They were the words that would change the world. No better words had ever been written in all of the history of blogging. I carefully studied what I had labored over for several minutes to make sure there were no errors. This comment had to be perfect.
With a deep breath of satisfaction I clicked the "Post Comment" button. The screen lurched and the page shifted. Scrolling down, I returned to the comment box. The crazy word "APHYLE" waited for me to enter it into the Word Verification box.
The screen jogged and went back to top of the page. I scrolled down. The red letters told me that I had typed the word incorrectly. Now I was commanded to type "CESSNE". Curses! I could have sworn I had entered the first word correctly, but undaunted I entered this new word.
This time the blog page jumped and pulsed. The screen flicked and twitched. What was happening? The comment box disappeared and was replaced by a blank white space. I tried to refresh the page but the white space remained. Nothing! The comment box with my most perfect words was gone.
My words had been captured by CAPTCHA and catapulted into cyberspace limbo. My time had been wasted. There would be no comment left on this blog today.
Has this ever happened to you? Do you still have the surprise pop-up CAPTCHA word verification on your blog?
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Two blog events are coming in the next couple days that need more support. This is the first blog fest for each of these bloggers so I hope you'll show them your support by joining in the fun.
The Nifty Fify Blogfest is a first try for Tizzy at Impossible Dreams. A nice prize is going to given in Tizzy's blogfest. She's offering a Bodleian Library Everyday Journal from Museums and Galleries--sounds pretty nice. Pop on over and check this out and add your name to the list. This fest happens this coming Saturday February 26th.**************************
I lose comments all the time, and for some reason I can't bring myself to re-comment if that happens. Like I don't want to 'give in' to the vengeful comment gods. I'm pretty sure mine would have been perfect too.
ReplyDelete;-j
Oh, yessss! I, too, am a victim of the 'comment-kidnappers'! To counteract this, if I've written a legnthy comment I tend to 'copy & paste' it to a holding document - then, if the original gets vapourised I can reinstate it with a couple of clicks. Bery annonying when I forget, though...
ReplyDelete(....and sometimes I can actually spell correctly, too! ;-p )
ReplyDeleteI detest word verification. I've done what Sue suggested on more than one occasion. I don't use it.There is nothing more frustrating than composing a long, thoughtful comment and having it disappear. I do have comment authorization enabled for posts that are older than 7 days, mainly to catch comments on older posts that I might miss.
ReplyDeleteI don't detest it and even understand why some people use it. To lose a comment though is a pain in the ^*^*. The ones I don't like are the ones that require a form to be filled out before you can comment. :(
ReplyDeleteJules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
I too lose comments but sometimes a new set of letters appear as what I had inserted was wrong, wrote out another comment only to find the first arrived, very confusing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit and comment as always much appreciated,
Yvonne.
I do not use word verification - I can't imagine a machine commenting on my posts . . . so if a real live person wants to say something - I'm grateful. I'm not going to make it hard for them.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your words will come back another day . . . maybe as CAPTCHA's!
And that is why I don't use word verification! Oh, and why I tend to keep my comments short, because I've lost them in that manner on several occasions.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I hate it when that happens!
ReplyDeletei hate those little pop up words i always hav trouble figuring them out
ReplyDeletethis is exactly why I keep telling people to stop using that horrible, obnoxious, irritating, freakin' word verification box! You have an excuse to use it only if you have dozens of spam weekly, but if I with almost 2,000 visits every day don't have them, then I seriously doubt anyone else does.
ReplyDeleteWord verification has been gone from the Tiki Hut for several months now, but I no longer allow anonymous comments. Knock on wood, this combination has worked well so far.
ReplyDeleteIt does take up a lot of "precious" time and I absolutely see no reason to have it, especially for those comments that require blog owners approval, but I guess it is part of blogging life and in a way, the beauty of it.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have had that happen. I just don't re-comment. But now that I'm thinking about it, I may have to take that stupid word verification off mine!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry, word verification drives me crazy. Once in a while I'll get spam, but I recently switched to no anonymous comments and that stopped the spamming.
ReplyDeleteI took the word verif off mine after I had so many problems on other blogs. My problem is I forget about it and think it's submitted and hit the close button just as I see the verification box show up. UGGHH I lose my comments myself. Of course when that happens I can NEVER remember what I said. So I cuss and say great post and leave. :)
ReplyDeleteI guess that must have been open CESSNE ?
ReplyDeleteI got rid of word verification as it is such a pain for commenters to wrestle with.
I like the look of those blogfests thanks for the heads up :O)
Charmaine -- Sometimes I'll do that, but usually if I can I will try to go back and just say my good comment was lost and now I'm just saying hello or something like that.
ReplyDeleteSue -- I have done the copy and paste thing too, but usually I forget until it's a wish-I'd-done-that moment.
Kat -- I also have the owner approval for older posts. I rarely see spam.
