I was talking to Vernon Harleston of  HighRoadism.com last night.   Unfortunately there seems to be a “virus” that is claiming the lives of comments, making them disappearing into the ether. Hopefully I can shed some light on this problem.

If your readers are telling you there is a problem with your comments or you think your comments are getting lost here are some possible answers and solutions. While you do not want to be inundated with SPAM, legitimate comments are a way to know what is right with your blog and what your blog needs. Comments also help keep your blog alive and reader friendly.

Check your AKISMET, sometimes it catches comments thinking they are spam. Course it does catch a lot of true spam which is what makes it so great!

Other Spam Blockers

Unfortunately some of the spam blocker plugins block not just spam. There are some that block all comments. Now this could be a combination of your plugins not working well together or a theme and plugin issue.

Other Plugins

Unfortunately sometimes other plugins interfere with each other. This means one plugin may prevent another from working appropriately. You can turn off all your plugins by visiting Plugins and then installed, click all and deactivate. Then turn one plugin on at a time. This allows you to check for problems both with comments and also other problems you may have.

What else could it be?

Perhaps it is a problem with your theme. There could be a problem with their browser. It could be a temporary issue, sometimes there are glitches that cause minor and temporary problems. Unfortunately there could be millions of reasons why there is a problem.

Try Disqus

Disqus has been a great solution for me. Since comments are actually hosted on Disqus there seems to be reduced problems. You also receive less spam as Disqus adds additional layers of protection to Akismet. While it is a bit harder to set up, once set up it is easy to use.  It is also a free program so that makes it very nice!

~ MJ Schrader

Tomorrow’s Post: Categories vs Tags

Yesterday I discussed changing to Disqus. (unintended pun) Today is going to be how to switch to Disqus.

Set up Disqus

Visit Disqus.com You will need to register your site. You will be given a short name which you can edit but is unique to your blog. Now, since you probably want to manage your comments you will need to create your profile.

Settings

You can set up optional features for the way people can log in to comment on your blog. Media Attachment is automatically checked. Options are Facebook, OpenID, Twitter and Yahoo. These options also allow your commentators to display their comment on those sites. This allows for greater traffic. Checking the Akismet link will reduce spam. Reactions will add links to people recommending your post on Twitter, Friendfeed, Digg and many other sites. You can change these options later so do not worry.

Installation

Login to your WordPress. Scroll down to Plugins. Choose Add New and then type Disqus in your search. You want the Disqus Comment System. Click Install, again in the pop up and activate. You will see a must configure warning at the top of the page. Click the link. Use your Disqus login and then choose your short name you registered at Disqus. Now you have it installed.

Sync Comments

After installation it will take you to the Disqus comment page within your blog. This is the manage page, while is shows, you must manage at Disqus. This is a fault in Disqus, but it is still worth using. Click Advanced Options. You should have some long code in your API. Scroll down and export comments. This will sync your current comments with Disqus.

Back to Disqus.com

Choose overview from the link on the box on the right where your avatar image is. Next click comments. If you have more than one blog you will want to go to the right again and a little lower you will see “All Sites” choose which site on which you want to work. Here you can moderate comments, approve, delete etc. You could moderate all sites at once, but I prefer to know which comments are to which blog.

More Settings

Now choose the Settings tab in the left. If there is more than one blogger you will want to add them to the Moderator list. Next click to customization sub tab to change the appearance and layout. The general sub-tab will let you change the settings you used during the blog set up. Tools allows you to create a widget.

How is this easier?

While the initial set up is more work, after that you can just visit Disqus.com when you want. You can see comments on all blogs or one by one. You moderate your comments there, and with Disqus you have less moderation work to do. In addition with all the back traffic systems it helps build traffic to your website.

~ MJ Schrader

As you may have noticed I switched “mid” the 30 day blog challenge to the Disqus comment system. Ok, it was only 5 days in, but considering in the years that I have been using WordPress this is a major change.

What made me change?

Someone needed a plugin for a specific function. Being the WordPress Rockstar, I was asked what plugin was needed, and during that time I found several posts about Disqus. After a bit of research I decided to try it. Now I am changing all my blogs to the Disqus comment system.

What is Disqus?

Pronounced Discuss, Disqus is changing the way blog comment systems work. Actually according to their site they allow “you to add next-gen community management and social web integrations to any site on any platform.” This means that it allows more social interaction via comments. Social interaction allows for a community to grow which is of course good traffic for your website.

Reduce clutter with Disqus

Many bloggers use plugins such as Akismet to block spam. CommentLuv to give love to comments. Subscribe to Comments to keep updated. While all these plugins allow for greater communication with your readers, the more plugins you use the greater the chance of blog problems. With Disqus readers can like a comment, subscribe to comments, find out more information about a commenter, and subscribe to that person’s comments.

Why should you use Disqus?

Your readers can log in with Facebook or Twitter which will allow them to quickly repost their comment. Your blog will show on their Twitter or Facebook wall which will increase promotion of your blog. Readers can send their comments to other sites as well again increasing your publicity. And when your readers comment on another blog, if someone likes their comment they can see what other blogs that reader comments on, which includes yours, which is a great cross promotion for you. So the question may be why would you not try Disqus?