{ jamieann dot net } » Blog Archive » disqus rocks or disqus sucks?

I'll be following this conversation since I just installed it as well!

I like it…but I saw that tweet, too, so I'm worried!

Honestly? I'm not really a fan. But it won't stop me from commenting! Hope you are feeling less stabby, love.

I don't like the amount of down time I get. It isn't SUPER often but it seems to be really ill timed when it happens. Otherwise it's nice.

[Reply]

lol That was probably my tweet. A commenting system will never make me stop commenting on someone's blog but it really bothers me because I just fundamentally don't understand its purpose. If you uninstall it, you have to export it and re-import everything into wordpress. It lets you post with out refreshing the page but it makes your readers create another profile so their gravatar is consistent, and it has a ton of down time from what I gather. And you're right- you can get threaded comments in WP, but a lot of blog designs aren't designed to be as flexible as they could be so you have to mess with the CSS to make it happen. So I give Disqus 1 point. If someone could explain it to me I would be happy, I just don't get the appeal.

Facts to consider: I'm old fashioned, a finicky elitist because I've worked in web design, and have strong opinions about things of little to no consequence. It seems to me like the same thing as having a splash page for a website. I kind of get what people are going for but at the same time…. not so much.

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 7:18 pm

Oh I didn’t even know you tweeted about it! Someone on my boobs post told me they hated Disqus and we had a good thing going before with WP comments haha

My design isn’t compatible with the WP plugin so it will take some tinkering which is why I went with Disqus in the first place. But we will see, I’m exploring options right now!

[Reply]

I don't mind it at all, and installed it on my site a while back because I like the look at it.

I've heard a few complaints about it, too, so I don't know. For now, I'm keeping it. And I'm really interested to hear what other people think about it.

[Reply]

I don't mind if people have it, but I'm not going to be subscribing to every thread I leave a comment on. For me, I respond to blog comments through e-mail, and I don't want to change that…so I don't see much point in changing to Disqus unless people want to follow comments.

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

I usually respond via email as well. But I was thinking maybe my response might be beneficial to someone else reading through the comments or threaded comments might help spur conversation if you have the option of replying directly to someone.

Getting everyone’s thoughts on it will definitely help me see the pros and cons so thanks for letting me know what you think!

[Reply]

I think it's a great system for people who use Tumblr (which has no native commenting system on purpose) or Blogger (which has an atrocious commenting system). I'm not sure it's a necessary replacement for WP comments, but I certainly don't mind it. It is *definitely* nice for people looking to manage comments across multiple blogs in one place.

And umm. Yeah, that about wraps up my feelings on the matter.

[Reply]

As a Blogger user (I know, I know, stop judging!), it's the only way I'm able to respond to comments – since I can't email the writer back unless I have their address.

Perhaps I will someday transfer to Wordpress and have email and comment editing capabilities….

I do hate the LOOK of Disqus, though. It's so ugly! And I hate that some many people hate it. I've never had a problem with it – but I'm not married to it, either!

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 7:20 pm

I can totally understand using it for commenting on Blogger. I HATE COMMENTING ON BLOGGER. SO disqus would be much easier.

Seriously, move to Wordpress. It’s pretty and easy and you’ll love it. Promise!

[Reply]

I am NOT a fan of disque at all. That's just my 2 cents though

[Reply]

I am not a fan. I pretty much loathe it. The past few days I haven't been able to leave comments on some of my favorite bloggers posts because I kept getting a the “just a moment” notice from disqus. After 3 or 4 minutes, I tried a few more times to publish the comment and then just gave up. I dont have all evening to try to mess it so I move on. I also dont like getting more emails in my inbox asking me if I want to subscribe to this thread.

[Reply]

I'm not a huge fan, but I still comment. That's how much I love your blog.

