Do you want to free up the time it takes you to filter through spam looking for genuine comments?
Turn this setting on now.
Does your blog get too much spam? Turn this setting on.
On your blog’s dashboard, go to Jetpack – Akismet Anti-spam.
Click Jetpack – Akismet Anti-spam
On the page that opens, look for the Settings box. Under Spam Filtering, ensure ‘Silently discard the worst and most pervasive spam so I never see it’ is selected.
Ensure ‘Silently discard the worst and most pervasive spam so I never see it’ has been selected.
Click the ‘Save changes‘ button.
You’ll now see much less spam in your blog’s spam folder.
Obviously, you can continue to review all spam, but this can be very time-consuming if your blog gets a lot of spam.
On average, I now see less than 10 spam comments per week in my spam folder. It used to be hundreds. Turning this setting on has helped.
On the same page, you can also see how much good work the Akismet anti-spam software has done in capturing spam comments on your blog. Here’s a snapshot of my blog.
How much spam has been blocked on your WordPress blog?
Akismet has caught over 308,000 spam comments since I started blogging in February 2014!
Occasionally, spam comments will get through, but you can help WordPress by marking them as spam. Likewise, if a genuine comment ends up in the spam folder by mistake, mark it as ‘not spam.’
Something else you may find interesting is that WordPress now deletes spam that is over 15 days old in the spam folder, so you no longer have to do it! Another win! Thank you, WordPress.
Don’t stress about spam!
I’ve come across some bloggers who allow spam to stress them. This does nothing but spoil the enjoyment blogging brings.
If your blog receives too much spam, turn on the setting outlined in this post. You’ll soon see a vast decrease in the amount of spam you see.
How do you deal with spam on your blog?
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
Sometimes, I struggle to find a subscribe or follow button on blogs. I came across one recently where there wasn’t one. I spent ages looking and even left a comment asking how to subscribe to receive more posts, but the host didn’t reply to my comment!
But I’m delighted that WordPress now makes adding a subscribe (to my blog) button to all your posts (past and future) even more effortless. And the best part is that once you switch on this setting, you won’t have to do it again.
Is it easy for visitors to follow your blog?
Where and how to switch on the Subscribe Block button.
On the dashboard of your blog, go to Settings – Newsletter.
On the Newsletter settings page, look for ‘Add the Subscribe block at the end of each post,’ and slide the button to the ‘on’ position.
Slide the button to the ‘on’ position.
Click the ‘Save Settings’ button.
That’s it! The ‘Subscribe’ block will appear on all of your posts (past and future), making it easy for anyone visiting your blog to follow you.
This is what the block looks like if you’re already subscribed to the blog or have just signed up.
You’re following my blog. Thank you.
How easy is it for a new visitor to follow or subscribe to your blog?
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Pingbacks are a vital tool in the blogging world, fostering connections and increasing site traffic. Are you making the most of pingbacks or missing out on their benefits? This post details their benefits, creation, and anti-spam measures.
I don’t use the WordPress Reader nearly as much as I should.
I get email notifications when new blog posts are published by the bloggers I follow. This makes sense as I only follow around 55 blogs, most of which publish no more than a few times a week.
Am I missing out on not using the WordPress Reader? I think so, yes! But why?
Tell me why you use or don’t use the WordPress Reader.
One of the reasons I stopped using the WP Reader was that when I was following over 500 blogs, I felt like a hamster constantly running around a wheel in my endless battle to reach the top of the reader. I never reached the top, so I thought I was missing out!
However, I occasionally use the WordPress Reader to search for posts on subjects I enjoy reading. In my opinion, this is where the WordPress Reader is at its best!
For example, I recently entered the word ‘WordPress’ into the reader search bar and was presented with a long list of blog posts in which ‘WordPress’ had been used as a category or tag (this shows how important categorising and tagging your posts is).
But before I discuss some of the search results, let me first say that, unlike some bloggers who seem to think WordPress has deleted the ‘Reader,’ the WP Reader has moved.
Where is the WordPress Reader?
