We all love the blogosphere… it’s such a unique, user-driven content engine. Experts in their own fields offer their own stories, advice, tips and tricks of the trade. You can learn how to mistreat windows, use photoshop, make jam in 30 minutes, apply makeup like a M.A.C pro, make a herb container garden, or totally make fun of what a dork I am.
But there are some things that can totally make a girl batty. I’m going to talk about some of mine.
gratuitous image of my boys acting batty that totally cracks me up
- CAPTCHAs. Specifically the ones that appear *after* you’ve already written out the whole long comment. Look, if you’re going to have it, at least be up front about it so I can leave before I’ve bothered typing everything out. They’re annoying in general but the ones that try and trick you are just plain wrong. The whole point of CAPTCHAs is to limit the number of comments left. I am happy to honor that request. Rule of thumb: if you want feedback, make it non-tricky.
- Partial Feeds. I get that you get paid when people come to your site. I understand it. Still a pet peeve. Let’s assume I have 120 blogs in my feed reader. If they each required only an extra minute of my time, that would be 2 hours. I use a feed reader so I can read everything in one place in a time-efficient, easy to manage way. It’s not personal when I delete my subscription to your partial feed. There’s just no point in subscribing to it. The time | effort equation is off-kilter.
- Husband, mother-in-law, sister-in-law bashing. This one doesn’t need an explanation. I simply assume if the blogger can’t respect her own family, she certainly won’t respect any effort I might make toward friendship.
- 298,423,578,536,458 categories. Or none at all. Categories, especially clickable ones, are really great navigational tools. Used well, they encourage people to stay on your site and follow up on topics that interests them. Your categories are also great indicators for what you blog about and what’s important to you. They are the roman numerals in your blog’s outline (remember those from high school??).
- Autoplay music. Awwww, c’mon. You knew this one would make the list right? Music is emotional. I totally get it. It sparks sensory reactions and attachments. It can also scare the criminy out of you if you’re not anticipating noise. And for me, I’ve already got Pandora or iTunes going. I don’t need your music interfering with the perfection of Idina Menzel. And one last thing about music – it’s one of the most polarizing things you can do to your readership. You can very quickly alienate would-be readers by scaring them or not sharing the same love of Run DMC. Country music and gospel music are especially polarizing. Very few people feel lukewarm about those. Do you really need to offer people another reason to leave when you work so hard to get them there?
- No search bar This is a must-have navigational tool. In nearly all the above links, I remembered the posts, went to the blogger’s site and searched for them. There was another great one I wanted to include, but I couldn’t find it on the blogger’s site. Make your content findable, please. I promise people use it!
- Okay this one is totally petty but this is my pet peeve list, remember? Blog with no images. I cannot do it. Large blocks of text. Cannot do it. Writers – good for you. I need illustrations, like a pretty little picture book. I’m so gone without them. Blogs have totally spoiled us, haven’t they? Odd since the book I’m currently reading has 700some pages with no images.
Okay, I confessed my pet peeves. What are yours?
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Ditto. Similar.
But you say it better.
xo
Sandy´s last blog ..Magic Show- a Late Dinner- and Roasted Strawberry Bruschetta!
I’m just gonna leave a “ME TOO” and be done with it. I hope you get LOTS and LOTS of readers on this one and make some serious changes! : )
the BLAH BLAH BLAHger´s last blog ..KITTY LITTER CAKE- PART DEUX
Darcy, I should just keep my big mouth shut because I am sure I irritate plenty of nice folks in the world myself. But :
1. music drives me up the wall because I treasure baby’s nap time for my free time and loud (and unexpected) music isn’t welcome.
2. bloggers attempting to engage readers by asking questions should follow up a little, otherwise it seems fake.
3. I also respect when writers share when they are compensated for a post or review, it seems more upfront.
erin @ little apartment on the prairie´s last blog ..I Just Like the IDEA of Naked Light Bulbs
Ohhh yes… sharing when they are compensated is actually an FTC rule. Not that it’s enforceable, but… they’re supposed to.
And I probably should do more hushing and less blabbering myself. Fer sure.
It’s like you read my mind! Great post and so true. Have a good day :~}
Scott´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Tuesday – H2Oooh!
Agreed. And now I’m headed to add a few things to my blog.
(Really hate captchas, like really.)
Amie McCracken´s last blog ..My Apartment and the Design Inside
I feel like a total idiot for even asking but WHAT IS a “captcha”?
Faith´s last blog ..Tuesday
Captcha is the jumble of hard-to-read letters and numbers that you have to type to prove you’re not a robot. Problem is, I get them wrong as often as I get them right.