[Reply]

Honestly, I'm indifferent. The only time I don't like leaving a comment is when it gives me a hard time (aka blogger!). I do like knowing if someone has responded to my comment via my email without having to subscribe to all comments by email (aka wordpress). Your blog, your choice! But thank you for giving us the chance to voice our opinion. =)

[Reply]

I really dislike disqus, but it has never kept me from commenting on a post before. I don't have any real reason, I just find it annoying.

[Reply]

Not a fan… not a fan at all.

[Reply]

I love commenting through disqus because it tracks all my comments, but when I installed it, everyone apparently received emails with all of the follow up comments. Plus I like to respond to my comments with a personal note via e-mail, and disqus doesn't allow that while wordpress does.

[Reply]

I don't have any problems with it. I have IntenseDebate on my blog and like it too. Personally I like replying to comments on here where other people can see as opposed to email.

[Reply]

Once I made a disqus account, it was fine, but for a while I was commenting as a guest and I hated how it sent me an email every time I commented. Don't know if someone mentioned this already, but you don't need a plugin for threaded commenting on WordPress anymore. There's an option for it if you go to Settings, Discussion, and then Enable Threaded Commenting.

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 7:22 pm

My theme doesn’t support that option. I had to find a plugin to get threaded comments. I just found an alternative so we’ll see how this goes!

[Reply]

I think since you use wordpress, you don't really need disqus. Original wordpress comment box is so much better.

I use blogger so I did install disqus once, cuz I wanna reply to people's comments and all that but then a lot of my readers told me they're annoyed with it so I uninstalled it.

[Reply]

I heart it. but that's me. I have had some issues with people using it, but their service and support are both on it, so that always helps

[Reply]

I love that Disqus puts the comments back on the site via the response, and if I want to send an email or a more personal response, I just change the address in the 'send' field.

[Reply]

Apparently I have a disqus account, as I discovered last time I commented so I wasn't all that bothered. As long as I can ultimately comment whenever I want to I don't really mind what system is used…

[Reply]

I'm totally anti-Disqus these days. It's probably easier just to work through the css on WordPress to configure the threaded ('nested') comments, since you have to work with code anyway. The gravatar support is nice, but I really hate the feel of the layout of Disqus and the auto-subscribe to comments.

I guess, in a word, I don't find that it adds all that much to the discussion experience.

[Reply]

since I am logged into still, I don't really mind. but when I went to comment the other day, I had to log in since not many other blogs I read use disqus…

other than that, I don't really mind. but I don't follow up on the comments I leave on blogs either…

[Reply]

sucks, sucks, sucky suck. to the point i hate commenting on blogs that have it…such a faff

[Reply]

I left the original comment. I never guess it would start a debate! Honestly, Disqus is just a pain. It freezes up, and takes too much time in general. I much preferred the WP system that had my info memorized and left a pretty link to my last post. Although I am obviously not going to stop commenting here, I think it would be best if you change it. If I'm honest, I have definitely passed on leaving a comment on new blogs I come across which are running Disqus, especially before I fully understood what it was. I wouldn't want new readers to pass on your blog. It's great!

Sorry for causing so much trouble!

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 4th, 2009 at 7:23 pm

hahah no I appreciate it! It was great to see the discussion it caused and totally helped me in my decision. So thank you

[Reply]

You don't need a plugin to get threaded comments but the WP software now supports threaded comments. The problem is that your theme doesn't support threaded comments. But you can add threaded comments to your theme if you tinker around with it a little bit. Just google wordpress add threaded comments and there are many websites out there that tell you how to add it.

[Reply]

I don't really think I mind either way…

[Reply]

Threaded comments make it easier to follow certain conversations. If I ever get more than a comment or two on my blog I would consider installing Disqus or similar, as Blogger does suck big time for commenting.

[Reply]

I agree with that. There are issues sometimes, but their support is really quick and great. I like being able to respond via emails.

[Reply]

I like the idea of being able to thread comments, but Disqus is kind of clunky for the commenter. I always seem to have to login with every comment I leave, rather than it remembering who I am. I'll use it either way, but I'm not a huge fan.

