Welcome to my new series of quick tips for WordPress bloggers! Please note that nothing I post here will be for experienced users. Instead, the series is just quick little tips that I’ve come across since moving to WordPress. If you happen to have a random question about WordPress that doesn’t have to do with actual programming issues (which I know nothing about), feel free to send me an email and I’ll do my best to hunt down an answer!
This week’s topic…email!
When I first moved to WordPress, I stopped getting email notifications about people commenting on my blog. I really missed it, because responding to comments was such a big part of my blog’s engagement! Setting up email notifications is, theoretically, very simple. Simply click on Settings in your WordPress dashboard, click on Discussion, and beside Email Notifications check the box that says email me whenever a comment is posted. Easy peasy, right?
Except even though I had done that, I wasn’t receiving comments. Then one day, I stumbled on the solution. By clicking on Settings and then choosing General, users will see a section to enter an email address that will be used for administration purposes. I had entered my website’s email address: [email protected]
A few weeks ago, for a completely different reason, I changed the email address in my settings to a generic hotmail email address. And suddenly, the email notifications were filling my hotmail inbox! So if you’re trying to figure out why you aren’t getting email notifications about comments on your site, make sure your email address in your WordPress settings is a free hotmail or gmail account instead of your website email address.
And while you’re having fun with email anyways, why not check out the Comment Reply Notification plugin? This handy plugin is great for engagement; when you answer a reader’s comment on one of your posts, it sends the original commenter an email letting them know that somebody has responded to their comment. It lets you add comment replies to your posts to converse with your readers instead of sending emails and also encourages others to join in the conversation. With handy customizing options and easy-to-use features, it’s definitely a must-have!
Have you ever run into problems with WordPress email settings? What do you use to respond to your readers’ comments?
Kathryn, I’m so excited about this…I’m making the switch to WordPress today! I’m completely clueless related to WordPress…so this is very timely. I’ll be looking forward to ALL your Wednesday tips!!! Thanks so much for doing this!!
That’s so exciting Monica!! Are you moving your blog yourself or did you hire someone to do it for you? I made the move on my own after TONS of research, so if you run into any problems in the next day or two, feel free to get in touch and I’ll do my best to help you out! :)
Kathryn, Thank you so much, it’s so sweet of you to offer your help! I actually won a “transfer”, I had to buy my blog ‘name” from GoDaddy but I know NOTHING!! The transfer is being done by Blogelina…that’s who sponsored the prize.
I do have one question…will my blog be self-hosted?? I hear those words a lot and I’m not sure what exactly they mean??
Yes, you will be self-hosted on WordPress, but it looks like Blogelina offers your first year of hosting free with the transfer, which is why you haven’t had to deal with that first-hand yet. Basically, you are paying a company for the space your website takes up on the Internet. It’s more complicated than that, but that’s the easiest way to visualize what you’re paying for.
Since you choose the company and pay the fees yourself as opposed to having that website space provided free by Blogger or another company, it’s referred to as “self-hosting.” Your hosting package that Blogelina offers costs just over $80 a year, which isn’t super cheap and isn’t super expensive. So considering you get the transfer and the one year of hosting free, it ends up being a pretty good deal. However, it’s important to keep in mind that in the future, you’ll have that expense of renewing your hosting for the coming years.
Hope this helps explain what’s going to happen, good luck with your move! I remember so well how exciting and stressful making that jump was, but WordPress really is fabulous for running a blog; I’m sure you’ll love it! :)
Thanks so much…you explained that very well!!