I think the autoplay music is the most annoying thing for me, because I usually get computer time while the rest of the family is asleep, and I would like them to stay asleep just a little bit longer. With a 9 year old, who also uses the computer regularly, I’m never sure what the computer volume is set at until the music starts.
I’m afraid I only recently realized that blogger offered a search bar for blogs, but I did add it as soon as I discovered it.
I totally agree, partial feeds are the enemy. If I add a blog to my reader and see that it’s a partial feed, I immediately delete it. I also prefer that when a post is heavily linked, it’s formatted so each one opens in a new window…always a nice touch
bekkah´s last blog ..the future
Ha! And I really prefer they don’t open in a new window. I often command-click ( i think that’s cntrl-click on a PC) to open links in a tab behind the one I’m on. I don’t like have a lot of windows open.
Isn’t that funny? Goes to show you can never win ‘em all!
So true! Rules of Blogging #1 – Please yourself first.
I have to go with the new window idea. If the click takes you away from the page you are on, it is more of a hassle to come back.
So if I click a link and am gone before I comment on your page, who’s to blame?
Darcy, this is a wonderful list and I agree with everything. I have a couple more… I like to easily find the blog author’s name. Sometimes I have to look and look to find out who I’m talking to. Also, if they don’t indicate where they are – they may be talking about flooding, etc. and I can’t find out what part of the country they are in. And the last (don’t hate me!) is commenting back within the comment section. I read through my reader and after I’ve left a comment I don’t go back to all of those blogs and the comments sections to catchup. I guess I hope that on the next post, if there is something to respond to that it would be posted there. Or is it that I need to check off the email followup box after I comment so that I can follow along? Am I the odd-man-out on this one? {Maybe I’ll just have to come back to these comments to find out! }
Thanks for a terrific topic!
I never liked having to go back to check for follow-up comments either and I get enough e-mail and certainly don’t need to read EVERY comment left for that post so I got DISQUS for my blog. It takes just a couple seconds more for readers to “sign up” for it but then it allows me to reply and it only sends my reply to their e-mail. It makes for nice little conversations.
Rebekah @ It Only Gets Better´s last blog ..Rock On-
This is a tough one! I don’t always go back and check either.
Right now, most hosts don’t let you reply on the blog *and* have it emailed. Currently, the available plugins don’t meet the “double out” requirement of the spamming laws. There are plugins that will email your response automatically to readers – that’s spamming. They didn’t have a choice. Some hosts (like Bluehost) will remove your blog if you do that.
The rule is the readers have to initiate the email, and you have to provide them a “I don’t wish to receive emails any longer” opt out as well. To my knowledge, there are none of these.
Soooo… if you have a response for more than one commenter – that would be best answered on the site – there’s currently not a great way unless they choose “receive responses via email.” Personal type comments I like to respond via email.
But, I’m with you. Someone needs to create a double-out email & comment response plugin. Most don’t have time to come back.
I agree – I LOVE love love when a blogger replies to my comment directly via email.
I hate it when I, as a blogger, try to reply to someone via email and there’s none anywhere.
But what is the worst is when someone asks a question on my blog but don’t leave any contact information – not even a blogger account. SAY WHAT?!
Faith´s last blog ..Tuesday
You nailed these! #1, #5, and #7 are the worst in my opinion! You’re so right about being spoiled with photos. I’ll read a book with no pictures all day, but if a blog post is all text, I’m done!
Great Post!
OJ Photo´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Tuesday – Jay
I get annoyed with bloggers that link to too many other sites in one post, and so basically the whole content of their post is sending people off to another site.
I love a blog with a good storyteller. I don’t want to scroll through 40 photos on how to make scrambled eggs — I’d rather read it. And I don’t like the text being bolded for emphasis, either. My ADD brain can’t comprehend what the writer is trying to say, and then I end up unsubscribing from the feed.
And I have about 400 feeds in my feedreader. I’m with you, though. There’s probably only two-percent of actual blogs with a limited feed that I will actually click on to read.
I have to admit that I also don’t like blogs that are ALWAYS so heavy with the words. I’m thinking, “Do I need to hear this much from you EVERY day?! Geez.” Brevity, please.
Also? I once was reading a blog that was very funny but she double spaced every line and had them all centered and it hurt my eyes to read it! It made for such strange shapes. Remember those kind of poems that the lines in the poem make an image? (i.e. poem about a butterfly in the shape of a butterfly) Yeah. It was kind of like that but not. Unsubscribe.
Rebekah @ It Only Gets Better´s last blog ..Rock On-
I have to agree with pretty much everything you said. Even I have limited how much I write figuring people just don’t have time for a book. And, short feeds drive me nuts. I unsubscribe every single time.
I will be using this as a link for one of my pages on blogging. I haven’t added it yet, but this will definitely be a piece I think people should read. I liked the tone too. Very well said!
