Do You Know a Solution to this Gravatar Commenting Problem?

 

I thought I had found a glitch in the Anti-Spam plugin in my attempts to eliminate spam forever, but after investigating this problem further, I am finding that I don’t have a solution at all, and now I’m not sure where the problem is originating from.

So I need your help. I am not very technical, and so I don’t currently have the answer. Can you help me find a solution?

UPDATE: The solution was found.

Here’s the problem:

Whenever someone who does not have a gravatar leaves a comment on my blog, the image that is being used in place of the “Mystery Man” is that of Max Ivey, the wonderful guy who blogs at The Blind Blogger. (Max is going to freak out when he hears this, especially since he’s been so busy with creating his first ebook, which he has asked me to edit, by the way.)

So now I have a handful of comments left by various people that are showing the commenter as being Max. Here is one that Brian K. Morris left that shows Max’s picture with Brian’s name:

This is a screenshot of Brian's comment that shows Max's picture

I thought this was resulting from the use of the Anti-Spam plugin, but now I’m not sure.

I even tried asking about this problem – this glitch – in a support forum (link to the developer), but have yet to receive a response.

I don’t know how to remove Max’s image from these comments! I want to keep the comments, so removing the whole comment is not a viable option.

I don’t know what to do, and I’m ticked off. I love the Anti-Spam plugin and am not even sure if it is this plugin that’s causing this problem to happen.

I also find it kind of ironic that, of all people to choose, it chose Max. Is it discriminating against Max because he can’t see what this plugin is doing? Why in the world would it do this to begin with? And how can I fix this?

UPDATE: The solution was found. I also was told to deactivate the NIX Gravatar Cache plugin I had installed and activated, so that I don’t have this problem again.

This screenshot shows the converstaion I had with Vitaly about the gravatar problem I am/was having.

Read More

Help Me Determine if We Can Eliminate Spam Forever!

This is a picture of a stick man I created who I like to call Gimpy. He's frustrated because he doesn't know what is going on! He's trying to comment on my blog, but can't.

Are you sick of spam? I know I am, and want to eliminate it once and for all.

Akismet just isn’t cutting it, so I’ve switched to Anti-Spam. It might have to do with the current commenting system I’m using (as Connor Rickett points out in the last half of his video), but I’m just not sure.

Anyways, these are both FREE WordPress plugins, but one seems to be better than the other!

So far, Anti-Spam is doing the trick, and there is NO spam in my spam folder, but I’m not sure how it is going to affect people who want to comment on my posts, so I need your help!

My Commenting Plugin Experiment

I experimented with this in the past, but for only a few days. I wasn’t sure if I lost commenters. I know that Akismet sometimes classified a couple of my commenters as spam (a couple of times Adrienne Smith was considered spam, and I know for a fact that she is a real person), but, I’m tired of hunting for such commenters in my spam folder. Wading through spam comments is a time-waster, and my time is better spent elsewhere. I’m willing to bet yours is, too.

A New Commenting Problem

The problem that I’m facing now is wondering whether or not my commenters are going to make it through the filtering process. I’m afraid I’m going to lose commenters. I actually activated this plugin about 10 days ago, and so far have had no problems (that I know of) with peoples’ abilities to comment on my last post… so this post might be a waste of time on my part… but I don’t think it is.

At the very least, it will teach you about the Anti-Spam plugin!

What to do if you cannot comment on Wording Well

It’s no secret that I moderate comments on this site. I do this for three reasons: Read More

How to Use “Click-to-Tweet” Links In Your Blog Posts

pic that says "Tweet this"

Using Click-to-Tweet links in your blog posts will help get your posts shared more often.

Every blogger wants more traffic to his or her blog, and using Tweetables is one way to get it.

There are several ways for inserting Click-to-Tweet links into your blog posts. Some are free, and some cost a small bit of money.

This post will cover these various methods.

If you have a self-hosted blog, you have more options for doing this (including plugins).

If you are a newbie blogger and are blogging for free on a platform such as Blogger or WordPress.com, then your options are limited. But there is still a way for you to insert Click-to-Tweet links into your posts!

All you have to do is execute these 10  easy-to-follow steps in the order that they are listed

This is a long and tedious process, but it works. (This is how I used to insert Tweetables when I was a newbie blogger back in 2013!)

Learn #HowTo insert Tweetable quotes in your blog posts #blogg­ingtip­s #bloggers

Click to tweet

10 Steps to inserting “Click to Tweet” or “Tweet This” links in your blog posts:

  1. Find something worthy of tweeting, and write it in your blog post, such as “Tweeting helps you gain followers!” (Tweet this)
  2. then click on the “get Shortlink” button and copy your post URL’s Shortlink (note that this is for the  WordPress platform; for Blogger, click on Permalink and copy your post URLs permalink) OR simply copy the permalink of your post’s URL, which is found right below the title of your post
  3. then shorten your permalink by going to Ow.ly, which is a URL shortener and copy the shortened URL that it generates
  4. then go to Click to Tweet  and
  5. then type your phrase, in my case, “Tweeting helps you gain followers!”, inside the text box
  6. (optional) add relevant hashtags to your Tweet so that it becomes a Perfect Tweet that will get retweeted!
  7. then paste the link generated by Ow.ly after this phrase and add via @yourtwitterhandle which, in my case is via @lorrainereguly (you don’t have to do this, but when you are on Twitter and are checking your @ mentions/notifications, you will be able to see how many people are actually Tweeting your Tweetable links)
  8. then click “generate link” and copy the URL it gives you
  9. then go to back to your blog post and type “Tweet this” in brackets (like I did in step one) after the phrase you want your readers to tweet,
  10. then highlight the words “Tweet this” and use the link icon to add the link you just copied from Click to Tweet so that when your readers click on “Tweet this,” they will be connected to their Twitter account and a textbox that is pre-populated with the phrase “Tweeting helps you gain followers!” and the link to the post that you are writing!

Make sure that you click on the “open link in new window” so that your readers don’t leave your website.

You can also change the color of the text (like I did) if you want it to stand out and really catch your reader’s eye.

If you are able to follow these simple instructions, you should have absolutely no problem adding “Tweet this” to your blog posts!

Other Methods for Using Click-to-Tweet Links

You could use a service such as Click-to-Tweet.

Of course, you could always try to figure out what Ana Hoffmann was trying to say in her instructions for how to do this, if you have an understanding of code and how coding works… or maybe Ramsay’s post, How to Add a “Click to Tweet” Link to Quotes Within Your Posts might help you gain a better understanding.

You might also want to use one of these recommended plugins (if you have your own, self-hosted site like I do now).

You can also use a plugin called Tweet Dis. (This is an affiliate link.)

I love TweetDis. It has a lot of options, looks nice, and has many neat features you can use.

Learn how to insert Tweetables into your blog posts. #newbie #bloggers

Click to tweet

Tweet Creation

Another tip to remember is to make your Tweets as short, or succinct, as possible so that when they are Re-Tweeted, or RT’d, there will be enough room in the 140-character box for all of the characters!

(Twitter adds the name of the person who is Re-Tweeting your Tweet TO THE TWEET. This is why you need to leave at least 15-20 characters free!)

Include a hashtag relevant to the topic of your Tweet, too, to increase the visibility of your Tweet.

Note that it is common practice to put it at the end, and to use no more than two hashtags, although sometimes people use three.

Learn how to insert a Tweetable quote in your blog post #bloggers #socia­lmedia

Click to tweet

Please Tweet this, and leave me a comment if you found this information useful!

Thank you! See you in the comment section… or on Twitter!

By the way, I will accept donations if you feel like thanking me for this information!