I don’t post as much as I once did. I still follow more prolific bloggers. New posts show up in my WordPress Reader daily. I like them and comment on them. The original blogger mostly responds.
However, WordPress will sometimes put my comments in prison. This means my comment will appear—but only to me—under other comments with the caveat “Your comment is awaiting moderation.” Usually this happens when I use profanity, because a) I swear A LOT and 2) WordPress is a prissy little bitch.
WordPress supposedly notifies the original blogger/judge that my comment is languishing in prison. The blogger/judge laughs uproariously at my wit, scolds WordPress for yet ANOTHER wrongful arrest, and approves my comment, thus releasing me from WordPress prison. My comment rejoins society, utterly unchastened, and returns to run its potty mouth among the more decorous comments.
In some cases, WordPress, like ICE, says, “Fuck that due process shit” and doesn’t notify the original blogger that a comment is awaiting moderation. Midwest Mark once got super peeved that he wrote a whole eloquent paragraph in my comments that WordPress immediately imprisoned. WordPress never notified me, but Mark managed to smuggle a message out of prison (i.e., wrote a second comment telling me his first comment had been disappeared).
WordPress frequently flagged my comments on the now retired (and much-missed!) blog of Ally Bean (probably because profanity at The Spectacled Bean was not the done thing). Since Ally is on social media, I’d sometimes tag her on Threads and let her know I was in WP prison. She would always bail me out.
But this past week, something new happened. I commented on multiple blogs and went on my merry way. No one responded. At first I assumed it was user error—either I’d forgotten to hit “send” or the cat had jumped on my keyboard at an inopportune moment. I went back to River Girl, Kate, and 2 Summers and put in my comments again.
Crickets.
Was I not hilarious? Were they not entertained? They all usually responded, even if just with a smiley face (or a frowny face).
As a lifelong catastrophizer, this issue kept me up at night. Had I been blacklisted? Were bloggers from multiple continents in some group chat, looking at my repeated, frantic comments and sniggering?!
My mind goes to increasingly implausible places at 3 AM.
I made multiple attempts. My comments appeared to go through:
But when I checked back later, my comments had disappeared.
I logged out of WordPress. Rebooted my computer. Used different browsers. Tried my phone. Changed passwords. Checked to see if my website or my email was being used for spam or other nefarious purposes. I found nothing.
I kept trying:
My comments continued disappearing within minutes.
I commented with email only:
My comment vanished within minutes. The only blog currently retaining my comments is Deb’s Despatches (based in the UK).
I contacted WordPress. Their useless AI assistant told me that humans at WP are reserved for those who pay for premium services ($20-$200 per month). Sooooo…imprisoning IPs without premium service would be a good way to convince them to pay for premium service, perhaps?
Eventually, my husband/tech support will work on this. For a conjugal price, no doubt.
For now, I’ve left bloggers messages on their social media telling them about my disappearing comments.
Maybe I’m in their spam folders.
Maybe Chinese hackers finally bested Andy and landed my IP address on Akismet’s no-fly list.
Maybe it’s time to emulate Ally and bail on blogging.
In case your comments also disappear, you can find me on Threads, Instagram, BlueSky, or Facebook.
I found you in my spam file along with my responses to other comments on my own blog. Not sure what’s going on. You are out of jail….for now!
I’m free! At least at the Coffee Kat Cafe. Thank you, Kate.
I just (electronically) ran over and checked my comments and found two from you in my Spam folder. I have released them from prison!
Freedom…Freedom…gotta give whatcha take! Thank you!
I’ve never had it happen to all my comments at once, but I’ve had trouble making comments on a few sites. One site just makes it very difficult. Maybe I don’t understand how they want me to comment. Another wouldn’t take my comments for the longest time, then, suddenly, it would. It’s so frustrating.
By the way, you got through to my comments this past Sunday.
Yay! I’ve escaped prison on at least two blogs. Let’s see what happens this weekend, though.
I initially read this on my phone this morning, but couldn’t comment until I had the energy to get up and go get my laptop, because at some point many years ago I lost ability to log in and comment on other people’s WordPress blogs through my phone internet browser and eventually just gave up on ever doing that again. This is all to say: I feel your pain. But it must be super upsetting to realize that your comments are totally disappearing on all the blogs you comment on! That is a new one.
Someday, if we ever meet in person, we can meet for coffee and spend an entire day discussing the trials and tribulations of being a WordPress blogger. It totally sucks, as you know, but I’d love to tell you the whole story of how I left and came back again because going OFF WordPress was even worse. I think the real problem is that blogging in itself is becoming a lost art and the internet is no longer set up to cater for us…Anyway, a discussion for another day. I hope we can both find the energy and motivation to keep on with it — our work is valuable!
