Moderating Comments | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

What do people think about moderating comments before posting them?  I currently have mine set up to require moderation, but I wonder if that would make it more difficult for people to interact in the comments.  I haven't gotten any spam comments yet, so I guess I don't really need to moderate them.  I've also noticed some sites where you have to login in order to comment, which I really don't understand unless you have a lot of other content that is only accessible with an account. 

I use Intense Debate, and it has definitely increased my commenting. ID has a similar feature as SD mentioned. Despite the hiccups, I still prefer it to un-moderated comments or using the standard commenting available for my platform.

I use the same method as College Investor.  First time comment gets moderated – then you're in!  

I only moderate the first time someone comments, or if they have links in their comments. I read all the comments of course, but don't moderate after that.

Thanks for all of the responses.  Moderating only the first comment seems like a really good approach.  I'm on blogger right now, though, and I don't see that as an option.  (I know I need to get everything shifted over to its own domain and use wordpress, but I won't have time to look into that until January.)

MyJourneytoMillions said:

I literally won't sign in to comment on a blog. 

I agree.  I would never do it.

I use the same method that most have stated–I moderate the first comment and then  you're good to go. However, I have noticed that sometimes, even if I've approved someone, I'll have to approve it again especially if the commenter changes his or her email address. I don't know why that happens but it's not too common.

@Dr. Dean–I use commentLuv and while I have seen an increase in comments since I've installed it, I don't know that it's a direct reflection of that plug-in or the content. I haven't had any trouble maintaining it. I chose it over Disqus because I cannot access Disqus from my work computer and I like being able to read and respond to comments throughout the day. 

sooverdebt said:

I started using the Disqus commenting plugin so I don't have to deal with moderating anymore. If someone posts a link, I get an email, and I can reply "approve" and it will post the comment. I love that feature! I haven't gotten a single spam comment since I installed Disqus. 

The drawback is that some people won't comment when they see something like Disqus or Intense Debate in place. But for me, it's been worth it.

You can do that with regular wordpress comments too. Set it as "block comment" or "moderate comment" if there's more than a certain amount of links in the comment.

The Single Saver said:

I don't moderate comments at all, and I am not really a fan of commenting on blogs who do moderate comments.  I use Blogger and they automatically pick up 99% of my spam… the other 1% I just dispose of on my own.  I also don't limit what people say on my blog as long as it isn't overly mean or spammy. 

Of the many drawbacks that Blogger has, I do have to say that dealing with spam comments is much less time consuming than on WP.  That's probably the only benefit though :)

I sort of moderate – if you're good the first time yuo're good to go, but if askimet thinks you're spam, i have to approve the person every time.  Its not too tedious, but I was getting tons of spam a while back, and now I get none.

I use Disqus and WP-SpamFree and I never have worried about moderating. I think it's just a waste of time until it becomes a serious problem on your blog. Most of us have thousands of comments now yet don't actively moderate.