[Reply]

That's so odd! I thought that you could e-mail back with blogger if you had the comments e-mailed to you. How lame! I get it a little more now, thanks! =)

[Reply]

I don't like it, mostly because I have to click the part that makes it so I don't subscribe to all comments. I hate that. There are so many other plug-ins that do threaded comments that are so much better. “Brian's Threaded Comments” is the best one I've found. Just make sure your theme can handle it.

If that plug-in doesn't work with your theme, try “IntenseDebate”. It's like DISQUS, but has things you can change to alter the look, so it'll blend with your theme and not be so **BAM**.

[Reply]

As a general rule, I don;t love having to log into something to post comments. I made a blogger account because I pretty much had to – the only convenience there is that since it's linked to my Gmail, which I use to get on my reader anyway, I'm almost always logged in.

Disqus, even if I save my password, makes me log in every time for some reason.

Plus I am a little wary of trusting an outside application on my blog – not that I know ANYTHING against Disqus, but I'm kind of a control freak and I like to be able to tweak things myself.

[Reply]

Oh yeah, and boo on the automatic “subscribe to all comments.”

[Reply]

Frankly, I don't have a problem with it. It's never been an inconvenience to me leaving a comment here or anywhere else (unless I was having browser issues that day).

Blogger, wordpress, intensedebate, disqus, etc., it's all no big deal to me.

[Reply]

i just started using it too, because i couldn't figure out a way to get blogger to require an email address, or threads for easier replying.

if i could figure that out, i would probably get rid of disqus, just because i've heard so many people say they hate it, though i haven't had any issues with it yet.

[Reply]

i thought you could email back if the comments were emailed to you also. i responded to about 10 people this way, only to find out i was sending emails to a “no-reply” email address!!

[Reply]

i don't mind it, but i'm not a fan of the instant email i get after i leave a comment. but i don't mind, lots of people use disqus so i'm used to it now.

[Reply]

i don't mind it, but i'm not a fan of the instant email i get after i leave a comment. but i don't mind, lots of people use disqus so i'm used to it now.

[Reply]

I really dislike Disqus – just not feeling it!

I like the fact that I can reply via e-mail and copy and paste it in my blog as another comment if I really feel like my comment should be there so others can read it. I've tried getting my comment background to be a different color so people know but it's not working for some reason so I just bold my comment.

[Reply]

It's wonky. When I try to just leave a comment as a guest it sits there forever like it's thinking about it and then I wonder, Uggh do I have to retype my whole comment again?! Then it posts like a minute or two after thinking about it.

[Reply]

I don't really like it, but I use it for Tumblr. I won't stop commenting on your blog if you keep it!

[Reply]

I thought most people used that for tumblr? Hm. I don’t know if I totally understand why it’s necessary, I guess.

[Reply]

This debate happens all the time, and it’s everyone’s preference.

I’m blown away at the support for WP comments!

I absolutely love disqus and wish everyone used it. Facebook Connect, Twitter Sign On, reply via email, comment tracking, social sharing, and a platform that translates across blogging platforms…man.

[Reply]

[...] for all your comments on Disqus yesterday and today! I removed it and since I couldn’t just activate threaded comments via [...]

I got annoyed because I somehow got subscribed to the comments without meaning to, so I kept on thinking I was getting comments… but you were instead .
Not that it matters now… I’m a little late to the game!

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 8:52 am

Before I went in to Disqus and edited my profile and settings that happened to me all the time too when I would comment on other sites. I hated it!

Sorry about that!

[Reply]

I dislike it because I always forget to click ‘do not subscribe to comments’ and end up getting a billion follow up comment e-mails. Maybe if it was automatically on unsubscribe it wouldn’t be so bad.

[Reply]

i’m SO not a fan – but it wouldn’t stop me from commenting cause i still love you.

[Reply]

Jamie Reply:
November 6th, 2009 at 8:53 am

Loves you back!

[Reply]

Twitter Updates