If you’re using a desktop computer, the WP Reader is now located in the top right corner of your blog. Look for the pair of spectacles icon.
The WordPress Reader icon has changed and moved.
Click on it, and you’ll be taken to the WordPress Reader.
On mobile phones and tablets (using the Jetpack app), the WP Reader icon (spectacles) is located at the bottom of the screen.
What I found in the search results!
I was delighted to see some of my posts appear in the search results. However, I was more interested in the posts from blogs I don’t currently follow.
One of those posts that grabbed my attention was from Mitch, who blogs at The Power Of Story. Mitch’s post, ‘What’s Up WordPress?‘, was about the sudden ups and downs of his blog’s number of subscribers/followers. Indeed, I’ve noticed the same thing happening with my blog.
My subscriber/follower stats have become like a fairground rollercoaster ride. Some days, I lose a lot of subscribers/followers, and then the numbers suddenly return, although not the same subscribers.
I did some digging and found that WordPress are now actively deleting spam blogs and blogs run by spambots. That’s a good thing, especially since I’ve been manually unsubscribing them for many months. WordPress is unsubscribing these blogs for me, although I will unsubscribe any I find myself.
Have you noticed your subscriber/follower numbers going on a rollercoaster ride recently?
Another post that grabbed my attention from the results page was from Kevin, who blogs at Chef Kevin Ashton. Kevin’s post, titled ‘The Thorny Issue Of WordPress Likes.’ touched on a subject I’ve often written about – the ‘like’ button!
Love it or hate it, the ‘like’ button is something just about every WordPress user and visitor will use. However, Kevin touched on the subject of ‘guilt’ by not using it, especially when he doesn’t have enough time to visit and read blogs.
I’ve been there, Kevin. Many bloggers feel guilty or stressed about not clicking ‘like’, visiting blogs that follow them, or leaving comments. Yet, in my opinion, nobody really cares that you can’t always visit their blog. I’ve discovered that leaving one engaging comment occasionally that shows you read the post is much more appreciated than leaving short, non-engaging comments just to prove you visited. However, you may not have read their post.
I’ve written many posts about blogging guilt and stress. In my last post on the subject, ‘Stressed Or Feeling Guilty About Blogging? Please Read This Post. Let’s Keep Blogging Fun,’ many readers spoke up about how bad they feel when they don’t have the time to read blogs, click ‘like,’ and leave comments, often resulting in blogging feeling like a chore rather than something that should be enjoyed.
Nobody should ever feel obliged to read posts, click the ‘like’ button or leave comments. Keep blogging fun.
How do you deal with blogging stress or guilt?
The happy and sad sides of blogging!
It was also lovely to see blog posts celebrating milestones on WordPress in the results. From celebrating 15 years of blogging on WordPress to publishing their 100th post and some folks being notified that their blogs had achieved half a million visits, these posts brought a smile to my face.
Of course, posts complaining about how bad WordPress is and the problems bloggers are having also appeared in the results. Although I only read a few, most of the reported issues were related to WordPress’s changes, and the author often confirmed in the comments section that the issue(s) had now been resolved.
Personally, I’m pleased that WordPress does make changes. If they left things alone, the platform would quickly become outdated and dull, as would all our blogs. WordPress would lose many paying customers, and we’d all lose our blogs if they went out of business. I used to hate change but learned that adapting to it is much less stressful than fighting it
Are your blog posts appearing on the WordPress Reader?
I always check that my blog posts appear in the WordPress reader. To do this, I follow my blog and check the reader immediately after publishing a post. If it’s not there, I know there’s a problem.
There are several reasons why your posts may not appear in the WordPress Reader. The main reason is that you add too many categories and tags to a post. WordPress allows up to 15 categories and tags combined. Your post could be marked as spam and won’t appear if you add more, so ensure you do not add more than 15 tags and categories (combined).
There may also be technical reasons why your posts don’t show in the reader. If you don’t see your posts, contact WordPress. They’ll be able to help.
That’s it for today. I’ll share other interesting posts when I do more searches on the WordPress Reader.
Why Do You Use The WordPress Reader?
