I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people complain about how blogging can be so time consuming. It’s one thing to write posts. I actually think that’s the easier part. For me, the fun in blogging is in the exchanging of comments. Sometimes it’s like a game of dueling banjos. Ever do rapid fire comment exchange? I have. It’s not as optimal as using IM. But still fun.
Lately, I’ve been writing about those little things that make my life a bit easier. For tracking the various blogs I read, I use Bloglines. This site aggregates the RSS feeds from all the sites I monitor, and highlights a link when a new post is made. But it doesn’t do well with comments. Sure I can track comments as RSS feeds too. But this can get way too much to manage. Think about a new Bloglines entry for each post, not blog, but post that is made on all the sites you happen to follow.
To make things a bit easier, I use coComment. Now, I’ve used this for a little while, but recently found a way to make life even easier. Originally, I used the booklet feature. This places a link on your bookmark bar so that when you leave a comment on a site that you wish to track, you need to click the link to add the comments page to your list of tracked conversations. Needless to say it’s convenient, but very manual.
Well, I finally decided to use the plug-in feature for Firefox. Holy Cow! Comment tracking is actually automatic now. And it’s much quicker than the other method. I highly recommend you install the plug-in and start using this tool. It should save a lot of time tracking comments as opposed to having to go to each site to see if there have been any updates.
Enjoy!
02/02/2007 at 11:01 am Permalink
Mike, it’s your favorite techie commenter;). Does this mean you’ll be alerted every time someone comments on that post? Or just the author of the blog? Inquiring minds wanna know…well, mine does, anyway. Thanks, technogeek (I mean that will ALL appreciation and affection…yep, it’s a compliment)!
03/02/2007 at 10:47 am Permalink
You will be alerted each time someone makes a comment, not just the author. I find this useful as it’s fun to read the comments.
04/02/2007 at 9:37 am Permalink
I would love this feature….if I could leave comments in Firefox with out being automatically (and annoyingly, lol) signed out of gmail. *sigh*
Damn it.
LOL
06/02/2007 at 11:00 am Permalink
I love blogging and commenting… Possibly too much. If my inability to do either of them well (lately) is any indication, imagine what’s happend to the other areas of my life. Like WORK. I actually missed a deadline the other day so I could check on everyone else’s blogs. *Sigh*
09/03/2007 at 1:18 am Permalink
The writing you will always have control of, but the comments you won’t. That’s atleasy why I think they’re more exciting.