When I first started to self-host my blog using WordPress’s Platform on my Confessions of A Mommyaholic blog, I was having trouble getting my theme to work with the regular WordPress commenting system that is included in the Jetpack. A friend at the time suggested, DISQUS Commenting System.
I had truly never heard of this, but not wanting to have any issues with commenting or the lack thereof , I quickly downloaded the plugin for DISQUS and signed up for an account on DISQUS’s official website. I was able to get it up and running rather quickly and never really thought twice about it, because I was getting comments (many on most of my posts) and just went about my business.
But about a little less then a month ago, one of my long time readers and supporters told me that she couldn’t leave me a comment and DISQUS would not allow her to login. She thought it was just on her end, but would try again. I believe she got to comment later on, but this happened a few more times and I felt terrible that someone who is a wonderful asset to my blog could not comment properly.
As if this wasn’t bad enough, as the next two weeks went by, I was contacted by about 5 other subscribers with pretty much the same issue. Now, I knew it wasn’t just one person’s computer by this point.
And now, I knew I had to take matters into my own hands. On J9 Design’s blog, I was running Intense Debate with the CommentLuv plugin. First off, Intense Debate is WordPress based and CommentLuv I had heard only great things about, because this app allowed for being able to see what posts your reader’s currently published at the time they left a comment.
Making The Right Commenting System Decision for a Blog Is Crucial!
So, I thought I would see the difference to compare and contrast this with DISQUS at that point. Little did I know that I would have such a crucial issue with DISQUS, when I did have this in mind.
Well, having not had any real issues with Intense Debate with CommentLuv, I decided it was time to make a switch from DISQUS.
My number one fear though was making sure I didn’t lose over 10,000 previous comments. So, on Saturday (the weekend is usually more of a quiet time for blogging and the Internet in general), I decided to finally make the change from DISQUS to Intense Debate with CommentLuv.
All-in-all, the set up was fairly easy (less then 10 minutes), but when it came to the time to transfer my comments, it wasn’t as easy. Even though the screen window told me it could take a few hours and to go about my business, I couldn’t, because it transferred about 25% of my comments and froze for over 10 minutes. I restarted with a clean transfer and it went to 41% before freezing this time. And that happened about 4 more times before I finally got an e-mail to confirm that my comments were officially transferred.
And I double checked that they were indeed very much transferred, before disabling my DISQUS plugin (note I never deleted it just in case of any issues with my newly downloaded comment system). Once this was done, the rest was basically done and my comments were finally running on Intense Debate with CommentLuv.
I must tell you that the original person who had issues was finally able to comment with no issues and had another who also had issues happily comment. So far those commenting issues are behind me it looks thankfully.
The moral of this story is that commenting is a huge part of blogging and if people can’t comment on your blog, this is a major issue.
Because why would you continue to read and support a blog if you don’t have the option to comment?
I want to make clear that DISQUS is a wonderful commenting system (really not trying to knock it), but the fact that a select few of my readers had problems and couldn’t comment left me needing a better solution in the form of a new commenting system for my blog.
But as I said, commenting on a blog is so crucial and vital and to have this comprised at all is something that no blogger wants to have happen.
And it is also so very important to listen to your subscribers needs and take them into account for stuff like this. Bottom line, they are the reason that you write to share with them and so they will keep coming back.
So, take it from me make sure your commenting system is functioning correctly for your readers/subscribers, because this is a vital way for them to reach out to you when you post and for you also to reach back out to them, as well.
So, if you have any questions or need help with your current commenting system or with setting up a new one, please let me know. I would be happy to help from my all I do know on this topic.
As you know I moved from Intense Debate to Disqus. The one thing I miss the most is comment luv. Sometimes its hard to figure out where someone is commenting from so you can go visit their blog. I had one person tell me that they had problems commenting in the last few weeks. Maybe something was going on. But I did turn on guest commenting for those that can't or don't want to log in the other way. The only thing is guest comments don't get an email back from me when I respond.