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Pingbacks are a vital tool in the blogging world, fostering connections and increasing site traffic. Are you making the most of pingbacks or missing out on their benefits? This post details their benefits, creation, and anti-spam measures.
WordPress users often face problems, but they may not always be caused by their blogging platform. Device issues, internet browsers, poor blog housekeeping and retired themes can all contribute to problems.
My post outlines what to do if you’re experiencing issues with using WordPress.
Do you encounter problems using WordPress? Are your posts not aligning correctly, or are you unable to leave comments on certain blogs? What’s causing these problems? Is it WordPress, or are you or your device causing them?
Don’t panic when WordPress causes you problems. The problem could be you!
Like any online website, the WordPress platform experiences problems. Bugs occur. They can often cause havoc for users. Sometimes, things don’t go to plan when new updates are released.
But what causes these problems, and how can they be fixed?
Case 1 – Your posts are not displaying correctly.
A few years ago, a reader informed me that my blog posts were not displaying correctly.
I checked my blog and couldn’t see any problems. I used another device and couldn’t see any issues.
I contacted the WordPress Happiness Engineers. They assured me that from what they saw, there were no problems with how my blog posts were displaying. They even sent me screenshots and some short video clips showing me what they were seeing at their end.
But I was still not happy.
I decided to write and publish a post about the problem.
I asked my followers to check some of my blog posts and let me know if there were any problems with how they were displaying. Over 100 people came to my call for help. Only one person said there was a problem with how my posts were displayed, and this was the person who reported the problem to me.
It turned out that the problem wasn’t my blog or WordPress. The problem was the device belonging to the reader who reported the issue.
I asked them to make sure their device had the latest updates. They never informed me that my blog was displaying incorrectly again.
Case 2 – I can’t leave comments on certain blogs.
I recently saw a post from a blogger who said he had problems leaving comments on certain blogs.
He named the blogs so they knew who they were and apologised, saying that his comments were being cut off as he wrote them.
He asked if anybody else was having the same problem when leaving comments.
By the time the responses came in (and all were saying ‘No’), he’d gone to another device. He tried leaving comments on the same blogs. They all worked, and he came back and apologised.
The problem was caused by the device he was using. He updated the device’s software and also tried using another internet browser, and his comments worked.
Case 3 – When was the last time you cleaned your house?
Some of my WordPress data and stats were not displaying. ‘Have you tried clearing your browser history, cookies and cache on your computer?” somebody asked?
I did the clear-out, and the data all showed up.
Like your home, your blog device needs some housekeeping to keep it working correctly.
Case 4 – Have you tried the most popular advice when things go wrong?
A user contacted me saying they could not leave comments or ‘likes’ on any blog posts. She was using the Jetpack app on her mobile phone.
I told her to try signing out of the Jetpack app, delete it, reinstall it and sign in again.
Problem solved.
Case 5 – Has the blog theme you’re using been retired?
Another WordPress user was experiencing many problems with her blog. Her posts were not aligning correctly, and some readers contacted her to say they couldn’t leave comments. The sharing buttons at the end of her posts were also not working. There were also other issues like certain tools no longer working.
She contacted WordPress, which informed her that her blog theme was retired and was no longer supported. The advice was to change her theme. She didn’t want to change the theme; she liked it. She tried working around the problems. That worked for a while. Then, the issues worsened, and she eventually gave up on her blog.
The WordPress platform wasn’t the problem. The device she was using wasn’t the problem. She was the problem for refusing to change to a theme that WordPress supported.
If your theme has been retired, you will find this notice on the theme’s info page:
Has your WordPress theme been retired?
When a theme is retired, it no longer appears in the list of themes at Appearances – Themes or at Appearance – Theme Showcase if using the Classic Editor.
But, if the theme is already active on your site, you can continue to use it. Some retired themes will usually stay available for the lifetime of your site or blog without any issues. However, if you continue using a retired theme, you should note the following:
A retired theme no longer receives WordPress updates or new features. This includes security updates that protect your blog from spammers and hackers.
