How To Re-Enable Blogger Comments (From Windows Live Writer)

Version: 1.13.01 - last update: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 11:55:00

 

---

WWW <= What Went Wrong :-)

I create & maintain this blog using Microsoft’s Windows Live Writer. Lately I was checking in some cool new sidebar gadgets for my blog space. During the update of my blogger template I must have changed a setting dealing with the display of comments at the bottom of each page.

How to reproduce

If you like to follow me, just do the steps below:

1. Check into your account
2. Click “Design” in the upper right corner of your blogger bar at top of the page (showing … <your login> [New Post] [Design] [Sign Out] )
3. Select the “Settings” tab and below click the “Comments” link.
4. All this brings you to the page shown below:

Img #1.) Be careful with the “Comments Default for Posts” entry!

The combo box in question allows you to disable the display of the 0 Comments link in the footer section of every new post. Setting this option to “New Posts Do Not Have Comments” will disable the whole commenting feature for every blog entry you will publish in the future!

Live Writer never knows

Sadly, our Live Writer is not aware of the fact, that comments are disabled. Thus, there is no way to correct the missing commenting option with the help of Microsoft’s tool. In addition, Google stores some kind of “comments-disabled” flag value inside of every post you make. Thus, you may re-visit your blogger’s settings page (shown above) and reset your wrong choice to “New Post Have Comments” like shown in the next screenshot:

But, this will not affect any page you posted while your wrong “…No Comments”-selection was active! Only your next new post will show the 0 Comments link again. Okay, you may consult Google’s help pages. There are a lot of FAQ entries dealing with “missing comments links”. Alas, that makes it not easier to find the right answer to solve your homegrown problem :-) Many times missing comments links resulting from some corrupted blogger template. There are plenty of suggestions how to manually fix broken templates. Maybe someone dares to follow them, but not me!

The RTFM Solution

There is a simple native way (only some clicks away!) to let the “Comments” link reappear in your post’s footer. I found it while reading some Google’s online help pages dealing with blogger settings, etc. If you like to follow me, just do the steps below:

1. Check into your account
2. Click “Design” in the upper right corner of your blogger bar at top of the page (showing … <your login> [New Post] [Design] [Sign Out] )
3. Select the “Posting” tab and below click the “Edit Posts” link.
4. All this brings you to the page shown below:

 
Img #2.) Select an entry with disabled Comments link!

Now, go and click “Edit” to switch a post with missing “Comments” link into edit mode. Google starts a web editor session for you like shown below:

Img #3.) Watch out the “Post Options” link in the bottom left corner!

There is an easy to oversee switch “Post Options” in the lower left corner of the online editor. Click that link-button and the editor window expands a region showing you a whole bunch of additional post related options, like shown below:

Img #4.) Choose “Allow” to re-enable “Comments”

Re-select “Allow” in the “Reader comments” option group and after saving your post shows up with n Comments link in it’s footer, again – finally ;-)

Repeat the last steps for every post with hidden/disabled “Comments” link – et nous voilà arrivés!

BTW.: The option used above (the way to change settings on a per-post basis) is well described somewhere on one of the many, many Google online help pages:-) We all know the shortcut “RTFM“, don’t we? ;-)

That's all for now,
   CU guys!

---