Beyond Ethical Commenting
Having a do-follow comment policy is very cool and really nice for your readers. While many of you might think this has nothing to do with blogging ethics, in the land of Revellian, it does. Does it mean you are unethical by not being do-follow? Of course not.
I look at it as being a notch above mere ethics! Being a giving member of your blogging community makes you ethically cool!
You Comment I Reply
I have a policy here. I reply to every comment. The fastest way to lose my readership is by not answering my comments. I do make some exceptions, but only if I really like you a lot. The You Comment, I Reply movement was started by the Brown Baron, Mark Sierra and of course, Mike Wheeler!
Blogs that don’t reply to their comments are not putting their readers first. If you have great content and never reply, I won’t be reading your great content! I can get the same, if not better content from a low ranking blog with a much cooler author than you! The big blogs don’t need my help anyway!
The Comment Luv Plug in
Dawn from Antibarbie.net introduced me to it on her post, A little thing called CommentLuv. I was skeptical at first, but now I just love it!
I never write about plug ins because so many other people already do. This plug in passes the Revellian blogging ethics standard of ultra awesome! This plug in adds a link from your reader’s most recent post on every comment. How cool is that!
I also noticed that when checking comments from my beloved readers, it was nice to see if they had a new post! It’s just a great Wordpress plug in. Don’t be a selfish link miser who tries to preserve all links for high ranking, related niche blogs. Be a friendly community member!
It’s good for blogspot blogs too! They will receive the benefit of some nice comment love every time they leave one! The plug in was developed by Andy Bailey from the blog, FiddyP. Download the new updated version: CommentLuv Wordpress Plugin
If you have any ideas or problems, let’s talk about it. When something this cool comes along, we can give back and help Andy develop it further. I have noticed that he is very responsive to readers and suggestions. Let me know what you think!
Read Rolando’s great post: Blogs Don�t Discriminate
[Tags]andy bailey, beloved readers, blogging ethics, comment luv, commenting, ethical Commenting, ethics, friendly community, plug ins, readership, reply, wordpress, Wordpress plug in[/Tags]
#1 by Opal Tribble/Vegan Momma at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
I love giving back to my readers so naturally I love this plug in. I installed it on my website yesterday. I was impressed how Andy came and answered questions that some of my readers had.
I’ve noticed this on some websites and frankly I find it annoying. As you said it’s extremely selfish. If I like a persons blog I’ll add them to my blogroll and I will write posts that link to them.
I try to follow up with comments on my blogs it’s not always easy, but I get it completed. I also try to go and comment on others blogs at times I don’t have anything to say. I wait until I do.
Opal Tribble/Vegan Momma’s last blog post..October: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
#2 by Dawn at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Thanks for the link Bobby. I think it was a great idea to bring these plugins to the foreground to help spread the word about them. Another admirable quality about the developer of commentluv, Andy Bailey, is that he flat out refused to take any donations for this plugin even though you can see how diligent he is at trying to fix bugs and listen to feedback. I am very impressed with his level of professionalism for a free product.
I adore the ireply movement too. It’s a wonderful way to show your readers you actually care. I mean, I don’t understand why any blog owner would not take the time to answer all their comments unless they were getting hundreds of comments a day. I see all the time in the blogosphere, people who I leave a comment with who didn’t have any or just one or two and they never reply.
That’s just asinineto me! My blog is less than three weeks old and I’ve gotten 130 comments from readers and many repeat visitors. I think it’s mostly due to the fact that I respond to my readers and try to keep a dialog open. It’s my opinion, humble as it may be, that making visitors a priority is great way to build a following…
Dawn’s last blog post..Short Story – Silent Treatment
#3 by Rolando at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
It works because you left a comment on my blog and followed it to this post. Tada!
Rolando’s last blog post..Take Your Blogger to Work Day
#4 by Eric "Speedcat" at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
This plug in IS really slick. I noticed it over at Rolando’s “dancing” blog too. Does it increase load times much? BTW… Your page loaded very fast and easy today! Streamling HTML?
Eric “Speedcat”’s last blog post..Hangin` wit da Thoughtfulls
#5 by winston at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Thanks for the info, I will try the plugins, do pester me so I will rmb when I get back ;p
#6 by NAFA at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hey Bobby,
We actually found out about CommentLuv at Rolando’s site. It’s becoming a thing among bloggers it seems, and would possibly be a great way to increase traffic. Something that we should further research on.
