Blogging & Visitor-created Content

[rogerd]

We've done blog installs primarily as CMS tools, i.e., enabling non-technical people to add content by themselves. We've disabled any and all "comment" features in these installs, and only a careful inspection might suggest that the pages were generated by blog software.

We're now looking at a couple of projects that might benefit from a more traditional blog style, and we are thinking specifically of enabling visitor comments to foster discussion and build on the original article.

I'm curious, though, what pitfalls might lie ahead. Clearly, blog-spamming and generally idiotic/obscene/racist comments are concerns. I'm looking for input from denizens of the blog world - is a "pre-mod" approach (like new topics in our Google forum here) viable for comments, both from a technical and visitor satisfaction standpoint? I've glanced at the comment features on a few packages, and I'm seeing user-level control but not the ability to approve individual posts. Is pre-mod a dumb idea that will kill input from visitors? Do most packages allow comment notification to alert the admin or article editor that a comment has been submitted?

Other general suggestions?

[ccDan]

rogerd writes:

I'm curious, though, what pitfalls might lie ahead. Clearly, blog-spamming and generally idiotic/obscene/racist comments are concerns. I'm looking for input from denizens of the blog world - is a "pre-mod" approach (like new topics in our Google forum here) viable for comments, both from a technical and visitor satisfaction standpoint? I've glanced at the comment features on a few packages, and I'm seeing user-level control but not the ability to approve individual posts. Is pre-mod a dumb idea that will kill input from visitors?

My experience comes from discussion forums and not blogs (still don't see the usefulness of blogs), but I would say a "pre-mod" approach is not a problem if handled properly.

You could state that the reason for the approach is to avoid spam. People hate spam, and I think they'll understand. I wouldn't want to read through a bunch of junk before I find something worthwhile. I get enough of that in my inbox.

Perhaps you could also just use the pre-mod approach for new or unregistered users. Once the user has established him or herself as a legitimate, trustworthy poster, then allow that user to post messages without any prior approval. And, if they violate the TOS, take appropriate action.

Do most packages allow comment notification to alert the admin or article editor that a comment has been submitted?

I gave up on using "packages" or pre-rolled solutions a long time ago. Never could find the right mix of stuff I wanted. So, I just write my own. Then, I can have it do virtually however I want, including notifications.

[icedowl]

Comment spam on a blog is a very real problem. MT-Blacklist works very well to prevent it happening on a Movable Type installation, and the authors of Movable Type are also doing what they can to prevent it. I don't know what other blog systems are doing to prevent comment spam.

Movable Type does allow you to choose to receive an email each time that someone leaves a comment, and you can edit a comment or delete a comment if you choose. You can also ban by IP if someone is a real problem.

I have two websites where I've installed Movable Type. I use one as just a regular blog, the other I use to let that website's visitors know what is new on the site. Allowing comments can be turned on/off or 'closed' at any time.

One advantage that I've experienced through commenting is meeting other people and actually making dear friends. It can be very rewarding.

Hope I've been of some help.

[rogerd]

MT is one of the one's I've used, icedowl, and it has a lot of good features.

My general impression is that blog software offers very rudimentary "moderation" features compared to today's forum software.

[icedowl]

True. Blogs and forums are two entirely different animals. IMHO forums can be more of a headache.

[ccDan]

icedowl writes:

True. Blogs and forums are two entirely different animals. IMHO forums can be more of a headache.

Maybe this should be a separate thread, but, why do you think forums can be more of a headache?

[icedowl]

I've seen tempers flare and feelings get hurt too many times in large forums. In others, it's hard to get much interaction going and it gets so quiet you can hear a pin drop. Blogs just feel more relaxed.

[rogerdp]

I see pre-mod on blogs only working if you have a response time less than 3-5 hours. Blogs are 'current', and people are much more likely to talk about and visit new posts. If the comments all appear after the visitors have read and moved on, they'll never get read.

I've never set one up for a blog, but have you looked into user-registration (even nominal, such as remembering name/ip-mask pairs) and simple text filtering? For comments matching a filter, do pre-mod.

[rogerd]

One fundamental difference between forums and blogs is that forums allow people other than the owner or selected editors to start topics. This site would be a whole lot smaller if all of us were able only to reply to posts started by Brett! ;)

The diversity of topics no doubt draws many more people into the conversation, too, resulting in much higher post volume even for the same number of visitors.