Have you ever felt as if you were being shadowed? I recently felt this way when a strange url began appearing next to comments I’d made on several blogs I’d visited.
I thought my computer had contracted malware, a virus, or worse. But a lovely Happiness Engineer at WP told me it was a link for visitors to rate either comments or blog posts. The url is associated with Polldaddy, a service of WP’s parent company, Automattic.
And the culprit is:
https://polldaddy.com/js/rating/rating.js
If this url is appearing next to comments on your blog, it’s because your Ratings feature is activated. There are two ways to disable it. Go to your WP admin panel and (1) click Settings > Ratings > Comments, or (2) click Feedback > Ratings > Settings. Then uncheck the box next to ‘Show Ratings on’ Comments.
If you already have this feature disabled on your blog, but the url shows on comments you’ve made on others’ blogs, it’s because they haven’t disabled it. The link will not appear next to comments on your blog.
Happy blogging! ❤
Wow, who knew? I have seen this from time to time! Great post to illuminate so many little, unknown blog features we have to contend with! Thanks for the shout-out on my shadow photo, (LOL, it’s me riding my bike!)
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Thanks, Terri. There are so many enigmas to blogging. BTW, I love that photo! 🙂 ❤
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I ran into that a while ago and turned it off. I don’t need that much feedback on my posts!
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Same here, Jacqui 🙂
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Thanks for the heads up Tina, now I’ll have to watch for it and check my settings. ☺
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You’re welcome, Patricia ❤
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Thanks, Tina. I haven’t noticed it (perhaps because my blog is in WordPress.org, or I haven’t been paying attention) but I will check. Thanks for the warning.
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Welcome, Olga. It seems .org is immune to certain .com foibles 🙂 ❤
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Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
For even more details, see: https://kattermonran.com/2015/12/27/how-to-get-rid-of-polldaddy-link/
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Thanks so much for reblogging, Chris, and for sharing Al’s link. I’ve added his approach to this post ❤
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Great 👍😃❤️
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Lol. See how popular you are ! You even have a ‘stalker!.
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LOL Shey, you’re a hoot! Thank goodness my ‘stalker’ is merely Terri Webster Schrandt (credited photographer) on her bicycle 🙂 ❤
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I know but it could have been another fan or even a hamstah dude xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Ahhhh… if only it were a little Dude ❤
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Dinnae tempt them x
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🙂 ❤ 🙂
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Tina thank you for this, I have seen it added next to comments on other peoples comments, but not noticed it against my own, so I would think mine is not active, but I thank you for showing me how to go and check it.. Love and Hugs for a great weekend.. xx Sue
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You’re welcome, Sue. Love, hugs, and wishes for a great weekend back to you ❤
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❤
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Thanks for explaining this, Tina. I’ve been seeing these for a while when some people leave comments, and I’ve been ignoring them. Who has time to “rate” comments. Really? OMG. Haha. I did pop over to make sure mine are off – thank goodness. Excellent post 😀
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Thanks, Diana. I can’t imagine adding comment-rating to our daily blog strolling 🙂 ❤
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Thanks for the tip, Tina!
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Welcome, Jan ❤
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Thanks, Tina, haven’t been aware of this but will check.
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Welcome, Judith ❤
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Oh! I had seen the polldaddy links on some blogs and wondered what that was about. I had just ignored it, thinking it was advertising. Good to know the explanation behind it! I just made sure I don’t have the feature enabled on my blog. Thanks Tina!
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Welcome, Christy ❤
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this helpful post from Tina Frisco. She discovered the problem when commenting on my blog and took the initiative to figure it out. It’s now fixed on my comments.
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Thanks for spreading the word, Don. Much appreciated ❤
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You’re welcome.
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Good to know, Tina. Hugs.
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Hugs, Teagan ❤
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Thanks FBI PQ. I was wondering why I see that URL on over half the blogs I comment on. Now I know! Do you see it when commenting on my blog? I hope not. LOL ❤ xx Good work Sherlocke! 🙂 xxx
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Thanks, Deb. I haven’t seen it when commenting on your blog, so the feature must be disabled. Apparently it has been around for a while, but seems to have flourished lately 🙂 ❤
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Yes, I see it on half my reader’s comments. Well at least it doesn’t come on our comments, lol. 🙂 ❤
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Amen to that 🙂 ♥
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I currently DO use the feedback function from time to time – and DID when I followed Chris’s original advice on his earlier post about how to get rid of the darned link (which, as I said in response to your comment on my blog, worked for ONLY a while before the blasted thing was back again).
Right NOW I’m waiting for permissions on a graphic so I can’t disable feedback until I publish the post, in any case. I’m pretty sure the answer would be NO if the link didn’t work and she couldn’t see the post on which I wanted to use it.
