On The Downlow: Commenting Systems

Post It CommentsWe bloggers work damn hard on our posts. Comments often provide validation for our hard work. They say someone has read and responded to our labor of love (or in some cases outpouring of rant). Sometimes we get comments all about penis enhancement (or is that just me?) or mean anonymous comments. Then we get the rare, shining gem, a discussion comment! Someone makes an a statement that just BEGS for a response. Yet, with blogger’s current organic system, it’s hard to respond to  these comments, instead you have to put an @username – ‘COMMENT HERE’. I, personally, would much rather have threaded comments. So, I have been shopping around for different comment systems.

One obvious place, in fact, my first choice, was WordPress. However, I don’t really know a whole lot about wordpress. I don’t know if I switch over, how much I would have to pay to keep my domain name, how much I would have to pay to install the google friend connect, if I could keep my feed, if it would export all of my comments. I know Patrick Rothfuss switched his blog from blogger to wordpress, but he had techies from I think Penguin do it for him. I don’t exactly have access to those techies. However, if anyone could point me to a link of wordpress for dummies, I would definitely appreciate it.

Then, I have been stumbling upon plenty of blogs with Intense Debate. At first, I freakin HATED Intense Debate. I had trouble logging in, etc. Then, I decided to just do the input section instead of log in with Open ID. My troubles pretty much ended with that AND I noticed my information was automatically filled in when I visited other sites with Intense Debate. Score one for my inward lazy self! What I like is that it has the reply option right underneath the comment.

Finally, there is Disqus. Which, frankly, I dislike. It’s hard for me to use discuss. Most of the time it just drops my comment. Sometimes it asks to create an account with them. I already have an account to comment with, I don’t need an extra account.

I went to twitter with my question on whether people comment with Intense Debate or Disqus here’s the reaction I got:

Ballet Bookworm said: “Sometimes it’s hard to get “signed into” intense debate comments, but I don’t really avoid blogs with them.”

Filmgeekchic said: ” I find it’s hard to get a dialogue going with blogger comments, to see who you’re responding to, so I like ID [Intense Debate] or Disqus.”

Amanda of The Zen Leaf said: “Intense Debate doesn’t bother me. I won’t comment using Disqus though.”

Anniebody said: ” I don’t ever notice until after I’ve commented, anyway. I’d only worry if it made commenting harder/stopped working/etc.”

Chris of Bookarama said: “I’ll comment but when I had it on my blog I had complaints so I removed it. I never had a problem with it myself.”

Parchment Girl said: “Yes! Please do install it. Blogger’s commenting system is awful. I love blogs that use intense debate!”

Book Lover Carol said: “The bad thing about install is that sometimes it deletes some comments & don’t comment as much us. they don’t want to sign in.”

So what is your opinion on 3rd party commenting systems? Do you avoid commenting on blogs that have them? Also, how much do you hate entering capcha? I totes hate it.

The following two tabs change content below.
April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Comments

  1. You know, I've tried installing intense debate and it keeps effing up my whole comment system, but I wish I could…I rather like it 🙂

  2. Capcha makes me crazy, especially when it shows up after I've written my comment, like a bad surprise. I mostly find that that happens with Blogger.

  3. Every since you tweeted that I have been paying attention…and realized how much blogger irks me. So many times I want to respond to another commenter's amazing comment and I can't easily!

    WordPress is the way to go. I picked them over blogger entirely because of comments. The other great thing is that you don't need capcha. You approve someone the first time they comment then their comments post automatically!

    But if you are looking at intense debate vs Disqus, ID seems better…but the logging in thing is kind of a pain.

  4. I really enjoy Intense Debate. I started using it recently after realizing how much I LOVED commenting on blogs that used it even though I had to type in more information.

  5. We initially chose WordPress primarily for their commenting system, but realized you couldn't really do much without paying for self-hosting which we didn't want to do. I find I like the options Blogger gives you more than WordPress. I feel like I have more autonomy to add things to my blog. I think WordPress won't let you use Java unless you pay, but I may be wrong. I just remember I couldn't add a goodreads widget, which annoyed me.

