For a little while I’ve been running a comment policy on this blog that denies the right, or even the value, of following (in contrast to no-follow) comments. Now I have created a plugin to spread the word.

The gist of the comment policy is this. On my blog you know up-front that there is no benefit from Google to be had by commenting. I will not provide a search engine readable link to your blog if you comment on my blog.

I will provide a javascript generated link that real human people can use to check out your blog because that is the reason for including it.

Of the people that voted on the comment policy page most seemed to dislike it. The most common argument not to do this is the same as the argument for deciding to follow comments: Why not reward commenters by giving them a link?

My reasoning is simple. It isn’t a reward, it is a bribe. Participate in my conversation and I will put in a good with Google for you. I don’t feel that anyone should care whether it exists or not.

If what you have to say is of so little importance that you won’t say it because you won’t get a link back then I imagine my readers are better off not having to read it.

If you don’t feel you are getting sufficient value from participating in a conversation alone, then perhaps it isn’t the conversation for you.

At best the link is a free CD from your bank for openining a student account, a triviality that is as persausive as it is valuable and memorable.

Finally, if Google does take notice of these links then I honestly believe the search results suffer as a result.

If you’re still reading then check out the plugin. It is called Comment for Humuns; for the first time I have left out the fun.

Over the weekend I released the plugin that I intend to enter into the Weblog Tools Collection Competition: Fun with In-Context Comments.

Fun with In-Context Comments allows you to add questions to your posts so that commenters can provide additional information to put their comment into context. For example, my plugin pages now ask for details about the version of WordPress and the version of the plugin the commenter is using.

The information the commenter enters is displayed on their comment so that other users can decide whether a comment is relevent to them or not.

I have been using the plugin fairly successfully on this site for about a week now.

There are two more key features that I intend to add before it gets to version 1. The first is that I will allow users to filter the comments according to these answers, so they can see comments that are only relevent to the versions they are using. And the second feature will compiles stats on the answers given, both per-post, and globally, within an optional period of time.

I think this is a pretty simple, but very effective idea, and I hope y’all like it.

Automatic updates create a new problem for plugin authors. Users no longer have to download and install a plugin, and in the process see what has changed, they now just update it and hope it all works out. My question today is, what should plugin authors do if they know the latest update is liable to break things?

One option is to release an intermediate version. A version which contains a warning message that the next version will have major changes and so users shouldn’t update without thinking things throught first.

Another options if to bundle a previous version of the plugin. The they can either upgrade but ask the user if they want to go back, or alternatively explain the changes and then ask the user if they want to proceed with them.

Lastly, they could simply prepare to field the inevitable support queries and hope enough users read the updates page before going ahead.

I am still trying to decide which option to go for with some changes to one of my plugins.

Do you ugrade without checking the changes? I know I tend to. If so which option do you prefer? or is there something I have missed?

Ptah Dunbar has released a very cool Photoshop design framework to handle some of the tasks that commonly arise when you start to layout any design in photoshop.

It’s based around a 960 pixel grid and has both 12 and 16 column layout guides. It also has standard IAB advert sizes and a library of other assets that I haven’t got into yet.

If you design, or are planning on designing, a WordPress theme then you really should check this out.