Disqus: Not So Stupid Anymore

151 | Posted In Blogging by David

Disqus is a leading third-party comment option for bloggers. In the past, my opinions about Disqus have been mixed. I started out by calling it stupid. Then, about a year ago Disqus fixed some of my concerns, yet I ended up still not using it on my blog.

As you might be able to tell, I am currently using Disqus on this blog. What drove me over the edge?


Old Problems Fixed

Originally, Disqus seemed like a really bad idea because it removed comments from your blog and placed them on somebody else’s server. This is content – YOUR content – that would need to be handed over to somebody else. And being that it was using javascript to embed the comments on the blog, all SEO benefits were gone.

Once they moved to version 2.0, all that changed. Disqus now uses an API to include comments on your blog, meaning that the comments ARE in your source code and give you full SEO benefits. Even more importantly, there is full interchange between your blog and Disqus such that all new comments get auto-posted to your local database. This is important so that I can stop using Disqus if I want and I don’t lose anything.

All in all, Disqus is now a safe option to use. You’re not going to lose your comments and you have a way out.

But, why bother? Why stop using WordPress’s own comment system?

Benefits to Disqus

What put me over the edge was the ability to increase the social interaction and the community on my blog. In particular…

  • Ability to easily allow people to log in via Facebook Connect, Twitter or OpenID.
  • Using Facebook Connect, it provides the option for a commenter’s comment to appear on their wall in Facebook – increasing viral promotion of my blog.
  • Readers have the ability to pipe their comments into other services (Friendfeed, for example). Again, this increases the viral promotion of a comment on my blog because their comment will potentially appear in other places on the web.
  • Ability to easily see what other sites each commenter is commenting on. This acts to help people find others of similar interest, plus it helps in cross-promotion among similar blogs.

In short, using Disqus allows my blog to be better integrated into the social community by way of user comments rather than having each comment be self-contained to this blog.

Still pondering making the switch to Disqus over on PCMech as well.

What are your thoughts on Disqus?

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  • http://www.hostelio.com Hostelio

    One of the main advantages Disqus is; it has is the ability for users to login with Facebook Connect where the comments also appear in the commentators newsfeed, which has the capacity to go viral.

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  • http://SFFMedia.com John Howell

    We recently moved to Disqus at SFFMedia.com. Absolutely fantastic system. So many different options for users to log in: Facebook, Twitter, OpenID – and now Yahoo! What more could you ask for?

  • http://www.failglobe.com MrACarpenter

    After banging my head trying to get a Facebook Connect plugin to work with my wordpress site and facebook for comments I came across an article which talked about Disqus. I figured I'd give it a shot and viola! I was up and running seamlessly with facebook, twitter, yahoo, and all the other awesome sites in a few minutes.

    Disqus for the win!

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  • wigstand

    I do not participate in blogs that use DISQUS..or rather disgust. Bad program, commenters locked out half the time. Shockingly bad..laughable really

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    The program improved vastly over the past few months, I've been using on my blog and I could not be happier

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  • geniusre

    i did not use DISQUS so far due to less information about it but after reading your post now i am very well understood how to use this one

    Thank you very much

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    I lose my disqus pass and they did not send me a new one…

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  • umer421

    hi ..
    I'm using disqus and facebook fan box on my page http://www.emailzz.blogspot.com .. there is a problem in fan box as my fan box does not load properly .. can u tell me how to resolve this ??

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    thanks a lot for that amazing post! I like you blogs! discus is very useful

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    I have not used disqus yet. I was really aware of its advantages. It sees internet world is getting smaller and smaller!

    I am considering switching to disqus

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    I have sued disqus some days , i think it is powerful , i like it

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    I am a blogger and I used to DISQUS for commenting.DISQUS is such a nice thing to other blogger.DISQUS goes great with Facebook awesome work..

  • Foo

    Just checking out how the comments are working

  • Foo

    Ok. First off, there's too much going on in the login box.

    Next, it required a valid email (I had to make one up: foo@test.com).

    Next, it asked me to make an account before posting. Ask afterwards… you're going to lose some fraction of people that way.

  • http://www.fuelblue.com Bob Donohue – Fuelblue

    David, I'm integrating Disqus into my client's blogs, and have already done so on my own. I like it for all the reasons you mentioned about viral opportunities. But I also like how it allows for a default gravatar, and/or the commenter's personal gravatar if they have one. I use Drupal, not WordPress, and the commenting system there left a bit to be desired. I love Drupal, but was never fond of the commenting system as it was very easy for spam comments to appear in droves. I'd have to set everything for comments to be approved before going live, and then sift through tons of spam. Disqus seems to remove that completely, I get no spam at all. Next, since I manage multiple web sites, I like how Disqus allows me to manage them all in one place. The old way I needed to manage comments for each site from within each site. Finally, on the user side, I like how it allows for commenters (like me in this case) to keep track of my comments throughout the web.

    Best,
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    PS – Drupal has a Disqus module which works like a charm, you simply enter one ID # and it just works.

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  • http://www.p4websystems.com/ Catherine Russell

    Disqus Comments is for bloggers and publishers who wish to use Disqus on their sites, while Disqus Profile is for the rest of us who are commenting on sites powered by Disqus.

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    Discus Forum will compliment its commenting system. This is a popular platform for users to air their views and thoughts online and interact with the other forum users.

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    I agree with you completely, if facebook, friendster, etc.. can implement something like Disqus, it will make the whole social community world even more efficient and more interactive.

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    Disqus is the top commenting platform in my opinion. Not only is Facebook Connect integration nice but allowing users to also use their Twitter accounts to leave comments is awesome.

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    Wow, Sir, it's a good move. DISQUS is a good tool. I really hope that you have a great time with it.

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    Disqus comment system has really helped our business. It's exactly what I've been looking for.Excellent system, one of the best with the current experience,..

  • http://www.getingate.com/ romiron

    Funny thing, i read your old article and this one very carefully but some things are still bothering me about Disqus for example:
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    2. Ugly user interface that i would put in my blog for a Million dollars.
    3. What do i get out of it? How does it help me promote my blog?

    I am now usign getingate's Social Web commenting tool and i am very happy.
    it has a very simple installation, friendly user interface, and an advertising system that allows me to advertise my blog.

    besides some say that disqus would soon start charging money like Echo…

  • http://www.getingate.com/ John

    While Disqus is a good commenting system, I actually prefer to use the Web Commenting Tool by Getingate. I find it's simpler to install and easier to use. Getingate is currently running a competition for the website that generates the most comments. First prize wins $1,000 and second prize gets $500.

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    Great info!

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    I just don't like how the commenter is asked to register a profile with disqus. It will prevent people from completing a comment that's for sure.

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    Banging my head to connect to a Facebook site and comments for my WordPress work with facebook's an article I came across talked about the Disqus plugin after trying to get. I thought I'd give it a shot and viola! I was up and Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo seamlessly with running, and all the other awesome sites in just minutes.

  • http://www.directorysubmissionservices.net Nick

    i am using disqus and there is no problem in it great working…thanks for sharing…

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    I agree with you completely, if facebook, friendster, etc.. can
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    I just don’t like how the commenter is asked to register a profile with
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    sure.
     

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