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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.