Good day, everyone!
I’ve spent the better part of my morning pinning like crazy on Pinterest.
Yes, it is wonderful to be on break and have access to my laptop again.
But alas, happiness is never complete.
Why?
Because now that I’m finally able to read my favorite blogs, I find myself dealing with a very annoying situation.
And what is it, you ask?
The infuriating default check mark that instructs WordPress to: “Notify me of follow-up comments via email.
It’s not that I don’t find other readers’ comments interesting.
It’s just that I don’t want my inbox stuffed with WordPress notifications.
If one is only subscribed to two blogs, for example, this isn’t a problem.
Yet for those of us who read blogs like they’re going out of style, this can be quite irritating.
I recently visited Writingfeemail’s Blog and Renee, smart woman that she is, included the following reminder at the end of her blog post:
“And by the way – please uncheck the little box below the comments box if you do not wish to subscribe to the flow of comments appearing on this post. Otherwise, you will have a barrage of e-mails from ‘New Comments’. Thanks.”
While I thought this was a wonderful way to remind readers, I don’t know if everyone will always remember to uncheck the box.
Absentminded as I am, I ‘ve been receiving dozens of notifications.
So many in fact, that I’ve had to unsubscribe from the follow up comments.
However, the truth is that unless a really interesting conversation is taking place on a blog, I hardly ever subscribe to follow up comments.
If anyone has been successful in permanently removing this annoying check mark or has effectively dealt with this situation, please let me know.
Before I go insane.
Before I have to “google” more foreign curse words.
Before I pull out all my hair.
Before Roxy thinks I’ve lost it.
Before the Son threatens to move out.
Before the Significant Other threatens to move out.
According to the Son, this attitude is the result of my new found free time.
I say, what does he know?
Can you help?
Happy Monday, people!
XOXO,
gypsyroxylee.wordpress.com 
Dammit, I haven’t even realised that checkmark was there! Now that explains why all of a sudden my email inbox is being flooded with all sorts of random messages about follow-up comments and stuff… How annoying that is!
Sabrina, I didn’t notice the check mark either until I started getting emails from the WordPress blogs I’m subscribed to. I didn’t like that I had to unsubscribe to the comments but my inbox was full. It truly is annoying and we have to find a way to fix this! :)
I haven’t unsubscribed yet but also I haven’t received any more notifications for a few days now. Maybe they’ve changed it back already?
Sabrina, they fixed it! WordPress fixed the notification follow up issue and now they’ve added another annoyance–a star and a notification blurb up top! Oh my goodness, why won’t these people just stop! hee hee! :)
Write to WordPress, miss Bella. That explains the deluge in my inbox. Note to self. ;-) xoxo
And, you see, I already forgot to uncheck the box. Oops! :-)
hahaha! I’m sorry! Unsubscribe, lady! :)
Ellen, I think I’m going to write WordPress. This is silly, to say the least. I haven’t been able to google any information or ways to fix this! :( XOXO :)
Oh Bella, I couldn’t agree more! I was so frustrated when I realized that and my Google account was flooded with notifications from various blogs I follow! That said, you sure do get a lot of comments so good for you! :)
Caryn, this checkmark is almost as annoyng as the orange little notification square on the right hand side. Or maybe I’m just too neurotic for my own good! hee hee! Let me know if you find a solution! :)
I wish i had such a busy blog, but my inbox is inundated, too. Actually, I had to turn off my vacation response since then you (and others) are probably getting all of my vacation responses after notification I received when I get your blog comments. I am just jealous my blog is so empty. Maybe I have less time to cruise other blogs than you do. I do my best with the time I have. But your posts, your cleverness, and your suburb writing warrant the many, many comments. It has inspired me to find a better voice.
Love you, lady!
Jodi, your beautiful comment has made my day! Thank you! I’m grateful for now having a little more time to do my blog runs. I think your writing is wonderful, lady! I think different readers look for different things in a blog, which might explain why some blogs have more traffic. For example, a great amount of fashion, beauty and food blogs, get tons of comments. Different strokes for different folks but you are steadily building your readership. Are you using Twitter to tweet your new posts? Let me know if I can help in any way! Love you back! :)
You always make me smile, Miss Bella. Even thought I work in the Social Media space and build solutions for customers, I am probably the worst when it comes to hanging out in the universe and pinging and pinging and pining and networking. Just uncheck the box and go back and visit at your leisure. It helps control the insanity if you do things on your terms.
