From dc6db80fa72286704849ef61ee0e5ccb5841cb09 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Bradley Taunt Date: Tue, 2 Jul 2024 14:28:49 -0400 Subject: Conversion to barf for testing purposes --- _posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md | 66 ---------------------------- 1 file changed, 66 deletions(-) delete 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 deleted file mode 100644 index 4ce4a1a..0000000 --- a/_posts/2022-02-03-poormans-comment-system.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,66 +0,0 @@ ---- -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