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Earlier on Twitter I mentioned I was debating the pros and cons of viewer comments on portfolio entries. Essentially it’s the difference between publishing new work as a blog post, or as a static page.

Ian Devlin tweeted back with, “Depends on who’s doing the commenting! I guess there are more cons than pros though as portfolio pieces are subjective.”

To which I replied, “That’s what I’m thinking, Ian. I like the chat, but when the cons can affect the thoughts of potential clients…”

Ian responded, “Yep, then it’s not worth it. Some people will comment negatively just because they can. It’s not what you want.”

Ben Seven weighed in with, “I don’t like it on Behance — it’s too much ‘Oooo this is nice’, and to me, a portfolio is for prospective clients. You could blog ‘new work’?”

Matteo Pescarin said, “I tend to agree, although an external link with the ability for people to discuss the work could be nice.”

Publishing a short ‘New Work’ post (like this) seems to be a good way to go — with a brief description of the project and a link to the more comprehensive portfolio entry. There are three benefits:

1. Subscribers are notified of portfolio updates
2. Comments are kept off the main portfolio entries
3. There’s still a comment thread if anyone wants it

Although I’m not keen on the extra click it means for you.

I have a question. I want to show a selection of thumbnails from my portfolio at the foot of each project page. Do you know of a WordPress plugin for the job? The thumbnails would need to link to the case studies that are highlighted.

Vintage microphone photo courtesy of Gary Quinton

Published on David Airey, graphic designer

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