ReplyMe plugin – commenting reply helper.
How do you deal with all the lovely comments on your site? If someone asks a question about your post, what is the best way to reply? Should you reply in the comments and risk that they don’t come back to see your reply. Or should you send the reply in an email, in which case it looks like you don’t reply to comments left on your site. Dilemma. This is where the ReplyMe WordPress plugin comes in to perfectly deal with this dilemma.
Of course a visitor always has the option to click the little box that gives them the option to subscribe to comments on a post. But this can be irritating because then you subscribe to ALL comments and replies and on a popular post, this can be overwhelming. A reader usually only wants the answer to their question, not everyone else’s! So instead use the ReplyMe plugin to automate the reply for you.
When a reader posts a comment or question on your site and you write a reply to their comment, ReplyMe sends them an email with their original comment (as a reminder), your reply (because it’s so awesome) and a link back to the post so they can leave another comment or reply (more page views and visits).
Now you can be sure that all comments can be answered on the site and the writer certainly gets to read your reply. It makes it more obvious to other visitors that you reply to comments and can set a dialogue going in the comments that adds value to your post.
Setting up ReplyMe
The ReplyMe plugin is extremely simple in its set up and very easy to use.
Install and activate the plugin in the usual way.
Then go to Settings –> ReplyMe to set up your email. At the top of the page you will see a list of the short codes that you can use in both the subject and message of your email. These can look a bit intimidating if you’ve not worked with short codes before, so let’s take a look:
Short codes are little snippets you can use to pull in information to your email. This means that you can automate the emails easily to personalise them to the post and the person leaving the comment. Let’s start with the email subject line.
Your comment on the post <[posttitle]> has a new reply
This is very straightforward. The subject of the email to be sent will tell the reader that their comment has received a reply and gives them the name of the post as a reminder. So for this post, the email subject would read:
Your comment on the post <ReplyMe plugin – commenting reply helper> has a new reply
Then looking at the body of the email itself, you can use the short codes above to personalise it in any way you like. A default email is already set up and if you aren’t sure about making any changes, then none are absolutely necessary. The short codes will pull the information from your site and your post to go into the email. You can also use html in the usual way to make links to the post or to your social media.
This is the text I use here (you are free to copy it if you like):
<p><b>Your comment on the post <a href=”[posturl]”>[posttitle]</a> has a new reply</b></p>
<div style=”padding:10px;margin:10px 0;background:#E6FCFC”>
Here is your comment:<br />
<div style=”border:1px solid #919191;margin:5px;padding:4px;”> [commentmsg] </div>
[commenter] —— [commenttime]
</div>
<div style=”padding:10px;margin:10px 0;background:#E6FCFC”>
Here is the new reply:<br />
<div style=”border:1px solid #919191;margin:5px;padding:4px;”> [newcommentmsg] </div>
<a href=”[newcommenterurl]”>[newcommenter]</a> —— [newcommenttime] <br />
Visit: [newcommenturl]
</div>
<p>
Thank you for your commenting on <a href=”[blogurl]”>[blogname]</a> 🙂 <br />
[blogurl]
</p>
<p>
Don’t forget to Like Moms Make Money on <a href=”http://facebook.com/Momsmakemoney”>Facebook</a> or follow on <a href=”http://www.twitter.com/momsmakemoney1”>Twitter.</a>
</p>
See those Hex codes? You can also change up the color of the comment boxes too if you like. Either pick a color that matches the color scheme of your site, or pick one from http://www.colorpicker.com/
Want to check out how this works in real life? Then do drop over to any of the posts here on Moms Make Money and ask me a question. I don’t have time sadly to reply to all comments, but I do try to answer all questions asked – put ReplyMe at the end of your question to make doubly sure that I will reply on the site so that you will get the ReplyMe email.
Other options – Commentluv Premium version includes ReplyMe options too.
I’d love to know what you think of this Plugin. How do you usually reply to comments on your site? Reply in the comments, send an email or even both? Do you have any suggestions for how to engage your readers and get a conversation going, get readers back to your site?
Authored by: Deby at Moms Make Money
September 21, 2013 @ 6:16 pm
Fantastic post Deby! I’ve been out of the loop a bit with starting school, but had been getting many of these e-mails. These are fantastic, especially when you may not have time to go back and check if there was a reply done. Thank you so much for the easy directions. I’m installing it now, but will tackle the customized email later. Pinning this so I don’t forget! 😉 Hope all is well your way!!
September 22, 2013 @ 5:02 pm
Does this work with Blogger too or only WordPress??
September 22, 2013 @ 5:30 pm
Sorry Cindy, its just for WordPress.
October 8, 2013 @ 12:21 pm
Cindy, I’m on Blogger and I installed IntenseDebate and it is set up in a very similar way. I can reply to comments straight from my email now and it emails the commenter as well as placing the reply on their original comment on the post.
