I recently discovered that there is an apparent bug in the Blogger commenting system related to embedded comments. When anyone visits a Blogger blog and decides to post a comment via an embedded comment form, they are presented with a field to type their comment and a drop down menu to select an identity. The first one on the list in the drop down menu is Google Account.
If you are already logged in to Google, your username should show up automatically. If you are not signed into Google, "Google Account" is listed. If one decides to select Google Account, nothing happens. No options to log in are provided.
I suspect visitors have come to my blog and posted comments using this option only to have their well thought out post disappear into oblivion once they clicked the Post Comment button. I've seen more than a few comment-form entries in my StatCounter visitor log. I am fairly certain at least a few have been affected by this bug.
Other bass fishing bloggers use the embedded form, so I'm not the only one who is affected. Many other blogs on Blogger now employ the embedded form. I'm not sure how widespread the problem actually is, though.
I have modified the instructions above the comment form to let Google users know they need to be logged in first, but I'm still left with a difficult decision. Do I go back to the pop up window comment form? Do I stay with the embedded form? I don't know the answer to that question yet.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
• The Visitor Slump Begins
Since starting this blog, I've observed an interesting phenomenon that only occurs certain times of the year. The thing about bass fishing is that it's a very seasonal sport. Anglers can be just as finicky as their bass counterparts when it comes to weather. At some point during late summer, visits start to dwindle. Most of my hits come from Google searches, not subscribers or repeat visitors, so when searches start to die down, hits follow.
Over the last week or two, I have noticed visitor numbers drop. Although it depends on the stat monitor in question (ie: TopFishingSites vs my account at StatCounter), that obvious trend has started to emerge again. It is subtle, but present nonetheless.
So what's going on this time of year to make things cool off? Fall is almost here, so you would think anglers would be vamped up and ready to fish another fun season. Fall has always been a fun time of year for me. Nah. Spring is long gone. The summer heat has turned lakes into fishing famines for many of us. The heat alone keeps a lot of anglers indoors. School is starting up across the country, so kids can't goof off on the computer anymore. It's back to the grind for them.
In late autumn, the numbers really drop and don't pick back up again when we all start thinking about the spawn. It would appear at first glance that when anglers don't fish, they also decide not to go online in search of all things fishing. At some point, lakes will start dipping into those tough 50 degree temperatures. After that, the deep freeze sets in turning your favorite fishing hole into ice as far as the eye can see.
It will be interesting to see how Twitter changes. I have not been a Twitter member for long, but most of the anglers on Twitter are a little more die hard about this sport than others. Hopefully the info out there will keep everyone's attention.
But this won't stop me from posting. In fact, I still have a lot of things to cover that are on my to do list. It has made me consider sticking to more seasonal topics in hopes of attracting visits from people searching for answers to those kinds of questions. In February, things will start to pick up again and when it does, some of the posts I will have written during the down time will attract new visitors.
Over the last week or two, I have noticed visitor numbers drop. Although it depends on the stat monitor in question (ie: TopFishingSites vs my account at StatCounter), that obvious trend has started to emerge again. It is subtle, but present nonetheless.
So what's going on this time of year to make things cool off? Fall is almost here, so you would think anglers would be vamped up and ready to fish another fun season. Fall has always been a fun time of year for me. Nah. Spring is long gone. The summer heat has turned lakes into fishing famines for many of us. The heat alone keeps a lot of anglers indoors. School is starting up across the country, so kids can't goof off on the computer anymore. It's back to the grind for them.
In late autumn, the numbers really drop and don't pick back up again when we all start thinking about the spawn. It would appear at first glance that when anglers don't fish, they also decide not to go online in search of all things fishing. At some point, lakes will start dipping into those tough 50 degree temperatures. After that, the deep freeze sets in turning your favorite fishing hole into ice as far as the eye can see.
It will be interesting to see how Twitter changes. I have not been a Twitter member for long, but most of the anglers on Twitter are a little more die hard about this sport than others. Hopefully the info out there will keep everyone's attention.
But this won't stop me from posting. In fact, I still have a lot of things to cover that are on my to do list. It has made me consider sticking to more seasonal topics in hopes of attracting visits from people searching for answers to those kinds of questions. In February, things will start to pick up again and when it does, some of the posts I will have written during the down time will attract new visitors.
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