Comments are tricky on Micro.Blog ndreas.eu

@ndreas Anyone can set up a free account and comment. No cost and with micro.blog, no mega corp lurking in the background. That seems easy enough. Alternatively, a Mastodon or ActivityPub account, I think, would allow commenting. 🤓

@Denny @ndreas I would also add @sod’s Reply by Email plugin. I do get the (very) occasional mail with it. Having said that, for me it’s the Mastodon/ActivityPub account. That’s how I got most of the comments.

@Denny @ndreas Yes, but the hurdle is too high. In earlier incarnations of blogs there was just a box in which you could type text. You could optionally leave your email. But that was basically it.

@matti @ndreas Yeah, but it would seem a simple account-less text box leaves the door wide open to comment spam. And perhaps a greater likelihood of anonymous harassment? With a free account there is a small barrier which might be helpful in filtering out both of those problems to some degree.

@Denny I know, but let's say you want to comment on @ndreas post. What needs to happen? Even for the technically inclined, there is too much to do and know. Apart from understanding mb, you would need to configure a Wordpress correctly and understand webmentions. It's hilariously complicated to get started. If my grandma just wants to say "Cute dog!": How do you even start?

And alternatively putting the burden on the blogger to set up crossposting… I'm still unable to interact right there on my site with my visitors, which is the expectation. And then explaining to my grandma that if she wants to comment, she has to go to that other site… ugh.

The current ways are bad and complicated.

@matti As for just basic commenting I think it's possible to set up a free account without messing about with WordPress. Just a free micro.blog account that allows commenting. Sure, that's just the basic functionality but it's easy. And I think that would cover commenting for crossposted content from WP.

@Denny That option is described nowhere on the homepage, though. I need to click on pricing and click on "See what's included for free" to see it and still there is no button to e.g. "sign up for a free account", I can try for free, but that is usually a way to describe a free trial. People who'd need a free account won't find it.

@matti Yeah, true. I also just noticed at the bottom of the box about the free trial it also says: "(You can also be part of the Micro.blog community at no charge by connecting an existing blog.)" I'm not sure if that means an external blog is required for commenting or not. I'd previously assumed it was not required. @manton please see thread above. A good question, perhaps worth clarification. Is it possible to just sign up without the free trial for folks that just want to be able to comment on a friend or family member's blog?

@Denny @matti @help I’m interested in this, too, as well as the current status of the “teams” micro.blog (which I gave up on before because it was too hard for my non-techy family members to understand).

@ndreas Also one of @sod’s plugins. As soon as you turn them on, they should show up. The email one has a couple of settings, but that one does not, I believe. I’ve got both of them enabled.

@maique I’ll try that

@ndreas @sod has a plugin for that, if you happen to host on mb that is. (Might work with self hosted Hugo as well, idk.)

@Denny @matti @ndreas For a while we’ve wanted to have a comment form too, and that’s still the plan. It’s a little tricky because the comments should be part of the Micro.blog conversation for a post even if there’s no real account. Will try to finish this soon.

@agilelisa We made a few improvements here when adding the Micro.blog Family plan. I think it’s easier but there’s probably more we can do, feedback always welcome.

@matti I’ll try that. Host in MB

@manton that sounds great!

@ndreas Good luck. I have it installed, too. Seems to be working, although I can't really tell, if people are using it. 😅

@ndreas The comments-on-your-site-sphere is pretty packed. If you don't care about privacy, Disqus is probably the most well-known provider. If you don't mind paying for a service, Commento is a leaner alternative that does not track visitors or show them ads. And there are more options out there (some are self-hosted). AlternativeTo.net lists a handful.

I see others have recommended a couple of my plug-ins as well. Let me know if you need assistance setting them up.

@sod Hej! Jag har installerat din reply by email-plugin men får den inte att synas på sajten. Jag har en mb-hostad site och jag har avgivit mejladress samt sparat.

@matti i sent you a reply my email.

@ndreas I just saw it. Very nice to see it works! Thank you. 🥳 (also proved to me that my email forwarding via omg.lol is working. Yey!)

@ndreas Sköj! Några teman har inbyggt stöd för mina insticksmoduler men det du använder, Alpine, kräver extra handpåläggning. Du behöver skapa ett custom theme (om du inte redan gjort det) och klistra in en kodsnutt. Följ instruktionerna under rubriken Include the Reply by email link in your custom theme och hojta om du kör fast. (Du behöver vara inloggad på Micro.blog för att länken ska fungera.)

@sod Jag har lyckats lägga in kodbiten men länken fungerar inte på sidan.

@matti good!

@ndreas Det verkar fungera som det ska, men en inställning på min jobbdator blockerar funktionen på desktop.

@sod Det verkar fungera som det ska, men en inställning på min jobbdator blockerar funktionen på desktop.

@ndreas Ah, spännande! Vad är det för inställning? Gissningsvis är det inget jag kan göra något åt, men jag försöker gärna arbeta runt blockeringen om det går. 😊

@sod JavaScript verkar vara blockerat på något sätt. Men det funkar i mobilen.

@ndreas Okej, jag använder JavaScript för att göra det svårare för automatiserade spamrobotar som letar efter e-postadresser på webben. Men om adressen du använder redan är publikt delad på annat håll, kan du bocka ur Obfuscate email address (to mitigate scraping) på inställningssidan. När din blogg har byggts om är JavaScriptet borta och då bör länken fungera även på jobbdatorn.

@sod tack! Är så imponerad av dig och alla andra som kan allt detta svåra.