And given that 🖇️ this is happening - if I wanted to comment on a post from 2016 on the blog - how do I do that? Is it even possible?
@JohnPhilpin I'm gonna tag @sod since I'm pretty sure mentions in long posts are just quick links.
I thought the fallback link had been explained somewhere previously but I can't find that info now — my assumption is that there is no way to help the plug-in retrieve Conversations it has been unable to find?
@JohnPhilpin The fallback link has been there from the beginning and shows up when something goes wrong. The documentation is lacking, sorry about that, but I've explained it a bit over here.
In this case, the problem is that you're referring to an old post that has never existed on the Micro.blog timeline, so there's no entry there for the plug-in to link to. And no, you can't really comment on a blog post that has no Micro.blog timeline entry. You could send a webmention.
You can change the fallback text to something that makes more sense to you, like "Write me on Micro.blog", or disable it completely by unchecking Show fallback link in the plug-in settings.
Thanks for pinging me, @SimonWoods, I might have missed this one otherwise.
@sod THANKYOU - so the lack of 'being on the timeline' - maps into any post that has been imported. Makes sense.
... and thankyou @simonwoods for the forward - but raises another question about @ ... i did '@' @sod in my original post - but it was after the character limit ... does that mean the recipient isn't alerted?
If so - totally new news to me - after god knows how many years here ... #LearningSomethingNewEveryDay
@sod and yes - web mentions - good point - but also sits as an area I completely struggle with for whatever reason.
One of the many aspects of this wonderful indie world that has a big 'not easy gate' that prevents the average bear from entering ... and thus why a lot of the population over in the silos are wondering what us weirdos are doing 'over here' ... and why.
@JohnPhilpin Yep you're correct. My understanding is that Micro.blog basically looks at the timeline and only does something with mentions that it can see...
Although! I don't know if that applies with title-less long posts or not. This is one of the reasons why excerpt support would be a great addition, though I admit it is a difficult needle to thread.
@JohnPhilpin Yep, that is correct, Micro.blog does not notify @-mentions for long posts. I've discussed this with @manton in the past and he had some concerns. For example: people creating very long posts, mentioning many people, as a way to get their spam out.
Regarding social timelines (on Micro.blog, Mastodon, Bluesky, etc.) and blog comments… I know Micro.blog kind of blurs the line between them, but I think they are quite different beasts. Commentary on social timelines are more ephemeral, and you have little to no control over what other people say about your blog there. A more traditional commenting system on your blog is more permanent, tied to the post, and you're 100% in control. Don't like a comment for whatever reason? Just delete it.
Say, for example, you had a WordPress blog set up to cross-post to Mastodon. One day, you decide to import 381 old posts from 2016. Mastodon doesn't have a concept of importing old posts to the timeline. So if someone would like to have a discussion on Mastodon about one of your old posts, they would have to create a new entry on their timeline, linking to your post.
In theory, you could ask your WordPress blog to cross-post all the 381 old posts to Mastodon during import as new posts, just to get entry-points for commentary. But your followers probably wouldn't like that very much. Your posts would take over their timelines. 😊 The same is true for a Micro.blog hosted blog and the Micro.blog social timeline.
All this to say, if you want a more traditional commenting system on your blog, you could hook it up to Commento or a similar service.
For example: people creating very long posts, mentioning many people, as a way to get their spam out.
.. really good point - though of course - the spammer could reply to their own post and do exactly that, because that restriction doesn’t apply to 'replies' ? But I totally get it. Thankyou.
Excellent summary - and the blurring is a perfect example of how my mind feels on occasions that I stop, small the roses and think about this!
Definitely not going to do commento - spending twice as much on comments as you are for the blog seems to be a bit out of whack!
But thank you for the direction.
ONWARDS,
Much appreciated.
// @simonwoods
