DISQUS

Steven Hodson · 1 year ago

To answer your question about Disqus spam detection - one word - excellent. That said there is one function that Disqus is still working on implementing and that is trackback support. That will still show up in your Admin- Comments section and have to be dealt with by Akismet.

When I have talked with Daniel he has said that trackback support is something that they are working hard on but want to make sure they do it right - which included being able to deal with the trackback spam.

webomatica · 1 year ago

Interesting - getting closer to trying it out. One other question - what happens to all the existing comments on old posts? Hopefully they aren't eliminated.

Steven Hodson · 1 year ago

when you install Disqus and go to your Comment page in the Admin you will see the Disqus settings for the blog just select the middle option in #2. This will have Disqus only handle any new post comments. All previous comments to posts will remain in their previous format and so will any new comments to those old - pre-Disqus - posts.

Mike · 1 year ago

Disqus looks quite interesting, though it clashes with my want to store all of that on my own server.

I mean, what if Disqus goes away one day? Though, I suppose blog comments on old articles aren't a tremendous deal.

Do you use trackbacks? As a reader/commenter, I skip over them entirely. I'd prefer to discuss things here on the site, and trackbacks seem like noise to me. Some themes segregate them into a separate section other than the comments, which makes it easier to read.

webomatica · 1 year ago

I'm definitely considering installing Disqus. I have a fairly constant battle with spam going on, with several plugins and manual moderation active on a daily basis. It would be nice to hand that all over to someone else to deal with.

But I do feel a little odd with handing all the comments over to another company. I think my solution for now is to hold off, see if other blogs I read start using it, and see if they add trackback support as Steven says is in the works.

Steven Hodson · 1 year ago

@Mike .. don't quote me on this but IIRC Disqus has mentioned in the past that this is a concern they are aware of and that they are looking at alternatives. Now barring unforseen problems they do have an Export feature which will allow you to export from Disqus and then import into a Wordpress installation - I don't know about other platforms.

Steven Hodson · 1 year ago

@Jason

Since installing Disqus I have only had to deal with about 5 pieces of comment spam and that were ones that got by Akismet for older posts. 3 or 4 times I have had Disqus put a comment in the "Please check this" queue which I ended up removing but that is few and far between.

Mike · 1 year ago

@Steven

I like the idea of an 'Export' feature. The ability to switch on a whim is generally what keeps me using particular services, like del.icio.us and such. Nice.

The more I think about it, the more something like Disqus makes sense. As of now, if you run a blog you've got to set it all up yourself - Gravatars, Subscribe to Comments, spam protection, etc. And you've got to keep it all up to date, and be on the lookout for new solutions as they arise.

The ability for people to impersonate you, too, is there. Hmm.

You know what would be nice? If Disqus supported OpenID. Seems like they're both aimed at solving similar problems.

(1 minute later)

Holy crap, they support OpenID. Nice. I'm signed up.

webomatica · 1 year ago

Mike let me know what you think of Disqus. As mentioned before, I am pretty close to singing up, too, but will wait a bit, and I'll do some research on other bloggers' experience with it.

Mike · 1 year ago

So far, I like it. Although their WordPress blog could use an upgrade, it (naturally) has Disqus integrated. Also, the OpenID support means that while I had to sign up for an account, I didn't have to generate another password and save it in my keychain.

I suppose I'd have to see more blogs implement Disqus to really get a good idea of how I feel about it. I'm glad they don't force people to join, however, as you can leave comments as you normally would.

BTW: It's quite easy to get an OpenID account. Just sign up for an account here:

https://www.myopenid.com/

And if you'd rather use your own URL for your OpenID, just follow the instructions here:

http://simonwillison.net/2006/Dec/19/openid/

It's a matter of adding two lines of HTML, and means you could instantly switch OpenID providers whenever you'd like.

Steven Hodson · 1 year ago

glad to have been of help

Bryan · 6 months ago

hmmm good article!!when you install Disqus and go to your Comment page in the Admin you will see the Disqus settings for the blog just select the middle option in #2. This will have Disqus only handle any new post comments. All previous comments to posts will remain in their previous format and so will any new comments to those old - pre-Disqus - posts.
LikeReport .what happens to all the existing comments on old posts? Hopefully they aren't eliminated.thank you!!!!