Comments With HTML Code Confuse Blog Owners

Some blog owners see encoded special characters, in Blogger dashboard displays - and do not understand why they are there.

I recently noticed that the comments, that I view in my Blogger dashboard page, have like a series of numbers and symbols in some of the comments.

This owner is looking at comments, displayed in the Dashboard Comments pages ("Published", "Awaiting moderation", and "Spam"), which right now may contain strange character sequences.

The "HTML entity codes" for special characters, like ampersand, apostrophe, and quote marks, are HTML code - that will probably be with us, forever. Blogger blog content (like many other blogs and websites) uses HTML - and those characters have syntactical importance. Using them in blog content, unencoded, causes problems with browser operation.

Blogger has had various problems with displaying special characters, like ampersand (&), apostrophe ('), and quote marks ("), for many years.

Long ago, I published my recipes blog, titled "Chuck's Kitchen".

Seeing the blog title displayed a few times, in comments, in the dashboard - and even in the blog header - as "Chuck's Kitchen" confused my readers, with the apostrophe displayed as an HTML entity. I figured the simplest solution was simply to compromise - and accept a non grammatical title of "Chucks Kitchen".

What I saw, in the dashboard Comments wizard, recently. Look at my comment, of "10:17 AM".

What we now see, in the post comment. Compare the above, with my published comment, of "10:17 AM"



You are allowed to use special characters, like ampersand (&), apostrophe ('), greater than (>), less than (<), and quote marks ("), and others, if you like, in your blog - but you will occasionally see confusion from your readers - as the confusion recently seen in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.

I recently noticed that the comments that I view in my Blogger Design page have like a series of numbers and symbols. I don't know why they are there or how to get rid of them.

You can't really get rid of them, you need to just learn to ignore them. Right now, only you see them.

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Some #Blogger blog owners see comments, displayed in the dashboard Comments pages, displayed with HTML entity coded characters. They are odd looking - but right now, they only display this way, in the dashboard pages.

When published, the blog will display the special characters properly.

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Comment Moderation In Blogger Blogs, Using Google+ Comments

With more Blogger blogs being updated to use Google+ Comments, we're seeing a few questions in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?, about comment moderation.

How do I moderate comments, with Google+ Comments enabled on my blog?

This is a question for which there is no easy answer - and this is one of the least appreciated feature limitations of Google+ Comments.

Native Blogger commenting allowed the option to moderate comments before or after they were published.

Google+ Comments, for Blogger blogs, provides no ability to moderate before publishing. All comments must be moderated after they are published. Moderation now simply consists of the ability to declare a comment as abusive - and this ability is shared equally by all users of Google+, who are in the right Circle to read and mark any comment.

With native Blogger Commenting, you (the blog administrator / owner) could moderate comments (before or after publishing), using either email, or the dashboard Comments section. With Google+ Comments, you have no such ability - and the dashboard won't even have a Comments section, listing comments made against the blog. You can view comments made - when you are able to view them - on a post by post basis, under each post.

As the blog owner, you do not have control over all comments, published against your blog. If you allow comments using Google+, anybody who is in one of your Circles can publish a comment against your blog. If you Share a blog post to the Public - or if someone else Shares a post from your blog to the Public - and a third person comments, you may not even see the comment made, against your blog.

You cannot see comments published by people who are not in your Circles, unless the comments are posted Publicly - even if the comments are published against your blog.

For these reasons, this blog remains with Blogger Commenting.

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Blogger Won't Censor Comments, Or Accept Abusive Comment Reports

We have seen this question, periodically, in Blogger Help Forum: How Do I?

When will Blogger provide me with the option to block an abusive commenter, from my blog?

This is a request that simply cannot be fulfilled.

The issue of blocking individual commenters won't be solved by a new Blogger feature.

• It's technically impossible.
• It's contrary to Blogger policy.

Any abuser of Internet services (aka "hacker", "spammer", or "troll"), with any ability, knows how to create multiple Google accounts without effort. Blogger Engineering is unlikely to spend time developing a new feature ("Block this comment publisher") that will simply provide you with a false sense of security, have no effect in the long term, and require an unproductive use of their time.

If you realistically feel that a comment publisher represents a legal and physical threat to you, you should report the threat to your local police agency. Other than physical threats, Blogger regards comments as a "freedom of speech" issue. Comments published on your blog are jointly the property - and the responsibility - of the comment publisher, and you.

As the blog owner, you are allowed to choose which comments publish, or remain published, on your blog. You can moderate before, or after, comments are published.

If any comments offend you, moderate or delete them promptly. Concentrate on publishing your blog, and ignore the abuse. Eventually, the person abusing you will get bored, and move on.

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