Dana
Dana @Bungalow’56´s last blog ..Sister Friend
We have the same peeves! However, I’m worried that I have a partial feed. I need to figure that out because that is SUPER annoying to me. I have exactly 35 minutes in the morning to go through the blogs I read. and if I have to click over to each on – NOPE! not going to happen.
Kyla´s last blog ..Chic Click Carnival
I just fixed the site feed on my Awesome Family Fun blog! Hooray! LOL
Kyla´s last blog ..Chic Click Carnival
It is full feeds now, I just checked in my reader.
WOOT!
Great list and I agree.
Teresa Dawn´s last blog ..Introducing Nathan Contreras
You’ve hit all my pet peeves – autoplay music should be banned…half the time it scares the you-know-what out of me. I try to respond to comments via email so I don’t like when I get the no-reply@blogger and there’s no contact email on the blog.
jen@odbt´s last blog ..sweet shot
I wrote a tutorial for blogspot bloggers, so people can email them back:
http://www.my3boybarians.com/2009/06/how-to-allow-bloggers-to-respond-to-your-comments/
You’re welcome to send your readers there. Like good cop, bad cop.
Hi Darcy – I remember that tutorial and posted about it back then. Maybe I need to post a refresher
or maybe some folks just don’t want to be contacted.
Oh girl… you are singing my song. Thank GOODNESS it isn’t on autoplay though.
hate.that.
I switched to WP a couple of months ago. Yeah, I know your rolling your eyes that I didn’t do it sooner but anyway, on with the comment. It (the switch) or I (the goofball) messed up all of my categories. I spent hours trying to put them all back in their place and condense them again and EVERYTHING is marked as “uncategorized” and it won’t let me batch change that. I have to change them all one at a time. I have been eating away at this little by little and am about to just throw my hands up. I”m using Thesis. Any ideas what is causing that or how I can fix it quickly?
Amy Bayliss´s last blog ..More from the LPA Conference in Nashville
On the settings – which will be the lower left on your dashboard – you’ll need to first choose a new default category.
Then on the posts, bring up the list of posts in your dash; you can filter them by category and click “quick edit” and change the category from the dashboard. It’s still time consuming, but not as much as opening up each post. The “quick edit” is faster.
I will look and see if there’s a batch edit and let you know…
Okay – here’s the answer:
dashboard> posts> edit> filter by one category, in your case uncategorized> hover over the post> quick edit> save.
This will make much faster work! Still a bit of manual labor, but better than opening them each up.
And that should have been:
“you’re” and not “your”
That is one of my pet peeves. I should proof BEFORE I hit enter.
Amy Bayliss´s last blog ..More from the LPA Conference in Nashville
I agree about the pictures~I love to see the pictures they help with whatever you are telling. I also agree with family bashing, that one should go without saying. One I would add is if you leave a comment make sure your email is there so I can respond back. Sometimes people leave comments that need an answer by email and if they don’t leave their email, and use the no-reply@blogger ~ I can’t answer it. I don’t assume that people always come back to check the comments, I know I don’t always have time to do that and when you click the button for follow up comments, I tend to get to many emails so I don’t do it.
I am now re-thinking that and I will probably take it off! Thanks
I happen to love the music but I can see where it can be annoying when you have your own music going.
It doesn’t have to be all or none! Keep your music player, but have it be off as the default. Then your readers who do love it can opt in.
Agreed, on all points.
I would like to add–apologizing for not posting more often. Post or don’t post, we will email you if we are concerned with your lack of posts.
I’m off to add a search to my blog.
Good tips! I I agree with all…
Kacey´s last blog ..Random Cuteness
Hate Hate Hate embedded music. I will absolutely NOT read a blog that has it.
Also, center-justified text drives me nuts. I feel like I should be reading poetry, but then I’m not and it’s distracting.
Also, I tend to get my feelings hurt when a blogger NEVER EVER responds to a comment I have left. I know that it is impossible to respond to them all, but it’s nice once in a while to know that my readership is appreciated. I have gotten emails over the years from some very big name bloggers and it is a very nice gesture. Then there are some very small, niche bloggers that NEVER respond to a word I’ve said and I kind of feel like “are we having a conversation here or not?”
Maybe that’s just petty, but hey. Being honest here.
Deb´s last blog ..Creativity Crisis Mystery
Deb – I think that’s not a coincidence. They are “very big name bloggers” because they’ve built a community and dialog. They are very good at what they do – that’s why they are so successful at building a loyal readership.
I’m with ya.
I would hate for anyone that visits me to feel like I have not heard their voice. That is one of the reasons why I love blogging– being heard! I always feel terrible when someone writes something very personal or thoughtful, but I have zero way of contacting them in return. Always be sure that your email addy is linked.