Brenda, I love how you always put yourself first. We have much to learn from you, kiddo. I think are super charasmatic and you’d have no trouble mingling and mixing, lady! I’m glad I made you smile. Thank you for making me smile back, amiga! :)
It truly is annoying, Bella. I am finding loads of follow-ups in my inbox too. I think we need action and fast! If you come up with the answer please let us know. Until then I’ll try to remember the new rules. Glad you have your laptop back and have more free time to hang out with all of us!
Annie, I’m so glad you’re with me! Phew! That’s a relief. I was beginning to think my OCD had gotten the better of me but really, this is irritating. I think I’ll write WordPress and see what they have to say. I’ll update any new info I get! I’m so happy to have more time to be with you wonderful ladies! :)
Hi, Bella. I, too, found this incredibly annoying. Until I checked my blog settings and found I was the one who’d ordered it — yikes! To fix it, you can simply go to your blog’s dashboard; on the left side under Settings, click Discussion; then under E-mail me whenever uncheck the first box. Solution made! Hope this helps! None of us need more e-mail than we already get, hehe!
Hi Debbie! Your suggestion works to prevent email notifications when someone posts a comment to my blog but that’s not my problem. My crisis is when I visit someone else’s blog. If I visit yours, for example, and want to leave a comment, I have to remove the check mark before writing my comment. Otherwise, I will hit click and the default check mark of “Notify me of follow up comments” will make it so every time someone else leaves a comment on that particular post of yours, I get an email. Does this make sense? Try leaving a comment on any WordPress blog and you’ll see what I mean about the check mark. Help me fix this! Argh!! :)
My average on emails per 24 hours is around 400! I love it! I understand it is very annoying for you, but on some blogs (including yours) I look for this check mark to make sure i won’t skip any comment.
When I read a post that I don’t find particularly interesting, I just sort my inbox by subject and delete all the comments related to this post at once before reading or opening them.
Good luck!
Nikky, I love your diligence and discipline. I could never be able to get a grip on that many emails! You are my hero! I like your solution to sorting through the comments on post you don’t find interesting! You smart cookie, you! :)
Bella, are you saying that WordPress has changed its policy or something and now, instead of readers checking the box if they want follow-up comments, that the box is checked by defaultt??? Did this just happen?? (I have not been getting any follow-up comments from you or any other blog….) Why weren’t WordPress bloggers notified about this change??? I’m so out of it!!! (And I don’t even know what Pinterest is!) Thanks for raising awareness about this…
Jann, that’s what I’m saying, amica! Now, whenever you visit a WordPress blog and want to leave a comment, you have to remove the default check mark of “Send me notifications of follow up comments” or you keep getting emails every time someone comments on that particular post. This behavior is fairly recent. I’ve been suffering thorough it for the past week or so. What do you mean you don’t know what Pinterest is? Lady, hop on the bandwagon! Click on the link I provided and you can see all my boards and pins! It’s truly a lot of fun! Let me know what you think, per favore! :)
EXACTLY! And talk about adding insult to injury… I don’t particularly want my inbox stuffed with proof that other blogs are super popular, while mine is the gym wallflower hoping the cute boy will ask her dance. Sigh. I have no answers to fix the problem, but hope they change it soon.
bwhahahaha! Woman, you always make me laugh! If I come up with a solution, I’ll tweet it to you! Maybe we should ask Amber! She’s really savvy with stuff like this! :)
Thanks for telling me about the checkmark thingy there, now I’ll have to remember to un-check it whenever I leave a comment on someone’s WP blog. Yay.
Ivana, your “yay” made me giggle! I’m glad we can laugh about stuff like this! Don’t forget to uncheck the check mark, lady! :)
Well, you DO have that adorable bunny saying “I love comments”…
And I do love comments, sugar! I love when people comment on my blog posts and I love commenting on other blogs as well. In this case, it’s other people’s comments on blog posts. You see, when you forget to uncheck the box, your mailbox is filled with notifications of comments other people have made to a particular post. If you read a lot of blogs and consecutively forget to uncheck, the emails keep coming in for comments to other blogs! See what I mean? :)
LOL! Luckily I haven’t yet forgotten to uncheck the box. I don’t uncheck the box for your blog, however.