It is amazing how it works! Everytime u send a comment, your latest post appears like magic. =)
NAFA’s last blog post..Relationships: Emotional Effects Versus Physical Effects
#7 by Janice at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
I think I’m seeing how it worked from Rolando’s comment there with his latest post showing.
I will give it a try. I hope it is not too difficult to do?
Janice Ng
Janice’s last blog post..Throwback Thursday : 4 mths old Hair Shaving Ceremony
#8 by Jean at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
hi bobby! sound interesting. but i just saw your comment to jan. must hv a wordpress blog huh!
how about us? what happens to us in blogger? i want this commentluv plug in too!!! *sob*
Jean’s last blog post..38 Qs Survey
#9 by Sue at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hmmm, at first I misunderstood when I saw the note on the bottom of your comment block. I thought it left a link to your last post here. This is an interesting, cool plugin. Think I’ll go get it. Now if I can only get some commenters with blogs it’ll be great. Thanks for finding this.
#10 by Opal Tribble/Vegan Momma at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
I agree this is exactly what I do. I don’t think I’ve ever linked to a A list blogger in my post simply because they already get a lot of attention I’ll link to a regular blogger that I know will appreciate it even more.
I do remember a regular blogger writing a long post about why he did not link to everyone he regularly visited. He mentioned that they weren’t in his niche then in the next sentence he encouraged people to keep the links to his website coming because he “ate them up like candy”. I immediately dumped him from my feed. That, to me, was very selfish. It works both ways.
In regards to the plugin it does work with some other blogging platforms. It seems to work with Blogger. My first comment on my Comment Luv post was from a person who uses the Blogger platform their post showed up fine. I know Andy did say in his next release it would be compatible with more RSS feeds which I think is great.
One the many thing I love about WP is the amount plugins/themes I can choose from.
Opal Tribble/Vegan Momma’s last blog post..October: National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
#11 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
One way incoming links are INCREDIBLE for page rank no matter where they come from. That’s greedy though. While I don’t link to get a return, some people will never link back unless you work a deal with them.
To become a friend with a big blogger you have to “work an angle” to get a link. That’s not friendship and I don’t want that link. I’ll link to Pro Blogger AFTER he links to me and writes 10 posts about why my blog is good…ha ha ha! Just teasing!
Yes all my blogspot commentators are getting their linkluv just fine! I know they wish they could install the plug in though. If enough of us stay this course, we will be the top bloggers before long and bring some true integrity to the “top spot”. Thanks Opal!
#12 by Sue at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
It appears not to work here on my feed, although it did at Andy’s site. Weird.
#13 by Sandman at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
My blog friends and I had this discussion once over one of those many “Bloggers Meet” here in India, about replying to every comments on our blogs. We all agreed that sometimes it is not necessary to reply to every comment
When visitors leave a good comment regarding our posts, we of course must reply to all their comments. The comments that we discussed about that day, are those “one-liner” comments like “nice post”, “great post”, “keep it coming” etc. We don’t think it is necessary to reply to each one with a thanx, simply because, had I been in their shoes, like I was reading a post and I really loved it and to show my appreciation I left a small comment “great post”, I really wouldn’t expect the author to reply to that comment. Whether he replies or not won’t change my feeling for him because he is a good blogger and I will still continue visiting his site.
But of course if I leave a long comment, with contribution/discussion regarding his particular post, then I would expect him to reply otherwise I will consider him to be very mean.
Of course I still reply to all the “one liner” comments on my blog
, but I kinda understand those “big time” bloggers for not replying to those one sentence compliments on their blogs… I guess. 
Sandman’s last blog post..Chp 146. Rules for a Personal Computer
#14 by Brown Baron at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Nice post! By the way, could you add Mike of thingsbymike.com to the iReply creators?
