Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Word Verification Manifesto


When I decide to "follow" people, I like to visit their blogs faithfully, which means I check out a LOT of posts every day. I read and comment quickly...and that's because I have to in order to touch base with everyone I want to see. I also participate in three or four blog hops every week, and I do my best to stay current with friends there, too.

Maybe that explains why I'm so fed up with word verification! And Blogger has made it even worse now than when I wrote this poem last year:

The Word Verification Rant
©2011 Susan Noyes Anderson

Word verification is not my thing.

No added safety does it bring.

It only takes a lot of time

and makes commenting less sublime.

At first, I had it too, you know?

It took some nerve to let it go.

But others bloggers cheered me on,

and they were glad when it was gone.

The dreadful problems I had feared

without it, never once appeared.

No spam, no weirdos, no remorse...

just lots more comments! So, of course,

I did not turn it off in vain.

Word verification is a pain!


Blogger's diabolical new DOUBLE word verification is even MORE of a pain, and I'm almost to the point where I'm tempted not to comment as frequently on blogs that aren't willing to disable it. Not because I don't want to comment (that is one of my favorite parts of blogging), but because I am losing my mind trying to figure out what the heck those twisty letters even say, let alone reproduce them! And honestly, I don't notice any difference at all in the amount of spam I received before I got rid of the whole captcha thing and the amount of spam I get now. Truly, I have seen no adverse effects from disabling word verification, which is why I am making this plea to all of you to please (if you haven't already), please, please think about disabling that sucker! Have mercy!!

You would make one of your biggest fans very happy...and I'm even going to show you how to turn it off, in case you are unaware.

1.
Sign in to your blog.

2. Click on Design or Customize, whichever your version says.

3. Click on the Settings tab.

4. In Settings, click on the Comments tab.

5. Scroll down until you see Show word verification for comments and check NO.

6. If you are really worried about spam comments and want to moderate comments before they are published on your blog, check the Always box next to Comment moderation (just above where you've just turned off word verification), and enter your email address.

7. Click Save Settings.

And that’s all it takes, folks.

If you’re using the new version of Blogger, the option to turn off word verification is not there. You have to click on the setting symbol and change back to the old interface first, then follow the instructions above to turn it off, save it, and then switch back to the new interface.

Come on, guys! You are made of sterner stuff!! You can do it!!!

;)

28 comments:

Serene is my name, not my life! said...

It's true. You are my one and ever faithful commenter. LOL!

I use to have the WV on because I did get a ton of spam comments.

But then I discovered that once I went into my dashboard - comments, I could mark which comments were spam. Now I get over 10 spam comments a week easy but they never post and go directly to my spam box where I delete them.

So yes, when the annoying WV got even more annoying, I finally just got rid of it.

YEA!!!

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more and I even wrote a poem recently in regards to it called Word! LOL the exclamation point is even in the title... I hate when you get something great all ready to go and then you just can't get those dang word verification things right & the frustration wins so the comment never gets posted!

BECKY said...

Agreed!

momto8 said...

thank you. thank you. thank you.

Ames said...

Amen Sue! You know how much I dislike Word Verification. I don't understand someones fear to need it. Anyone can delete and undesirable comment. So why have it in the first place? I have actually stopped commenting on post with Word Verification.

Go Sue! You are awesome to post this!~Ames

Em said...

so annoying!!! i'm pretty sure i turned it off of mine a few years ago. let me know if i haven't. i hate leaving comments on blogs that have it.

The Valsy said...

Did it. Had no clue.
Thanks! And thanks for the vote!
Val

karen said...

I hate it too - and some of my favorite blogs still have it, unfortunately... It's so hard to read and it just takes that extra few minutes...or more if I can't read the letters - enough to be really REALLY annoying! Thanks for posting the fix - it's just not that hard to do!

21 Wits said...

Well said! I've actually been cutting down my posts for blogs cuz there's just not enough time for all that stupid "am I a robot stuff!" Please people read Sue's post! please!!!!!

Grandma Honey said...

I've learned that if you put your blog on moderator status there is no use or need for the word verification. I can give all the comments I receive a quick okay and then delete the spam ones. Works great and is less trouble for my readers.

Cheryl said...

Grrrrrrrrrr! Couldn't agree more.

larainydays said...

I found out that my word verification had been turned ON without me changing it! It must have happened when I changed to the new format. I think its a pain to and if I'm reading on my iphone I often can't comment at all. Word verification is a time waster.

anitamombanita said...

Amen, sistah!! I'm just going to link to your blog today rather than try to say this on mine. I HATE HATE HATE WV....it's a total waste of time.

By the way, I added some things to our project blog...check it out when you have time. No rush.

Unknown said...

There's definitely something up with Blogger. My word verification was turned on without me knowing it. Then I got rid of it, only to find comments that are not spam showing up in my spam box. Oh, and now it shows 5 comments, but there are only 4! GGRRRRRRRRRR

Brian Miller said...

amen...i read a lot of blogs as well...and word verification is horrible....

people say it is due to spam...well them mod your comments...or as i do mod them over one week only...blogger spam catcher usually catches the spam on mine that are fresh...

please get rid of word verification!!!!!

Darlene said...

Good for you, Sue. This post is so timely. I just hate trying to figure out what those crazy letters are. They are so close together and written is such a weird script and I hardly ever get them right the first time. It is such a pain to have to do it over. I hope everyone of your commenters read this and fix their word varification. Get them off everyone!!

I loved your poem too and am so glad you posted it. It expresses that whole scene perfectly. Now if everyone will just get rid of that annoying problem.

Jenny said...

bravo. I'm gonna put a link to this on A-T. This explains it waaayyy better than I could!

jen said...

Thanks for posting this again.

And your music again today! Good choice, Girl!

VK said...

I had to check to make sure I'd disabled mine. And yes, it is almost as bad as trying to remember my passwords. When I was checking Michael's Visa status the verification words were completely illiterate to my eyes. Completely frustrating.

Unknown said...

I've found that span usually occurs on my older posts, so I set word verification only on posts older than 5 days! That seems to work for me.

Unknown said...

You are my best commenter! Love you!

And A-MEN! Turn it off.

Stacy said...

I think I shut mine off last year when you wrote this poem...

CB said...

First I love the music that goes with this - Bam Pow!! Right to the gut!

Get rid of the Word Verification!!

Your poem is the best!

I hope everyone listens because that double word ver is a pain in the behind.

LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!

Tonya said...

PERFECT poem!! I agree, and I don't get around as much as I should! I'm so glad you visit...you have RIGHTS to demand NO WORD VERIFICATION!! :)

Stef said...

I actually didn't realize I had it on. Ha. I too hate it. So thanks for telling me I had it. Notice the "HAD" because it is no longer there.

Pondside said...

It's such a pain, isn't it? You've spoken for so many of us - only in a much wittier way than anyone else!

Leovi said...

Yes, I adhere to this delicious manifesto against the word verification. Greetings.

Terra said...

As you know I have blogging for 4 years, no verification...No problems. Wish more would follow that...