Let's face it, it's unlikely I'll be back anytime soon. Trust me. I get quite a few comments from strangers even on older entries. I doubt very many of them have found what I have to say so compelling that they are now loyal readers. I'm not stupid, I'm just one guy with and opinion and a keyboard. And so are you, get over it.
And I know the biggest argument will undoubtably be "spam". Yeah, I got sick of the spam once they found their way to my blog. At first it was the random hit now and then. Then it was somebody who obviously scripted something to post comments to any PolarBlog site. I guess I should be flattered on one hand, but on the other I know these low-lifes are just looking to spread their lame offerings. I came up with a quick fix that temporarily resolved most of it, and then the new RBL system which has been 100% effective in stopping it all without blocking any valid comments. It took a lot of work to implement, but was well worth it now that it's done and working well. I take pride in that one, because as pointless as writing my own blogging software probably is —there's lots of other more polished offerings, PolarBlog is the only one I'm aware of that offers Realtime IP Blacklisting for comments.
In a similar vein to not allowing comments are blogs that don't offer RSS, ATOM, or other syndication feeds. What's with that? It's 2006 for God's sake, if I want to read and/or follow what you have to say on a regular basis, let me pull it to someplace that's convenient for me to be notified of it and read it. If I read you regularly I'll put you on my blogroll as I'm willing to help drive traffic to your site. Oh, but I'd like to see you do the same if you read me regularly. After all, it's only fair, right?
OK, I'm stepping off the soapbox now… :)
—Comments disabled due to excessive spamming of this entry. Jackasses! September 23, 2006 @ 12:50 pm | Category: Brainwork
