18 Apr 2013

NOW WE ARE 4.

Petty: Of little importance; trivial. 
Witter: To chatter or babble pointlessly or at unnecessary length.


Having given birth to, weaned and potty trained Pen and Paper, now that we are no longer a toddler, now that we are four years old, I think it may be the time to take our next steps in the Blogosphere which might, just might, mean some changes.

I say might as still undecided I'm hoping you are going to give us a Blogoversary present.

Nothing expensive you understand, you don't even have to wrap it, I simply want .....

Your opinions.


Hoping that I no longer chatter or babble pointlessly about trivial things (well not all of the time anyway) - I'll give you it still might be at unnecessary length but, hey, my motto isn't 'why use 25 words when you can use 50, 75 even?' for nothing - I'm thinking of doing away with the Petty Witter and just using Tracy or perhaps Tracy T instead.

Then, of course, there's the issue of to use word verification or not to use word verification.

Though currently feeling forced to use it because of all the spam I was getting I'm aware that it's frustrating and can be time consuming but what other alternative is there?

Do I use comment moderation instead of as well as?

What thinks you?



And in the meantime ......

Pull up a chair, pour yourself a drink, help yourself to a piece of cake and join me in celebrating Pen and Paper's 4th Blogoversary.



Disclaimer #1 :Removal of any part of this post without my express consent is considered copyright infringement. This post was created by and for Petty Witter @ Pen and Paper. If you are reading this post on any other site please contact the original blog owner/reviewer.


20 comments:

Carol said...

Tracy

Congrats on 4 years.
I love your saying why use 25 words when 50 or 75 will do. That sounds like me LOL

I took word verification off my blog and only get a handful of spam a month (touch wood), but then my content is mostly about books, whereas your content is more varied.

Word verification is often difficult to decipher so maybe moderation is better, as long as you have time to moderate comments.

carol
DizzyC xxx

PS would miss Petty Witter but I usually call you Tracy when you come over to my blog lol

Kelly said...

Happy Anniversary and congratulations on four years!

I hate word verification, but understand it's a necessary evil when plagued with spam. So...I think only you can determine if the amount of spam is worth taking it off.

As for Petty Witter vs Tracy. I'm like Dizzy - I always refer to you as Tracy, but would miss Petty Witter. Again, it really has to be your personal preference! (I'm not much help, am I?)

Arti said...

It has been a pleasure to have followed you for the last 3 years or so. Many Congrats on completing 4 glorious years and wish that you go on for many many more :)
Word verification makes it tough to comment and hence I have enabled comment moderation but not word verification. I individually delete spam comments.
Have a lovely week ahead :)

Literary Feline said...

Happy 4th Anniversary! I'm so glad to know you through your blog and comments! I hope you will have many more wonderful years of blogging!

I am not a fan of word verification (hard to read), but it usually doesn't stop me from commenting when I really want to. I used to use it and swear by it, but people started complaining, especially when Blogger switched to the even harder to read captcha. I moderate comments and it's helped considerably with spam. The only problem is I still see it all (and it's A LOT) because it comes into my e-mail box--I just delete it without my readers having to see it. I say, do whatever works best for you. You can experiment and always switch back if you don't like the change too.

As for your name, I don't know that I have a preference. You should do what's most comfortable for you. I still use my online nickname a lot of the time, but occasionally use my real name. Mostly because other people use it. :-)

chitra said...


Congratulations Tracy..I love the name Tracy though got used to addressing you as PW..That can be changed easily. We also came to know each other exactly 4 years ago. I value that a lot. I know I am not able to blog frequently as before but I try my best.
You can have word verification if you want to keep away spamsters. I am also facing the similar problem.I have enabled comment moderation.Even with word verification I get spam.
Keep blogging you are a versatile writer. Hugs.Chitra

Crazy Life of a Writing Mom said...

That's awesome--four years is a long time :)

I turned off word verification, but only allow registered users to comment. Most of the spam comments were from anonymous so that seems to have helped me.

P.S. I just read your comment on my blog. I'm so thankful someone else sees Edward the way I do ;)

Mary (Bookfan) said...

I prefer comment moderation to word verification. So frustrating when I can't figure out the letters, lol.

