Ok, I am going to try and write this kindly and professionally. I have posted a million links on this subject. I am going to put this in nice plain writing.
1. About Page – Why would I comment with no photo or credentials listed on an about page?
2. Gravatar Image – Why would I click on a Gravatar that looks like a spam image?
Not going to…why? Too much spam. The Gravatar, should have your photo, along with your profile. This creates trust. Trust is essential.
Why would I trust to comment on your blog, with no “about page” and no Gravatar image? I will not. Gravatar image must have a photo. About page must have a photo with information about the author.
Look at a book…it has a photo of the author and credentials or information on the cover. Correct? Yes, it does. I will not visit your site or comment without a Gravatar or an about page. Why? Think you are a spammer. Why? No credentials.
I am having technical issues with my Gravatar at the moment. Contacting WP to fix this issue, as it is not showing correctly on other sites.
Noticed many spammers on WordPress lately, with crazy Gravatar images. I do not visit sites unless it is a real photo of a person.
Posted this, just to let readers know background information on spammers.
Liz
theclaustrophobicintrovert
/ August 17, 2012Interesting. I don’t have a photo or an about, because I want my blog to be as anonymous as possible since I started it to write about my own, sensitive issues. I’m not going for a huge readership, so I figured that not doing an image or an about page would be ok. Thinking I will take the blog down.
LizEccentric7
/ August 17, 2012@theclaustrophicintrovert – it’s good to have the about page and Gravatar. Humanizes your site. Took me a long time to realize those facts.
theclaustrophobicintrovert
/ August 20, 2012I just gave myself both a gravatar & a little “about” section. I certainly don’t want anyone thinking I’m a spambot, lol!
LizEccentric7
/ August 20, 2012Great! Have you fixed the discussion settings? My comments were not showing up, and were not in moderation. My comments on your posts were just disappearing.
theclaustrophobicintrovert
/ August 20, 2012I’m not sure why. I have it set for comments to go into moderation, with an email being sent to me when a comment appears – & that’s not happening. So I’m going to play with the settings & see if I can get them to work.
Thanks for the input, I truly appreciate it! I thought WordPress would be a better format, but the blog I had years ago on MSN was much easier.
LizEccentric7
/ August 20, 2012I would go into discussion and not put comments in moderation.
If you click “users must be logged in and registered to comment”
This is a better option (to me) than comment moderation.
All of my comments went to spam when I had it set on comment moderation. Sometimes I did not get comments. You can always delete comments, rather than have moderation setting.
I do not like comment moderation setting because it was causing technical issues for discussion. This is my opinion from experience.
I like the “users must be logged in and registered” option better. Been getting way less spam now.
That’s just my experience with the discussion settings…..
Once you get things set, you won’t have anymore issues. WP is a great site, just takes a bit to get the hang of settings etc. I love WP, it is a safe site. WP does good job of keeping hackers and spammers off my site.
theclaustrophobicintrovert
/ August 21, 2012Again, thanks. I made the changes you suggested.
LizEccentric7
/ August 21, 2012Hopefully, it works properly now.
John
/ August 17, 2012The spammers are really trying hard to pollute WP. I get several failed attempts per week. It never makes it onto my posts, these dopes don’t seem to realize this. I guess they hit Publish then split. Idiots. Great points on the About page. Some sites never seem to develop this very important page. I have once again recently updated my About page. It really does need a facelift now and then. I sometimes think I have too many pages though…
LizEccentric7
/ August 17, 2012@John – the spam lately has been so much, it is out of control. I hesitate to go to sites that do not have an about page, for that reason. You are right John about the spam.
Mila
/ August 18, 2012Spam is an issue, but I still don’t know if I’d use a real photo of myself for my gravatar. I never did, and I don’t plan on doing it now. It just makes me uncomfortable, to share my photo in the internet.
I may will in some time, when I get to know WordPress better. But, even if I get to fully trust this site, I’m still not sure about it.
We’ll see ^^
LizEccentric7
/ August 18, 2012Mila – in your case this is different due to your age. I should have been more clear. I think if it is a young writer, this is a whole different story….there are too many wierdo’s on the internet. Your choice is a good one. I don’t think that there are many people that would stalk a person ages 35-70, right?
You have made the right choice – in my opinion.
Mila
/ August 18, 2012Haha, ok then, I knew there was something about it.
I guess some day I’ll be able to share my photo around here.
Until then, I’ll leave my looks to people’s imagination~
LizEccentric7
/ August 18, 2012@Mila – in your case and due to the current political post you wrote recently, I think that is a good idea.