Paz, you’re such a sweet woman! Thank you for making me smile! :)
Bella, I 100% agree with you! I hate the new feature and often forget to uncheck it. I hope if you figure out how to permanently undo, please let us know. I actually wrote to WP about it but they only told me how to get rid of it by unchecking the box next to comments. What genius thought it was a good idea, anyway??
Monica, unchecking the box next to comments does squat. I’ve also tried removing the check mark from the feature of allowing readers to subscribe to comments and that doesn’t work either. I think WordPress failed this time. This is worse than the bright orange notification square up top! Argh! :)
I’m with you – I rarely follow comment paths except to go back to a post on purpose (which rarely happens). I sure wouldn’t want them showing up in my mailbox! I notice you don’t have an auto-checkmark on yours. Love the wabbit!! What flavor is he?
Nan, the wabbit was a delicious butter cookie I had with my coffee the other day! I’m afraid the wabbit is no more! hee hee! You’ve got to love the bakeries and coffee shops in this country–never is coffee ever served without a cookie or small bonbon. Makes coffee even more special, don’t you think? :)
Yes, Bella, I think a coffee goes better with a cookie – how do you think I gained all this weight???
I *so* agree.
I had to do the same thing. I now have a folder on my browser bar that has the blogs that I read (and Bella, yours is one 8) ) only because of that danged checkmark. My mailbox was blowing up. I’ve seen this complaint on other blogs.
If you go to wordpress.com, there is a Readers tab that has the posts from the people you follow. That’s one way to tackle this. But you gotta scroll some…
Grr. 8).
Eloise, I’m so glad my blog is in your folder! Thank you! I’m going to have to do some research and see if anyone has posted anything to the forums. Sometimes we can get answers that way. I’ll keep you posted! Hugs! :)
Hi Bella, I went to the forums and found this which might help. I searched for “Notify me” which is the text to the right of that checkbox below the comment box. Sometimes its just easier to bookmark stuff…
http://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/getting-email-spammed-cant-access-dashboard?replies=4#post-885093
Eloise, I scoured the forum but unfortunately, the only solution offered applies to one’s individual blog. In other words, I can remove the feature where readers can subscribe to receive notifications of follow up comments. However, other bloggers would have to do the same on their blogs and I don’t like the idea of taking away the reader’s right to subscribe or not. I think for the time being, we’re going to have to grin and bear this annoying situation! :)
Agreed… Highly annoying. Thanks for the info!
You’re welcome, lady! :)
This is one I want the comments on. Maybe someone will have the answer. I don’t know why they changed it since it worked just fine before. Yikes!
Renee, ha! “This is one I want the comments on.” I love it! I hope someone will come up with a solution. Stay tuned, friend! :)
Not to mention that they now keep sending me e-mails every time I comment on a WP blog telling me to subscribe to comments (not the same as your check mark). I tried to get them to stop, but the wording on those directions makes me wonder if clicking something will unsubscribe me from the whole blog and I’ll never see it again. I wonder if I get these e-mails because I’m not signed in on a WP account?
Julie, it might be the case that WordPress is trying to lure you to the dark side! hee hee! I’ve heard from many people that it is a project to leave a comment on WordPress blogs when you don’t have a WP blog yourself. I don’t know. Stay tuned for any possible solution to this situation! :)
I know exactly what you mean. However, I love reading the comment threads on your blog!
Corinne, you always have the right thing to say! I love that about you! I have to agree with you–this is a lovely bunch, yourself included, friend! :)
All credit to you, dearest lady. I love how your ‘community’ grows with you excellent content, responses and comments on other blogs ♥
Corinne, bless you for your ever present kindness. Your words bring joy to my soul and warm my heart. Thank you, dear friend! :)
Sweet, Bella,
Yes! It’s hooooorrible.
I’ve been clicking the check mark off! Damn it! I am flooded w/ comments.
that really annoys me!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why would they do that? WHYyyyy!?
On the other hand…..I love you and Rox Xxxx
Kim, honey, I know you read a lot of blogs and I was wondering how you were coping. I trust that by now you have the uncheck procedure down pat! Why would they do that, indeed?? ARGH!!! hee hee! Doesn’t it feel great to let out some steam when things annoy you? ha! Roxy and I love you to the moon and back, lady! :)
I didn’t even realize that check mark was there!! I was wondering why I was getting all of those comment emails from other blogs. How annoying! That plus now it asks you to log in to wordpress to comment, which is absolutely ridiculous.
