Look how old this is! I post at SearchCommander.com now, and this post was published 16 years 8 months 23 days ago. This industry changes FAST, so blindly following the advice here *may not* be a good idea! If you're at all unsure, feel free to hit me up on Twitter and ask.
I was commenting on a blog this morning when I saw that there were a number of comment author links that were NoFollowed, and a number that were not. The blog owner was singling out comments for approval to allow the passing of link juice.
That reminded me to check a few of my recent comments for validity, and make sure nobody was guilty of blatant link juicing 😉 and I noticed that something in my DoFollow plugin was broken.
I’ve been using Greg Boser and Dax’s modified DoFollow plugin, which used to work great, but now with the new WordPress version, it seems to be broken for individual comment choices, ith this option being gone…
The plugin does still seem to work for nofollowing an entire post, (a clever way to harness and redirect some of your own link juice on old posts) but I’d like comment level control back. Greg, are you going to fix it? Someone suggested a specific line fix on your blog, but it didn’t work for me.
A little Google research brought me to this post which I think is very well written, explains the reason behind the need, as well as a rundown of many DoFollow options that I never even knew existed.
It’s well worth a read, if you’re interested in the subject, or have been hunting for options for your own blog. In the meantime, I’ll probably hang tight with Gregs for a while waiting for an update…
Interesting article. Since I have most of my domains on your same host, I am not sure any link love will do me much good, so I will stick to unlinked comments for now 🙂
I block comments on my blogs since I don’t want any back talk, but a few get through anyways when I forget to set the options correctly. It does take me awhile, often, to determine if the comment is spam or not.
I can see that a DoFollow comment guidelines page could be something that some more popular bloggers who really want to maintain their following may want to adopt. For instance, you could state on the domain’s Do Follow Policy that you only Do Follow comments related to the topic and that are at least X characters long. That way people who really just want to say “Great job” to your article, won’t get offended if you No Follow them.
I use it and I don’t seem to have any problem. I don’t have the no follow option in the “awaiting comments” section /wp-admin/moderation.php. But in the comments section (/wp-admin/edit-comments.php) that options is there. I would like it if they added the no-follow option to the “awaiting comments” page.
I’m running the latest version 2.33 – You are too John? Using Gregs plugin?
Thanks for the link! I too encountered problems when reviewing Dax’s otherwise promising dofollow plugin. Testing on WP 2.3.3, the plugin failed to deliver the per-comment moderation functionality as advertised. As soon as they fix it, I will be adding it to the “Dofollow Blacklist” post mentioned in your article, as well as my comprehensive reference of all dofollow/no-nofollow WordPress plugins. It sounds like a great plugin — I hope they fix it soon!
Great Jeff, and thanks for the list!
I don’t get the point of allowing a post but having nofollow for it. If the post is not on topic or is just spammy then deny the post. I can’t think of anyone on my blog that has posted a legit comment and when to a spam or bad website.
Well – let’s use you for example… Thanks for the set-up!
The fact that you’ve used anchor text “Computer Repair” instead of your real name is a perfect illustration of where some blog owners may choose to draw the line, and allow the comment, but no follow the blatantly obvious spammy text link?
I think it is important for people to start moving towards this. Real estate professionals find it hard to show off what they have if the juice doesn’t flow to their houses for sale. Anyway, just my two cents worth. Greenville, NC real estate and homes for sale in Greenville / Winterville, North Carolina
I am seeing a lot of bait and switch blogs that say are do follow then a few months down the road switch to no follow.
@Dan, I wonder if that’s not related to a plug-in ceasing to work or the owner deciding t ogo back to nofollow site wide.
Thanks for providing suggestion for the alternative way. But I have visited many sites that show as dofollow but after some time they turn into no follow sites. But I have something more that m also using the same plug but never face the problem like you.
Thanks for your great contribution for SEO. Especially it will help more for newbies. Definitely will bookmark your blog.