How to Choose the Best Comment System For Your Blog

July 7, 2011 By Danny Brown Filed Under: Blogging Tips 105 Comments

Open choices

One of the key goals when I started blogging was to encourage a healthy discussion area in the comments. I’ve always been a firm believer that the real gold to any blog post can (and does) come from the comments left afterward.

Depending on how encouraging the blogger is to foster open discussion, the comments can take the original post in a whole new direction. From challenging the post itself to debating the thoughts left by other commenters, a blog’s comments can extend the life of a post infinitely (unless the blogger switches comments off after a certain period of time).

Because comments are so integral to the complete blogging experience (unless you’re someone like Seth Godin), there’s been a rise in the number of ways your readers can interact and leave a comment.

While many bloggers prefer to stick with their native comments system, whether it’s WordPress, Blogger or any other of the popular platforms, others are preferring to use third-party systems like Disqus, IntenseDebate and Livefyre, amongst others.

So is there any benefit in using one system over the other, and if so, which one is right for you?

Native Comments

One of the immediate benefits of using your own comment system – as in, the one that comes as standard on the blogging platform you use – is that it fits with the rest of your design.

It doesn’t matter if you use a free blogging theme – like the ones that come pre-installed with your chosen platform – or go the premium theme route, the commenting system will be styled after your blog’s design.

This keeps the look and feel clean as well as uniform, and gives your readers a smooth transition from post to comments.

You can also code the native system a lot easier than you can a third-party system, if the comment code allows you to use your own CSS style.

Of course, there are a ton more benefits to using the vanilla commenting system than just the design angle:

Less load time. One of the things all third-party comment systems are notorious for (or have been, as they look to continuously improve) is the way they add load time to your blog. Because a vanilla comment system is integrated, it’s part of your blog design’s file base. Third-party systems usually rely on adding a plug-in and this slows down your site.

You can use CommentLuv. One of the best plug-ins around, CommentLuv allows your commenters to leave a link to their most recent blog post. It’s a nice way to say thanks for commenting, by showing off one of their own posts. While IntenseDebate allows integration of CommentLuv, the styling isn’t ideal, so it’s better on a native comments system.

Easier buy-in for commenters. One of the biggest advantages of using your native comments system is that commenters don’t need to create an account to leave a comment – all you need is an email address (and sometimes not even that). While you don’t necessarily need to sign up to use a third-party comment system, it is required if you want to get the most benefit from it.

Control, control, control. Perhaps the biggest plus to running your own comment system is exactly that – it’s your comment system. It’s not hosted on another server; you’re not screwed if their server goes down; and your formatting isn’t messed up because you decide to switch off and go back to your own system.

Add in that vanilla comment systems are for more mobile-friendly than third-party systems, and you can see why so many bloggers prefer staying with their blog’s built-in comment system. So are there any reasons why you wouldn’t want to use the standard set-up?

Decisions decisions

Third Party Comment Systems

Having used pretty much every third-party comment system at some stage – Disqus, IntenseDebate, Livefyre and Echo – I’ve had the opportunity to see firsthand why they’re so popular. (Although, to be honest, I didn’t use Echo much as it’s just too messy and noisy for my liking).

The main advantage that third-party comments have over native comments is the ability to combine your other social networks into the conversation, as opposed to just the readers of the blog post.

So, for example, if we had a third-party system installed here, you could then tweet or update your Facebook status directly from the comment itself, and share what you had to say. Taking that one step further, if you were using the Livefyre system, you could use the little “@” symbol and type the name of one of your Twitter or Facebook connections, and bring them into the comment / conversation (they’d be alerted that you mentioned them).

Third-party comment systems also offer real-time updating and alerts (some better than others). This, in essence, turns your blog comment section into the equivalent of a chat room as opposed to a standard comments system.

I used this feature from Livefyre when I had it installed on my blog, when I had David Siteman Garland as a special guest to promote his new book and talk about business, branding, community and more.

The experiment was a huge success, and saw a great and instant interaction between readers and David. It was a completely new way of using a blog comment system, and perhaps offered the future of what real community integration could look like.

Some other benefits of using a third-party system include:

Social media reactions. You can see how popular your post is on the likes of Twitter, Facebook and more by having tweets and social network updates as part of the comments (either integrated or as a trackback).

Single sign-in. If you do create a profile with a third-party system, that follows you around the web (as long as other bloggers are using your chosen system). It means you can track your comments easier, and see where you’re visiting the most.

Recognition. One of the more useful options on third-party comments is the points system. Here, you can vote up a comment if you like it (and vote down if you don’t). This allows you an instant visual on which of your commenters is adding the most value to the comments (at least in the eyes of other commenters).

There are other benefits too – the ability to highlight who you’re replying to, for example, and the option to reply to a comment direct from your email.

Decisions, Decisions

As you can see, there are benefits to both options – so which one should you use? It really depends on your needs.

I used to have Livefyre on my own blog, and it’s by far my favourite of the third-party options. When I changed my blog design, I reverted back to vanilla WordPress until some of the new features in Livefyre are implemented. For example, I love CommentLuv and I miss having that option for my commenters.

