Comments - The salt in the soup

In the old days™️, comments could be found on pretty much every blog. Most blog systems included them, or they could be quickly added using plugins. For me, comments belong on every blog.

Today, that's not necessarily the norm anymore. This isn't just for technical reasons. While blogging often involves WordPress, it's no longer standard practice. There are many systems out there, and there are many blogs that no longer have a CMS running in the background. Static pages are generated from text sources.

In such setups, it's not always easy to integrate comments. When I switched my site to Kirby about ten years ago, there was no comment plugin for the CMS. Kirby wasn't centrally designed for blogging, like other systems were.

So I tried Disqus and other comment services for a long time. But they were always a thorn in my side, which is why, now equipped with sufficient knowledge about Kirby, I wrote my own comment plugin.

Comments are also difficult because they naturally require a certain amount of effort. In the past few weeks, my desktop widget has repeatedly shown me new comments, and most of them were spam. Despite the filters. This, of course, diminishes the enjoyment.

For many bloggers, this is also the main reason for not offering comments. Furthermore, we unfortunately now have a culture of hate – "culture" – on the internet that also spreads to the comments on our blogs. From my own experience, I can fortunately say that this type of comment is far less common than on the major platforms, but one shouldn't paint the devil on the wall.

I read a lot of blogs, and I keep coming across new ones that I like, and where I often feel the urge to leave a comment. Because I particularly liked a post, because I received a helpful tip, or because I think I need to add something.

Often, scrolling to the bottom of the page takes you directly to the footer. No comment form? I find that a real shame. Some bloggers then offer an email link or refer to social media for feedback. But I have to be honest: I rarely do that. The email option is actually a no-go for me. I try to avoid emails as much as possible. And I don't even open my email program just to leave a quick comment.

Some blogs support webmentions. In those cases, I like to create a note on my page and send a webmention, which then appears under the blog post. I like that. Sometimes I even respond on Mastodon if I'm really desperate.

I (often) see blog posts as conversation starters. At least, I hope mine are. An opportunity to talk to each other. That's what comments are for me.

For some time now, I've been experimenting with my comments here locally in my development environment. I'd like to design them so that they integrate more naturally into the site, so that they're quickly accessible and almost trigger a reflex to quickly write something.

That's not easy. I've rejected all the ideas so far, but I've been carrying a few new ones around with me for a few days.

I don't want to convert anyone here, but I would appreciate more comment functions on other blogs – or the option to send webmentions. Whether it's worth the effort is something every blogger has to decide for themselves, of course.

In any case, I'm happy about every comment on my blog. Well, I can do without the spam, and I don't need to be harassed either.

I don't usually end here with a YouTube-style "Leave a comment," but it's fitting for this post. So leave a comment and tell me if you've enabled comments on your own blog, and why and how it's been received.

And leave a like and subscribe and click the bell and all that.