This post was prompted by another post by a very nice person (so nice, Melinda, that after meeting you the first time I felt like an evil snarkmonster who needed lessons in levelheaded reason) who wrote a very nice, respectful, helpful post about no reply bloggers. The bug up my butt is entirely my own responsibility.
Are you frustrated by those pesky “no reply” bloggers? Do you wish they would just fix their profile so you can click a link and dash off an email? When faced with a no reply comment, do you follow a link they provided to their own blog and either leave a reciprocal comment, or check their About Me page for an email? Or do you just roll your eyes at the no reply freak and move on – after all, if they can’t make the effort to fix their profile, you shouldn’t have to make any effort either, right?
Okay, so I’m exaggerating the snark. In reality, I’ve received several emails in the past few weeks from bloggers who DID make the effort to search out my email address, three of which turned into fun, dynamic conversations that went back and forth several times. You see, I am a no reply blogger.
It isn’t because I’m deliberately trying to be difficult. If I could change it, I would. But I’m not the problem – your platform is. WordPress users, TypePad users, Tumblr and Moveable Type users – none of us have a problem with no reply bloggers. Only Blogger users face this issue. See, Google doesn’t want to share the sandbox, so they’re making it difficult for people using other platforms to play. Anyone who blogs on a platform other than Blogger will always show up as a no reply blogger, as will anyone who leaves a reply using the Name/URL option. There’s nothing we can do about it. While Blogger allows us to comment using a WordPress, TypePad or OpenID profile, it does not share the email information with you (even though it’s available). Neither does it allow a commenter to enter the information through a Name/Email/URL option – only Name/URL which obviously does no good.
Because of this flaw in Blogger, many of us who use other platforms post our email on our blogs, often in an “About Me” section or page. Blogger suggests a “fix” for this problem, of course. Their solution is that we sign up for a Google account and leave all of our comments through that account. (Essentially their “fix” is “here, drink the KoolAid.”) Kind of defeats the purpose – when I leave a comment on another person’s blog, I want readers to be able to click on my name and be taken to my blog. That’s how it works on other platforms – only on Blogger does a commenter’s link take you to a profile page instead of directly to the commenter’s blog.
So, Blogger users, write an email to Google and tell them to fix their platform so it welcomes EVERYONE instead of just other Blogger users! And the next time you read a post about no reply bloggers, let them know there’s more to the story.
Piecemeal Quilts 
Thank you for this. I just recently tracked down a no reply person who I really wanted to get to know. She explained all of this to me. I had no idea and I think that’s true of a lot of us. I keep seeing the blog posts about no reply and how to fix it, now I realize the other platform people are sitting back frustrated saying “get a clue”. Your’s is the first post I’ve seen that explains it. Thanks again.
The thing that drives me nuts about leaving comments on Blogger blogs – I’d love to use OpenID to leave comments, but if I’m logged into my Google/Gmail account (which is approximately anytime my browser is open!) the OpenID login fails every single time. I eventually quit trying because it was a nuisance to log out of Gmail anytime I wanted to leave a comment.
I am a new blogger and use Google Blogger. I had no idea that this was happening. All this time I thought people could reach my blog if they so desired! Very annoying!
Believe it or not, this no reply thing is an improvement for Blogger! In researching this post, I found they made some changes to their comments in 2010 that, for a time, wouldn’t let you comment at all if you didn’t use a Google account. That didn’t last.
Also, I’m not saying that Blogger is a bad platform. It’s one of the most popular for a reason. It is easy to use and allows you to customize the blog. This isn’t a “my platform is better than yours” post (although I love WordPress and wouldn’t change for anything). It’s about the limitations of one specific area, and how that affects our ability to communicate with one another.
OMG! I can’t believe that is the issue. I kept thinking something was wrong with me that I couldn’t figure out how to do it! I’ll send an email.
Thanks for the info — I didn’t realize Google was being that restrictive.
For many reasons, I wish I had started my blog on WordPress or Typepad. I’m too lazy to switch now as I’d need to import all the old posts. But you’re right that those platforms are much better for leaving comments, and I wish Blogger worked the same way.
Um, I hate to be a PIA (pain in the…) but I actually think there is an advantage to non-Blogger bloggers because well…at least when I receive a non-blogger response I actually Visit The Website to Contact the Person. [Remember Sandi? That is how I met you!] So, I guess if other Blogger bloggers, man that is a mouthful, are as courteous as me then it would be a bonus.
I suppose you are going to tell me that they aren’t that courteous. Aren’t you…
as usual, you explain more of the full story, Sandi 🙂 thank you.
I have both Blogger and WordPress blogs. But I’m a no-reply-blogger when I use my Blogger account. If I allow Blogger to privately share my email address with the blog owner when I make a comment, Blogger will also publicly post my email address on my profile for the spam-bots to harvest! I have an “email me” link on my Blogger blog, encoded to hide from the spam-bots. I have a Contact page with a form to send messages on my WordPress blog.