I also like the control that running your own comment system provides. Like I mentioned earlier, you’re not tied to a third-party server, so if they have performance issues, at least it won’t impact your blog. A prime example of this is when Twitter’s API struggles (which it often does), and this affects the load time of your blog (due to third-party systems using Twitter’s API for sign-in ability).

Having said that, third-party options do offer far more social network integration without the need for more plug-ins, and they can encourage further discussions because of this.

If I had the option, my ideal mix would be the custom design you can give vanilla comment systems with the interactivity of third-party options. Until then, though, my first choice would always be vanilla WordPress, Livefyre next, and then the other third-party options after that.

How about you – what’s your preference when it comes to commenting, and why that one in particular?

(This post originally appeared on AriHerzog.com)

Update: For Bloggers By Bloggers changed to the Livefyre comment system as of July 12. The new features, including social sync and last blog post for logged-in Livefyre users, helped make the decision.

image: ilmungo
image: iandavid

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Filed Under: Blogging Tips Tagged With: blog comments, comment systems

About Danny Brown

Danny Brown is an award-winning marketer and blogger. His blog is recognized as the #1 marketing blog in the world by HubSpot. Danny is also the author of The Parables of Business and the upcoming book Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage and Measure Brand Influencers in Social Media Marketing.

http://toddlyden.com todd

where is the facebook commenting in this ?
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hi Todd,
  
  I didn’t include Facebook as it requires you to have a Facebook account to use. While Facebook is hugely popular, not having any other log-in options limits its effectiveness. It’s also very basic when it come to features (poor threaded comments, for example) – hence its exclusion here.
  - http://theWebalyst.com theWebalyst
    
    I was also surprised not to see you include Facebook comments and don’t understand your reasons, especially as you could have given those as reasons you don’t favour it! I reckomend you update the post rather than justify your omission Facebook is too popular to ignore.
    
    I find some of the points you make useful but want more depth.
    
    A point not really raised about /how/ to choose what suits you is who your blog is aimed at. This is crucial in selecting your comment system. Its no good selecting one that caters for techno-geek types, or people who want to link to your blog, if your blog is meant to engage with first time web users for example.
    
    You need to consider other issues than those mentioned, such as need to register, ease of logging in, attitudes to privacy, motivation etc within the different groups that you want to comment.
    
    I’m currently using the default WordPress comment system. Its not great but it is incredibly easy for /anyone/ to leave a comment, which means all groups are catered for, including people who are reading a blog for the first time.
    
    Mark
    http://theWebalyst.com in London
    - http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
      
      Hi Mark,
      
      Thanks, but I won’t be updating the post to include Facebook as – like I mention – I find it incredibly limited compared to other systems.
      
      Funnily enough, the new updated Disqus system is hugely popular with “first time web users”, since it only requires you to type your email and it will fill out the name for you. Even easier than the native WordPress one.
      
      Cheers.
      - http://theWebalyst.com/blog theWebalyst
        
        Thanks for the tip about Disqus.
        
        I must say that as a /commenter/, Disqus has been the only 3rd party comment system which you cover here that works for me (other than the built in comment systems such as in WordPress). Even the gravatar link on this blog didn’t work because I didn’t know to use the email address that I gave to gravatar, and I don’t like signing in to 3rd party systems using my Facebook, Twitter login as this gives them (Facebook, Twitter and the 3rd party) access to way more information than I’m willing to share.
        
        For the same reason, I don’t share my main email address with websites and blogs. I give a unique identifiable email address to each website that wants one. Whenever someone abuses one of these addresses I can tell immediately who it was, as well as being able to block mail to that address without affecting any other email identities/accounts.
        
        The problem with Facebook (and many others) is that they don’t respect my personal information, but regard it (and me) as a commodity. Many 3rd party comment systems follow this lead, which I think can be yet another reason they lose traffic (from the most informed aware commenters) – its a kind of reverse value filter .
        
        All these systems are prone to skewing the responses towards some groups and away from others, and I think that issue is the most important one to understand, and to consider when making such a decision.
        
        Monitoring is also vital, so I would be very reluctant to install a comment system that didn’t enable me to see how many people begin the comment process, how many drop out and at what stage of the process. I don’t know if any provide this data.
        
        These are the kind of issues I was interested in when I said I would have liked more depth.
        
        Mark
        http://theWebalyst.com in London
        
        http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
        
        Hey there Mark,
        
        Interesting idea – perhaps a follow-up post about the registration and privacy angle would be in order.
        
        http://theWebalyst.com theWebalyst
        
        Sure, that’d be great.
        Mark
http://shadboots.com Shad Boots

As you’ve seen, Danny, I use Disqus. That came about because I wasn’t fond of the default comment system. I still feel as if I have to work on it, if not entirely customize my comment section to my liking. Then again, I have to do that for my whole site, don’t I?