Marsha´s last blog ..i have nothing to say
I totally concur with #1 and 2…as well as the last one about pictures. Those are probably my top 3. I also don’t like music on blogs, but I keep my sound off so it doesn’t bother me too bad. The one other I might add is blogs that are nothing but ads and even the blog posts are ads of some sort. I get that people are trying to make a buck and I will likely join at some point, but at least make it clean looking.
Ashley @ Ramblings and Photos´s last blog ..You Capture- Vehicles
Ok Darcy…please explain to me what a partial feed is?!?!? I’m skeered now…am I partial? I could be partial and have no idea…I have no idea what “Partial” even is and that scares me even more.
And I feel I should defend the captcha users just a bit. I now use Disqus and highly recommend it but before my blog was spammed and captcha was the only way I knew how to prevent it. I didn’t want to but I was sick of getting add comments. So maybe all the captcha users out there are like me. Clueless spammed bloggers.
I have a pet peeve of my own. I hate when I leave a comment and it says “Your post will appear when approved”….guess I need instant gratification.
Talysa´s last blog ..A Small Price to PayHaiti
A partial feed is when the blogger has a character cap on the RSS feed. You can only read a teaser then you have to go to the blog if you want to read the rest of the post.
People usually do it to increase the number of page views their google ads count.
I set up your blog for full feeds… so if you didn’t change anything, it’s still full.
Me change something?!?! Ha! I think you know me better than that. If I did it would have been by accident for sure.
Talysa´s last blog ..A Small Price to PayHaiti
I totally agree with these pet peeves, especially the music one! Do you have a tutorial for adding a RSS feed, kinda lost on that one. Off to add that search bar, thanks for the suggestion!
There are a couple ways to subscribe to an RSS feed:
Bloggers will often have an RSS icon (the dot with the 2 arches… kinda like : o)) that you can click on and subscribe with the feed reader you use.
Blogger offers a gadget that if you add it to your blog, people can choose to subscribe to posts, comments or both.
Most browsers allow you to do it directly from the browser bar. Safari, Firefox and Chrome do. I don’t have IE on my computer, but I bet even that does.
But before you can do any of that, you need to choose a blog reader. This is almost like reading a newspaper. All the articles appear on the same “page” instead of going to all the URLs each time. You can click through to leave comments, it links.
I use Google Reader. http://www.google.com/reader/
Oh, and what was that tutorial called that you posted to have my picture show up on the side instead of the colored square?
Thanks!
Jacquelin´s last blog ..Wet Wednesday & a GIVEAWAY!!!
Yes – that’s Gravatar. Go to gravatar.com and make a free account. Then use the same email for your gravatar account as your comments and it will appear.
I like this post & it has been so interesting to read everyone’s peeves and the similarities & differences. You can’t win them all, but I guess that is how we end up with our own manageable list of blogs to read…
I used to like music on a blog, but now it generally just startles me & I’m always worried it will wake up someone in my house!
You have me scared, too, about the limited feed. I know I haven’t done one on purpose, so I hope it isn’t the default setting??
I didn’t know about the search buttons, but I will go right now to add one. I do have a captcha, you can see it upfront. I’m not a big-time blogger, but do want to avoid spam. I will have to check out Disqus that several people mentioned. Thanks!
Melanie´s last blog ..The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Hey Melanie,
It isn’t typically the default. It’s under settings>feed on Blogger, I believe.
Disqus is blah, but it’s better than a captcha, I suppose. It never “remembers” me, which is kinda time intensive.
Boy, Darcy, you are one smart cookie. Your pet peeves are spot-on.
I don’t know if I have any particular pet peeves, except maybe–dare I say it?–terrible grammar. I’m not interested in perfect grammar, but I sure would like to see a little more attention to word usage. I try really, really hard not to be the Grammar Police, and I love a conversational, casual style. But could we please watch our grammar just a little bit? And maybe check our spelling? Please??
Your blog is darn near perfect, by the way.
Richella´s last blog ..Summer reading and a book giveaway
You are wonderful.
I noticed I have a new twitter friend, too, btw. Woot!
I am SO glad that you posted this! I never realized that I had the CAPTCHA set on my blog, and I know how much those irritate me! I just changed it, and I would imagine that will make a difference in the number of comments! I am very appreciative of everyone’s comments here, as I am a fairly new blogger and I am excited to see what people like and don’t like!!
Amber Barnum´s last blog ..And The Winner Is
Yes! A small victory!!
I had no idea that the CAPTCHAs were optional… I’ll have to look that up in case I get traffic and comments one day
Jessica´s last blog ..The Toddler That Keeps Waking Up
This list made me laugh! I can identify with so much! And just for you I have added a search box. Haha!
