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General Discussion

Posted by Jenny Swift
Jenny Swift
21,999 Points

blog commenting system

Hi, I've searched heaps trying to find a good commenting system for my new blog. Disqus is very popular so I set that up on my site, but I've been getting negative feedback about it. My dad who is not very computer literate said the initial sign up to first make a comment was too complicated that he would have given up on making a comment. And my friend also had frustration with trying to comment on my site, saying there shouldn't be a sign up process. I know there is guest commenting, and I even had that turned on, but obviously the whole experience is just not very user friendly for them.

I've considered using Facebook comments because with that it is very quick and easy to make a comment, assuming you are already logged into Facebook. But to my knowledge, with Facebook comments, commenters won't get email notifications when someone replies to their comment. I don't want users to have to keep checking back on my blog to see if someone has replied to their comment.

So I would like the following features:

1. quick and easy to comment

2. notifications when someone replies to your comment

3. defense against spam

4. Maybe Iā€™m being paranoid, but Iā€™m not that keen on a system where commenters can make up a name on the spot and post a comment, the reason being that someone could then post a rude comment pretending to be someone else, giving someone else a bad reputation. In other words, I want to know they are who they say there are. I figure systems like Disqus and Facebook comments make it less likely someone would post pretending to be someone else.

I'm considering coding my own commenting system. But Iā€™m not sure how I would do number 4 without having a sign up system.

Does anyone please have any suggestions? Oh, and I'm not using Wordpress for my blog-I'm coding it from scratch.

1 Answer

Dustin Matlock
Dustin Matlock
33,856 Points
Dustin Matlock
Dustin Matlock
33,856 Points

Hi Jenny, this is an often debated subject, and lot of bloggers are leaning towards Disqus these days, but others have reserves for the same reasons you've mentioned. I'm a fan of Google+, so I decided to go with their commenting system. I've listed a few solutions for you below. Of course, I've left a few out. These are just the ones I prefer. But you also have to take into account your audience. Some prefer Disqus, others don't. They find it difficult to use. I think a lot of bloggers end up going with the WordPress default commenting system, because that's what people are used to. But like I said, it depends on your audience. Other users might be more comfortable with Facebook comments.

(P.S. I see you've gone back and forth with WordPress. I'm including one solution for it anyhow.)

Commenting Solutions for Bloggers

Jenny Swift
Jenny Swift
21,999 Points

Thank you Dustin!