I’ll probably experiment with several commenting systems, because I’ll never stick to just one. A little change is nice.
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  That’s the great thing about self-hosted blogging, mate – we can experiment to our heart’s content.
http://gearboxmagazine.com Brian Driggs

I’ve been using Disqus for years. Smitten with both their product and customer service, which says a lot, considering it’s FREE. The first plugin I install on any new WP site is Disqus. I also love that I can respond/moderate/delete comments on multiple sites via email (on my Blackberry). If someone takes the time to comment on something I’ve had to say, I want to show them how much I appreciate that by responding. And if some poor, clueless bastard drops some poorly written, outsourced backlink crap for a fiver, it thrills me to delete it within seconds… from a traffic light.

Once upon a time, someone wrote a very meaningful post on a site using LiveFyre. The post was so good, I signed up and created an account so I could comment. The comments for that post blew up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t read any of them from my Blackberry. When I got back to the desktop, I discovered the conversation had shifted to problems with the commenting system, to the point someone from LiveFyre had joined in (kudos for that). I ended up turning off email notifications and, sadly, couldn’t tell you the name of that blog today.

I have a hard enough time getting my readers to share their thoughts. I want that experience to be as seamless and convenient as possible for them. Anything other than Disqus is just too much of a risk, imo.
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hey there mate,
  
  And that’s the key point right there – your reader experience. I know that’s one of the reasons I took Livefyre of my blog (although, to be fair, it was still in beta and they’ve improved a lot since then).
  
  I’ve seen Disqus have issues with downtime and mobile browsing before, so that put me off them. But I agree, Giannii from their support team is usually pretty good.
  
  Here’s to choice!
- http://www.kaarinadillabough.com Kaarina Dillabough
  
  Hey Brian, I’m a fellow disqus user, but only for the past 5 months. I made a comment below, addressing some of my questions. Would love to hear your opinion, as I too am quite satisfied with disqus, but wonder if I’m missing commenters due to the log in/sign in requirement. Good to meet you here:) Cheers! Kaarina
  - http://gearboxmagazine.com Brian
    
    No problem Kaarina.
    
    Are we missing possible commenters because of login/registration requirements? Perhaps, but how easy do we really want to make things? Even here, with the native commenting system on this site, I still had to enter my name, email address and (optional) URL before I could respond to you.
    
    Central authentication is a big plus to systems like Disqus (and to some extent, LiveFyre, et al.). Once logged in, I can comment on any Disqus-powered site on the web without delay as I am recognized. I can jump from my Gearbox site to John Falchetto’s “Expat Life Coach” blog to Scott Gould & Friends and comment at will. I love it.
    
    Even for those without Disqus profiles (or inclination to create them), the commenting process is simple. Enter the comment, click the “Post as…” button, and decide how you would like to be mentioned. A valid email address is required regardless what commenting system is in place, but whereas native platforms such as the one we’re using here also require us to enter a name, Disqus pre-populates “Guest,” meaning one enters a comment, adds an email address (if not interested in tying the comment any of five other platforms), and submits. No more complex than the native system if you ask me.
    
    As for Comment Luv? [shrug] I appreciate it, but I always use a link when I comment. The native system does allow me the option to use a specific permalink where it might be appropriate (which Disqus does not, barring a profile update pushing that same URL out to all comments made). I looked to sign up for Comment Luv so I could choose from more recent posts on the sites that use it, but their main site came across shady to me; as if they would be re-publishing my content or something. I mean, it’s a plugin adding value to comments, so why all the focus on submitting articles to them? Does not compute. Deleted the account same day.
    
    One downside to Disqus, which Danny pointed out, there can be loading issues in mobile browsers. I run into this as well on my Blackberry. The “Comments powered by Disqus” line above an animation that just goes on endlessly while comments are not loaded. Frustrating, for sure, but then again, successful commenting here or on Danny’s blog have been hit or miss for me with the Blackberry too (to the point I don’t bother – I bookmark and find a desktop ASAP).
    
    Super long comment, but I hope this helps you out, Kaarina. Thanks for the open forum, Danny and B4B staffers. Cheers.
    - http://gearboxmagazine.com Brian
      
      And another thing, you can go back and edit your comments in Disqus when you re-read your published comment and see that, in your first paragraph, you wanted to ask if anyone really wanted to allow anonymous comments without any form of identification on their site, but neglected to post said question, which the native platform does not allow.
      
      PS: I un-checked the Comment Luv box on that last comment so as not to have another link to the same story in the same place, but got the little loading animation and, looky there – Comment Luv still showing. Go figure.
      - http://www.kaarinadillabough.com Kaarina Dillabough
        
        You. are. awesome. Thanks so much Brian, for taking the time to submit such a comprehensive, beneficial comment. I’ve been being “swayed” by all the positive talk about Livefyre, and felt like I was on the outside-looking-in…should I, shouldn’t I …
        
        As I said, I’ve been content with disqus (although it occasionally does really weird things when I try to @mention someone who isn’t registered). The only other thing I’m wondering about…does this happen on all disqus sites that the more comments that go between 2 people, the smaller the writing space? It’s like an upside-down descending staircase. Is that to do with disqus?
        
