Not Only No, but HELL No!

There's a business opportunity out there for some bright coder as of right now.

Many of you (yes, you, U-J, among others) have been complaining about my comment system. I started off with JS-Kit's HaloScan free service back in 2003, and last December JS-Kit transitioned to Echo. Shortly after I started with HaloScan, I started paying JS-Kit a bit of money annually to allow looooong comments, which my readers over the years have often taken advantage of. When the switch to Echo occurred, paying was no longer an option, it was mandatory, but it cost only $9.95 for the "upgrade," which included comment threading, and. . . and. . . I'm not sure what else.

But now, via Anarchangel, I discover that beginning December 18 my renewal isn't $9.95 a year, it's $10 a month.

Sorry, Echo, but NFW. I'm not paying $120 a year for what you're providing.

I've gotten well over 40,000 comments in the last seven-plus years. I don't know exactly because I can't seem to find anywhere on Echo that will tell me. I can export my comments, but not into any format that will handily import into any other system that I'm aware of. Chris puts it this way:

So, I start investigating how to get rid of Echo comments... not so good... Apparently, nobodies comment service will import the XML file Echo exports to. The only way to migrate to another system without losing comments, is to resync back to blogger comments, then migrate from blogger.

In theory, Echo comments should be automatically synced to blogger comments... except they aren't.

In theory, this is because I'm using a legacy .css template for my blog, rather than the "new" blogger "advanced layout" templates (well... not "new" four years old now).

In theory, "upgrading" my template to a blogger advanced layout template will allow Echo to resync comments with blogger. Once that happens, then I should be able to add Disqus, or Intense Debate... or for that matter just migrate the whole damn blog (which I may do, to wordpress).

I'll be honest: I have no desire to relocate TSM to another format. I'm actually pretty happy with Blogsnot, though I, too, am running a legacy template.

I've exported my comments to this date at this time. Right now the download tells me that I've received, let's see, 46.2Mb of a 13.2Mb file. And it's still counting.

It should be interesting to see what I end up with.

56.2Mb, and it's done. The oldest date in the file that I can find is June 1, 2010. Somehow I don't think I got everything.

This is my surprised face.

Here's the opportunity: Some bright-eyed, bushy-tailed programmer could get paid some good dough if he/she/it can write some code that will take my comments from Echo and convert them into a format that is importable to some other commenting system, carrying along with them the links to the appropriate posts. (Are you listening, Robb Allen?) I'd be willing to pay money for this service - on a one-time basis. I don't want to lose seven years and 40,000+ comments, but I WILL NOT pay Echo $120 a year. Period.

HEEEEELLLLLPPPP!