Another convert!
Great list. I’m new to your blog, but I’ll be back.
Bethany´s last blog ..Easy
Amen! (and a sigh of relief that I don’t have any of your “donts” on my blog)
Sarah@BlueCastle´s last blog ..The Perfect Weekend
Amen!
Why don’t more people “get” this?
punkinmama´s last blog ..boom- boom- boom
CAPTCHA! I HATE IT! Especially with giveaway sites when you are commenting several times. Sooo annoying.
Cari S.´s last blog ..FREE Schick Hydro!
You pretty much hit most of mine, Darcy! At least my last post with zero images was short in content and if you skipped it altogether, you missed out on NOTHING.
Peeves:
-Not linking your email addy to your profile/post/login. I like being able to reply directly to every comment.
-Super long paragraphs. Bite size writing works well for blogs. Long narrations are best in print form (novel, newspaper, magazine).
-Posts that are entirely center justified/aligned. This is good for poetry and some quotes but not an entire thought process.
Marsha´s last blog ..i have nothing to say
The dislike of center justified text seems to be a big one! I have always centered alligned, because I thought it looked nicer, but I can definitely see what you all mean about it being good for poetry or quoets, but not so good for full blog posts!!
Amber Barnum´s last blog ..And The Winner Is
I thought it looked better too? I’m gonna try playing around with left- justified and see if I like it.
Jessica´s last blog ..The Toddler That Keeps Waking Up
As far as CAPTCHA’s, I don’t get spam comments on my new posts. I have found that blogger’s option of moderating only comments on posts that are over 2 weeks old has been quite sufficient.
Marsha´s last blog ..i have nothing to say
It really peeves me when there is no email by which I can contact the blogger. Sometimes I want to say something that’s completely unrelated to any blog post, or maybe not something that I want to be public. Even if someone doesn’t want the whole world to have their regular email, freebie accounts are a dime a dozen, so get one! Use it just for your blog.
I don’t have a problem with word verif, but I do mind when it comes up secondarily, like you mentioned. Sometimes, I’ve already clicked away. Bah!
I definitely have category issues. That’s why they’re not listed. It’s just a matter of having time to sit down and clean up 4 years’ worth of category chaos. I’m sure I’ll have the time to do it . . . oh, in the next few days . . . er, months. Ha! Ha!
Dianne´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday – UnHappy 4th
Bloggers who always try to be deep and thought-provoking. Wa-wah-wa-wah-wa-wah…
The grown ups on CHarlie Brown! Made me laugh out loud!
I am totally with you, Darcy! Auto play music: Gag. No pictures: Can. Not. Read. Partial feeds: Dude! I already have 200+ feeds without this partial feed nonsense. O.o
Thanks for this list…I can agree with most of what you are saying! Especially the one about NO PICTURES….I gotta have those too!
Donna´s last blog ..Rainy Mondays!
I could go off on a new thread about grammar and spelling (sneek PEEK, not peak! Lose, not loose! ahem…) but I will just say that I agree with your list, Darcy. 100%
But, about the search feature — don’t have one installed on my blog (hindsight: should’ve had you help me with that) and Blogger’s search feature is a joke. Am I missing something? How do I get Blogger’s “search” to work?
Wendy Lijit has a great search box – you just install the code in a gadget……I’ve had it on my blog for over a year and love it
TidyMom´s last blog ..Im Lovin It – My new baby!
Just installed it — thanks for the tip!
Wendy´s last blog ..Words to Live By
Nice list ! I agree.
My pet peeves are not only CAPTCHAs but people who only allow people with Google accounts to register a comment. I almost only leave comments if I can register with a name and a url. Badly written posts, full of spelling errors. Music, auto-play of course. And I don’t want to insult anyone but Jesus talk when people leave ME comments. Oh and comments like I should get married before having kids. Please refrain thyself. Blogs about praying with only a long list of people they pray for but no real posts.
Terry Elisabeth´s last blog ..Mon chat ne va pas bien
Ok, I had already taken off the CAPTCHAs per your suggestion but am not wondering about the partial feed and the email, ugh?! I will look into it… I definitely want to be appealing:) And perhaps I should see if I only allow Google accounts to comment. I started getting an anonymous comment of someone, somewhere, selling something so I changed it. Thanks for the tips:)
Heather´s last blog ..A Cooks Garden Summer Dinner
I mean I am now wondering about partial feed.
Heather´s last blog ..A Cooks Garden Summer Dinner
Heather –
You have a full feed. I just checked!
Ditto, ditto, and – yep – ditto!
But most especially the music.