        Brian, is there any way of “showin’ the luv” on disqus? I don’t think I quite understood what you were meaning in the commentluv comment. Is there some type of plug-in or thingamajig for disqus that would allow the commenter’s URL to be automatically attached to their comment?
        
        Thanks again: this was a tremendous help! Much appreciated. Cheers! Kaarina
      - http://www.kaarinadillabough.com Kaarina Dillabough
        
        Crumb! Now the word mention got highlighted, and I have no idea where in the universe that will lead: my bad. Sorry Danny if it takes the comment to another universe.
      - http://gearboxmagazine.com Brian
        
        Odd. No more reply button on your last comments, Kaarina. Go figure.
        
        I don’t know if there’s functional Comment Luv Disqus integration yet. A quick Google shows some discussion going back to 2009, but most of the results are blog posts about which comment system to use. (Imagine that.)
        
        Using the Disqus plug-in for WordPress, I know it’s possible to tweak the settings to tailor the experience to your needs, which might address the “upside-down staircase” situation. Worth a playing with, methinks.
        
        I’m also pretty sure it’s possible to get into the code to further customize the installation, but I’m not 100% sure that means anything more than CSS/appearance mods. Even so, it might be worth following @DanielHa on Twitter and asking him about it, as he’s the head honcho over there.
        
        Wish I could be more help!
        
        http://kaarinadillabough.com Kaarina Dillabough
        
        Brian, you are soooooo much help!
        
        I know nothing on the tech side, so once you started using words like CSS and customizing installation, I knew I was deep in over my head:) But thanks so much. I’ll check out DanielHa, and pass along your comments to the person who set up my wp site…when it’s Greek to me, I know better than to try and learn Greek.
        
        Really appreciate all your help Brian: heading over to check out your most recent post (will it be Greek to me, haha?!) Cheers! Kaarina
http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/pipe.run?_id=3753cbff63765a58df383d891e513888&_render=rss Rowan Peek

Commenting system for a blog? Well, At first I don’t have any idea about comment system in the blog. As what I’ve known you need to find a high PR, DoFollow and CommentLuv blogs to make comments. And that’s all! Anyways, thanks for some information about comment system it would be a great help to me. Thanks Danny.
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hi Rowan,
  
  I think the high PR and DoFollow is a bit of a fallacy. More bloggers are choosing No-Follow now, and are looking more carefully at the comments being left as to whether they’re relevant or not. I always find simply commenting because you want to, and offering something worth saying, is a more natural – and successful – approach.
http://blog.esimplestudios.com Gabriele Maidecchi

I still prefer the native comment system. I used Disqus for a while but I see many people don’t like to login in their system to leave a comment (even though Twitter or Facebook) and would rather use a native WordPress form than that. Plus, I like to keep control of my comments and use systems like CommentLuv or other similar ones as added value.
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Hi Gabriele,
  
  I think that’s the biggest plus that native systems have over any others – the control aspect. I know when I had Disqus installed, then switched back to native, I lost all my threaded comments, so it didn’t make sense when reading. I think they’ve fixed that now, but still…
  
  And yes, there’s nothing worse than loading up a blog post and seeing no comments (or not having the ability to comment) since the third-party server has crashed…
http://www.kaarinadillabough.com Kaarina Dillabough

Hey Danny, great post – so helpful.

I’ve been using Disqus for just 5 months, and have had no problems. I see lots of sites that use Livefyre, and I’ve been tempted to make a switch, because I respect those using it. But switching when I haven’t had any problems seems a bit premature.

I do wonder if some people don’t comment because they have to sign in/sign up/ log in, and many appear with nameless faceless gravatars as a result. I really like the commentluv on others’ sites, and keyword luv…except on every site I tried to access the latter, it didn’t work. Maybe I just don’t get it.

I haven’t investigated this, but I’m wondering if disqus has any type of feature like commentluv (or if commentluv can be added to disqus). I’d like for my commenters to “feel the luv” of a link back to their own sites. Pardon the rudimentary/basic question, but I’m new to the tools, and just learning what I’ve learned so far has been a steep curve.

Any further input or opinions on disqus/options are welcome. Cheers! Kaarina
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  The sign-in confusion definitely doesn’t help, Kaarina, and is another strong argument for the case of having native systems in place.
  
  Mind you, I spoke with the Livefyre guys at BlogWorld, and if you like guest sign-in options and CommentLuv styled features on your third-party system, you might want to check out what @Livefyre has up its sleeve…
  - http://www.kaarinadillabough.com Kaarina Dillabough
    
    Thanks Danny…watching, wondering and then taking action:) Cheers!
http://staffperformancesecrets.com/ leon Noone

G’Day Danny,
I want to make it as easy as possible for readers to comment. So I don’t use Discus, Livefyre or any thing else. As a commenter, I know how frustrating the commenting systems can be.

When I start getting mountains of comments , maybe I’ll reconsider.

Regards

leon
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  Did I see you comment on @ginidietrich ‘s blog with a @Livefyre account, mate? Impressed!
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

Okay, we’ll see if some of the new features come into play
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

Paging livefyre and jenna langer – guess who’s switched on Livefyre?
http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger

@DannyBrown Well hello there!
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

@jennalanger And I see you have the Oldest/Newest option too. Nice.