Kirstin, someone else commented on another blog about the logging in bit. I’m sorry about that! At least now you know to uncheck the box so as to not have you inbox flooded! I love the ease of commenting on your blog! :)
Hmmmm, I didn’t notice it until you pointed it out. However, I’m NOT getting an inbox full of comments. I’ll have to dig deeper. WordPress has made a few changes lately that are very, very annoying and I wish they’d quit. I don’t want to relocated the blog.
Nora, I agree. I used to love everything about this blog platform and some of the new changes are pointless. This default check mark is ridiculous. A reader should be able to decide if he or she wants to receive follow up notifications or not. And like I mentioned, if you only read a couple of blogs, it’s not such a big deal. The problem is when you comment on a lot of blogs. Please let us know if you discover anything! :)
Oh so that’s why my inbox is swamped with email notifications of comments that are not for me! Thanks for posting this! My first time to uncheck that box.:)
Yen, I’m glad that you are now able to remove the check mark at your leisure! :)
I even had a comment from a follower asking if I had changed something as she was suddenly getting comments from me. Surely they have to change the default to be unchecked.
Clair, I totally agree. After perusing the forums, many, if not all, WordPress users are very unhappy with this new feature. I hope they take our suggestions into consideration and fix this! :)
Bella thanks for writing about this. It has been really hard to sort through our email because the stupid box was checked every time we left a comment for a couple of days. Your frustration is not from your free time. :)
Bella and DiDi
Bella and DiDi, I’m sorry you’re also find this frustrating. I hope the good people at WordPress will fix this issue soon so both you ladies and I can get back to some cool relaxation! hee hee! :)
Aha! So that’s why I got all of the notices. I just thought I had suddenly gotten popular!!!
bwhahaha! Oh, Diane! You always make me chuckle! :)
Hahaha That can be pretty annoying most especially if such comments weren’t meant for you :-D
Irene, so true, right? hee hee! :)
P.S. I want to kiss Roxy! <3
Irene, I read you comment to Roxy and I could swear I heard her giggle! hee hee! :)
Bella I so agree with you. If I dont check my mail for a day, I find my inbox flooded with these notifications. My fault, I keep forgetting to remove the notification when I am commenting. Sometimes I see it too late and I have already pressed the Post Comment button. LOL!
Rimly, me too! You have no idea how many times I’ve hit that post comment button without having removed the check mark! Frustrating to say the least. We’re going to have to attach a “post it” to the laptop screen or something! hee hee! :)
There is simply not enough hours in the day to read everybody else’s comments to every blog. Let’s face it, there’s not enough time to even read the blogs we would like to! So, my theory says to be selective, it’s all one can do, unless one plans to sabotage one’s own writing career, which I admit I come close to doing often.
Elizabeth, as always you speak the truth. There isn’t enough hours in the day to do what we would like. Reading blogs and commenting takes up a lot of our time and I can see how your writing could be placed on hold as you go through the process. I’ve decided it’s wise to set up a schedule where I will pace myself throughout the day to read and reply. This because if we keep doing this in one sitting, it will soon turn into a chore and the fun will be sucked right out of it. Don’t you agree? I like your theory, friend! :)
I totally know what you mean.
Maybe WordPress has gotten a big ego, and to get more hits, or something for doing this?
Your post is very funny. Hope you survive this and enjoy your time away pondering. Or not pondering why WP does what it does.
P.S. that’s a fake email for me due to the other annoying thing WP is doing with the log-in.
On the happy side, your blog is very very pretty. Clean and nice on the eyes indeed.
Jannie, hello and welcome! I hadn’t thought of the possibility that this might be a WordPress strategy to get more hits! Hmm…She scratches her head and ponders some more. hee hee! I’m glad you like the blog! Hope you’ll drop by again soon! :)
Yet another reason I never switched to WordPress. Other than the fact that I really, really hate change of any sort. I use Disqus for comments and so the only person who gets an e-mail is someone who’s left a comment that I, or someone else, has decided to reply to. Much easier.
Jayne, I agree, some blog platforms are easier than others. Disqus sounds like no nonsense good stuff! :)