Aimee @ In THIS Life´s last blog ..RTT- Life- the Universe & Everything
blogs with tiny photos!! i hate it when someone has a nice camera {or even a crappy one} and they take pictures and post them — but they are so small you really can’t appreciate the point they are getting across!!!
and one day i will categorize my blog… but until i can do it correctly, i won’t do it at all… that actually goes for several of my blog- to do’s….
oh, and the music thing makes me CRAZY. I hate it. I feel like, I didn’t ask to listen to their ipod, and I really don’t want to.
great post!!
I always love your posts about blogging—-and what a treat to be a link—-and not a pet-peeve link!! I spoke badly of you on my newly refreshed blog today—not really—but you always seem to drive me to some kind of change. So, will you visit and tell me your latest thoughts on sidebars. And then will you tell me why some people can’t view my very simple logo–that I made my very own little self in photoshop.
And then will you tell me if you could add my bird somewhere to my new look.
That’s all. I think.
love you,
edie
edie´s last blog ..You probably shouldn’t read this post
That remains – to this day – one of my favorite posts ever. Cost me a small fortune and my kids might have to go to community college – but I learned a lot!
on my way!!
Music?? We don’t need no stinking music! Thank you so much for that one. I click away as soon as it begins to play.
Hi, Darcy! I found your post through the Nest Files, and I agree with all of your ideas. My biggest pet peeves include the music and comment verification, but I also hate signing up for a blog that starts out with some great material but turns into a constant guest post-Giveaway-blog swap bonanza. Everything in moderation, right?
I’ve been meaning to do some reorganizing with my Categories and make them more user friendly. Thanks for the kick in the pants regrading the search option as well. That makes complete sense. I plan on working on that while my kids nap today!
Thanks for your ideas…I’m planning on linking to this for next week’s Weekend Bloggy Reading on my blog.
I know your tips will be good for my readers too. 
EEeeek, how do I make mine a full feed? Mine’s a partial feed and I can’t seem to do it…in any case, thanks for the list. I concur!
Puna´s last blog ..July 17- Onward
Puna –
Are you on Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com?
Here’s how it works for .org and I think it’s similar for .com, too.
Dashboard> settings> reading> “for each article in a feed, show”> full> save changes.
Hope this helps!
Thank you Darcy! I just changed my settings. I didn’t know about this.
Terry Elisabeth´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Tuesday
I do have this checked. Maybe I don’t have the updated version of wordpress or something…in any case, I’m still trying! I am on .com.
Puna´s last blog ..The Horse Whisperer
You’re welcome, Terry.
Puna, I just peeked and your feeds are still partial. Check the theme settings? Is that lifestyle or revolution theme? If so, maybe it has options for “archives” or feed that are only truncated? Not sure on that theme.
Great topic discussion.My pet peeve is several links within a post, just makes it hard to read. And the ad links in the post that pop up when you scroll over a specific word.
Kari´s last blog ..In The Search For Groovy Green Eco Lessons
GREAT post Darcy!! I agree 100% with every subject you mentioned!
No search box drives me insane – I use them a LOT!
Word verification AFTER I type out a comment….I can’t tell you how many times I’ve clicked away thinking my comment posted, only to see the word verification pop up as I’m leaving!
If you don’t have full feed, I probably don’t read your blog….just don’t have time for the extra clicks.
I also don’t like the “magazine style” for blogs. Again, this requires extra clicks. I want to read all content in one place, I don’t want to have to click around for each post.
LONG wordy posts annoy me. Don’t get me wrong, we all have them occasionally….but I have found some bloggers who write a novel for every post.
People who link up to blog parties, but don’t bother linking back to the party, OR the ones that say “here are the parties I link to” and you have to click away somewhere to see the links……that really annoys me too. That’s like saying “I have the time to link to you, but I don’t have the time to put your link in my post.
Someone mentioned no email for the blogger – I’m surprised at how many times I try to contact a blogger who has entered a giveaway and there is no way to contact them other than leave a comment on their blog……..and this goes along with the people who still don’t have their email attached to their blogger profile.
I had NO idea that centering a post was annoying! lol……99% of my posts are all centered, I thought it was easier to read that way…..guess I need to change that!
TidyMom´s last blog ..Im Lovin It – My new baby!
Yes – participation in blog parties is there to help send you traffic – I agree that it’s good manners to link back to the party so other readers can play along, too.
I see a lot of comments about center posting. I didn’t know that one either, but it’s coming up a lot. I have several clients who center-align – even those who’ve gone through Blog Boot Camp. I’m adding that one to my list!
