Sunday Question: Comments – Auto Approve or Approve Individually?

Author: User ImageTom Category: Sunday Questions
25 Comments

It’s that time of the week again! Wow, I can’t believe it is sunday already – the weeks are going so fast.

Well I got inspiration for this question this morning when I woke up and notices I had received an email and a comment(from two different bloggers) asking me the exact same question.

Are your comments broken, because mine never seem to show up!

Now the reason they never see them show up is because I individually approve each new comment because I want to make sure my blog is free from spite, bad language, or anthing of that nature. Now about 99.% of comments do get approved and honestly I’m not that slow at approving them – usually a couple hours.

That brings me to todays question:

Should bloggers auto approve comments or approve everyone before they are visible?

EXTRA STUFF:

  1. I will probably not be approving comments til tomorrow now as I have my cousins wedding this afternoon – but I’ll be sure to take a heap of photos and I might even post some on hear and find a way to weave a blogging message through it.
  2. I must say I am really impressed with my fellow bloggers! I have been emailing a whole lot of the top bloggers in the MMO and blog about blogging niche in regard to their input in a new project especially for you guys, and their response has not only been fast (I only sent them emails yesterday and most have already replied) but so far they have all been positive!
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Free Ebook: 7 Traits Of A Successful Blogger

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This Article Has 25 Comments

  1. Unbelievable, this post comes when I was about to write to you I ve been commenting on your blog , but I am not sure if they are going to the spam folder….I dont see my name in the top commentators list.

    ZK@WebTrafficROIs last blog post..I Got Scammed on a Webmaster Forum

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  2. no imageTom (Who am I?) says:

    No your comments are fine! The top commenter list resets at the beginning of each month, with that comment you made it on the list :D

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  3. obviously not to approve auto….
    spammers on the move always :D

    Problogineers last blog post..Motive Interactive Launches Advent 2

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  4. I like to approve them first, it allows me to see who has commented and reply :P

    Danny Coopers last blog post..What’s on Your RSS Reader?

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  5. no imageHarish (Who am I?) says:

    I agree with both.both of them has their own advantages and disadvantages.

    Harishs last blog post..Contest At Rajaie Talks-win $75 By PayPal

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  6. no imageJason (Who am I?) says:

    The best way to do it is auto moderate the first comment everyone makes, and then let them run wild after that. If someone posts something decent, it’s unlikely they’re going to go on a spamming rampage.

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  7. hehe i too approve each comment! my akismet blocked total of 76,000 comments so far ;)

    narendra.s.vs last blog post..How to color blur the picture using Photoshop

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  8. no imageMelvin (Who am I?) says:

    they should auto approve it… The risk is only that if one of your top and “reliable” commentator starts spamming your comments list

    Melvins last blog post..Why I Have The Potential To Be A Superstar

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  9. no imageRichard (Who am I?) says:

    Manually approve the first 1 or 2 comments, then allow people to comment un-moderated is the best way.

    What do you guys do when people put keywords in the “name” field, instead of their name? It’s taking advantage a bit IMO and makes it look like a spam comment. I know people comment to get a backlink, which is a fair trade, but still…

    Richards last blog post..Battlefield Heroes BETA key contests

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  10. Auto approve is the way to go….but sometimes spammy stuff gets in the way

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  11. Second attempt at this comment as I was informed to reset my java script and cookies…which were fine.

    I’m with Jason. I moderate only the first new comment, BUT, ALL comments go through my email which I check every hour or so.

    Dennis Edells last blog post..My First Contest! Time To Put Your Thinking Caps On…

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  12. Oh and I just subscribed :-)

    Dennis Edells last blog post..My First Contest! Time To Put Your Thinking Caps On…

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  13. Like some people here, I approve only the first comment, then all comments gets auto-approved. I do that because I don’t always have the time to go trough every single comment 10 times a day. It saves me time and I think it’s cool for commentators to see their comments instantly on the blog. Other people can reply faster also…

    Ben – frogstr.coms last blog post..The frog loves you

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  14. no imageDenis S (Who am I?) says:

    keep the visitor happy, let the comments show up as soon as possible. If it doesn’t show up, i will probably not come back to check back on it. Its easy to delete spam anyway. So instead of approving comments. Just delete the spam…plus you can download a plugin that disables spam very effectively

    Denis Ss last blog post..Lindsey Lohan Covers Marie Claire’s November Issue

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  15. [...] Comments Auto-Approve or not? [...]

  16. Tom – You simply have a knack for this kind of thing. You are going to be successful if you keep at it.

    Ben Morenos last blog post..Use Ezine Articles and Article Marketer to Generate Traffic

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  17. no imagekouji (Who am I?) says:

    i manually approve comments. :) there aren’t that many anyway so it isn’t much of a hassle. also, it allows me to make sure that i respond to all the comments. :)

    koujis last blog post..haiku poem: poverty (goodsearch)

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  18. I’m always going to manually approve comments. I try to fix mistakes people and don’t approve comments which will add no values to my blog.

    Clog Moneys last blog post..Back to normality.

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  19. I auto accept and then moderate them later. I trust my readers, and have yet had to remove a comment.

    I don’t think I will ever remove a comment but I will block out vulgar or rude remarks. I think open debate and discussion is good and wouldn’t want to remove somebodies opinion. But it is important to keep things clean.

    Adam – Creadivs last blog post..The Truth About Cats And Blogs

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  20. no imageEmmaB (Who am I?) says:

    I moderate each comment. Sometimes what seems like a good comment is actually spam. This also enables me to reply to each comment.

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  21. no imageNick (Who am I?) says:

    I am with the school of thought that moderates the first comment from a given person and then after that they are auto approved…I think this makes people happier because they can see instant results and occasionally have a conversation about my post before I check back.

    At the same time, I do have all comments go to my email so that I can make sure I am aware of them and can adjust things as necessary (for example, I removed an email address from a comment the other day)

    It’s all a matter of preference really, but of course I think my way is the best and your way is stupid…I mean, what are we supposed to do and how are we supposed to have conversations via comments with one another when your in Australia away from the internet for a week! :D (just kidding, but seriously did you think about the comments on the posts while you’re on your trip)

    Nicks last blog post..I Am Finally In Market Leverage

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  22. no imageTom (Who am I?) says:

    Sounds like moderating the first comment and then just getting informed about the following comments is the way to go! So I will be changing that over shortly!

    Thanks guys :D

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  23. no imageTom (Who am I?) says:

    The readers have voted – AND WON!

    I just changed it over so once you have had one comment approved your comments will automatically display after that!

    Thanks for all your input guys!

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  24. i do it auto approve.Bcoz, i don’t have time to moderate all comments in all my 100 blogs.

    Christmas 2008s last blog post..Scented Christmas Tree Candles

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  25. Well, it depends on blogger himself. If you are afraid of targeted by spammers, you can install anti-spam plugins and can make sure that 99% of spam is filtered out.

    Although people prefer to get their comment published immediately, still some bloggers prefer moderation over auto-approval.

    Rajeev Edmondss last blog post..How To Get Instant Traffic For Your Blog

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tom

Hi everyone! My name is Thomas Sinfield and I am a 23y/o blogger from Australia.I have been blogging for over 2 years now through various blogs and would love to share the insight that I have gained with you - through this blog. Ultimately my goal is to help you improve your blogging through finding your passion.

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