A retired theme should continue functioning on your site. However, WordPress does not guarantee that it will always work well with its ever-evolving software.
You may lose access to certain features like sharing and reblog buttons, blocks, writing tools and clicking the ‘like’ button.
If you still use a retired theme, you will likely encounter problems at some point. Visitors to your blog may also experience problems viewing it correctly or engaging with you.
How do I change my WordPress theme?
Some bloggers are terrified of changing the theme of their WordPress blog. It can seem like a daunting task.
Once upon a time, changing your WordPress blog theme was a nightmare. I recall the first time I changed the theme of my blog. It took a whole weekend to finish.
But changing the theme of your WordPress blog is now easy and quick. WordPress provides full details on how to do it on the ‘Change your theme‘ page.
Have you checked the WordPress forum?
A user experiencing problems with their WordPress blog does not necessarily mean that other users are experiencing the same problems. Sometimes, problems can be exclusive to one blog (as in some of the above cases).
The WordPress forum page is great for determining if problems affect other users. Here, you can report issues and check what other issues users are experiencing.
Another way to find out if other users are experiencing the same problems with their WordPress blog is to ask them (as I did in Case Number One). Sometimes, issues can be theme-related. Once reported and provided the theme has not been retired, WordPress quickly fixes theme-related problems.
Let’s Wrap It Up!
Like any website, the WordPress platform will suffer from bugs and problems.
While some problems are widespread, many problems can be caused by a user’s device when blogging, especially if the device is old and does not have the latest updates installed.
If you can access another device, try using it to determine whether the problem is only related to one device or a certain web browser.
Some problems are related to themes. If a theme has been retired, consider changing to one WordPress support.
Changing your blog theme is now easier and quicker.
You can check if other bloggers are experiencing the same problems you’re having with your blog by asking them, posting on the WordPress forum, or doing both.
Consider that any issues lie outside of WordPress first before blaming them solely.
Ensure all devices you use to blog have the latest updates.
Report issues and problems to WordPress. They may not know about issues unless you report them.
Are you experiencing any problems using WordPress? Have you checked if the issues are sitewide or only affecting you? How do you deal with issues using the WordPress platform?
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
WordPress has managed to do it once more! It’s relocated a setting I frequently use, seemingly without informing anyone about it.
Turning comments off is simple to do. But WordPress has moved the settings!
During a recent post-drafting session, I attempted to disable comments on a post. I encountered difficulty locating the ‘Discussion‘ setting, which is the usual place for enabling or disabling comments on individual posts.
Why turn comments off?
I consistently close comments whenever I share another blogger’s post or a guest post I’ve written on another blog. This strategy ensures that new comments appear on the original post, consolidating the discussion in one place rather than being split between two posts. Kinda makes sense, doesn’t it?
Some bloggers also choose to close comments on older posts as a proactive measure. This practice became popular when WordPress faced a significant spam issue. Specific posts received hundreds of spam comments daily, making it challenging for bloggers to sift through the spam in their WordPress folders to find authentic comments that can sometimes end up there.
The installation of the updated Askimet anti-spam software in 2023 has led to a significant improvement in the spam situation. Thanks to Askimet’s enhanced functionality, the previously prevalent issue of hundreds of visible spam comments daily has been effectively curtailed to just a few a week. Consequently, there is no longer a necessity to close comments on these posts.
Where has the ‘Discussion’ setting gone?
The ‘Discussion’ setting used to be located at the bottom of the settings box of a post.
The ‘Discussion’ setting used to sit under ‘Tags.’
Now, the discussion setting has been conveniently relocated to a more prominent position at the top of the post settings panel rather than at the bottom. This new placement, coupled with the clear indication of whether comments on a post are open or closed, significantly enhances the ease and user-friendliness of managing comments and pingbacks.
Changing the discussion setting is straightforward. Click on ‘open‘ or ‘closed‘ to make the change.
The ‘Discussion’ setting is now further up the ‘draft post’ section of a post.
This simple, user-friendly system also allows you to control comments, pingbacks, and trackbacks.
This is where to turn on or switch off pingbacks on your WordPress posts.