Agree with everything that you listed and most of what others have added. I really don’t like embedded music either but a centered post does not bother me in the least. What does bother me is when people are inspired by someone else’s idea they read/saw on a blog and use that idea but didn’t bother to take the time to give the originator a mention or a link on the post. Goes without saying the same applies to content/photo *poaching.* It hasn’t happened to me but I’ve seen it done to others and that is truly a pet peeve of mine. If you are going to blog, do so with integrity.
Paula´s last blog ..Amish Store Cookies
Ahhhh yes. I’m actually surprised that hasn’t come up yet.
I had several of my images stolen and then sold on a stock art site. I’ve gotten no where trying to communicate because it’s a foreign name and no responses to emails.
To try and thwart it, I have the context menus disabled. I though for sure I’d see that in the comments!
“blog with integrity” love it!
How do you disable the context menus & what exactly does that do? Thank you! I have been enjoying the great discussion on this post.
I’m astounded at the poor grammar and other language errors on some blogs. I don’t want to be mean, but I truly think we should try to maintain the basics of good language. My biggest peeve is in pronouns and possessive. I wish I could actually get a penny for each time I’ve seen “it’s” when it should be “its.” The first usage replaces “it is.” The second is the possessive, for example, “in its proper place.”
I agree with Richella that we needn’t be the Grammar Police. I’m not trying to be William Safire, and I’d rather leave parsing the more nuanced complexities of language to sites for English grammar and copy editing. But I’m talking about grade school level errors in simple matters like pronouns. “Her and I went to the quilt market yesterday,” is NOT correct.
Amen! While we can’t all be pro copywriters – the basics covered in 3rd and 4th grade grammar books definitely makes it easier to read.
I agree with all of this; however, my blog is mostly a diary for myself of fun events or stuff that I’ve seen written and I love. Only my family looks at it ( I assume), and so I play music so that when I look at it one of my favorite songs will play spontaneously and without knowing which one. But I still agree when I’m looking at other people’s blogs.
I get bummed when you find a blog you really like and they don’t have a “subscribe” button for Yahoo – or worse, they request that you subscribe to their blog through email.
Aren’t most subscribe buttons neutral? I know mine allows you to choose which reader you’d like to use. I guess I’ve never seen one that doesn’t allow you to choose – but that would be a very good example of limiting your subscribers!
I like the option for email, but I wouldn’t want that to be my only choice, for sure!
I have to say that using just a basic, free WP.com set up, there was no choice about how to subscribe. (become a subscriber)
Then, that being said, I have been told it is possible to do an upgrade, stay free, but I have not learned how to do it and I am sure other new bloggers also do not even know it can be done. People have asked me how they can subscribe, which is good, I know there is interest. It is something I need to learn how to add or make easier.
Right now there is no indication of my followers visible. I wish there was.
So- if the blogger is new, cut them some slack or even offer to help them upgrade.
You can subscribe without having a button. Most browsers have the option up in the browser bar. On Safari, for example, you can click RSS.
If you have a feed reader, you don’t have to subscribe from the blogger’s blog. You can simply paste in the URL in the reader and the reader itself will find the feed.
darcy @ m3b´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Tuesday
Wow, all VERY well said! I must admit that the music thing is my biggest pet peeve. Some of my favorites have it, and I just don’t even bother looking at their blogs half the time because I don’t want to accidentally start up some music when I’d prefer not to, grrrrr!
These are also some good reminders to me of things I don’t want to do {i.e. complain about hubster
} because I definitely want to make sure it’s not just a place where I vent unnecessarily, but do what I intentionally set out to do which is encourage and bless people, be there for those also struggling with chronic illness, share the gospel, share my life and passions, etc. It’s such a fine line sometimes between just sharing steadily about your life and knowing where to stop before you approach complain-too-much status!
Thanks for getting a good topic going!
Rochelle´s last blog ..The Sorcerers Apprentice Movie Review
P.S. How do you add a search box to your blog in Blogger? I would LOVE to have this {drives me bonkers too and I don’t even have it on my own blog!}, but have NO clue how to do it. Egats!! Anyone know? Pop me an email at rochellelearning@gmail.com. Thanks!
Rochelle´s last blog ..The Sorcerers Apprentice Movie Review
Rochelle I use Lijit search box on my blog and love it…….go to http://www.lijit.com sign in, go to publishers….then wijits – follow their instructions from there
TidyMom´s last blog ..Christmas in July
I believe Blogger offers a default search box now, as well. Go to add a gadget> html | java> and search through the list of available gadgets. I’m 95% sure Blogger has one.
ditto to your list! [i can't stand the bashing thing]
pictures are too small, having to jump thru hoops to leave a comment, readers leaving ugly comments, page is too busy / takes too long to load
Michelle´s last blog ..Vacation 2010
Readers leaving ugly comments? Never understood the point. People get brave behind the veil of the internet – saying things they would never say face-to-face. While I do believe sometimes blogging requires thick skin, it shouldn’t be hurtful.
