I know the situation: you leave a comment on the Herald website, you hit “Post comment” and are immediately hit with a message saying that your comment has been held for moderation. You might start asking “Why? Was it something I said?”

The answer is “Most likely not,” but I’m afraid I can’t really offer an explanation as to why certain comments go through and others don’t. I did not set this website up, I just inherited it. The most I can really do is offer up conjecture.

I do happen to know that the website has a system set up to send comments by first-time posters to the “Pending” folder, where I can manually approve or delete them from there. This is done to prevent the comments sections from becoming a hotbed of spammers and hyperlinks to sites with viruses. I have a pretty good sense of whose comments to approve. If the post looks like it came from an actual human being and is relevant to the article they’re responding to, I approve it and from then on, the commenter should have no trouble getting comments to go through.

“But wait,” you say, “That’s all fine and good for first-time posters, but I’ve posted several comments in the last few years, and I occasionally have comments held for moderation. What’s up with that?”

Again, this is where I have to throw my hands up in the air and say “I don’t know.” In some cases, I suspect it has to do with posting hyperlinks. The system is not fond of hyperlinks because spammers love to use them, so even comments with links to legit sites like YouTube may be sent for moderator approval. However, I can’t really say that with any certainty, and I can’t really offer any explanations beyond that. I assume it’s just some kind of glitch in the system.

Therefore, if you have a comment that’s held for moderation, do the following:

1. Wait. I do try to check the comment folders as much as possible, so I might be able to approve a comment before you know it.
2. Send an email to beniciaherald@gmail.com saying that your comment is being held. As you can guess, I have several things I’m doing at any given time, so I can’t guarantee I’ll see your email and take action right away. Nonetheless, I’ll do it when I see it.

I apologize for any inconveniences, and I hope I at least cleared one or two things up.

-NS

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