So how does the Last Post option work?
http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger

@DannyBrown Roll over the Livefyre logo to go to your Site Admin. Then click on Site settings – Extras. Once you turn it on there, users need to turn it on in their user settings and it will show up. Guess I have to get our blogpost ready so we can inform the world!
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

@jennalanger Gotcha. Now can Admins have that on their sites, or is it just when you comment elsewhere?

And I really like the way the names appear pre-Livefyre (see how Leon’s is cool and italic?). Can one of your cool techs advise on the CSS needed to do that, please?
http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger

@DannyBrown Any blog owner can turn on LinkBack in their Site Admin to allow the latest post to show up. We will actually turn it on by default for all users – so when a user comes to your site their latest Livefyre conversation will appear. Users can turn change that setting here: http://livefyre.com/profile/edit/sites/

And I’ll check out that CSS – right now it’s inheriting the style of your links, but I think we can change that.
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

@jennalanger Awesome, thanks miss!
janesheeba

I prefer the native system (I recently wrote a post on it http://www.findallanswers.com/native-vs-non-native-commenting-systems-scratching-your-head-eh/). The points I consider are the following:

1. I don’t rely on third parties. So no worries about their downtime affecting my blog. And slow loading issues too.

2. I don’t want to force my commenters to create account or login to comment.

3. Use of commentluv and keywordluv – I want to reward my commenters.

Of course I love the social integration and @ mentioning conversations that are cool with 3rd party systems. But still…..
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

@janesheeba If only there was a mix that offered the best of both worlds, Jane.
http://expatdoctormom.com/ ExpatDoctorMom

Thanks for the review Danny! I pondered this for a long time; several weeks before I chose disqus. My preference was Livefyre however, I didn’t think my readers would tolerate having to sign up for an account with livefyre. With Disqus they can sign in with name and email so easier. The reason I like livefyre better is the social media integration and being able to draw others into the conversation.

cheers,Rajka
http://dannybrown.me DannyBrown

@ExpatDoctorMom Hi Rajka,

Then you might just like an imminent feature from @livefyre coming out soon…

My latest conversation: http://bestbloggingtipsonline.com/weekly-blog-post-round-up-wc-11-july-2011/
paulsimon

Most of the readers want to give their views about attractive blog post. So each blog requires a commenting system. If anyone is creating blog for expanding the business with the help of business site without the blog commenting option would not be beneficial for e-business. zigseoservices always suggest to use blog commenting option during blog creation. Blog comment helps to get the backlinks.

<a href=http://www.zigseoservices.com/blogcommenting.html”>blog commenting</a>
antodwiharja

I use Disqus also. It’s a nice system, unfortunately Disqus is a nofollow system. @DannyBrown It looks that Livefyre is also a nofollow system.
http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown

@antodwiharja I think that might be the case with most/all third-party systems, though not sure if it’s something Livefyre has in store. Perhaps @jennalanger can advise?
http://www.spotify-premium.org/ JGreene65

Very useful information. Although personally I don’t rate blogs at all, im looking to see what people say about them and considering starting one. Dreamweaver and a cup of coffee for me normally!
http://www.hitaltech.com/pcb-mounted-headers/ pcb connectors

It is really good info.The points table below summarizes the point values for different actions. While you can’t use points to buy or redeem anything, they do allow everyone to recognize how active and helpful you’ve been.
http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/ easyP

Hi Danny

I comment on a couple of your sites, which use Livefyre and on both sites you have comments coming out of your ears.

From looking at your sites I’d be tempted to give Livefyre a go, however…..

I also comment on Ari H’s site and his comments appear to have nosedived.

OK I’ll say it before Ari does, comments aren’t everything.

Sure, but a post with lots of comments attracts other comments.

Success breeds success.

At the moment I’m happy with the native WordPress system but I’ve just jumped on to twitter and who knows what the future holds.

Good post and some very knowledgeable comments.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @easyP Hey there Keith,
  
  It’s something that can happen, and I think a lot has to do with the blogger and their community (not saying Ari’s is less social, just that they may not be “ready” for Livefyre). With my blog, and this one here, it’s a very social media savvy community, so the sign-in need that may deter “everyday readers” isn’t really an issue.
  
  However, Livefyre is offering the guest comment option on their next big update, so that will replicate the Name and Email approach of native systems, which should take away any fear factor.
  - http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/ easyP
    
    @DannyBrown
    
    “With my blog, and this one here, it’s a very social media savvy community, so the sign-in need that may deter “everyday readers” isn’t really an issue.”
    
    Good point, never considered that.
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      @easyP You could also write an intro post, explaining why you’re changing and how best to use the system, and make it a nicer transition for your readers(if you feel something would create a hurdle for them).
      
