There are many options when it comes to handling comments on a WordPress blog. You can certainly go with the default commenting system, you can enhance it with a variety of plugins, and you can even replace it with an entirely different commenting system, like IntenseDebate, Disqus, Facebook Comments, or Livefyre.
At Weblog Tools Collection, we use the default commenting system with Highlight Author Comments added in to highlight the post author’s comments (of course). I prefer to stick with the default comments myself, but have used IntenseDebate on sites that need a bit more. What do you use, and if you’re using an alternative commenting system, what led you to the one you chose?
I’ve recently been experimenting with using Facebook’s commenting system. On the plus side it loads much quicker than my experiences with Disqus or Intense Debate.
I just use the WP built in comments. I guess people use alternatives due to spam problems, but if you combine Akismet with Conditional Captcha you can eliminate much of it. It also helps to have a few other tricks as well, just remember spammers want to post links 99% of the time.
I love Disqus and I use it on my blog. It gives me the control and my commenters receive the freedom to carry their comment personality with them across multiple sites.
I use disqus because its so nicely integrated into social media sites. Commenters can sign in with their social profiles instead of creating an account on my site. It also shows the conversations people are having about my articles on twitter and Facebook so those conversations apart on my site as well.
I use Disqus on all my sites for the same reasons Ted does. IT’s a great integration easy to use, less weight on my server and helps keep things spam free without additional plugin work.
While WP commenting system itself is all great, I needed something else. I don’t get a ton of comments, but I get literally thousands of span hits a day – and that brings me to problems, even with Askimet.
I currently use two commenting systems depending on the situation. One is that I use Lifefyre. It is hard to say why I went with it, but since I use it on my professional site, I like the option of being able to login with my Linkedin credentials. The other one I use is a plugin called bbPress Topics for Posts; I use this for my plugin support forum.
It allows me to connect a blog post to a specific forum and have those comments handled through the forum. I know that it probably doesn’t make sense to a point, but I needed other options for support purposes that the native commenting system doesn’t have. Furthermore, by using bbPress as a commenting system, I don’t have to stack plugins to do the same job.
I used to use third-party systems when I started out, just because it seemed like a good thing to do. But when I thought about it more, I realised it was stupid and a waste of time. The default system is perfectly sufficient and extensible. I don’t see that the third-party systems really add much value.
I’m using LiveFyre on my new site. But I’ve used Disqus for a long time. I moved over the LiveFyre because of SocialSync and some other features that Disqus doesn’t have. However, Disqus also has some great features that LiveFyre doesn’t have, so the better commenting system depends on your individual needs.
I just wrote a massive comparison and review a couple of days ago. As far as I know it’s the most in-depth review of Disqus and Livefyre. It’s here: Disqus VS LiveFyre. Hope someone finds it useful.
Thanks Adam. I may have to try LiveFyre now as SocialSync looks pretty awesome.
Yeah, no problem. Glad I could help.
Disqus all the way.
No, I use bloggers commenting system on my blogs but I also use IntenseDebate, Disgus and Facebook Comment, and I don’t have any problem with them.
I currently use Facebook comenting system and i am very satisfied using this.
I’m currently using the default one on my personal blog. Thanks for giving me other ideas for the comment section. I think using Facebook comments would be a good alternative. Will that eliminate spam?
I’ve been following the comments here and I noticed there were some new commenters who are looking at Disqus and Livefyre. I recent wrote a review of both, you can find the link in the comments above.
Liz Chan,
Facebook comments will really eliminate spam. So will Disqus, Livefyre, and Intense Debate commenting systems.
Each comment system is different. That’s where my review will help you, because it’s a very in-depth feature-for-feature comparison.
Yes, Facebook comments will really eliminate spam. I’ve been using it since April and it works really fine.
I just use the default comments system, I don’t need to deal with spam so it’s quite suitable for me. A lot of people say that the Facebook comments system is great, I might switch to it some day.