From e417a818e207a6cca6e2f3c471611673ab836a62 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Bradley Taunt Date: Sat, 25 May 2024 16:14:03 -0400 Subject: Initial commit for Jekyll testing and conversion, updated --- _posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md | 66 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 66 insertions(+) create mode 100644 _posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md (limited to '_posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md') diff --git a/_posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md b/_posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ce4a1a --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md @@ -0,0 +1,66 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: "My Cheapskate Commenting System" +date: 2022-02-03 +--- + + +My blog now has comments! Well, *kind of*... + +I went down a two day long rabbit-hole trying to find the best solution for implementing comments on my static website (generated via Jekyll FYI). There are a ton of options out there and many open source models that allow you to spin up your own instance with something like DigitalOcean or AWS. But I'm a cheap bastard. I refuse to spend $5/month on a blog mostly used for fun and one that I have zero incentive to "monetize". + +So, what *free* options did this old miser have left to chose from? To my surprise, there were two solid options that initially caught my eye! Let's take a look then, shall we? + +## Remarkbox + +Overall I don't have many bad things to say about [Remarkbox](https://www.remarkbox.com). It looks nice, is easy to implement and runs a "pay what you can" pricing model. What more could you ask for?! The major issue (for me, *personally*) is precisely **that**; the free model. This makes it difficult for me to trust 100% that this system will still be around in 3-4 years. Now I know - even paid systems can shutdown unexpectedly, but I find free tier options end up shutting their doors sooner. There is an option to self-host Remarkbox, but that requires a yearly license and also comes back to the point I made about not wanting to pay for hosting... + +## Utterances (Github-based) + +The other major option was [Utterances](https://utteranc.es). This system was almost the winner due to it's pretty great feature set: + +1. Open source +2. No tracking, no ads +3. All data stored in GitHub issues +4. Free! + +But take a look above at point number three. The fact that readers wishing to leave a comment are **required to have a Github account**. For me, this is a non-starter. I don't want to force my audience to sign up for or sign in to *any* account just to leave a simple comment on my humble blog. Considering a number of my readers are part of the FOSS community, this just seemed like a bad fit. + +## Finding Inspiration + +I absolutely love the [solar.lowtechmagazine.com](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com) website (both for it's content and design) and indirectly found my comment system inspiration there. Okay let's be honest, I completely stole their commenting system "concept". Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? + +## My Comment System is... + +E-mail. It's just **plain e-mail**. + +I've setup a basic `comment-prompt.html` in my `_includes` folder that contains a `mailto` action button[^1]: + + + + + + + +This include template is placed at the bottom of every article automatically. Then, that action pulls in the article's title as the e-mail subject line in the user's default mailing app. That's it. + +## Pros + +- No third party application needed +- Privacy focused +- More direct interaction with my audience/readers +- Builds a much more close-knit community +- Completely free! + +## Cons + +- Must be manually curated and posted +- No notifications +- No "built-in" reply functionality +- Has the potential to become unwieldy... + +## Fun Experiment + +I figure either way, this will be an interesting experiment. I don't know my audience size (since I don't use any type of tracking) but I assume it's very small. Those willing to write me a personal e-mail in order to share their thoughts on my stupid little blog probably have something interesting to say. At least I hope so. + +Let's see how this thing goes... -- cgit v1.2.3-54-g00ecf