Disqus is AMAZING!! Highly recommend it!!
Hey guys, I've just got this awesome plugin called Disqus Comment System. It's basically a more advanced commenting system than the default Wordpress commenting. It's so cool, I thought it was worth pointing it out to anyone who doesn't know about it :) You can vote up/down comments and you get notifications from disussions via email. You can also sign in to post a comment by Discus, Facebook, Twitter or Google plus. The comment threads also look way better. You can see an example on my site: http://learnbasicjava.com/java-best-books-to-buy/ at the bottom.
When you activate the plugin you have to register a Disqus account. Also, you can import all the existing WP comments to Disqus so you don't loose any :D Likewise, if you want to change back to Wordpress commenting, all the comments stay there so you don't loose them.
You can also import pictures and videos to comments and all settings are configurable in your Disqus admin area, which is sort of another website thing but it's still pretty cool.
There are many other options with the commenting system and it looks so much better, I would definitely recommend it to anyone :D
Recent Comments
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Tim, you mentioned that you don't have any comments on your site yet but are you asking for some from the WA community? See this training here: https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/how-to-inject-your-comments-with-intent
Yeah, I know about this. I do try and get comments but usually when I ask for them, only like 1 or 2 people comment which is probably because my website is very technical some people might not want to read it on WA because they don't understand it, but I don't know.. Also sometimes I write a post and then forget to ask for comments on it.
By the way, I no longer have Disqus on my website and I'm now using a different plugin so the link I gave above about the "comment thread" is no longer relevant.
Thanks :)
Hi Tim, I appreciate you put this blog up because I was planning to add Disqus to my website. If you hadn't done so I would not have seen Kyle's comments and it has helped me make the decision not to install the plugin. Many thanks.
Yeah, I'm now using a different plugin which notifies you of new replies to comments via email (which is the main reason I wanted a commenting system other than the default).
I decided to disable Disqus also because of what Kyle said :)
I have seen some sites getting a lot less comments after switching to Disqus. However, I have seen others who started getting a lot MORE engagement. So it really depends on your niche, audience, website, etc.
Since you already installed it I think it's worth testing it for a bit to see if it's a good fit for your site.
p.s. I have a Disqus account since a lot of blogs that I follow use them. Recently I disagreed with someone in the comments and as far as I am concerned that person flagged my comment as SPAM (although there were no links or anything, person simply didn't like me). This triggered Disqus to mark ALL my past comments on others sites and blogs as SPAM...
I contacted DISQUS and they fixed it for me, UNmarking my comments as SPAM however this could be an issue... They do admit there is a problem with their "spam" triggers.
Thanks for the info! I've found something else called Jetpack made by the same people who made Wordpress and it has a tone of features, including a better commenting system. I think this is totally awesome for what it includes and I deactivated Disqus to replace it with this. Check Jetpack out yourself if you want to see how cool it is :D
It definitely has some advantages and a higher level of accountability is one of these. Sometimes that can work against you as some people simply will not want to create a Disqus account or tie it to a social profile (they like to keep that sort of thing separate).
You do lose a level of control when you have Disqus in place but you do add a layer of comment technology which tends to be more progressive than Wordpress. If only Wordpress had a "comment platform development team".
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Do be careful, although it appears that it is a better system because of it's design, you will get far less comments (almost null with disqus) compared to what you would get with Wordpress.
Most people don't like tying their activities online to their facebook. The anonymity and be impactful when garnering more comments.
One thing to consider as well is that disqus is using all website data that it collects by being on your website and generating revenue from this. So you are basically handing over your personal website data, something that people don't love about using Disqus.
oh......what? Damn.... I guess I should switch back then? I've been on some other websites which have Disqus and they seem to have lots of comments, but I don't know if this is just because they are high-traffic websites? When I first commented on a website with Disqus I simply made a Disqus account, but I don't get it because it says that Disqus is the most popular commenting system?
Test it out. There is nothing wrong with testing it, but if you see your engagement go down you will no why.
I used to use Disqus on a few sites but noticed a significant downtrend in engagement and I really hate the fact that they recently announced they will be using the data for their own purposes that they collect on your website.
I see. Haha I can't really test it out because I get no comments yet anyway no matter which comment system I use because I get no traffic.. not ranked on page 1 anywhere.. The only way I get comments is from asking on WA.. :(
Ok, I've just read this: http://rebootauthentic.com/disqus-comments-pull-plug/ and I am officially deciding that Disqus is probably a bad idea.. although I love it, apparently it's a hassle for readers.. :( I'll try and find an alternative because I would like more features for my comments, thanks for the advice Kyle :)
I have never minded the design and look of the comments, I think they on definitely do look better than wordpress comments on certain sites. In saying this, I would rather be getting actual comments (than none with Disqus).
I think you will be happy with your decision...considering how important engagement and comments are to your readership and overall authority within Google.
Cool, I've found this alternative plugin to disqus which has very good reviews and is made by the same people who wrote Wordpress :D It's called Jetpack, if you know about it, would you recommend it? I'm very tempted as it allows you to join discussions and so on, it has an option to notify the commenter when a new comment is added to the thread and it isn't a hassle to comment like it is with Disqus. What do you think? Thanks :)