      The vanilla WordPress system is perfect for everyone to add a comment, though, so I know where you’re coming from on the decision-making process, mate.
    - http://easypublicspeaking.co.uk/ easyP
      
      @DannyBrown
      
      Cheers Danny.
webiadk

I like this post.

http://webia.dk/om-webia/Saadan-arbejder-vi.aspx
MouadKhateb

asdasd
MouadKhateb

Hi Dan. Thanx for the post. 4 months ago you said LiveFyre are preparing for a “big update” that will incorporate the ability for guests to sign in using name/email. I am commenting now, I hit the “post comment as”, and never seen that possible.

Did they change their minds? It is very important for me to have the comments actually stored within my WordPress DB, rather than on the 3rd party’s platform’s server. Is that the case with Livefyre, disqus, and the others ?

Thanx
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @MouadKhateb Hi Mouad,
  
  Expect the Guest Comment feature to be released in the next week or so (that’s Livefyre’s timeline). I’ve seen the screenshots of how they’re going to do it, very clean and simple.
  
  Also, Livefyre pulls the comments from the WP Comments Loop, so your comments are always stored on your own server, as well as Livefyre’s/
  
  Hope that helps, and I’m sure @jennalanger can add any additional info I’ve missed.
  - MouadKhateb
    
    @DannyBrown@jennalanger Thank you very much for addressing my inquiry. Actually, only 5 minuts ago I installed Intense Debate. I loved the features, especially the 2-way sync, and the SEO well being, and that it is actually by WordPress’ guys.. integrating it with my WP was a piece of cake indeed. Yet for some reason my native commenting fields are still showing up instead of ID’s .. currently investigating it. Thank you again .
    - http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger
      
      @MouadKhateb@DannyBrown I think Danny knows Livefyre better than me! I will add that our platform provides SEO credit for your comments as well, and it’s super simple to install on WordPress.
    - MouadKhateb
      
      @jennalanger@DannyBrown Thank you Jenna. How about integration and import of the old comments? (poseted on WP native comments) will they show up after installing LiveFyre? How about after uninstalling LiveFyre, will the comments posted with it, appear on posts under WP’s native comments system, as if I have never installed LiveFyre? one last question which you can totally ignore, if LiveFyre is a free service, and you are hired by the company, how do you folks profit :S (just curious, really) lol Thank you
    - http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger
      
      @MouadKhateb@DannyBrown All great questions We import all the comments in your WordPress databse so they display in Livefyre. Any new comments are then written back to WordPress, so if you ever turn it off you have all of the data. And we make money with large publishers that need more custom, white-label solutions.
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      @MouadKhateb@jennalanger Haha, I was just replying when Jenna’s comment popped up. So there you go.
    - MouadKhateb
      
      @jennalanger@DannyBrown Again Thanx Jenna.. You actually convinced me to an extent that I installed LiveFyre even after you posted your above reply .. After It told that “Import status: completed” it tried to connect the system with my Facebook account.. it failed because I was using FB as a page.. I de-activated and re-activated the plugin, I went through the same process of “importing comments” and again I got “complete”. This time however, it said “You can start using LiveFyre” but I’ve seen no options to set. The only configuration page of LF is under WP’s “COMMENTS” dashboard tab, but it is empty.. it only says : “It looks like you’re done…start using livefyre!” .. And WORST is the fact that the LF’s commenting box is not showing up.. the same issue I had with ID.. although native comments ARE showing up.. and my theme uses normal <?php comments_template(”, true); ?> to call comments.. If you can answer this please do.. or you can simply tell me I have to contact your support I am glad there are other deep-pocketed publishers who allow services like LF to be free for the rest of us
    - http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger
      
      @MouadKhateb@DannyBrown Thanks for the detailed info. Sounds like there could be something with your WordPress setup, since it you’ve had problems with other systems as well. If you can email support@livefyre.com then we can look more into what you’re seeing. Thanks!
    - MouadKhateb
      
      @jennalanger@DannyBrown I will . Thank you again. I appreciate your cooperation.
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      @MouadKhateb@jennalanger One thing you’ll notice, Mouad, is that the Livefyre support team is second-to-none, mate.
      
      We’ll be having more posts here in the coming weeks on Livefyre, so hopefully they ease you into the system too.
    - MouadKhateb
      
      @DannyBrown@jennalanger
      
      That is fantastic and most appreciated. Greetingz to you all from Palestine
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      @MouadKhateb@jennalanger Back at you, and have a great weekend
    - MouadKhateb
      
      @DannyBrown@jennalanger
      
      Thank you Danny. LF’s support is indeed great Not only Jeremy responded in a really short time, he even sent me screenshots showing that LF was loading fine in my website And that of course after I disabled a new plugin called “Facebook AWD All in One” which it turned it was in conflict with LF and with ID. Working great now.. and I am testing both LF and ID to see which is best Best wishes to Danny and Jenna for the pleasent discussion.
myronette

I see that you are using livefyre now… I’m having a hard time deciding if I should drop Disqus and use the native WP comments (I like commentLuv!) or if I should try livefyre. What to do? Have you noticed any good changes in the native commenting system since WP updated yesterday?
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @myronette The main changes in WordPress were based around the features, as opposed to comments (I don’t think there were any actual changes to the comments features). Our WordPress expert bobwp wrote a post today on the changes to 3.3.
  
