The key word here is “possibly”.
This morning I noticed something funny on my blog. When I clicked to read the comments on one of my posts, I saw something I had never seen before. It said “Possibly Related Posts” and there were some links to other posts.
Only I didn’t recognize them. These weren’t my posts. They were posts on other people’s WordPress blogs. Only there was nothing distinguishing them as coming from other people’s blogs — so they looked like my posts.
For example, on a post called “The Miracle of Kefir” which is all about how one woman regulated her menstrual cycles by drinking kefir, the following showed up:
Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
* Considerations to Take Into Account for Taking Birth Control Pills
* Speaking of Cramps…
* SNL’s “Annuale” commercial
Nothing to do with kefir or health or nutrition. I guess they are vaguely related to my post because they are about birth control pills and menstruation.
Here’s my beef though — there is no indication that these are posts on other people’s blogs. The way it’s designed makes it looks like these are links to other posts on my blog.
What had WordPress done? And why had they done it without telling us?
I googled it and found the answer.
WordPress.com has activated a feature without warning that has many up in arms of protest, making it one of the least welcoming additions to WordPress.com.
Since the beginning of WordPress.com, one of the most requested features has been the ability to showcase related posts from our own blogs. WordPress.com has activated this ability, but the links link to WordPress.com blogs, not our own.
This is bad for many reasons, which I’m sure you’ve already thought of. No control. Implied recommendation or endorsement. Inappropriate links. And a lot of confusion for our readers who believe we choose these links or that they will lead to links on our blog related to what we blog about.Source
If you noticed that this is happening on your WordPress.com blog, it’s easy to turn it off.
To turn off the new related post feature on WordPress.com blogs:
1. Go to the Administration Panels > Design > Extras.
2. Check Hide Related Links.
3. Click Update.
I’m going to go turn it off on mine right now.
PS: To the people at WordPress.com: (A) You should notify your users before you do something like that. An email would have sufficed. (B) From a usability standpoint, it’s a terrible idea. I already hate it that if I click on the tags on the post, I go to a general WordPress page with tags. That makes no sense.
Here’s an idea — why not poll your users and see what they want? And why not create some better tools to help us discover blogs we want to read — instead of randomly driving us off to unrelated blogs that we would never want to go to?
As soon as I get a few minutes, I’m going to move my blog over to a WordPress.org blog. I’ve been meaning to do it anyhow.
I’m sorry that this has upset you so much you want to move. WordPress.com listens, but listens through the forums and feedback not through blog posts, so please let them know directly how you feel and that you are considering moving your blog off WordPress.com.
WordPress.com is working to create a community, but I agree they aren’t going about this in a good way with features like this where the user has little control and the visitor is unaware. Working together, we can improve WordPress.com, so your help is needed.
Either way, good luck with your blog and blogging. As a raw foodie fan, I love what you write about.
Thanks for the tip!
What is a wordpress.org blog?? I thought one had to buy a domain and host it yourself to do that.
~Anna
How absolutly rude and thoughtless of them!
I am glad we chose blogger. I could not find anything negative in regards to using them.
So how hot was it?
We may hit 60 outside today. Our area got 10-22 inches of snow on friday. Actually a blessing. Wet spring means less forest fires this summer.
Well, off to scrub the house. My parents arrive on Thursday!
Paula
Hi, Lorelle, I love your blog by the way.
I have found it extremely helpful on numerous occasions.
I’m not moving because of this. This is just one more thing in a list of many reasons to go back to wordpress.org (that is what I used before with other blogs I had). I want to edit my css among other things. And I have cheeseslave.com — just haven’t had time to move it and install the wordpress.org software, etc.
Ann Marie
Ann Marie, I agree with you about the tags/categories. I want the things that I write about to be categorized on my blog, not go off to the general tag page. I just noticed that your category cloud is working correctly though! Nice!
But I disagree with you about the possibly related posts being a mistake. I think it’s a neat way of connecting people. I haven’t decided if I want to turn the feature on or off on my blog, but since I do have control of the on/off switch I don’t feel bad about the feature being launched. When you mouse over the links (without even clicking) you can tell from the http address that you will be going off to another person’s blog. Maybe they can word that “possibly related posts” warning a little differently so that everyone is aware of the community building efforts.
cbrunette/anna: WordPress.org is the “original” free version of WordPress. You download it and install it on your own self-hosted, paid site.
