Friday, January 4, 2008

The Great Comment Catastrophe

We interrupt this program to bring late-breaking news on a recent "Comment Catastrophe" at Writing the Cyber Highway.

Wait! Take your hand off that mouse. Don't click. Don't. I'm begging you!



If you, or someone you know, have recently commented only to discover days (or even weeks!) later that your comment wasn't published or responded to, relax: you're not crazy! You don't need Ginkgo for your memory. Nope! You left your comment just like you thought you did! What happened?


Here's the scoop:

Michele, aka dingbat, was going along her writerly way trying to navigate the cyber highway all by herself when she noticed some days were lonely days, some days she didn't hear from the regulars, and knew something didn't quite feel right.

What did she do? She pouted a little, tried to get over it, and kept writing and posting on this blog. Hmmm... Yes, you're at the right blog.

Anyway, long story short (well, maybe). Michele - I mean dingbat- thought she'd play it safe and choose to moderate the comments. Don't want any weird shmeird remarks that would haunt her or conversations that might go awry in her (rare) absence. So, she thought all was well.

Well, it wasn't. Even though Michele chose the option that ANYONE could comment here, and had Blogger send comments to her email, something bad happened. Michele can't control everything! *Pout. Pout.*

Some of those comments went to her email... others didn't. :'(

Tonight, when Michele was adding the contact information in the sidebar, something caught her eye: NINETEEN COMMENTS WAITING TO BE MODERATED!!! Yes, NINETEEN! I mean, WHAT is that about????

So, as the story goes, Michele published all those comments some folks had left a second just thinking they'd gone bonkers because they thought they'd commented the day before only to pull over at this edge of the cyber highway and discover (sadly) their precious words were invisible.

Here's the thing:

Michele is not a technical genius (on a good day, she can "work" a calculator), so don't be angry because she had no clue--literally NO CLUE people!

Now that she's no longer in the dark and her cyber highway is in the midst of a sunny day, you'll find those comments you thought cyber aliens- those mean comment gobblers! - had snatched right where they should be. BUT as Michele was publishing those comments, she realized she'd have to go hunt them down like Inch High Private Eye (didn't you just LOVE him?), and respond with the sincerest of apologies to her hurting readers.

Michele is so sorry. Please forgive her Blogger/tech illness. If she can recoup, she'll try to keep smiling...

For further reference, Michele's precious readers are no longer locked up in a Comment Moderation holding cell. They have been released until further notice.

Michele is considering throwing the idea of moderating comments out the window. At present, comments are being monitored, but Michele has commissioned a cyber guard to notify her of any abductions.

And that is the story of: The Great Comment Catastrophe.

Stay tuned for regular programming...

Wait. The update has just come in! Michele has found a solution. She'll open comments. *Bites fingernails.* If you make a comment, you'll see it right away but she'll be notified via email. This way, you're happy, she's happy, and you can all skip down the cyber highway - with a sound mind. :-)



Sponsored by:

Michele's ignorance.


Credits to:

Blogger

Comment Moderator Thingamajig

Cyber Aliens

Comment Gobblers


*Michele and her tired eyes dig along the ditches of the cyber highway forever looking for lost comments...*