Pingbacks and trackbacks are methods for alerting other blogs that you have linked to them. However, they only work when the blog you’re linking to has enabled pingbacks and trackbacks and you do not link to a blog’s home page. My post, ‘The Power Of Pingbacks: How To Create One‘, has more details.
Do you disable comments on posts? If so, which posts? Do you have any questions about the ‘Discussion’ setting on WordPress? Please leave them in the comments box.
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
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Categorising and tagging blog posts are some of the most potent ways for bloggers to get their posts noticed. However, some bloggers don’t bother with either, meaning they’re losing the potential for new readers and followers. Are you one of them?
But what are categories and tags, and how do they work?
Do you categorise and add tags to all your blog posts?
What are blogging categories?
Blogging categories act like groups where blog posts that have a connection with each other are stored.
For example, if you’re a travel blogger, you could have The United Kingdom categoryand list the sub-categories Scotland, Wales, England, and Northern Ireland.
Categories are important because they make finding specific blog posts more straightforward for visitors to your blog (especially first-time visitors).
Every blog post should have at least one category.
Unfortunately, if you don’t categorise blog posts, they will be uncategorised, which is no help to anyone.
Imagine going into a shop to find a particular book about dinosaurs and finding that none of the books has been categorised. You’d leave and go to another shop that helps customers by categorising its books to find what you’re looking for much easier.
I never return to blogs that do not categorise posts.
How to add a category to your WordPress blog post
This tutorial uses an Apple iMac desktop computer and the WordPress ‘Default’ dashboard.
While drafting a blog post, you’ll see a toolbar in the settings area on the right-hand side of the page. This is where you can add categories.
Every blog post should have at least one category.
If a blog post doesn’t fit into one of your existing categories, click ‘Add New Category‘ and create a new one.
Remember to do some housekeeping regularly for the categories on your blog. For example, delete categories that are no longer being used or update categories by giving them a new name if something works better.
How to edit the categories on your blog.
On your blog’s dashboard, click on Posts to open a submenu, and click on Categories.
Click Posts and Categories.
To edit a category, click the three verticle dots (meatball menu) next to the category you want to edit.
Click the meatball menu to edit a category.
The meatball menu displays four options: edit, delete, view posts, and set as a default.
Edit – Edit the name or description of the category.
Delete – Delete the category.
View posts – View a list of all your posts under the category.
Set as default – Useful when most posts fall under a particular category.
Remember to click the ‘Update‘ button to save any changes you make.
The number next to each category tells you how many posts are under that category. I recommend deleting any categories that are not being used.
Any sub-categories will show under each category.
Tip: Setting your default category to ‘Uncatorigised‘ allows you to search for any blog posts you may have forgotten to categorise.
What are tags?
Tags are popular keywords that can be added to a blog post. For example, some of the tag words I’ve added to this post are –
blogging
bloggingtips
categories
tags
WordPress
HowTo
Each tag should be separated with a comma or by pushing ‘Enter’ on your keyboard.
Tags containing more than one word (such as ‘Blogging tips’) act as one tag word, but you must add them without any space between the words, i.e., ‘ blogging tips’ becomes ‘bloggingtips.’
Generally, tags do not need to connect with each other, but when used correctly, they can generate a lot of extra traffic to a blog post.
Like categories, tags can be added to blog posts in the settings area toolbar on the right side of a draft post.
Always add keywords (Tags) to your blog posts.
When adding tags to your post, consider the keywords somebody would add to the WordPress search bar when looking for specific blog posts. Or think of words you would use to search for your post.
Check out the tags I’ve added for this blog post. They appear at the end of every post.
Important information – Did you know this…?
The cardinal tagging rule on WordPress.com is that you should never add more than 15 tags and categories (combined) to your post; otherwise, it won’t appear in the WordPress Reader.This cap prevents spam posts from appearing on the reader list, as spammers and spambots tend to use many categories and tags to lure readers in
15 tags and categories can seem like a lot, but you don’t need to use all of them.