WordPress.com is the same version, but a multi-user version based upon WordPressMU. It allows a company or individual to host multiple blogs with one interface, each working independently but within limits to what the owner permits. WordPress.com now hosts more than 3 million blogs covering tons of subject matter, including this one. You can blog for free, with all the heavy lifting and maintenance taken care of, and for the most part, few worries.
Many, like our beloved cheeseslave, start out on a WordPress.com blog because it is free and easy, and then move out into the big world with their own, self-hosted version. This is especially true for those who want to turn their blogs into business and set ads, products and services, since WordPress.com does not allow ads on their blogs.
I hope that clears up the misconceptions.
And for our beloved cheeseslave, it’s probably time for the training wheels to come off, so good luck and do great things! I know you will.
A few days ago the links were updated to say “automatically generated” so they don’t imply endorsement anymore, just FYI.
Heya - you are on the front page of WordPress! I Just had to click through, even though I read this on my blog reader yesterday!!!!
How cool. Yes, I thought exactly the same thing, when one of my posts (about my kids) was linked to a Japanese schoolgirl’s blog that was totally unsuitable, (NOT GOOD WORDPRESS!) I turned the option off straight away. I don’t want to generate traffic from those kinda sites thank you very much. I would rather have relevant readers who find what I write interesting.
I think that automatically generated links to other posts on your own blog would be a fantastic extra, but to drive traffic away from your blog to irrelevant posts on other blogs is dumb and I don’t want to do that.
If you go to the dashboard and click on ‘possibly an announcement’ (they don’t sound too sure about it themselves do they?) or get the link here: http://wordpress.com/blog/2008/04/25/possibly-an-announcement/
you can leave a comment about it.
I also don’t like the way that WP gives you the option to turn the ‘extra’ off, but says: “this blog won’t show up on other’s blogs or get traffic that way” sounds like you are being slightly foolhardy to turn the option off doesn’t it??? I don’t like this at all !!!
great post CS!!!!!
x
I agree Louisa! I thought the exact same thing when I went to turn it off. I’m going to go to the page you linked and make a comment.
Thank you!
xo
PS: Hope you are well BTW much to write to you about homeschooling etc. I have been meaning to comment on your blog — will write soon…
Hi, Matt,
The words “automatically generated” don’t really cut it. When I saw that, I had no idea what it meant.
When you see Google ads on a blog it says, “ADS BY GOOGLE”. OK, that’s obvious. Clearly the blogger did not choose those ads and does not endorse those companies. They’re just ads.
These links look like links that the blogger has chosen/endorsed.
Actually when I first saw the feature I thought it was great — because I thought they were links to blog posts within my blog. When I discovered that they were links to other blogs — it was very confusing to me. And of course the blogs were only vaguely related. Which I guess is why you call it “Possibly Related Posts”.
Bottom line: It’s confusing for users.
Thanks for the tips! I noticed the same thing yesterday and wasn’t entirely happy about it. I was going to blog about it later today, then saw this post…I’m going to link to this post (assuming you won’t mind - if so, just let me know ASAP) so others will know how to disable this new feature if they wish.
Sure, Taoist Biker — go ahead!
[...] thanks to Cheeseslave, I now know how to disable this [...]
Thank you for the heads-up on this! Haven’t noticed an issue but now I know what to do if it crops up. I agree with you regarding the possible problems with inappropriate links. I had a related (LOL) issue with Haloscan back in my Blogger days… I did not realise for some months that my comments feature was advertising extremely right-wing content until a kind commenter gave me the heads-up. Sigh.