My recent post Wii Fitness on Weight Watchers
I know you did Kenya and seems we did this one in reverse. I will say I had on guest commenting and still wouldn't allow some to comment and so not sure why. I hated switching, because I honestly loved Disqus, but being told this at least a few times a week by different people, I just knew I had to make a change. I do love the comment love feature and seriously that was the one thing that I didn't actually like about Disqus. Thanks for reading and sharing, too!! 🙂
I also use DIsqus commenting system on http://www.mothersforum.org but so far no issue with the one you mentioned here. However, i do wish Disqus would have enabled Comment Luv feature. Another great feature about Disqus is that you have the chance to monetise your commenting system with ads.
My recent post Gypsy Dharma boots look unique and original
That is a great feature and will say if I didn't have so much other money making options right now, that would have been a huge perk to me. bUt unfortunately that I did have issues and no others who did, I did switch and have never looked back. And Disqus and CommentLuv, also would be another great option in my eyes to give more people a reason to go or stay with Disqus. Great food for thought and thanks for sharing!
I love Comment Luv. I was using Facebook commenting which was working well for me but doesn't seem to be widely well received in the blog world. I installed Comment Luv too and I started getting a lot more comments! But interestingly enough, I still get a fair amount of comments with Facebook too…I think mostly when people want to share the post with their own followers.
My recent post 3 Ways to Protect Your WordPress Blog from Hackers
I will be honest I stayed away from Facebook Commenting, because I did hear some cons to it from others, but I think for the sharing aspect it really does work very nicely. I only haven't added, because I do already have sharing buttons for all social media networks on my blog, so thought it may be overkill, but that is just me. As I said if it works for you, then definitely keep using it and thank you Michelle for sharing, because I truly am interested in hearing what others do think about this! 🙂 🙂
I am glad you finally got the comments to transfer over – wow, 10,000 comments is an awesome achievement and well deserved!
My recent post Poetry: You, Colors, and Realization
Oh thanks Christy and seriously it took longer then I would have ever imagined!!
I don't really have a preference but I do love commentluv. However, I do NOT like the whole facebook comment thing at all.
Nikki, I am with you the Facebook commenting. I know it works for some and happy it does, but not really for me either. I think though it is definitely what you are comfortable with and prefer in a case like this. 🙂
I do like the comment love when leaving comments on blog posts. I am currently using facebook comments and allow people to leave regular comments on my site with a standard comment form. I chose facebook comments because it is the number 1 social networking site and if people leave a comment on my blog, it shows up in their feed. Which helps potentially share my posts with others.
Christy, you totally make a valid point and I truly have nothing against Facebook Commenting. Just for me wasn't sure if it was redundant when I have Facebook sharing buttons below my post. But again that is totally just me and understand others have their own preferences. Thanks seriously for sharing!! 🙂
great post babe. I used to blog through "blogger" and didn't like the captchas or that the plug ins to enable commentors links didn't work. I switched to wordpress and just use what they have. I like how they allow sharing through several social medias. It does annoy me when I comment and I have to do the whole captcha thing, I rather my comments not show up till after owner approval, but the captchas are a time waster and annoying.
Thanks so much Karen and I, too, get so frustrated when I am commenting and I have to put in the letters/numbers for the per captchas. I must say in can totally be a pain in the butt, but I do get the bloggers reasoning, still I would much rather my comment just be modified, too.
Great, very informative, i plan on bookmarking this site, well written and just downright enjoyable
very interesting! I spent like 3 weeks deciding on the commenting system for my blog. Its a tough one. Pinned.
Thanks for linking up with us at Pin It Tuesday!
Join us again next week to see if you were featured!
PowerfulMothering.com
My recent post How to Make a DIY Kids Chalk Board
So much excited about this feature and I am using it on my site as well.