Your blog seems to load much faster now too
Brown Baron’s last blog post..Asterpix: Create Interactive Videos For Your Site
#15 by paisley at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
where as i understand the whole “community” thing you are doing here,,, i just want you to know that i never check back for follow up conversation… if you have something you want me to know you have to email it tome,, and i do the same… i never put something in the comments i want a response to without my email address to accompany it… i read way too many blogs and have way too many other things going on to remember who i said what to and when… if i really want to do you proud,, i refer to your post in a link in a future post of mine… i would rather see a link in your post directing your readers to my blog,, than a “thanks for being here” any time,,, as to me that says i made you think and not just about what to say back to me….just my opinion….
paisley’s last blog post..3ww
#16 by Andy Bailey at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
thanks very much for the write up of my plugin!, it’s funny, I didn’t expect to become so popular because I only made it for my own blog as a way to say nerrr to blogrush when that first came out. I didn’t want to put links to strangers blogs on my site so I came up with this to link to the people that matter most – thats the people that participate and join the discussion of my blog..
I’ll make a new release by the end of the weekend, I’ve been really busy with work this week so I haven’t been able to do as much as I had wanted
no matter! I have these updates to do:
much better feed finding, it should be able to get most peoples feeds, especially if they use some sort of feedburner plugin or have the appropriate alternate meta in the head part of their page.
internal increase of the wordpress rss function timeout so it doesn’t quit if it can’t find a feed within 2 seconds (that’s why Sue’s feed didn’t show here but did at my blog, it’s the speed between the servers that can sometimes take a bit too long ((like 3 seconds!)) )
a much improved page parsing function that kicks in if there isn’t a feed found in the expected place, it should be able to extract a feed location as long as there is a link to subscribe somewhere on the users page.
an added routine that goes might be able to get the last post even if the blog hasn’t got a feed
increased compatibility with other comment plugins that use a captcha image
for the future, I will add an options page to the wordpress dashboard so users will be able to choose their own text that is shown below the comment form and in the actual comment.
language support so users can display their own language for the displayed text (it’s already spread to some Japanese, Italian and Portuguese blogs!)
If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know and I’ll try and add it in.
spread the lurrv!
Andy Bailey’s last blog post..And the winner is?. OMG who woulda thunk it?
#17 by Joanne at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Ooo! I didn’t know it was good for blogspot as well! Thanks for the useful info, as always!
#18 by Sandman at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
Hey this “last post” script is cool! Do you do it manually (as in including my blog address within the script)? Because on your previous posts, this link never appeared for my comments. And I read that you mentioned it is a wordpress plugin only. darn…
I don’t know where my comment would appear, had I clicked on the “reply to this comment” of your reply to my comment, so I am just making a new comment rather than screw up the lay-out. Even though I am with Blogger, I am quite familiar with wordpress as I also co-Admin a couple of community blogs and sometimes I would just spend some time just reading through many of the wordpress codes (presentation, theme editor, style css, etc) I really like wordpress for its “Latest incoming link”, and it has so many other options, like recognizing me when I visit your blog! That makes it so personal. That will also make anyone want to leave a good comment. So apart from what you have mentioned about commenting ethics, I think it is also utmost important to have a very user-friendly blog template, something that is soothing to one’s eyes and emotion, to attract good comments
I moderate comments too, but I do it in my case because of a couple of racial abuses which actually humor me more than irritate me
And of course I aint a good writer as you to be able to afford to not publish “small time” comments and unrelated comments. I just publish them all and delete just the abusive ones *grin* But soon I hope I will reach your stage and that will be the day I too will start giving out tips to others. For now, I patiently listen to you and await your upcoming posts. Its like a chinese flick where the shaolin pupil hopes to become a kung-fu master one day 
Sandman’s last blog post..Chp 146. Rules for a Personal Computer
#19 by Andy Bailey at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
just to let you know that I have made some updates to commentluv, it is now at version 0.96 and should be able to parse most peoples feeds (including Sue who hasn’t had her last blog post shown here yet!)
Andy Bailey’s last blog post..And the winner is?. OMG who woulda thunk it?
#20 by Revellian at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
Thanks Andy, I have it installed.
#21 by Kate at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
Thanks for the tip! I really like the idea of being able to give my commenters a thank you gift for taking the time to leave a message. I know they can add a link when they write their comment, but this is more visible, and I think that because it links to an actual post, it should attract more interest.
“We are the new breed of friendly hybrid bloggers!”
I really like that idea – it seems to be spreading, I have noticed a growing number of bloggers saying similar things.
Kate’s last blog post..Hot Links Thursday: 11/10/07
#22 by WaterLearner at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
Bobby,
I tried to download this but doesn’t seem to work. Is there something that I am missing? This will work for blogspot right?