I’m a reader of your blog and a WAPF member. I enjoy your posts and exuberance for life. I must say, though, I was astonished at this post. I do grasp why you were startled by the WordPress feature and taken aback at its less-than-clear wording, and the way WordPress announced it, but I think you could have taken some time to think about this a little more than it sounds like you have. For one thing, WordPress did announce it on their blog, and you are able to turn it off. It sounds like that doesn’t work for everyone (I don’t have a WordPress blog). However, think about this feature. If it’s bringing related blog posts from other blogs on your site, it can give your blog exposure on other blogs! People will come to your blog from other related blogs, too! It’s not for everyone, but judging from your post and the comments on the WordPress blog’s announcement, it sounds like a lot of people haven’t even considered how this works and how it might be useful to them before getting bent out of shape about it. Then again, a lot of people are thankful for the feature and are loving it (as are their readers). Also, it’s a little silly to blame a free service you’re using for adding something new. Sounds like you’ve already figured it out - if you don’t like it, you have the option of moving to another blogging service, or to pay for greater control over your own blog. I think people forget that they set something like this up with no guarantees. Not that you shouldn’t voice your opinion, but I’m not sure you’ve considered many angles here. And I’m voicing my opinion - this post isn’t flattering to you, the way so many of your other posts are.
Hi, Heather, I’ll respond to your post…
“For one thing, WordPress did announce it on their blog, and you are able to turn it off.”
Automatic opt-in with no warning is never a good idea in online communities. This is one of the things that tanked Friendster. You need to let your members know what you are planning to change before you do it.
Posting it on their blog is not sufficient (I don’t read their blog). It needs to be either an email or an obvious announcement on the Dashboard where you would not miss it.
“It sounds like that doesn’t work for everyone (I don’t have a WordPress blog). However, think about this feature. If it’s bringing related blog posts from other blogs on your site, it can give your blog exposure on other blogs! People will come to your blog from other related blogs, too! It’s not for everyone, but judging from your post and the comments on the WordPress blog’s announcement, it sounds like a lot of people haven’t even considered how this works and how it might be useful to them before getting bent out of shape about it.”
I actually have no problem with the concept. It is a great idea. It’s the execution that was bad.
“Then again, a lot of people are thankful for the feature and are loving it (as are their readers). ”
And that’s great! I just wish they would have told us before they did us and not made it an automatic opt-in.
“Also, it’s a little silly to blame a free service you’re using for adding something new.”
The WordPress.com model is one where they get people used to the free service and then they upsell them on added features. LiveJournal works the same way. LiveJournal also eventually added advertisements to their free blogs — and they probably make good money on that. WordPress.com may go the same way (I think they should).
I was a LiveJournal user for a few years — they never did anything like that. It’s important not to piss off your community members.
“Sounds like you’ve already figured it out - if you don’t like it, you have the option of moving to another blogging service, or to pay for greater control over your own blog. I think people forget that they set something like this up with no guarantees. Not that you shouldn’t voice your opinion, but I’m not sure you’ve considered many angles here. And I’m voicing my opinion - this post isn’t flattering to you, the way so many of your other posts are.”
Well thanks for sharing your opinion. I wanted to make people aware of the feature and tell them how to disable it.
I’ve been working in the internet business since 1995 and have extensive experience with usability and online communities. I just thought what WordPress did was badly executed.
I am going to stay with WordPress — just going to the .org instead of using .com.
And frankly I don’t care whether it’s flattering to me or not. I don’t write this blog to get people to like me.
Thank you thank you! I had NO idea where those posts were coming from, and I couldn’t find a way to turn them off… you’ve saved my day AND my reputation.
Hey AM -
I have to admit I was swayed with their comment about other people not coming to my blog. I’m new at this, so it would be nice to get more clicks. However, I’m turning the related posts off. I’m not sure what their definition of ‘related’ is, but none of the posts seem relevant.
I just set up my wordpress blog to point toward my own domain http://www.luckybird.com. you can do i through wordpress, however you have to pay 10 bucks… it was relatively easy - only had to change the DNS nameservers from godaddy. also - i want to work with my CMS as well, but gotta pay extra for that too. in the end i think it’s worth it.
Hey, thanks for the heads up about this. I don’t really like the idea of my blog linking to totally random blogs when it’s not clear that I haven’t engineered it that way.
One thing I was unsure of though…by checking that option, where it says “this blog won’t show up on other’s blogs or get traffic that way” does that mean it just cancels the related blog option or does it include all links (like people who have linked my blog in their posts or have me on their blogroll)?
Thanks!
No it will still show up on other people’s blog rolls.
Thank you!