Blogging

Either late last night or early this morning (depending on your time zone), someone posted an anonymous response to something I shared here on the blog on July 2. I've left a lengthy reply there rather than elevate it to it's own topic. But it got me thinking about how a blog works, how comments should be handled, etc. When you set up a blog with blogger.com there are a variety of settings for comments. You can turn them off altogether, or require registration with the specific blog or just with Google in general, or whatever. I set it up so that anyone can post a reply to anything, and that allows for anonymity. Truthfully, I didn't think it really mattered. After all, I'm just "thinking out loud here" about anything and everything (blogging is a kind of intellectual exhibitionism, I think) and sharing the latest news of my life. For now I'm going to leave things the way they are. My thoughts are that I'll only change it if someone comes along and starts moving things in a way that isn't healthy.

But I'd love to hear your input not only on the subject of allowing anonymity but on what I should be doing with the blog in general. I know that some people's blogs are forums for crafted articles, inspiration, and teaching. Others are full of news and links to interesting information and resources. Still others are more like an online diary for the world to read. I don't really know what I'm doing here with mine; I never thought that far.

Also, if anyone out there is web savvy, I would love to move the blog to my own domain at some point. Perhaps I can install something like Wordpress, which would allow for more customization and features. I've read the articles on how to do that, but really don't have the time right now to get it set up. So if you're into things like FTP, hosted scripts, MySQL databases, etc. and you've got some free time and a charitable heart, let me know.

EDIT: After posting this, I've changed my mind about the anonymous comment settings. Obviously that's not going to work. (Thanks to the folks who e-mailed me with their thoughts.) So, for now, you'll have to register and identify yourself to respond; sorry for any inconvenience. Also, any more comments that are unhealthy. unkind, or dishonoring to specific individuals (whether it's me or someone else) will be deleted right away. Respectful disagreement, of course, is always encouraged. :D I'm sure someone will say I'm being controlling. It's more a matter of being responsible. I'm just sad that it's become necessary.