WaterLearner’s last blog post..38 Questions
#23 by Revellian at October 13th, 2007
| Quote
Unfortunately it is only for self hosted wordpress blogs. What I meant by blogspotter’s getting use from it is that you will receive the comment love every time you leave me a comment!
I wish blogger blogs could install it! Just remember if it is a “plug in” it is only for self hosted WP blogs. I just use it so that you or anyone leaving me a comment will get some link love!
#24 by Genie Princess at October 17th, 2007
| Quote
Hi Bobby, no wonder u love wordpress, this is a nice feature, too bad I can’t have it on my blog.
Genie Princess’s last blog post..Why I Blog?
#25 by talina at November 11th, 2007
| Quote
So, have you noticed a decrease in your page rank since implementing the comment luv plugin? I have read some bad stuff about draining your page rank with tools like this.. I like the idea of sharing links in the comment area. It does make returning the comment favor easier and fun but I don’t want it to have a negative impact on my site.. Could you share your thoughts on this?
talina’s last blog post..So you have a blog and a dream, how do you get there?
#26 by Elliott Russell at March 19th, 2008
| Quote
To be honest, though i love what this plugin can do, i feel it hurts blogging. It will just cheapen commenting down to a link back prize
Elliott Russell’s last blog post..Challenge: Drink Only What is Free
#27 by nugraha at October 3rd, 2008
| Quote
Is comment luv work with blogger ?
#28 by Revellian at October 3rd, 2008
| Quote
@Talina: Page rank is irrelevant. My search engine traffic has quadrupled since going down from 4 to 2!
@Elliot: Nah.
@Nugraha: Not yet!
#29 by Daniel Dumas :: Mr Night Man at October 21st, 2008
| Quote
Hello thanks for the info. i just installed comment luv plugin in my wordpress blog after reading this thanks thanks!
#30 by Revellian at October 22nd, 2008
| Quote
Hi Daniel! I hope it’s useful to you. I hardly use any plug ins anymore, but this one is really good and beneficial to your readers
#31 by Tammy-Cricket at May 19th, 2009
| Quote
LOL…I added comment luv to my blog tonight but I am having problems getting it to actually show the link.
I did a google search with the problem and look what site appeared. YOU! I thought, “Hey, I know this guy.”
Anyway, since this post was from 2007 I can see I am a bit behind.
You had a huge number of comments on this one.
#32 by Bobby Revell at May 20th, 2009
| Quote
Hey Tammy, It’s strange how comments on my older posts appear shuffled in the middle of the deck, but I remember how this blog was almost destroyed with database problems and I luckily saved it! It’s a fun plug in and the developer Andy Bailey is really great. I wrote this back when I had time to be a big community member, but these days I’m so busy working, I barely have time to blog. I miss my early blogging days a lot:)
#33 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hi Opal! One thing I cannot stand about some big money bloggers, is they NEVER reply to comments. I?d be surprised if most of them even read them. A lot of them also have dofollow stipulations like your having to leave a minimum of so many comments in a certain time period.
They all have the you comment I follow pic in their side bar. It should say, ?You Comment and I might follow only if you meet the following criteria.? LOL!
The way I see it is if more of us ?regular folks? stick together and do more linking and trackbacking to related posts from eachother, rather than big blogs, we can change the internet.
I see new bloggers writing about John Chow in every post and have only A-listers in their blogrolls. Thats why there are so few people considered A-listers in the first place. I can get all the same info from someone who really needs a link or trackback.
It?s a great plugin!!!! Thanks Opal
#34 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
I write for my readers, not myself or the whole blogosphere. If I received 150 comments per day I would post less frequently and still reply to them all. If I received 1000 per day, I would be making some cash and would hire people to answer them.
One thing so weird is that making friends with a prominent cash blogger is different than making friends everyone else. I will never change the way I make friends! I have been the number 1 commenter on several big blogs that never once replied.
I get my tips from small blogs. They are the same freaking tips everyone has! By having varied content, I have something for all readers! We are the new breed of friendly hybrid bloggers! Thanks Dawn
#35 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Isn’t it cool? It’s good to link to people’s posts and over time with be beneficial for our readers rankings
#36 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
It hasn’t increased my load times at all. This template is very fast and the guys listed in my footer are responsible
#37 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
This plugin is only for wordpress blogs. The commenters, like you, are who receives the link luv!
