I just noticed my Edit Post screen looked different when I saw all the comments posted for said post right in front of me. I decided that Ben, Mena & friends must be up to something new. So I checked out Typepad Resources & sure enough they added tons of new features including improved Comment Management.
First, let me say that this is a great new feature. It gives blog authors much more control over comments, makes it much easier to find them, track them & edit or delete them should you choose to. Many of us are having problems with spam and weird or ranting comments and this helps enormously to root out the detritus from your blog. Bravo!
But let it also be said that the text describing this feature is slightly misleading in the choice of one word:
“To make it easier to search, identify, and filter incoming comments to your weblog”
When I think of a filter such as a spam filter I think of a feature that will catch msgs. BEFORE they arrive in my Inbox or blog. But what they really mean here is that Comment Management only allows you to control your comments AFTER they arrive & appear in your blog. So this is definitely not a blog spam filter and therefore not fully the answer to my prayers (though it’s a good step in that direction).
Happily, in the same post they note that blog spam is a problem and that they are working on solutions for the problem. I’m looking forward to that.