September 22, 2013 @ 5:44 pm
This is great except that my blog is on blogger! I usually reply with an email because when I make a comment on someone’s blog, I never remember to check if they replied to me! I don’t know the percentage of those who would go back to read if there was a reply!!! However there are a lot of no-reply bloggers in which case I go to their blog if they have one, and usually reply on their blog. :^)
September 22, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
Maybe its time to consider a move over to WordPress. Don’t forget about the free website setup service I offer. The full Blogger to WordPress redirection service should be ready for launch in a couple of weeks too.
September 22, 2013 @ 5:46 pm
This is great. The only problem for me is I have a free blog on wordpress.com. I’ve been meaning to move my blog to self hosted on wordpress.org but I’m a little nervous. Any tips? Or can you point me in the right direction of where I should start? Thanks.
September 22, 2013 @ 6:49 pm
Well you could always take advantage of the free website set up service from Moms Make Money! I’d be happy to set you up a free self-hosted site as well as pay for your domain name and hosting for 12 months. The full site transfer service isn’t yet launched, but you could sign up for the free site now and then once you are ready, set up and familiar with it, move over from the old site. I would transfer your posts and comments, photos etc. But WordPress.com does make an annual charge for the redirection. I think its about $13 to maintain the old site and redirect users over to the equivalent page on the new site.
September 22, 2013 @ 9:46 pm
Great post! I just installed it and sent myself a test to see how it works. Here is a question – how do you get your framed photo to show up in the reply?
September 22, 2013 @ 10:05 pm
You need to set up a profile with Gravatar.com with your email address and then when you comment, it collects the photo from your profile.
September 24, 2013 @ 7:03 pm
Great post! I am bookmarking so I can come back later when I have more tine to try and set this up. Thank you so much for sharing!
September 25, 2013 @ 8:16 am
This is so, so helpful! I’ve been wondering how fix my blog to do this! Pinning to come and do later!
September 25, 2013 @ 8:53 am
I have the same question. Does this work for blogger, or just WordPress. You always know just what I need! Thanks for the amazing amount of tips you provide! Have a wonderful day!
September 25, 2013 @ 9:08 am
Hi Brooke, this is a WordPress only plugin – sorry. I’m not a Blogger user so don’t know if there is something similar you can use – perhaps one of the readers will provide an answer.
October 8, 2013 @ 12:25 pm
Hi Brooke (Sorry about hijacking your comments, Deby!) Here’s my take: I’m on Blogger and I installed IntenseDebate and it is set up in a very similar way. I can reply to comments straight from my email now and it emails the commenter as well as placing the reply on their original comment on the post.
October 8, 2013 @ 12:35 pm
Thanks so much for letting all the Blogger users know of a great alternative to this ReplyMe Plugin for WordPress. I knew someone out there would know!
November 10, 2013 @ 10:46 am
Hey, Thats great..will try it out..thanks. does it work for no reply bloggers too??
November 11, 2013 @ 11:29 am
If someone hasn’t submitted their email address then it won’t be able to work, but if your site has a box where they enter the email address when they commment, this is ideal.
September 25, 2013 @ 12:14 pm
It really is a dilemma! =) I’m not on WordPress, but this seems like a great solution!
September 26, 2013 @ 7:19 pm
This is great info. THANKS! I’m saving it in Evernote for next time I update plug ins on my site.
September 27, 2013 @ 10:12 pm
This is a great answer to my own dilemma. I hope I can make it work! Thanks for sharing.
Blessings,
Patti
September 28, 2013 @ 8:48 am
Oh my goodness I feel like you wrote this just for me. Please take a peek at my recent post That bloggy Feeling. I think you may have just cured my dilema. Thank you for sharing. I’m hopping over from Strut Your Stuff I enjoyed my visit to your blog. I invite you to join me at Katherines Corner Hugs! P.S. only one day left to enter my giveaway
September 28, 2013 @ 8:51 am
rats, it hasn’t been update for five years, I’m apprehensive to use it… xo
September 28, 2013 @ 4:26 pm
I don’t think you have to worry about it – it’s such a simple plugin, and it works perfectly, there hasn’t really been anything that needs updating since it was first launched. All it does is send an email. Other plugins that do more vital things to the site, yes, I would be more concerned. But some things just work and don’t need updating – “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
If you find an alternative, do leave us a comment.
September 28, 2013 @ 4:23 pm
Yes, it’s just in time. It’s hard to decide one or the other, email or comment reply. This plugin means you can do both with half the work meaning replies shown on your site and replies sent to the reader.
October 7, 2013 @ 7:14 am
I have this plugin and absolutely LOVE it! It saves me so much time and effort but still makes sure my readers get their replies.
Thanks for sharing this at the Pinworthy Projects Party! I’ll be featuring you on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest this week.
March 1, 2014 @ 10:06 am
Thank you, thank you, thank you! And can I just say, Thank You! I have been in a quandary about this recently and was just about to do a post asking for tips on the subject. Now I may do a post with the solution and if I do I will be sure to link to your post.
April 26, 2016 @ 6:39 pm
Thanks so much for letting all the Blogger users know of a great alternative to this ReplyMe Plugin for WordPress.