Never tag your blog post with words that have nothing to do with the post’s subject. Otherwise, visitors will come to your blog under false pretences and probably won’t return.
Generally, I add no more than three categories and between six and ten tags to my blog posts.
As with categories, it’s also essential to do some housekeeping for the tags you use on your blog.
How to delete and update tags
On the dashboard of your blog, click on Posts – Tags.
A page showing your tags and how many blog posts containing each tag appears.
To edit, view and delete posts containing a tag word, hover your mouse over each tag word and click edit, quick edit, view or delete.
You can also view the posts containing the tag word by clicking the number in the ‘Count’ column. I recommend deleting any tag words that are no longer being used.
Let’s wrap it up!
All blog posts should be categorised and tagged.
Categorising and tagging your blog posts makes them user-friendly, meaning people will likely return to your blog.
Not categorising your blog posts means they’ll be challenging to find.
When tagging posts, think of keywords others will use when searching for your blog post.
Don’t use tag words that have nothing to do with the subject of your blog post.
WordPress users – never add more than 15 tags and categories (combined) to your posts; otherwise, they won’t appear on the WordPress Reader.
Remember to perform regular housekeeping of categories and tags on your blog.
Adding the proper tags to your blog posts will increase the number of readers who find them. More readers mean higher stats, more comments, and new followers.
Do you categorise and add tags to all your blog posts? If not, why not? Which tags-words work best for you? Is there anything you’d like to add or ask regarding categories and tags in blog posts? Join the discussion by leaving a comment.
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Have you noticed the new feature WordPress has added to your blog’s dashboard? It’s located on the ‘My Home‘ page in the top right corner.
But what does this new feature do?
This new ‘settings’ feature is easy to use. But what does it do?
For this post, I’m using an Apple iMac desktop computer and the ‘Default‘ view setting of my blog’s dashboard.
You’ll find this new feature on the ‘My Home’ page of your blog’s dashboard
Let’s get started
Click on the meatball menu (three horizontal dots) to open a new menu.
Click the kebab menu to open a new menu
The menu contains two options – Settings and Manage Domains.
Let’s take a look at the two options
Settings – this option takes you to the General Settings page of your blog.
You can make many changes to your blog on this page, including your blog’s icon (photo or image), name, and tagline.
Edit your blog’s icon, title and tagline
Click the ‘Save Settings‘ button if you make any changes.
On the same page, you can also create a logo for your blog via Fiverr logo maker (note that there is a charge for this) and set/change your blog’s primary language and timezone. Remember to save any changes you make.
Another option includes setting privacy settings for your blog.
Privacy – This is where you can set your blog to public viewing (anyone can view it) or private viewing (only visible to you and logged-in members you have approved to view it). There is also a ‘Coming Soon‘ option, so your blog is hidden from view until it’s ready for viewing.
Set privacy settings for your blog
Two other options are also available.
If ticked, the ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site‘ option will prevent search engines from indexing your blog, but note that it is up to search engines to honour your request.
The ‘Prevent third-party sharing‘ option should be ticked if you want to restrict your blog’s content from AI training and third-party use. It will exclude your blog’s public content from WordPress’s network of third-party content and research partners. It also adds known AI bots to the ‘disallow’ list in your blog’s robots.txt file to stop them from crawling your site, though it is up to AI platforms to honour this request.
Click the ‘Save Settings‘ button if you make any changes.
Other settings include –
Accept a gift subscription – turn this setting on to accept gift subscriptions from visitors to your blog.
Footer credit: Here, you can choose or edit a footer credit that appears at the bottom of your blog’s pages and posts.
Site tools – this section allows you to do the following.
Register a new domain or change your blog’s URL address.
Transfer your blog to another blogging provider.
You can reset your blog and start afresh while keeping the same domain/blog name. (If you choose this option, all your posts, pages, and media will be deleted).
Delete your blog and give up your blog’s domain/address.
2. Manage Domains — This option takes you to the part of your blog where you can manage your blog’s domains.
It’s worth checking this page to see what domains you have and to see offers for other domains you may be interested in purchasing for your blog.