    I'm liking Diqus so far. I don't think we've had any problems. At least no one's said anything…

  6. I'm having a hard time with this, too! I don't FEEL like switching things over and losing all my comments or whatever else could happen. But, I also HATE Blogger's commenting system! Discussion is really important to me and I feel like it's hard to get it going when you can't see a thread of conversation regarding a comment. SO ANNOYING! I don't know what to do. I don't avoid blogs that make me fill in things but sometimes I do feel irked when I am lazy. I do like that Intense Debate keeps the data stored! So great! I'm at a standstill, basically, with this whole commenting thing!

  7. Hmm… I can't imagine not commenting because of what commenting system is used, not going to lie. I comment on the post because I want to, what system is used has no relation to what the post discussed! I've never had real issues, though I certainly prefer anything besides Blogger 🙂

  8. Great post! I know what you mean about working hard on your posts and just wanting some kind of feedback to know it was read.

    I have ranted about comments myself on my blog: Blogging: Insert Rant Here

    To be honest, I comment more on blogs that don't require Capcha. It really bugs me when people make ask for comments on their blogs then make it hard to leave a comment.

  9. Well I guess you already have my opinion above, haha! I don't sign in to Intense Debate either, I just fill in the information that's there and it auto-does the rest, it even puts in my Open ID avatar.

  10. Michael Antonio Araujo says

    Sometimes it does suck when you finally have written a well thought post and get no comments. *headdesk* I haven't heard of any of those sites so I don't know but they don't sound like anyone would use it. If people are lazy to comment on blogger imagine having to sign in on other websites to comment. I think the one or two we'd get would stop completely! xD

  11. The Blogger system is so ordinary. I had a few problems with Intense Debate early on, but like it now. I'm thinking of switching mine over to Intense Debate too, but not sure yet.

  12. I ended up on wordpress almost by accident, but I am so glad I did. I find it extremely easy to use and maintain and everything you say about comments is true. I paid for a .com rather than .wordpress.com address but that was about fifteen dollars so was fine with me! Afraid I can't help you with how to export… Not clever enough for that.

  13. I also hate the Blogger commenting system. Especially over the last few days, my comments have been disappearing or not posting at all (so I'm crossing my fingers with this comment!).

    I'm not too familiar with Intense Debate, I've only come across it a few times. The first time I saw it I had no idea what it was. If I leave a comment on a blog with Intense Debate I am usually just a 'guest' but leave my name, email, and blog address. I wish Google/Blogger was an option, I've only seen WordPress, Open ID and I think Intense Debate accounts.

  14. the story siren says

    blogger just needs upgrade their system and work on a little reply button… so you can actually have an interactive comment discussion! it can't be that hard if other blog platforms do it!

  15. I've had Intense Debate on my blog for approximately six months now and love it! I seriously cannot complain at all. Every once in a while, I'll get a note from someone that they cannot comment, but two days later that same person is able to get in. I've only had one two-week period where random posts reverted back to the Blogger commenting system, but that was not for every post and has since gone away. In both instances, I did nothing, and the problem seemed to go away on its own. In spite of that, I love the commenting system, and I can't see going back to Blogger's commenting system any time soon. I highly recommend it!

  16. Emily a.k.a WilowRaven : ) says

    Honestly, if I want to comment on someone's post – I do. I don't really care what comment system they use.
    I have noticed the my OpenId account doesn't always transfer over my info (and I can't tell it didn't until after my post goes up) but this might be my own user error 🙂

    I use bloggers system on my own blog and I'm fine with it. It's embedded at the end of each post – no pop out window or new page view. No word verification because I know some people hate it with a passion 😉

    I agree that it would be pretty cool if blogger created a type of reply system.

  17. I attempted to install Intense Debate a while ago, but had problems with it so I took it off. I don't mind any commenting system, but I do wish Blogger would come up with a reply system.

