A PROBLEM YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD
Want to delete a comment you left on someone else's blog?
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| Photo: Auaan, cc by-sa 4.0 |
It just got more difficult.
Blog comments are affected by the same issue that recently disabled the quick-edit tools.
A workaround "fixed" that issue. It also has the effect of fixing comments.
Update: Google has fixed this, at least for now. But I am leaving this post up.
There is a hidden "delete" link after every comment in a Blogger blog. Until very recently, you would see those links
- on your blog, when logged in as administrator
- on other blogs, for your comments only, when logged in to the account that you used to leave the comments. (If you did so anonymously, you are out of luck.)
On January 20, the links disappeared. You can still manage comments to your
blog from the Comments page of your dashboard.
However, if you posted something someplace else, your only option would be to
ask the blog owner to delete your comment for you. Which could be problematic.
The good news—or at least, the news that is slightly less terrible—is that the
link you want still exists, it is just hidden.
Unhide the Delete Link
You can unhide it in your browser with a browser extension such as
Stylebot
(Chrome),
Cascadea (Safari), or
Stylus
(Firefox).
The procedure is exactly the same as that for restoring the quick-edit tools. The same mechanism is at play. So I am not going to repeat the tutorial here, or the explanation of what I think is
going on.
Bur for those who are familiar with those browser extensions already, I will
note that the code to insert is
.item-control {display:initial;}
If that is confusing to you, please take the time to
read the more-detailed explanation.
Also please note the following:
This solution will show you all of the "delete" links for all of the
comments. However, you will not be able to delete comments that are not yours
(except on your blog).
It will also show the quick-edit links, if present. They won't work for you
either.
The hack makes the links visible, but Google's account security is not
affected.
This is a browser solution. It only affects what you see using your browser.
If you know your way around your browser's code inspector, you can
accomplish the same thing temporarily by disabling "display:none" for the
item-control element on the page with the comment.
(I am not fluent enough with this tool to try to explain this, sorry.)
Finally, deleting is permanent, though you could always comment again.
Workarounds
They beat the alternative.
I think your helpful advice ought to point out that in order to see the "delete comment" link on other people's blogs, you need to use Stylus to add the code to each blog URL address you are visiting. Which can be a bit tiresome if you follow dozens of blogs. Jx
ReplyDelete@Jon, yes, that's a good point. Though if you are a prolific comm enter it might be worth applying the style just to "blogspot.com," in which case you would see these links on all blogs.
DeleteI am considering making the change on the blog side for this blog, to give all readers who comment the option of controlling their comment here. Comments are valuable and interesting and I worry that this change could inhibit people from leaving them.
There's a lot to process but I wanted to get this workaround out quickly.
Ah, I didn't realise I could use it across the entire domain. Jx
Delete@Jon, it won't apply to blogs with custom (non-Blogspot) urls. And you will see quick-edit tools everywhere. But maybe worth it,
DeleteEven for comments posted on other blogs, you can find the comment deletion link URL by looking at the page source with Ctrl + U.
ReplyDeleteAnother way is to go to the comment posting page.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=874282079821965484&postID=2937825083912187854
Easily accessible if comment option is embed or full page.
I correct the previous comment,
ReplyDeleteEasily accessible if comment option is Popup or full page.
Thanks a lot!
ReplyDelete