Housekeeping Note

It took me awhile to figure out the commenting system for the new blogging software, but I think I finally have a handle on it. I initially wanted to require all commenters to register (although those who already have user accounts with services such as Google or Yahoo could use them to sign in), and I would also approve all comments before they appeared on the site. I didn’t particularly like this process but deemed it necessary to control spam.

However, I either configured things incorrectly, or Movable Type’s registration process sucks, because some of you experienced problems not of your doing. Comments were showing up with weird usernames, and the whole thing was a big mess. So, given that flexibility is my new watchword, I’ve quickly shifted to Plan B.

Plan B allows anonymous comments (not that I encourage anonymity; I think it’s the bane of the blogosphere, but this is the only way to give you complete control over the identifying information that appears along with your comment). However, I still encourage you to register, because when you do, it allows me to add you to the “Trusted Commenter” list and your comments will bypass the moderation queue and appear immediately. As far as I can tell, there’s no way for me to do this for comments by unregistered visitors, even if they provide complete information (name, email address, and URL) when they comment.

If you’re not thoroughly confused by now, I haven’t done my job. But for those who are persistent enough to actually leave feedback on this site, you are surely exceptional in all important ways.