Link Comment to Post
Must Have Feature
Apparently Squarespace has the latest must-have feature for bloggers. You can leave a reference (rather than a comment) on a squarespace enabled blog. This is the blog where I first noticed the feature. Check it out!
Leave a Reference
On the comment form, you’ll notice this option: My response is on my own website. Clicking the link opens a form where you can input such information as:
- Article Title
- Article Url
- Article Excerpt (optional)
- Site Name
- Site Url (optional)
- Author Name
The input button then reads: Create Reference
What is a Reference?
References are listed after the article and above the other comments. They are preceded by this statement (which also suggests different ways this option might be used):
References allow you to track sources for this article, as well as articles that were written in response to this article.
In short, you can write a post on your own site and link your post to an article on another site.
The Benefit to Blog Owners
Site owners can link to responses on other sites AND ALSO link to source articles.
- Reference sites consulted when writing an article.
- Create a bibliography of your own writings.
- Link to other related content (yours OR someone else’s).
An Example
Where Can I get This?
Again “apparently” you can only get this on Squarespace. I say *apparently* because I don’t have a squarespace blog. Squarespace charges for their software. I don’t generally pay for what I can get free elsewhere. And squarespace hosts the blogs that use their web software: I have my own webhost.
Blogger and Wordpress Plugins
From my research I conclude that this option is not available for Blogger or Wordpress blogs (yet). Damn! I want it! I expect someone will create a similar wordpress plugin within 3 months. And blogger will follow with a widget within a year. In the meantime, you might create something similar with a form builder plugin like Cforms (for WordPress).
Comment Luv
The closest I can find for Wordpress is Comment Luv. With this option, your comment will contain a link to your latest post. But the blog where you leave your comment must be enabled. And, your latest post might not even be a direct reference to the article where you leave your comment. Plus, you can’t leave an excerpt!
Most importantly, seems to do little good to add comment luv to your own site since you are offering links to other people’s sites though you aren’t necessarily getting links back from those sites.
In Conclusion
- Leave a reference is a neat option.
- It is cutting edge.
- And it seems very useful.
- You can only get it at squarespace.
- You may be able to design something similar.
- Or you can wait for WordPress to come out with a plugin.
- Comment Luv doesn’t compare.