Jules -- Oh me too! Hate those forms you have to fill out, especially when I waste a lot of time with it and it still won't accept my comment. Big time waster!
Yvonne --I also had the multiple comment problem when I don't think my first comment went through.
Sheila ---- Where do all those lost comments end up?
Alex -- It not as bad to lose a short comment.
Jess -- Me too!
Becca -- Sometimes the letters do run together or are shaped funny and I enter the wrong word.
ReplyDeleteDezmond -- I know of a couple sites that seemed to get spammed a lot and they don't bother with the WV box, they just delete the spam.
Carol -- I've kept the anonymous comments because I still have a few friends and family members who commment that way--they don't want to sign up for Blogger I guess. I don't have any problems with spam.
Ocean Girl -- I do put up with it even though it's sometimes a hassle.
Susan BK -- The WV is not so bad when you see it from the start, but it's really annoying when it pops up after the comment has been written.
L. Diane -- I'll take any comments and if the spamming starts getting bad then I might have to reassess this approach.
L.A. -- That's what I do too. Sometimes I will try to re-create the comment, but it never seems to be quite as good as the original.
Madeleine -- "Open Cessne" is a good one. The WV words can be fun sometimes. Hope you'll sign up for those two blogfests--they don't seem to be that difficult and I'd like to give both these bloggers a little boost.
I thought I was just having head-space-and-timing issues. At one point I looked up one of these stupid "words" and wrote in "THIS ISN'T EVEN A F***ING WORD!" but guessing CAPTCHA doesn't give a hoot. Oh - and I WILL do one of these challenges when I'm not bouncing around the planet and have steady internet connection one of these days. Fun blog!
ReplyDeleteNo, that has luckily never happened. But it has happened (many times) that my cursor would vanish just as I press BACKSPACE, which invariably takes me to the previous page and deletes my comments.
ReplyDeleteIn true Murphy fashion, this comment wouls be the one that took forever to get right. >_<
Yep, I've lost comments but not often. I'm not a fan of the word verification things and it's worse when someone wants to approve the comment as well. I took off that thingo ages ago and I don't get any spam. I only got spam when I allowed anonymous to comment.
ReplyDeleteYep it's happened to me. And after reading these comments, I think I'm going to turn the word verification thingy off on mine.
ReplyDeleteValerie -- That is too funny. I think I've also put messages in the CAPTCHA box, only to have it ignored and be asked to copy another word.
ReplyDeleteMisha -- It's bad when you're finger slips or mistypes and it screws up whatever you're doing.
Lynda -- But as I said above, if you ban "anonymous" you could be potentially blocking out good commenters who just don't want to sign up with Blogger.
Bish -- If the WV is embedded or is there to see before you comment it's not so bad. What is bad is when you put in your comment and the WV pops up when you try to post it--then the page has to reload and the weird quirks can start happening.
Well Arlee I certainly have had my share of comments disappear. It is so frustrating. Also when you have commented to a regular, and it doesn't show up. I don't know if they haven't posted it yet or it just got lost in cyberspace!
ReplyDeleteLove Di ♥
Where is the command, "Computer, retype my most recent 147 words. (pause waiting for the completion) Thanks computer!"
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that happens a lot. I mean to leave a comment, but it gets eaten and the blog is left without my comment. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteNight before last it wasn't a comment...it was a whole non-fiction story that was in the process of being transferred from Word Perfect to Word. I thought it was gone forever. Erased from WP and lost lost lost. I worked for an hour before I got it back. The stuff of nightmares!
ReplyDeleteDiana -- Or maybe they deleted it because they were offended about something or mad at you for some reason--not that it would apply to you--but it could happen and it would be sad if it did and you didn't know what was wrong.
ReplyDeleteErnest Boston!! -- a comment from one of my favorite wacky bloggers on whose blog posts I can never directly comment. How do I deserve this honor? Yes, that would be a great function which is undoubtedly possible, maybe available, and could be of tremendous use. I like the idea.
Please come back again, Ernest. Why don't you join us for the A to Z Challenge? Why won't you enable your comments so people can react to your very original and unique blog posts?
M Pax -- This is when you've done your part and that's all you can do. Oh well is right.
Betty --I have done similar. I recall when I was first getting used to Word programs I was going back to get my degree. In one of my first classes I finished a lengthy paper and then somehow it vanished. I never recovered it and late that night I tediously tried to reconstruct it from memory, but it wasn't as good as the original. After that I always made a point to keep hitting "save" periodically.
Disabled Captcha a while back because of the shenanigans but on other blogs if I'm writing something lengthy I will copy.
ReplyDeleteOMG, I was going to post about this very problem next week. It's been driving me crazy! There is a very simple solution to it, without having to sacrifice the spam check - set your settings to open up a new window for comments. That means there are no annoying interactive elemnts to slow you down or move the cursor around.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! I have been honoured with the One Lovely Blog Award, and would love to pass it along to you (courtesy of Mysteriousbooks).