#38 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
It’s a gift to my readers! Leaving a link here is good for your blog, not mine!
#39 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
You have to have a wordpress blog! The link luv is for you and your latest post!!! Thanks Janice
#40 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hi Jean! Buy your domain through a host like Bluehost and pay a pro to move your blog for you so you preserve your links and authority! Then you will be a WEBMASTER!
#41 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
There are some bugs and tweaks needed on the plugin but he’s a developer and I have confidence he’ll get it working better!
#42 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
You are the only person I know who does that. I get an average of 700 emails per day. Right now, I have over 35,000 e-mails in my gmail account and if some one sends me an e-mail, I won’t see it unless I am looking for it.
In your way of thinking, you will be much less likely to get a link from anyone.
You said, “i would rather see a link in your post directing your readers to my blog,, than a ?thanks for being here? any time” Yeah…me too!!! It just doesn’t work that way though.
I don’t reply to say thanks. I reply to actively communicate with people who read my blog. They read my post but come back for the conversation!!!!! I have rarely ever left a tiny comment saying, “Thanks”.
Commenting in blogging CONVERSATION. If you changed the way you participated in the community, your incoming links would increase 500%, the amount of comments you receive too.
I know you Paisely and you can get away with things that would literally kill a blog because you are such an expressive writer. For me to stop my flow of conversational commenting to send a special e-mail would cost me more time than answering it!!!
I will not like you any less because you don’t reply to a comment I leave you, but you are the exception, not the rule!!!!! I currently read 2-300 blogs and I leave over 1000 comments on other blogs per week. I go back and read the replies on all of them before I read each one’s new post!!
I will stop what I’m doing, just for you only, and take the extra time to email you a comment
LOL 
#43 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Thanks Andy! I simply like the plug in and because I believe in sharing with my readers, I will help you promote it. You are the only developer I have seen who is nice enough to take a very active community stance.
I can’t wait for the updates! My readers really like it and my blogspot reader’s really wish they could have it! My friends & I support you 100% and will help out anytime. The options page sound very cool.
Good luck and great job on my favourite plug in…ever
#44 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hey, Brown Baron! Are you talking about that Mike Wheeler character? I don’t know if I can add him in…JUST KIDDING! I knew I forgot something. Of course…Sorry Mike! LOL
I think it is much faster and I like it much more. I’d like a cooler header. To me, the header is the least important thing on a blog. A cool header won’t make me read a poorly written blog twice! Even though, I’d still like to have a really cool one
#45 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hey Sandman! I moderate comments here. If a stranger leaves a comment like, “nice post” you won’t see it because I delete it. I have hundreds of unapproved comments each month. Then again, I never leave a reply saying “thanks”.
A reader who is getting a link from every comment will have to put in some effort. Every blog is different though. People leave me long comments (like you do) and YES…that’s what I’m talkin’ bout.
I live for comment conversation. It is the heart of my blog. I really won’t think less of someone who isn’t as sociable as me but I like to motivate them to be more participative.
As far as replying to one liners from a big blog’s standpoint… don’t read any big blogs LOL
Thanks! I’ll come read your latest post!!! 
#46 by Revellian at October 11th, 2007
| Quote
Hi Joanne! It didn’t find the link to your latest post, but after the update it should. Most of my blogspot readers did get a link to their last post. Thanks Joanne!
#47 by Revellian at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
In my newest post, theres a link to a good seo video from Aaron Cook. Watch how the Google engineers all use Wordpress, not blogspot! I bet Google ends up owning wordpress.
I get a lot of short comments from people who don’t read anything and want a link to some sales site that isn’t a blog. I delete them. If they leave a pertinent comment, I don’t mind giving the link.
I really don’t know much! I learn new stuff and immediately write about it. I have given guys guitar lessons who became really good. I would sometimes have to learn new theory and master the application just to give them a new lesson!
I simply love to learn! I teach to learn even more.
#48 by Revellian at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
It’s been updated, so hopefully on your next comment, you’ll get your link!
#49 by Revellian at October 12th, 2007
| Quote
Hi Kate! I can think of a million reasons why it’s true
#50 by Revellian at October 17th, 2007
| Quote
That’s ok Genie Princess! You can still reap the rewards!!!!