Thursday, January 28, 2010

Haloscan is Shutting Down!

I received a disturbing email stating that Haloscan commenting service is shutting down on February 11, 2010. I clicked on the link and found out that it's not a hoax. Sad to say, the message is real. Haloscan is discontinuing its commenting platform because "Haloscan hardware and software is physically failing and we have no choice but to discontinue the service."



I've been a Haloscan premium member for years now and I'm very upset about this sudden announcement. I think it's unfair that Haloscan is abandoning its users like this. Members like me have been given a two-week notice to make a decision.  Yes, they are offering an upgrade ... for a price!  It's either switch to Echo, the new commenting platform (with a 30-day free trial / continue for $12/year) or export comments for free (XML format).  I'm not willing to pay an annual fee for a commenting service. The downside of exporting the Haloscan comments is the lack of importing procedure to any of the popular platforms.  Haloscan should have at least offered its members a way to transfer comments.  I feel as if Haloscan has simply abandoned me in the air.

I decided to revert to the default Blogger commenting platform. With a heavy heart, I face the fact that I have lost all my previous comments.

I feel stripped of something valuable.  I have lost a great deal and I'm very sad. :(



How To Remove Haloscan and Revert to Blogger Commenting Platform:
  1. Go to Blogger Dashboard
  2. Go to Layout
  3. Click Edit HTML (make sure you Download Full Template for backup before continuing).
  4. Click Revert widget templates to default (you'll see this below the page).
  5. Haloscan link will disappear and replace by Blogger commenting service.
     ** you will lose all Haloscan comments in the process **


edited: 01/29/2010, 8:53 a.m.:  My blog comments are precious to me. I decided to salvage my old comments by manually transferring them from Haloscan to Blogger. I know it sounds crazy but I'm desperate. I might as well save what I can. If by chance, you discover an easier way of doing it, please let me know.


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15 comments:

Reena said...

this is very sad. you're right, it's unfair for them to strip you off of their services. in the first place, dapat ung new users lng dapat magabayad. naku, i use jskit. i hope mine will not encounter the same problems. see you around. dnt be so sad.

CrAzY Working Mom said...

This is exactly why I have stuck with the blogger comments. I tried switching one time and I couldn't get it to work so when I removed it I lost all of my comments. I was crushed...and I only used it for a few days. I can only imagine your dismay!

Unknown said...

that is so sad ... grrr ... comments are very valuable in blogs ...

D@phne L@ur@ said...

I simply switched to Echo so I don't lose my past comments. It takes too much work to transfer the comments manually to Blogger. But I don't really fancy the new comment platform at Echo. It seems too formal and I cannot understand the technique involved in customizing the comment template hehe

I'm saddened by the news of Haloscan shutting down but I guess it is a lot difficult for the people working there to lose their jobs.

Alice said...

I'm sorry to hear about this, Rachel. :(

The sad thing about this is losing all the valuable comments people have left you all these years.

ms firefly said...

i lost about 4,000 comments rach. i exported them though, so i have a file for myself. if you revert templates to blogger's default, you will lose all your customised features in your blog. i found a tutorial on how to just remove the haloscan codes, and replace them with Blogger's default commenting system. the link is on my blog!

too sad for us really. :(

witsandnuts said...

:( I'm not on blogger but I'm thinking of my blogger pals who are using Halo Scan. Hugs for you.

Eds said...

aww! that's so sad naman.(hugs) but don't worry we are still here and will continue to follow your blog.

Cascia Talbert said...

That is too bad. I don't use that service, though.

Ibyang said...

oh my, that's sad. i feel for you. comments are important to me. hugs my friend.

Anonymous said...

Oh that's too bad! Good luck on the salvaging mission. It's a lot of work I suppose.

Anonymous said...

That's so sad. HaloScan should have at least made an effort to save the members' previous comments.

renin said...

I hope you were able to save/repost a number of comments you accumulated over the years... (((hugs)))

JO said...

that's a lot of work for you... sorry can't help you. I have no idea on how to transfer comments.

Heart of Rachel said...

Thanks everyone. I was able to transfer some comments but I got overwhelmed. :(

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