Sometimes users who receive posts via e-mail with reply directly to the e-mail. In most cases, this is the wrong way to continue the conversation. These e-mails are typically about a specific post, including questions about the post. Rather than sending an e-mail those only gets seen by me, it is best to post a response as a comment so that everyone can benefit from the conversation. Last week in my Comprehensive Font Management Tutorial In The Works, I received quite a few comments about the commenting process. I’ll try to address each of those issues in this tutorial.

Let’s get one item out of the way first as it answer many of the concerns I’ve received. The blog itself is powered by Blogger. It is a Google product. I can choose if comments are allowed or not and I do allow them. I can also choose if I want there to be protection against comment spam and I do have that protection enabled. If it is not turned on, we get numerous spammy comments every day promoting things that have absolutely nothing to do with the blog post.

Beyond those two settings, I have absolutely zero control over the comment form appearance and functionality. So providing me suggestions on how to improve the form isn’t helpful since I can’t do anything about it. I wish I could direct you to a page where you could suggest changes to Google, but I’m not aware of such a page. Google does provide a tutorial page explaining how to leave a comment, though it is very light on content.

If you are so frustrated by Google’s comment form, each post is also posted on the Graphics Unleashed Facebook page and we welcome your comments there. Each post is also posted to my Twitter stream and I welcome comments via Twitter. The only place I’d really prefer you not comment is via e-mail because it is a closed conversation.

Now let’s get down to details on how to leave a comment. For those of you who receive posts via e-mail, there is a comment link at the bottom of each post. I’ve included a screenshot below that shows an example of this link (in red rectangle) as it appears in Microsoft Outlook. Keep in mind that Your E-mail Reader Determines How Newsletter Is Rendered so your e-mail may look a bit different than what is shown.

Clicking that link will take you to the comments section of a specific blog post. Below is an example of how that section will look if there haven’t been any comments yet. Note that the form I show below indicates that I am already logged in to my Google account.

I know that I am almost always logged in to my Google account because there are so many different Google products I use in my browser. So when I leave a comment, I just type it out and press Publish. It couldn’t be any easier. If you are not logged in to a Google account, I’d suggest you log in before typing your comment. Some users have reported that their comment is lost if they log in after typing. I will stress again, I have zero control over the form’s appearance and functionality!

To be extra safe, highlight your entire comment and press Ctrl + C to copy it to the clipboard. Then if it is lost for any reason, you can press Ctrl + V to paste it in again.

Believe me, I wish I did have the ability to change the form. I also wish there weren’t so many scumbags who leave comment spam or things would be much easier. All I can do is describe the process. For me, it really couldn’t be any easier to comment in the browser on my desktop computer. If it is difficult for you, then maybe it would be best for you to comment on Facebook or Twitter. Just please don’t comment via e-mail.