  I love the social aspects of livefyre , though CommentLuv is also a great option.
  - http://www.jasonkonopinski.com/ jasonkonopinski
    
    @DannyBrown@myronettebobwplivefyre I’m also a fan of Livefyre, though I know some people aren’t quite so enthusiastic about the platform. What Livefyre does successfully is connect the blog ecosystem with other social platforms (i.e Twitter and Facebook) to amplify the reach of your content.
sawjafri

Nice post, really wanted to see which comment system would be better for my blog. I think I’ll give LiveFyre a try and maybe Disqus too.
http://johndetlefs.com John Detlefs

I just don’t like making my visitors having to set up an account in order to leave a comment!

Although that said, i’ve been using facebook comments more and more because I like the viral nature of Fb comments.
- http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
  
  I hear you, mate. That was one thing that put users off Livefyre, but with the new guest commenting option, it should be less of a barrier.
  - http://johndetlefs.com John Detlefs
    
    I wasn’t aware of that… that would certainly remove my major issue! Sounds like I might have to go back and give it another look.
    
    Just to confirm, you’re not using Livefyre here, are you?
    - http://dannybrown.me Danny Brown
      
      Nope – we were using Livefyre, but it just had some tech issues to iron out. So currently using native WordPress along with CommentLuv Premium.
      
      I shared some reasons why over on another blog, if that helps:
      
      http://fyre.it/GAp
      
      Cheers!
- Oliver Foxley
  
  I agree but Facebook comments is also full of bugs, I have a lot of IE7 users on my site and the drop down menu to ‘leave a comment using Facebook’ doesn’t even work because the menu appears behind the content, useless and quite frankly pathetic for such a massively popular site and API. Plus anything Facebook orientated is a nightmare for performance, I was parsing comments for every image in my gallery and it’s just useless!
MalachiChadwick

This is really helpful Danny, thank you. symroe might want to take a look too!
http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/berkshire+hathaway/1/ George Soros

when the British banknote printers Waterlow and Sons produced Banco de Portugal notes equivalent in value to 0.88% of the Portuguese nominal Gross Domestic Product, with identical serial numbers to existing banknotes, in response to a fraud perpetrated by Alves dos Reis.
[url=http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/berkshire+hathaway/1/]George Soros[/url]
http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/berkshire+hathaway/1/ George Soros

when the British banknote printers Waterlow and Sons produced Banco de Portugal notes equivalent in value to 0.88% of the Portuguese nominal Gross Domestic Product, with identical serial numbers to existing banknotes, in response to a fraud perpetrated by Alves dos Reis.

<a href=”http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/berkshire+hathaway/1/”>George Soros</a>
http://www.insidermonkey.com/hedge-fund/berkshire+hathaway/1/ George Soros

when the British banknote printers Waterlow and Sons produced Banco de Portugal notes equivalent in value to 0.88% of the Portuguese nominal Gross Domestic Product, with identical serial numbers to existing banknotes, in response to a fraud perpetrated by Alves dos Reis.
http://www.insidermonkey.com/insider-trading/ insider selling

The facts about the hedge fund industry is that Most hedge funds are highly specialized, relying on the specific expertise of the manager or management team.
http://www.disembl.com jonfranco224

Honestly, I feel like most of the large scale comment systems like Disque and Livefyre currently out there are just too clunky. Sometimes you need a simple solution. I guess thats the trade off with native comments. You get a simple solution, but you don’t get the features of a larger scale comment system. The war rages on!

- Joanthan Franco of http://www.disembl.com | A simple comment system
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @jonfranco224 Hi Jon,
  
  Just checked your system out, and it needs a sign-in option, which negates the simple solution of a native comment system or the guest option of Livefyre or Disqus, if enabled.
  
  You have an interesting idea – perhaps just needs more fleshing out?
  - http://www.disembl.com jonfranco224
    
    @DannyBrown Danny,
    Thanks for giving our project a look! There is a sign in option, but it may not be apparent enough. Guest sign in is also going into the pipeline. Regardless, it definitely needs some more fleshing out. My partner and I posted the project on a web design community within Reddit and it received its fair share of praise and criticisms. It’s exciting to see people are engaged enough with it to give opinions though, whether or not they may be ego crushing lol.
    - http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
      
      @jonfranco224 The great thing about opinions is that at least it means people are checking you out, mate.
      
