Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Embed your comment form

My Pass It On Plates Blog recently switched to using an embedded comment form, like WordPress blogs have. I didn't think much of the change until I logged into my Pass It On Plates Blog and saw a comment from my funny friend Laurie B., who asked:
Laurie B. said...

Hey, how did you get this comment format? I love it....much better than what I've got...oh wise one, can you share your wisdom with this grasshopper?

Pam Hawk said...

Ohh...I have to think about that. What did I do?

As usual, I was fiddling around and saw something intriguing, so I clicked it to see what happened.

Hmmm, let me look into it and I'll let you know.
-Pam
December 7, 2008 10:08 AM

A minute later the lightbulb came on and I remembered. It's so easy.
For those of you who have Blogger blogs, you'll love this.

1. Go to your Blogger dashboard. In the address bar on your browser, replace the www with the word draft. Or open this link in a new window/tab: http://draft.blogger.com/home

You'll see the little orange B in the upper left corner switch to a blue B. This will let you know which version of Blogger you're using. Blogger in Draft is just where Blogger adds and tests new features before they add them to regular (orange B) Blogger.

2. From your Dashboard, click Settings on the blog where you want to change the comments form. Now click on Comments.

3. Look for "Comment Form Placement" and click "Embedded below post" then save.

That's it. This will change the format for all the comments on your blog, not just starting with today's date.

Bonus: If you like this, then you have to see what else Blogger is working on. (I love those guys...) Click your Layout tab then click Add A Gadget. This is where they test out new gadgets. Some new ones you may have seen, others may be totally new to you. IOne of their new ones here that they don't yet have (as of today) in their regular Blogger (orange B) gadgets is the "Search your blog" button.

How do I know about all of this? I cheat.
I'm one of the 792+ followers of http://bloggerindraft.blogspot.com/2008/06/new-feature-embedded-comment-form.html and I keep tabs on new stuff in my Google Reader. They tell me when they have something new; I'm not out there searching for it.

Speaking of "Followers," do you have a Follow Me gadget on your blog? It's a Web 2.0 gem, baby. You can see who reads you and get to know them... and if you follow someone's blog you can read the blogs of their other followers and get to know them as well. I love that gadget. But that's another Blog Bling post here. Maybe next week...

If you change your comment form, leave a comment here so we can all swing by and leave you a comment as well.

Cheers!


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6 comments:

  1. Hi there,
    I added your link on Blog Contest Station and a link to how to do a contest. Sometimes people forget all the ins and outs and I have to chase to figure things out so I had to change a few things myself so I wasn't chasing so much.

    Thanks for the answer to comment

    Blog Contest Station

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  2. Pam, Thanks for all of your helpful info. I am getting ready to try the embed your comment thing now! Love reading all of your posts!

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  3. Okay, just tried it and it worked wonderfully!
    Great instructions!
    Thanks!

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  4. hey everyone ! thanks just awesome !

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  5. thanks just awesome ! just what i wanted !

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