I think I have a new item for the list. I really don’t like it when the font is all over the place. I’m not certain how they are doing it but some letter are randomly huge, others are small, some are caps, others are normal. Drives me crazy, it just not easy to skim. Just found you off of Nester. I’ve already learned several things from this one post – guess I’ll subscribe!
Jessica´s last blog ..The Toddler That Keeps Waking Up
Thanks. I’ll try to keep up the interesting posts, but I usually post stupid, mundane stuff. ‘Cept on Tuesdays where this blog rocks. Since, um… I do nothing and the readers post pretty pictures.
Music, yes! Totally annoying.
I hate BLACK backgrounds–won’t read them.
Too tiny fonts.
Not enough paragraphs, and/or no space between them.
Not knowing where a blogger lives–doesn’t have to be too specific, but I prefer “suburban Detroit” to say “the Midwest”.
Bloggers who don’t follow up. Read a blog recently where the writer detailed her purchase, renovation, and flip/sale of a house. She told us how much she paid FOR the house and the reno, but never disclosed how much they made off the sale. Arrrghh. I felt duped.
ohhhh how i totally agree with all of these!! i cannot make a post without pictures, it’s too boring for me and prob for my readers hahaha!! and yea, i totally use that search bar extensively!!
Some of these comments are hilarious! Also very, very true…
I don’t enjoy reading a blog where the background of the post area is so visually busy that I have a hard time reading the posts. Maybe it’s because I graded papers for a living but I can’t stand a LOT of misspellings, etc. I understand the occasional one here or there (no one is perfect!) but not a post full of them. Hubby bashing is a turn off for me, too.
I do enjoy picture filled posts (spoiled, I know), a blogger who makes an effort to respond to my comment, and it means more to me when a person *shares* their story instead of complaining about everything…all the time.
I’m guilty of not being overly specific about where I live. I’m married to a Marine…he had no problem with me starting a blog but he did ask that I not give our exact location out to the world (as well as the deets of his job and deployments). I also need to be more aware of my categories and how to use them for myself and for my readers.
Anna K.´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Tuesday
I didn’t know about the geographical thing either, but several have mentioned it. It doesn’t bother me, but often people’s photos will help give away roughly where they are. I mean, if they’re wearing shorts in February – they aren’t anywhere near Iowa!
i think you about nailed it.
i agree about the music, but i do have one, just one, blog i read who uses music and i usually love it. she must put a ton of thought into it b/c they always add to her post and never detract. it’s always instrumental (makes reading easier in my mind), and it reflects the image or her words.
patty´s last blog ..wishing you well
I have to come back and finish reading comments when I have more time.
This discussion is great not only for the post itself but for the comments and followups.
I have my comments set up that you go to moderation for the first time and then if approved, you get published immediately every time after. So far no problems.
What bugs me is when I write a nice comment on someone’s blog, hit submit and it just disappears. I do not know if it went to moderation or is just gone!
I don’t have time to retrace my steps later.
If I asked a question or expect a reply to a comment I will return, but not just to see if it was actually received.
Also – where you have last posts or comment love below this box with the check mark,
mine reads no last post. I contacted Wp about it and they verified my feed. So what else can I do?
Try a third party feed service. Feedburner is one that comes to mind. Feedblitz is another, although I’m not sure it’s free.
I couldn’t agree more with this list but my biggest pet peeve are captchas! I hate them! And yes especially the ones that pop up after you’ve written your comment but I find that this is what most blogs use! So time consuming and annoying! I hadn’t thought of using a search tab though thanks for that!
Found you via serenity now… Love the blog and the list!
Kirsty´s last blog ..Freebie Magazines
I like this list. Many are my same pet peeves. I linked your post to my Monday Morning Favorites. Hope you don’t mind.
http://longwaitforisabella.blogspot.com/2010/07/monday-morning-favorites_26.html
Blessings!
Amen!! Nothing bugs me more than Captcha or auto-play music! I was so sad for a long time because I could NOT get my feed to show full feed in the readers. It was SO stupid. It literally took me months to figure it out because all of MY settings were for full-feed. Once I finally found someone who could fix it I was ELATED!
Lindsay @ Just My Blog´s last blog ..5 Blogs I Love
What a great post! I don’t like the music either. I had it on my blog for a while, and scared myself when I would come to check out my blog. So I took it off. How does one put a search bar in? I’m on Blogger. I also don’t know if I have captchas or if my email is linked to my comments
How does one find that out? I also don’t know if I have a partial feed. These are great things for me to check out…maybe this is why I don’t get many visitors 
Thanks for posting this!
Kathryn
Kathryn´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Tuesday…