ReplyDeleteIf you're not into accepting awards, no problem . . . please take this as an admiration of the work you do. :-)
Link: http://mysteriousrose.blogspot.com/2011/02/one-lovely-blog-award.html
First of all I hate those captcha thingies, I don't know why anyone (unless you're being spammed a lot, and there are plenty of spam-catcher programs you can install easily and for free) would want to make people jump through hoops to leave a comment.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, if I don't get the doggone (often nearly impossible to decipher) word right the first time and my comment was not of earth shattering importance, I just say 'forget it' and leave.
Thirdly, I've now gotten into the practice of, when I really have something to say of significance, composing the comment in a Word.doc and then copying and pasting it into the comments box. That way I haven't wasted my time if a glitch occurs.
Which reminds me, I didn't do that with this one - let me copy this onto a Word.doc right now, lol!
I HATE CAPTCHAS.
ReplyDeleteIf it's a blogger I know, I'll try more than once to enter the correct letters. If it's the first time I'm visiting a blog and I can't get my comment to post on the first attempt, I usually don't bother.
I think you know how I feel about those evil pop-up boxes! I hate word verification, too, but I had to turn it on after a bad bout of spammers. I may try to take it off again!
ReplyDeleteI really don't like word verification. Besides losing comments, it makes the process take so much longer. Blogger is usually pretty good about catching spammy comments too.
ReplyDeleteCarla
I hate Captcha. I think leaving a comment should be easy.
ReplyDeleteI have typed my comments and hit the little x box just as the word verification popped up. Oh, well, no comment that day. I don't have it on my sites and hopefully never will. Blogger's spam filter is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteAhh that is so frustrating!
ReplyDeleteOf course, this has happened to me, too. It's maddening and unnecessary! I don't think that I have it enabled, but I'll check. Thanks for the reminder. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteI'm just biding my time, waiting for a dirty word to pop up in the word verification window.
ReplyDeleteIt's only a matter of time......
Enough said, I'm removing my word verification box right now.
ReplyDeleteFollowing you through Alex and the A-Z challenge now!
Nikki
Angry Lurker -- I need to get in the habit of copying my comment before I send it.
ReplyDeleteEllie -- I used to have a comment window open up but then I changed it to the way it is now, but without any verification. I hope no one is having any problems with my site. Hope someone will let me know if they are.
Rose -- Thanks for the award. I will check it out.
Marvin -- Yeah, I'm with you except I do need to start copying long comments.
Karen -- I also take more time with my regular blog friends, but every one of my comments is precious to me and I hate to lose any of them. I might be making new friendships with my comments on a site I don't normally visit.
Talli -- Wish we knew why certain sites are spammed more than others.
Carla -- I agree that the time factor in filling out WV boxes and other things slows down the visiting process.
ReplyDeleteCarol -- Yes leaving a comment should be fast and easy.
Budd -- I don't like the surprise pop up CAPTCHAs--they're the worst.
Michelle -- Frustrating for sure.
Marguerite--Some bloggers may not even realize that they have something that makes commenting on their blogs a hassle. Of course if someone is not getting many comments they should check to be sure leaving comments is easy.
Al-- I've have a few WV words that border on being dirty and some that could be great new dirty words. Some of the words WV shows does kind of make it worthwhile.
Marshmallow -- Anything you can do to make commenting easier is a good thing for the rest of us.
Oh, yes, it has happened and it is maddening~
ReplyDeleteI try to copy n' paste it in word, if I go long.
I try not to, but once in a blue moon, it happens~
I will check out the blogfest; Tough call only picking 8...off to check them both out~
Happy Friday~
The random word from Capcha tend to be rather bizarre, such as 'hymen' and 'vomitus'! But the worse comment thief is a site that doesn't enable pop-ups.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that happened Lee, very frustrating to say the least. CAPTCHA drives me crazy. I too have lost long detailed comments. When I find that I'm starting to get into many talking points I often copy and paste into Word before posting - it has saved my post on many occasions.
ReplyDeleteElla -- Just lost a comment to Captcha on your site. I keep forgetting to copy them. At least the comment wasn't to long and involved.
ReplyDeleteEeleenlee --The weird words are the most fun aspect of CAPTCHA. I do enjoy those.
Paula-- Yeah, I know, I know--I keep hearing it and I have done it on occasion. Usually I just feel confident I guess and just forget to do it. Oh well!
Happens all the time - Farmville to the rescue. I have learned to always go up to the 'page' select copy - then post. On farmville you never know when they will decide to out of sync or enhance you - nothing like working days to get a pink pony and have it zap into cyber-heck before you get to share it with friends.
ReplyDeleteI do it for comments on blogs too - that way you just paste on the new screen and poof - you don't have to type it all again or give up and grumble.
Lynn-- Thank goodness! At last a useful use for Farmville.
ReplyDelete