Now if anyone knows how to get WordPress to link to my active blog vs. the holding page that matches my user ID, I’d love to know how to do that!
simple fix… leave a email address on your comments as part of your signature. think of it as similar as a calling card that was left upon a visit to a persons home in days of yore. maybe we should reestablish some of the niceties of time gone by.
Nonnie
http://nonniesquiltingdreams.podbean.com/
Nonnie’s Quilting Dreams- Podcast
********
http://nonniequiltingdreams.wordpress.com/
Nonnie’s Quilting Dreams – Blog
email me at: nonniequiltingdreams@gmail.com
fyi… anytime more than one link is applied in a comment it needs to be moderated to avoid spammers. i just found this out recently.
,
Actually, the number of links that mark a comment as spam can be modified by the blog host. The default in WordPress is one. In a simpler world, leaving the our contact information would be fine, but many people don’t want anyone and everyone to be able to see their email address.
This is the most complete explaination of the comment situation I have read. In all things computer I doubt it is the final totally complete answer. I have thought for some time that the problem was the way the blog owner has set up the comment section. I don’t have a blog so I have no clue how that works. I have also decided that if it involves more than typing a comment and check word, my comment is not needed…. and on to the next blog. If I knew how to get a computer company’s attention I would try, but there are many things on my fix it list before blog comments…. Thank you for sharing what you know on this….
Thank you for explaining this! I thought I was just too thick to enable a reply…. I am so relieved it isn’t just me!
You are a star!
Ooo! I didn’t know that! Thank you!
Finally! I’m so glad someone who knows a bit more than I do has posted about this issue! I have been frustrated by this as well…
Thank you for posting and for explaining so well! 🙂
Wow! I didn’t realize this. I have not had an issue and I am a blogger user, but this will forever stay in the back of my mind. I will write blogger and ask if they can do something to be more inclusive. One platform doesn’t fit all.
Thank you,
Peggy
I am so relieved to read this article! I’ve been going CRAZY by the emails from my friends with blogger blogs admonishing me for being a no-reply blogger, but I was so frustrated because there’s just no way to BECOME a “reply-to” blogger and leave your website URL. Thank you so much for this explanation, which I will be sharing now! 🙂
Well said! I have a personal blog on blogger and a decor blog on WP and it IS a frustrating thing to not be able to get replies other than through Google. A little too big brother for me. Thanks for sharing and explaining in lay-person’s terms!
Hello
I received this post from Jutta of http://blog.organized-living-solutions.com/
Because my comment came up as a no reply and because im new to blogging I had no clue why.
Great post, very informative. I shared on LinkedIn twitter Facebook and tumblr. Others need to know this. I know, I don’t want to be known as a no reply.
Thanks for sharing.
Linda @Mixed Kreations Jewelry/craft Blog
Thank you, thank you! Some time ago I thought I had fixed the problem and received also more replies. But again it’s very bad and some friends tell me that ‘do you know you are no-reply’. I hate this. I’m still happy to have lots of friends who use wordpress, so I guess we need to have our own quilt-blog-guild! Sunny wishes from Greece! x Teje
Thanks for the info — I am one of those people who really try to hunt down commenters. I like to reply via email because it’s more personal, rather than replying in the comments. The suggestion above to include an email addy in your comment is a good idea. It’s frustrating when bloggers don’t have a “contact me” link on their “about me” page, especially when they’ve won a giveaway . . . . ooooh, look, . . . fabric!
I’ve been trying for weeks to figure out what was wrong. I couldn’t figure out why even after setting up a blogger account that I don’t want, and having a google account that I’m active on- I was still getting emails saying I’m a no reply! Can I please link to your site, and start emailing this article when I get those emails? I love wordpress, and wouldn’t change to save my life.
Link away! Email all you want! Spread the word(press)!
Thank you for this! I just was informed that I am a No-Reply blogger, and I had no idea what that even means or how to fix it! Thanks for the informative post!
~Jen
A few days ago someone contacted me in a mutual blogging group on Facebook to tell me that I was a no-reply blogger. Having only been blogging for a year, I had to ask her what that was and how I could fix it. That question, of course, let me to goggle it and to find your very informative explanation.
So, from what I understand, because I’m at WordPress.org, I will always appear as a no-reply when I reply to someone using blogger, unless I reply through google+. At least now I know it’s not anything I’ve done on my end.
Thanks for the explanation!
Thank you for a great post! Next time someone sends me an email (and yes, they are always very sweet and helpful, I’m not being snarky here!) I’m going to direct them here.
And it goes on. I just found your article because the same issue is happening with Blogspot, and it gets worse because now I cannot even get a comment to register! It just disappears when I click publish. This happens with any use of url/name, Open ID, or WordPress to leave a comment. Happens on both Blogger and Blogspot. So, being no-reply now is moot, I can’t even leave a comment!