  18. jackie b central texas says

    Used Intense Debate for about 2 months, lost all commenting as no one could sign in before their browser timed out with it! Went back to plain jane blogger comments and have incorporated my email to be set up to receive all the comments.. I now can reply back by email to anyone who has done the same….

    This is the only way I know that Blogger lets us do easy replies, would be so much better if they were like Word Press threaded discussion replies but I am guessing us beggars cannot be choosers if we use a "free" system!

    Now as far as do I comment on others with ID or Disqus, sure do as have accounts set up with both to make it easier for me…

    CAPTCHA not my favorite thing, hate it with a purple passion and wish it had never been invented!!!
    jackie ^_^

  19. IntrovertedJen says

    I installed ID for a while back in the spring and loved it initially. But I got some weird formatting when I replied to comments via email and their techies couldn't figure it out. Then it was completely down one day, so I got aggravated and uninstalled it. I have those comments archived on the ID site, but they told me there's no way to make them show up on my blog now that ID is uninstalled. So there's a month that it looks like I got no comments. Once I did uninstall, I got comments about how glad people were that it was gone.

    I like the idea of the other platforms, but I'll be sticking with blogger's system now. I do wish they would just give us a freaking reply button. That would be simplest all the way around.

    I hate capcha. I'll still comment, but I start internally bitching, especially if it pops up unexpectedly after I thought I was posting the comment and done with it.

  20. I prefer a blogger pop-out window like the one you currently have. I don't like entering capcha.

    NOTE
    You have been bitten by a book blogger zombie. If you want to find a cure before turning into a zombie, you should visit this link:

    http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/2010/09/book-blogger-zombie-giveaway-2010.html

  21. I don´really know ID and Dikus… I use WordPress.
    My favorite blogger system is the one integrated with the post.. the popup annoys me a little lol

    Nad yes, I HATE captcha… Sometimes I just don´t comment at all when people use captcha in theirs blogs. In your case, since it's a popup windows doesn´t bother THAT much.

    I think you should try the other apps… maybe they´ll work maybe don´t.

    I think you should just move to WordPress, though. It´s wonderful, they have thousands of fetaures… you can export all your posts and comments… Try to find some tutorial about it googling it. If you manage you won´t regret.

  22. Well, I don't really mind logging in to comment or even the capcha if I can enter it together with the comment. It's only when the capcha appears after I have already submitted the comment, which makes it difficult because sometimes I think I've already commented and closed the window when actually I'm being prompted to input the capcha. So, I've got to retype the comment over again.

  23. I had it on my blog and really liked it b/c I felt I could communicate better with commenters but it inexplicably stopped working and I turned it off.

    I don't mind captcha. SOmetimes I do find it tricky so I prefer when the captcha is up front instead of after.

    I try to respond to the comments in a comment or sometimes I will go and follow the person thru their profile to respond. I don't get why blogger doesn't improve this aspect of the system.

    Fangs, Wands and Fairy Dust
    email: steph@fangswandsandfairydust.com
    Twitter: @fangswandsfairy

  24. Yay for WordPress! I have to be honest and say Blogger’s gained a negative vote from me because so often I’ll write a long comment and then go to submit and find no “name/url” option (though yours had one, which was great). I’m not keen on the capcha because it’s easily overlooked when you’ve got used to blogs that don’t use it, but if it helps keep spam out it’s understandable.

    WordPress shouldn’t change how much you pay for your domain unless you use lots of plugins etc that eat your bandwidth and space allowance.

  25. I hate hate hate captcha. Sometimes I won’t even comment because it’s so annoying.

    I recently moved from Blogger to WordPress (and lost all my Google friends WAHHHH) but I LOVE it so much more. I love being able to respond to comments and have a conversation. I’m pretty sure I don’t have a third party app (I had a web designer move everything over) but I am still able to converse and it’s made my blogging experience so much more fun.