If you are looking for cheap and quality printing services then visit http://www.doitprinting.com/
Oh glad you are using and liking this feature, too!! 🙂 And thank you for sharing here!!!
Both are great comments system..
My recent post How to make a blog, and which platform to choose?
Thanks and I do agree. I had no issue with Disqus until so many of my subscribers were having trouble leaving comments.
I found this informative and interesting blog, so I think so it’s very useful and knowledgeable.
Thanks so very much and hope you will return in the future for more from me!! 🙂
Thanks so much Janine! This really explains a lot for me and why I may have so many issues with commenting and comments! Oh my, I've really had problems but I actually thought it was an iPad thing.
My pleasure and if you need anything Kelly, just ask me!! 🙂
Thanks for joining the Block Party this weekend. I have Disqus on my Blogger blog and am pleased but not thrilled. The problem is with Blogger, people without Google accounts couldn't comment. So, I switched to Disqus hoping it would open up the floor for more commenting. However, my engagement seems to have dropped so I wonder why that is!
I id hear that about CommentLuv with Blogger and have heard a few say they were able to get it to work, but now not remembering how off hand. But I do think Disqus has been having some issues and have heard others saying they can't leave a comment. For WordPress, what I described seems to be a viable solution, but need to do a bit more research for Blogger. And will try to get back to all on this when I can.
I like Disqus but changed to ID because there's no url field for guest commenters. If a guest left a comment I couldn't find their blog to return the visit. For me that was a big downside.
Tony, I am so with and I am also using Intense Debate on all my sites now, because of similar issues with Disqus. So I do agree that that is a huge downside to Disqus at this point in time.
I would prefer disqus.
Thanks for sharing and appreciate you take on it.
Great to find this post! I'm also having problem with Disqus commenting on multiple of my favorite blogs: some work and some don't – it's really frustrating! I was thinking to install Disqus for my blog but now I will probably get commentLuv! Thank you!
http://lunarkastreasurebox.blogspot.com/
My recent post Guest Blogging on One Fine Day!
Olya I am so happy to share and trust me I used Disqus with no issues for quite sometime, but then little by little I was being told that people couldn't comment and it was definitely frustrating. So, I finally decided to switch and that was months ago. Couldn't be happier that I did!!
Les services
Isn't it funny! I googled something related to my comment system for wordpress and this was the first post that came up! I'll be certain to make sure the commentluv plugin working with my intense debate one 🙂
My recent post Countdown in Style- Week 3
I love that this came up first and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, Brittnei. But hope you get it working together now!! 🙂
Hi Janine,
I also switched from Disqus to Intense Debate about two month ago and i am happy. The only issue is the coding CSS, look like is conflicting with my WordPress Theme. On your website look fantastic and work very well. Would be great if you share the coding.
Another future would be nice to have is the guest could upload the picture in their profile with register with Intense Debate.
My two cents
Rocco
My recent post The History of Sex Holiday Asia
i like both systems, but i see disqus is very more populare than intense. I Think the Future is both Services together
My recent post Traumteppich
Definitely a great thought and you never know!
Wow, I just came across this post (I have been frantically searching the internet) I just switched to intense debate with commentluv. I hope it works as good as you and others say since Google+ about killed my blog. NO ONE could comment except google+ accts and when I switched I lost ALL my comments.So now I start over with this. Hopefully I have as good luck as you.Thanks for the post!
Ginger@http://buildingsandcastlesinthewind.blogspot.com/ recently posted…BEYOND FRUSTRATION
Ginger, so glad you found my post and do hope this helps you. I will admit I have had some issues with Intense Debate on both my blogs since I ran this article a few months back, but I know others that still use and love it. So, I hope that this is the case for you and if you have any further questions, please feel free to reach out and contact me.
I like Commentluv, because it displays the latest post of a visitor
bloggerwits recently posted…Pivot-Responsive Multipurpose WordPress Theme Free Download
Thanks for weighing in and makes sense.