Skip to main content

Comment Moderation In Blogger Blogs, Using Google+ Comments

With more Blogger blogs being updated to use Google+ Comments, we're seeing a few questions in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, about comment moderation.
How do I moderate comments, with Google+ Comments enabled on my blog?

This is a question for which there is no easy answer - and this is one of the least appreciated feature limitations of Google+ Comments.

Native Blogger commenting allowed the option to moderate comments before or after they were published.

Google+ Comments, for Blogger blogs, provides no ability to moderate before publishing. All comments must be moderated after they are published. Moderation now simply consists of the ability to declare a comment as abusive - and this ability is shared equally by all users of Google+, who are in the right Circle to read and mark any comment.

With native Blogger Commenting, you (the blog administrator / owner) could moderate comments (before or after publishing), using either email, or the dashboard Comments section. With Google+ Comments, you have no such ability - and the dashboard won't even have a Comments section, listing comments made against the blog. You can view comments made - when you are able to view them - on a post by post basis, under each post.

As the blog owner, you do not have control over all comments, published against your blog. If you allow comments using Google+, anybody who is in one of your Circles can publish a comment against your blog. If you Share a blog post to the Public - or if someone else Shares a post from your blog to the Public - and a third person comments, you may not even see the comment made, against your blog.

You cannot see comments published by people who are not in your Circles, unless the comments are posted Publicly - even if the comments are published against your blog.

For these reasons, this blog remains with Blogger Commenting.

Comments

Tom said…
Thanks for the enlightening information. I'm glad I haven't switched to Google+ comments yet. I'm looking forward to improvements that will make me feel more comfortable with my control.

The number of spam comments (containing links to irrelevant or malicious websites) posted from Google+ accounts is increasing rapidly on my blog and I just don't want them posted at will without the ability to even easily see them.
Unknown said…
Thanks for this post.

A spam comment appeared on my blog this morning and I just couldn't find an easy way to delete it.

The lack of moderation before comments are published is a major flaw imo. I have reverted to the old comments system.
Nitecruzr said…
Zhaowei,

In defense of Google+, they use public moderation. Everybody reading a comment or post offers their opinion.

Since there are more good people than bad - and since there are more real people in Google+ than not - Google+ moderation uses a collective community.
Anonymous said…
This is a very informative article on comment moderation. Those who are engaged in content moderation services will surely find this post helpful. Thank you for sharing.
Priloza said…
I really appreciated the ability to view all comments in one place using the Comments tab in the older Blogger view. Now, I can't even see who has commented on my blog (if they aren't in my circles) without going to each and every blog post. Especially if Google plus has decided they're spam and hidden them without my foreknowledge. As the author I'd like to be able to view all of the comments or at least know where the comments are without individually going through each post.
Nitecruzr said…
Priloza,

That's a good point, and I can understand your reluctance to give up control.

I guess you're an example why Blogger hosted comments will always be a popular Blogger feature, at least until people accept the loss of control.

Personally, I'd give up the loss of control - you notice (if you're still reading here) how long your comment has been waiting for moderation. I don't moderate often enough to have comments published, regularly.

You are an example why I won't move this blog to Google+ hosted comments - because you are posting here, using a Blogger profile. You would only be able to use a Google+ account, were I to move this blog to Google+ hosted comments. Which probably means that your comment would not be here.

Here's hoping that you read this, one day.
Anonymous said…
I think that comment moderation is very important,although in a blog or google +. It is to avoid comments that we do not want, for example provocation comments
Nitecruzr said…
Medsos,

That is a very good point.

Just bear in mind that your personal opinion - and your desire to avoid comments that you do not want - may not get as much support from other blog owners, as similarly posted comment spam might be labeled.

With you moderating on the basis of personal opinion, don't be surprised to see some personal opinion "spam" be more persistently left in "Awaiting Moderation", instead of eventually being placed into "Spam" by a properly trained filter.

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2010/09/comment-moderation-is-team-effort.html

http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2011/02/comment-filtering-and-spam-content-is.html
JO said…
Hi,
Thanks for the posting. I've been looking for this answer, finally I got one. I'd prefer not to enable the Google+ comment to avoid the abusive comment on my blog. At the same time, I like having Google+ comment so that easier to promote the contains of my blog.
Nitecruzr said…
JS,

Google+ Comments are a feature with much minuses and pluses. I like them, for the (community) comment moderation issue - but I still can't use them.

You choose, and you loose.

Popular posts from this blog

Adding A Link To Your Blog Post

Occasionally, you see a very odd, cryptic complaint I just added a link in my blog, but the link vanished! No, it wasn't your imagination.

Embedded Comments And Main Page View

The option to display comments, embedded below the post, was made a blog option relatively recently. This was a long requested feature - and many bloggers added it to their blogs, as soon as the option was presented to us. Some blog owners like this feature so much, that they request it to be visible when the blog is opened, in main page view. I would like all comments, and the comment form, to be shown underneath the relevant post, automatically, for everyone to read without clicking on the number of comments link. And this is not how embedded comments work.

What's The URL Of My Blog?

We see the plea for help, periodically I need the URL of my blog, so I can give it to my friends. Help! Who's buried in Grant's Tomb, after all? No Chuck, be polite. OK, OK. The title of this blog is "The Real Blogger Status", and the title of this post is "What's The URL Of My Blog?".