Comments on Commenting....

I just need to make a quick post here to apologize. I am having a commenting problem and I don't know what to do about it. If you have commented on one of my blog posts, there is a good chance I've visited your blog, and I've probably left a comment. HOWEVER, I am having an issue with my comments getting swallowed in cyberspace, and I don't know what to do.

It started, or at least I first noticed it, about three months ago. I'd commented on a post on Doing Dewey.  I later went back to leave a second comment and noticed there was no sign of the first comment. The second comment didn't appear either. So I asked about it to see if for some reason I'd been blocked. Not only had Katie not blocked me, but in checking she discovered there were no comments from me since sometime in April. And I KNOW I've commented frequently.

On further investigation, I've noticed it seems to happen on on WordPress based blogs. When I type a comment, everything looks good and it appears to be accepted. I get no warning notice or error message. And yet the comment never appears on the post! Very recently, I've discovered that if I omit the step of leaving my URL, the comment appears just fine. But then of course, it makes it really hard for someone to find my blog and respond if they want to browse some of the reviews I've mentioned.

So I came up with a workaround that I am sure is almost as bad as no URL. I started a second book blog with ONE POST ONLY! That post contains a link to my REAL blog so people can find me. It has to be inconvenient, but is better than nothing, I guess.

Here's the real head scratcher.....

If I don't realize I'm on a WordPress blog and leave my real URL, the comment disappears into cyberspace. If I then leave a second comment with my 'pretend' URL I get an error message telling me it is a duplicate comment. So I have to change what I wanted to say, or just decide it wasn't really important! It's almost like their is some master WordPress list that has my URL blocked!

Bottom line — I am not leaving nearly as many comments as I would otherwise. It doesn't mean I don't read and appreciate your blog though! I just don't know how to fix this. If you have any ideas about what might be going on, I'd really REALLY appreciate your sharing them!