Pages

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Some Housekeeping Stuff

Sign-Up Dates for the A-Z Blogging Challenge:
March 23 - April 4
Remember to sign up! If you'd signed up for the Theme Reveal it doesn't automatically make you signed up for the main challenge.

#AtoZChallenge 2026 alt badge

If you encourage people to join the challenge, they can add to the sign-up form that you had done so, and you can get into the draw to win a chance to guest post on the A-Z Challenge Blog.

#AtoZChallenge 2026 refer others wide badge

Remember to visit other blogs during the A-Z Challenge and leave comments! 
The point of a blog hop is to visit others, leave comments, and get visitors to your blog.

Let's start with some basics to help you get the most out of this April's A-Z Challenge. These older posts on our blog is still useful today:
10 Common Misconceptions About Blog Comments
Blogging Basics: Hyperlink Signature
How To Make Your Blog "Comment Friendly"

Building on all of that, I have to add something that I've come up against in during the Theme Reveal hop: Substack.

I just got my Substack account suspended for commenting on A-Z participants' posts with the usual links. Turns out it isn't blog hop friendly. I think people should be aware of this issue when commenting on blogs hosted on Substack before their accounts get inadvertently suspended. It's not always clear when a blog is hosted on Substack, so it gets tricky. Also, some of these "blogs" don't allow you to comment unless you're a paid subscriber.

I thought I'd warn people to not leave hyperlinks (or any kind of links) in the comments they leave on Substack. I have appealed their decision to suspend my account, but it's up in the air if I'll get it back.

As J rightly said when I raised the issue: "I'm not sure anyone using Substack is really hoping for new comments, so it makes no sense to join a blog hop. Blog hops are for people who hope for maximum comments and know that means, yeah, you'll occasionally have to toss out some spam, but mostly you'll get actual interested humans."

I'm not against anyone using Substack. But I think you ought to add in your CTA (call to action) at the end of your A-Z posts a warning that people shouldn't leave links, just their blog's name in their comments. Oh, and if only paid subscribers can comment, what's the point?



Please follow us!

bloglovin
bloglovin.com/blogs/blogging-from-a-to-z-april-challenge-3294742

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
Instagram @a.to.z.challenge @a.to.z.challenge     Facebook logo @atozchallenge   Bluesky@atozchallenge.bsky.social
Our hashtag is #AtoZChallenge

No comments:

Post a Comment

Commenting is now open to all, but will be monitored for spam, ads, abusive language, or anything that is not relevant to the interests of the A to Z Challenge--Please respect this blog space and its users.

Please leave your opinions and feel free to ask anything that is on your mind. Irrelevant anonymous comments and spam will be deleted.