ALSO, I’m not sure that the Happiness Engineers are able to stay out in front of the consequences of all their “improvements.” I now take everything they say about this particular problem with a BIG grain of salt. Getting rid of the link by disabling feedback may well work – at least for a while – but I’m not sure it’s worth giving up the other feature to see *IF* that does it for me in the long run.
Maybe I’ll post a sidebar widget saying “IGNORE polldaddy comment links – WordPress glitch” Then again, I know that hardly anyone ever reads what I post there, so maybe not. 🙂
It’s these little things that make blogging a toleration for me ::groan:: Otherwise it would be pure pleasure.
If I eventually decide to stop blogging and free up a great deal of time for other endeavors (and I DO think about it), it will be directly because of the increased time required by being forced to deal with and work around the ongoing WordPress glitches and changes as time goes by, claiming that they are “improving” the platform. NOT for me. 😦
Frustrating that they don’t DEBUG the code that causes certain standard features to conflict with the workings of others, however – choosing instead to advise temporary workarounds.
Meanwhile, I punt – with the time I have available. Good luck to you and everyone who does choose to disable the feedback function. I truly hope that gets the job done for you.
Meanwhile, don’t click on any polldaddy links on ANY of my comments lol – there’s only garbage at the end of that click.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMORE dot com)
ADD/EFD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder
“It takes a village to transform a world!
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You will see them on comments on other people’s blogs when THEY have not disabled the ratings. There won’t be any on yours though unless you have inadvertently changed it again.
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Mine changed *itself* after a bit, AI – noticed only once the links returned — and I had to reset it. And NOW they’re back again – and I haven’t touched my settings.
xx,
mgh
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That is very odd. Have you spoken to the happiness engineers as to why they are coming back?
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Logical suggestion, AI – thanks for your concern.
Not about this particular problem (which is truly a minor annoyance to me) – but their response to some other issues that were intermittent was decidedly unhelpful, and the back and forth quite time-consuming. I’m otherwise too busy to be their unpaid beta tester – unless I were willing to forego bathing and sleeping. 🙂
My belief is that things happen when new code is added, or oopses during “maintenance” – and, with one notable exception, the timing of when they get straightened out generally bears no relationship to the timing of my complaint.
But thanks for the suggestion. ❤
xx,
mgh
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I hear you, Madelyn. The WP Gremlin is persistent. Seems we no sooner eliminate one glitch before another appears. I hope you don’t stop blogging. Your articles are very informative and you would be missed. Perhaps shorter posts to free up more time? ❤
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I wish I COULD figure out how to shorten them further, Tina. I already leave out so much important background in each post that I worry that they will read too much like another of those “just do THIS” articles unless I can include enough information to increase understanding as people read (along with the “human interest” comments that, hopefully, makes the darned things readable).
Maybe I’ll need to go down to posting only once a week – but I’d still be pulled to spend time reading and commenting.
BUT, as I said, it’s working around the Gremlin glitches that is the hateful part – I truly enjoy almost everything else, and would sorely miss the community interaction. And YOU!
xx,
mgh
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Drats – my reply seems to have disappeared. The most important part was that I would miss interactions with wonderful folks like YOU if it ever came to that.
xx,
mgh
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Your replies came through, Madelyn, but for some reason ended up in my spam folder. I check that folder every day, so no worries. I know what you mean about leaving out vital information, so your idea of changing to a once-a-week post might be the solution. I would miss you too, my friend. I hope it doesn’t come to that. And I do wish we could wave a magic wand and be done with those Gremlin glitches 🙂 ❤
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::crossed fingers:: I believe, I believe, I believe. 🙂
xx,
mgh
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Thank you for this practical tip!
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Welcome, Ka. So nice to see you here ❤
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Tina, glad to be here 🙂
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Thank you, Tina, for explaining this to me. I was paranoid about it. xxx
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You’re welcome, Adele. I also was concerned. I hope disabling the ratings feature does the trick. ❤
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❤
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Hopefully your bringing this up will help more people get rid of the infuriating link. Although as some people – Madelyn Griffith-Haynie for example – have said, they need it for feedback on their own posts. But I have never clicked the link as at first I thought it was malware.
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So did I, Al. Thank you for your comments and for stopping by ❤
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🙂
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Thanks for explaining. I didn’t know either, Tina.
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Welcome, Cynthia. I hope it works ❤
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Great explanation Tina thank you and mine is disabled.. but as you say clearly others have not.. hugs ♥
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Thank you, Sally. Hugs ❤
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I guess mine is off, Tina – I’ve never noticed those. Thanks for the tip!
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You’re welcome, John! ❤
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Thank you for sharing, Terri and Stevie ❤❤
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