I know the guys behind reCAPTCHA and they are a great bunch. It is a very sophisticated system and it does actually work. Annoying, perhaps, but not useless.

It’s the only anti-spam plugin I know that actually does what it says it will. If you want, email me and I’ll put you in touch with them, they can explain it better than I.

Of course, you are brilliant. You are writing about me.

HA! You can choke on that ridiculous bad joke later.

Yes, I have a lot of content, but you’re bringing up a couple of different issues. Categorization helps to break the amount into like groups, but too many categories overwhelms as well. It would be nicer if the built-in search on WordPress blogs was improved, that’s for sure. Still, your categories might not really describe what your blog is 1) about, 2) feature search terms, and 3) create a clear expectation of what is in each category.

The other issue comes with presentation of content. You know that “signature” on my blog posts. It’s unwittingly become a brand, but I created it as the WordPress Theme I was using made each post on the multi-post page views, like the front page, categories, and search results, all look like one big long, never-ending page. There was no break between posts nor dates. So I put a graphic in, but that didn’t do the job.

I needed something that said “post over - next post begins”, and what more natural “symbol” of the end of a written letter than a signature. I added it manually, people liked it, and it broke up the long stream of content.

Breaking up content within your posts can easily be done with headings. So there are many ways to format your content without it appearing to be overwhelming to the reader.

And don’t forget, there are two opinions on your blog’s design and structure. You and your readers. The two can be vastly different. Your readers may not mind the things that make you crazy on your blog. An there may be things, like the annoying and useless CAPTCHA below the comment form, that makes your readers absolutely nuts but you are in love with it.

Go with what your spirit says and let the rest happen, but learn how to do better if you want, by learning from the best.

And thanks for being smart enough not to steal from me. That makes you triple smart.