Congrats on four years.

I like to use actual names but, hey, it's your blog so do what you want :)

Here's to many more years of blogging.

Cherie Reich said...

Congrats on four years of blogging!!

Personally, word verification is very frustrating, especially if you have to try more than once. When I had it where anyone could comment, I would get spam here and there (never much), but then I changed my comments, so I couldn't get anonymous ones. That's cut the spam down to around zero. So that's an alternative to moderation.

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Honestly, word verification is a PITA. I just eliminated the ability to post anonymously and that has seemed to do the trick. Seems to be working for me.

Happy Blogoversary!

Sandy M. said...

Happy Anniversary, Petty Witter! :)

It seems like you can do pretty much whatever suits you best, and you still have your loyal and happy readers :)

Thank you for explaining PW; it's good to know its origin. I knew petty but witter was a new word for me, (and I love it). I've used Tracy because I wasn't sure that PW was a name for you, and you sign yourself Tracy. Perhaps it's like calling yourself Jonny when you are young, and changing to John when you grow up? :)

I love it when there is no WV, but you should do whatever you like :)

Joan said...

Congrats on your 4 th year anniversary , I,ve got a triple vodka and lemonade in hand to celebrate, cheers, the majority of your comments are against wv but I don,t mind it ,if at first ,try try again , and I must admit I do prefer calling you Tracy but there's nothing wrong with having a different title , sorry not much help ,, hic. Slurp. Hic

Suko said...

Happy blogiversary, Petty or Tracy! I don't have a strong name preference. It's always a pleasure to read your posts. FOUR MORE YEARS--at least!

If you disallow Anonymous comments, perhaps that will take care of the majority of Spam comments. (I hate word verification, but I know it's often a necessary evil.)

Karen said...

Please continue to "chatter or babble pointlessly or at unnecessary length" That's what I love about your blog :-)

I turned off anonymous comments on my blog and that seemed to cut way back on the s**m. I simply delete the few that make their way through.

The captcha is just so hard sometimes. If I don't get it the first time I give up & I only comment on blogs I like that use it.

HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY!!!!

Betty Manousos said...

happy, happy (belated) blogiversary!!

congratulations on four years of blogging!
you know how much i love reading your blog!

if i were you i'd stick with petty witter. if you change your blog' name, it's confusing for your readers, in my opinion. but hey it's your blog...it really has to be your personal preference.

i hate word verification, too, but understand it's often a necessary evil..

xx

Tangled Cobweb said...

Congratulations Tracy, I like Tracy T it has a certain ring to it.

Captcha, yes it's annoying, before I changed to CommentLuv I also did what another reader said, turned off the anonymous comments and that also helped me.

It never bothers me if comments go for moderation.

The Bookworm said...

Happy Blogversary Tracy!!
I don't mind word verfification or comment moderation. Spam sucks.

Michelle Stockard Miller said...

I like Tracy. It's a nice name. Plus, it's my sister's name...same spelling and everything. =O)

Happy Bloggy Birthday! Hope you'll be around for a long time to come.

*throws confetti and stumbles drunkenly*

;O)

Bookingly Yours said...

Awww Happy Annie Tracy! I really love visiting your blog. You write so well!

Cheers for more years of reading and blogging!

Verification - yes it's irritating but having experienced HELLspams on my own blog, oh well, i don't mind ...

Gina said...

First off...HAPPY BLOGOVERSARY! *throws confetti...times FOUR handfuls* Surprising on the time passes so fast, no? Seems like only yesterday we were chatting on BookArmy (which no longer exists, and yet we do! *high five*). Celebrate it up my friend. AS for the site changes, whatever suits you best is the ticket of course...been contemplating the same thing on the comments. In fact, your listing of it might have prompted me to forgo the verification again and leave it only to my approval first. Fingers crossed the spammers stay away.

Unknown said...

Personally, I find CAPTCHA annoying, but it doesn't stop me from commenting - I know it stops some people though. That's why I've simply used moderation. It's pretty clear what comments need to be deleted and which published.

However, I DO get the rare person who writes a comment two or three times because they're confused when their comments don't pop up right away.