I debate moving to a different platform, like substack or Patreon on a regular basis. But then I’d have to blog more, swear less, and say things that are actually useful. Someday we will be on the same continent, and in the same city!
Holy crap, I just checked my spam and found about a dozen of your comments. (I approved them but might not go back to reply to all.) Damn it WordPress, stop throwing my friends in prison!
No worries, we are just grateful you posted our bail.
Yep, I freed you too. And it didn’t even require a file in a cake.
This has happened to me a couple of times, and it’s usually because I’ve linked to a former post in a comment. I guess WP sees this as spamming, which I can sort of understand, so I don’t do that anymore.
And I, for one, hope you don’t pull an Ally Bean. I love your writing! If there’s a conjugal price involved in convincing you to stay, tell Andy I fully endorse him.
File in a cake–good one! You blog buds sure have a nice way with words.
It was very sweet of him! Nice to see I wasn’t…desserted by other bloggers.
Ohhh, linked to a former post in a comment was the culprit?! That is good info. I have been warned.
Also, I can’t believe there was no cake. Unless you prepared a cider doughnut instead?
I just ate a cider doughnut five minutes ago. So good!
Nothing like them…although Andy’s mochi doughnuts are also amazing.
I know, I know, I still need to make that pineapple bao…
Some cold winter weekend, maybe. I wait with bated breath!
That is sooooooo annoying and frustrating for you! This whole post was a riot, though. Thanks for the laughs. I hope it all gets worked out soon. I probably would’ve thrown my computer through a window by now.
It was a near thing. The mouse might have, um, taken a flight somewhere.
Well I certainly hope not everyone syops blogging, or I’ll be left here all alone!
Enough bloggers posted my bail that I’m truly touched and will continue…for now!
Yay!
*stops*
No worries, I read fluent typo AND autocorrect.
I’ve had people complain recently that they’ve been unable to comment on posts of mine too! And not even in the “your comment is pending and requires manual approval from the blogger” way. I wondered if there was some kind of error or if WordPress had changed some setting that I had to go in and manually change, but no… but I see it’s not just me! Nice not to feel alone, at least.
You are in good company! Or maybe just marginal company, LOL. I still can’t figure out exactly what got me flagged on some blogs but not on others. I was grateful that bail was posted by so many, though.
Oh no! It sounds like WordPress has given you the scarlet letter. Based on the comments above it sounds like your comments are going to spam but that’s so weird? And please don’t give up blogging i love your posts! Unfortunately having two small children destroyed my blogging time
Scarlet letter A would be appropriate! Blogging with just one kid is hard enough, I cannot even imagine with two and a full-time job.
Is that Baby D’s reaction to the mouse flying by? Either way, I’m happy to see a new message
That picture was actually Baby D’s reaction to being on the other side of the gate from his stocking on Christmas morning! He was waiting for the grownups to get coffee along with a cousin and felt the grownups were taking far too long.
That is so annoying to have your comments disappear. I remember a while back I had this issue. I was reading and commenting on blogs I like, and each of my comments would disappear. Reached out to the bloggers and turns out the Trash or Spam was seeing me as tasty so that’s what happened. It kept on going for a while and thankfully, resolved. Though it still happens sometimes. These days before I hit ‘Comment’ I like to copy my comment in case it disappears…
From the screenshots I notice you are commenting from the reader? I normally like to go to the blog and directly leave comments there…but still, I’ve encountered disappearing strife there. I don’t post that much anymore but I do recall your comments sometimes go to my Trash or Spam. I normally like to keep an eye on these folders – because I do appreciate the time people take to read and leave comments.
Oh, I’ve always seen you as a prolific blogger Autumn. Always telling it like it is. Love it.
I’ve commented both through the reader and directly on a blog and my comments were still disappearing. Maddening. But thanks for checking your spam and posting bail. Very kind of you!
How frustrating. You know what’s maddening to me, is that I never get notified of your comments here eventhough I am subscribed to your blog. It doesn’t happen to other blogs… I have no idea why. Don’t mind doing the manual rounds to come around though.
WP has it out for me. Undoubtedly all the profanity.
How f*ing frustrating for you. I am delighted that my blog knows better than to put you in jail. That said, I do regularly check my spam filters, so I would find you even if it dared, but I am confident you’ve never been put there before.
Please don’t leave as well…
BTW, that is the *best* picture at the head of your post. It made me roar 😀
That picture always makes me laugh. I’ve been waiting for years to use it. Thanks for keeping me out of jail.
I had no idea that WordPress did this on the blogger!