While you may not visit your blog’s settings page regularly, it’s worth knowing that there is now an even quicker way to find these settings.
Have you noticed the new style comment box on WordPress?
In line with the Block editor, WordPress has rolled out a new cool comment box on most WordPress blogs. While I’m writing this post, I still see a few blogs with the old-style comments box, but I’m confident all WordPress blogs will soon display the block-style comment box.
The new style comments box appears on blog posts, but not when you add your comment via the comments box on the WordPress Reader.
This new comments box can do more than just leave comments
For the purpose of this post, I’m using an iMac desktop computer.
Here is a breakdown of what users can do when leaving comments on blogs with the new block-style comment box.
What does it look like?
This is what the new style comment box looks like.
WordPress Block Style Comments Box
It looks very simple, doesn’t it? And it is very easy to use. Your Gravatar image appears in the bottom left corner.
The comments box looks like this as soon you click in the box.
Click inside the box to start typing your comment.
Notice the difference? A toolbar has opened along the top, and an ‘+‘ icon has appeared inside the comments box. Let’s examine what they do. I’ve numbered some icons in the following image.
Features of the toolbar
Block being used.
Aline text
Bold
Italic
Pingback link
1 – This is the type of block being used when commenting. It will always be the Paragraph block by default, but you can switch to the List or Quote block by clicking on it. If you change it to the List or Quote block, a new toolbar will appear.
2 – Use this icon to align text to the left, right or centre.
3 – Use this icon to make the text bold.
4 – Use this icon to make the text italic.
5 – Use this icon to create a pingback.
Most readers only use text when leaving comments and they will never feel the need to align it or make it bold. However, many bloggers want more.
You can now insert other blocks into the comments box by clicking the ‘+‘ icon. For example, you can now easily insert an image in your comment by clicking the ‘+‘ icon and choosing the Image block.
Copy and paste the URL address of the image you want to add.
How cool is that? (not the photo of me, but the fact that I can add an image to the comments). This is especially good for participating in photography challenges without creating a blog post or when explaining something where including an image or screenshot helps.
I want to mention that you can create pingbacks in your comments. Pingbacks are powerful and can help boost visitors to your blog. We could already add pingbacks when using the Classic view on our blog’s dashboard but we can now finally do it using the Default view.
Before submitting your comment, remember to click the small settings cog next to your Gravatar photo to open a new menu. Why?
Click the settings cog next to your Gravatar picture for a new menu.
Not only will the menu that opens confirm if you are logged into WordPress, but you can also sign up to receive web and mobile notifications for posts on the blog you are leaving your comment on, get email notifications of new posts, and receive email notifications of any new comments left on the post (including a response to your comment from the blog host).
Press the ‘Comment‘ box to submit your comment.
Is this true?
I’ve heard that some bloggers are threatening to stop leaving comments or are thinking of leaving WordPress because of the introduction of the new block-style comment box.
Given that the bare minimum somebody has to do to leave a comment is to type their comment into the box, I find it hard to believe that people are threatening to stop leaving comments or leaving WordPress because of the introduction of this new comments box. If you are, please reconsider your decision.
The new block-style comments box is not hard to use; it’s just a little different!
Update
Users can now disable blocks in comments. Go to Settings – Discussions, and in the ‘Comments‘ section of the page, turn off ‘Enable blocks in comments.’ Remember to save the change.
WordPress’s new comments box style is a refreshing update that enhances the user experience. Its modern and intuitive design makes interacting with comments more enjoyable. If you have any questions about it, feel free to leave them in the comments section. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
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WordPress constantly changes; some things keep changing and return to where they were before. That’s why I’ve updated and am republishing this post from July 2023.
This is where to find the ‘Open in new tab’ box on WordPress.
If, like me, when you create a pingback, you prefer links to open in a new window rather than in the same window you’re viewing (thus losing the page), it’s vital that you tick the ‘open in new tab‘ box when adding links or pingbacks to a blog post.
The ‘open in new tab‘ box used to be visible when creating a pingback but has reverted to being hidden again. I don’t know why, but I wanted to show you where to find it.
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