      Look forward to seeing how your platform progresses, please feel free to update as it matures!
- Oliver Foxley
  
  @jonfranco224 I happen to completely agree. I am searching for a simpler solution that encourages low bounce rates and higher conversion of actual submitted comments. I am concerned that Livefyre is too much of a hassle and a compilcated multi-step process to leave a comment as a guest. I hate the use of the word ‘Stranger’ in Disqus and it too has some serious downfalls, plus I have made sure all my site works right down to IE6, where both these comment systems fail quite miserably. There are many upsides but also many more downsides. Guess I need to have a serious think and weigh up what is more important. I am also concerned with potentially high bounce rates when users try and comment signing in through Facebook, the permissions you have to accept for apps like this are pretty off-putting. Let the App post on your wall for you and such like would put a lot of people off I think. Hmm
http://www.sbuckinghams.com/categories/Bow-Ties/ S Buckinghams

I like livefyre commenting system because its links count by google bot.
TreyBornmann

I just want to test out the functionality of livefyre, @treyborn @treybeau
http://ijustdid.org/ jonharules

Hi Danny,

I’ve shifted from DISQUS to Livefyre and your blog is the first that came to mind. However, when I tried to comment, Livefyre is just giving me a headache (trouble logging in). I guess I’m stuck with the default WP commenting system.
- http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown
  
  @jonharules Hi Jonha,
  
  Really sorry to hear that – what’s the main issue? I know the guys at livefyre are super helpful when it comes to support, and go beyond “duty” to get it sorted. Also, I’m switching on the Livefyre 3 beta here tonight, and the process seems a lot smoother in it – maybe that will help?
  
  Or maybe @jennalanger or jmatthicks can offer advice?
http://dannybrown.me/ DannyBrown

@jonfranco224 Hi Oliver,

The guest option should be fairly straightforward for Livefyre, and the only social connections would be if you wanted to bring friends into the conversation from Twitter or Facebook.

Switching on Livefyre 3 beta tonight, so perhaps future comments will be easier?

Thanks for the thoughts, mate!
http://jennalanger.com/ jennalanger

@DannyBrown @jonharules Hi Jonha, have you emailed us at support at livefyre dot com? Glad you were able to comment now, but hopefully we can help you out further with your issue. Thanks!
http://pasionatidematematica.blogspot.ro/ scoalademate

Hi everybody…I use “disqus-commenting-system” for my blogspot-blog… it’s a beautiful and very elegant system commenting (iframe-system), my question is:if i use this system (disqus-commenting-system) it will affecting my site in terms of seo ?Thank you and excuse me for my mistakes (my english is weak).
MartinMousike

f
http://www.yourcyberguide.com/ divyansh

the best thing about disqus and other third party comment systems is that you can stay signed in for a month and comment freely without any need to re-enter your name,site,email,blah blah blah …..
- Test
  
  Test
Pingback: 5 Plugins For Drastically Increasing Wordpress Comments | David Wood's MLM Marketing Prosperity Blog
http://theyamani.net/ar almukhaiyam

Thank you
RoshniSharma

Thanks
buttonbeats

Hmm. LiveFyre seems to support xtra spaces in the comments. Disqus used to , but no longer. I need comments on my site to have the ability to have many spaces between characters. te st
buttonbeats

I see Livefyre has a “allow comments from guests” option. i enabled it but have not seen a difference immediately
b2c

I use Cackle (http://cackle.me) comment system and very happy!
There many features and social providers.
http://ranonobel.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/wordpress-is-now-the-top-when-it-comes-to-the-lists-of-the-blogging-platform/ Alec Taylor

On my view for my blog.I choose best commenting system.Which are available like Disqus ,WordPress and Typead etc.
http://thetasmanians.com/ Tony McGurk

I like Disqus best but have recently trialled both Disqus & Intense Debate on my webcomic site. I prefer 3rd party comment systems. I’m registered with Disqus, ID & Livefyre & like that once I’m logged in I’m ready to go on any site that uses one of those systems.
However the problem that I encountered was that when trying them out on my site a number of commenters complained that I was making commenting more difficult for them. To me it seems that registering once & you’re good to go after that is simpler & more convenient. Many wouldn’t register which meant that while I prefer Disqus, for them commenting as a guest meant no link to their site. No problem for regular commenters that I’m familiar with but if a new visitor doesn’t leave a link then I can’t repay the visit to their site.

Personally I don’t understand why many are so against registering because for me I see it as beneficial & more convenient. I am back on my native comments now to keep visitors happy, but still keep feeling drawn back to installing Disqus again. My concern is that those who don’t like it may stop visiting on my site. Thanks for the informative article Danny
- http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown
  
  It’s definitely one of these “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” topics, Tony. Like you say, if you offer value to the community with your content, then it shouldn’t be too much of an ask to see them repay that with the simple step of registering on your preferred system.
  
  Part of me wonders if it’s down to privacy, and what third-party comment systems glean from you when registering. But that’s why you use something like a Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Google account, there’s no need to register.
  
  Ah well – and on it goes.
  - http://thetasmanians.com/ Tony McGurk
    
    I’ve thought more about it & have reinstalled Intense Debate. Firstly ID has a URL field for guests which is a bonus & secondly a good majority of my regular commenters are registered with WP.com so can easily log in with their WP account which means they don’t have to re-register for ID. A lot of them visit several other webcomics that I regularly visit too that also use ID so I know they don’t mind using it. Will see how it goes for now. Trying to keep a happy medium between what I prefer & what my readers are happy with. I have had people mention privacy concerns way back when I used Disqus on a Blogger blog I had a few years back.
    - http://dannybrown.me/ Danny Brown
      
      Probably another reason why Livefyre and Disqus introduced guest commenting when they did – now all systems are essentially the same as native commenting, but with the added value of social integration. Here’s to the conversation!