[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The comment’s server IP (203.88.118.105) doesn’t match the comment’s URL host IP () and so is spam.

One of the issues that I disliked was that half of the comments on this post got lost and scrambled in timezone differences. They never registered in the recent comments function of this blog but showed up when using enhanced views only.

It is not so simple to import comments back into WordPress so had to work out how to get them back “inside this blog” which has now been completed.

Have also been watching the update process for quite a few themes. In summary changes to the comments.php file are needed for many

See http://www.bloggingtips.com/2008/11/30/wordpress-27-theme-enhancements-ii/ and the follow up piece for detailed notes by Sarah.

At this point it looks better and easier if the individual theme is updated and then the new features are activated rather than sending traffic on an un needed round the world trip.

Its been covered earlier but displacing the existing gravatars used by visitors in favour of ID links only really helps ID and that makes it much less attractive to individual site owners.

Still worth keeping and eye on http://blog.intensedebate.com/ for the latest progress.

Please also check under Settings, Discussion and see if the Enable threaded (nested) comments setting has been activated.

I agree with your view that people who comment should get a direct link rather than sending all traffic via ID. On balance if I can find a way to sync these comments back to the main blog I will probably deactivate ID for a while. I'm trying the reply by email function here*. That could be the real killer feature if it works well.

What is happening now is that comments are not being synced back to WordPress and so don't show in the sidebar. Gravatars don't show correctly either. I have tried all the settings and my main browser is Firefox which doesn't even show the JavaScript instructions – although I can see them in Opera or Safari.

Even when I can see the instructions that doesn't help with syncing back. These may all be my settings but after 3 weeks the added complexity is a bit much. I know there are new comment moderation features under 2.7 but with the ID override on I feel like I'm missing some of that.

I've had snapshots since before wp.com got them and if I temporarily switch off ID then that issue goes away. I also had a look at Disqus as well but prefer ID because of the Automattic linkages and I hope they can offer a few more options since the idea is very good.

Now if only I could see a version 2.7 blog where the threaded comments worked as that is still a mystery feature. I also look after more than 30 other WordPress sites and still have 20 upgrades to go but haven't seen the 2.7 version native comment threading yet.

I spend plenty of time testing so that I can recommend new functions when the plugins get to a more useful stage. I'm also newly using Prologue http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/prologue for a group project and that looks to be good now with BuddyPress very much on the hot list for next year.

* Note – Reply by email doesn't work for my old Outlook client so I've had to come and edit this on screen which is very slow and not very practical.

A very difficult decision. I’m interested in BuddyPress too, it’s really coming along now that they’ve integrated forums into the groups.

Incidentally, nice blog, the only thing I don’t like is the SnapShots integration, extremely annoying and it actually interferes with the ID links pop-up, sometimes covering it.

You should also also expect more comments if its easier to follow the various discussions. I'd wait for 2 weeks (or more) to see how WordPress 2.7 comment threading works as not all themes will support that feature.

Reply to comments by email will appeal to some / but depending on your email system might also need some tweaking. The ID providers are working on improvements and best to watch their site for any key changes. Some of the plugin configuration instructions for ID are based on JavaScript and depending on your browser might not be as obvious as most plugins do not use JavaScript at that level.

Because the 2.7 upgrade is happening over the next few weeks it is probably good to see how that goes and to do some tests to see if ID would add benefits. If comment threading is a key feature then you may not need it.

Best thing for buddypress is to watch that website http://buddypress.org/ and see how that goes.

There is 1 or 2 way syncing between the site and the comments system and getting those settings exactly right seems to take more testing. It is also not entirely clear what the 5 options settings do – however I see you are also trying this out.