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Comment systems: Disqus, IntenseDebate, JS-Kit

Quick notes about some comment systems to allow visitors comment and share with their OpenID, Facebook, etc.

Disqus: This is the first system that makes me interested to find out more. It’s pretty good.

  • Pros: It has a simple design and could be nicely integrated with your web theme. Disqus Profile is interesting idea to consolidate and manage your comments across Internet, but it will probably depend on how many sites adopt Disqus. However, this feature is also offered by IntenseDebate and JS-Kit.
    • Update (2010.01.24): After trying IntenseDebate 2 times without success, i try Disqus today and it works immediately. Registering & setting up are straightforward, take about 10-15 minutes.
      • Importing comments is quick and flawless. Comments are well synced between WP and Disqus. Disabling Disqus brings back the WP comments immediately.
      • Currently, users could log in with Disqus, Facebook, OpenID, Yahoo ID to comment and share back to Disqus, Facebook, and Yahoo Updates.
  • Cons: You handle over your comments to Disqus, so importing old comments and exporting Disqus comments to new system (if you want to disable Disqus) may create problems.
    • Login with Disqus, Facebook Connect, Yahoo, Twitter ID reload the page, which is a bit annoyed. But this could be solved by a simple (5 minutes) set up in Disqus Comments => Settings => General => Cross-domain Receiver URL.

IntenseDebate: Similar to Disqus in terms of features, but its design is bad.

  • Pros: It is acquired by WordPress’s owner (automattic.com), so there’s a high chance that it will be integrated into WordPress.
    • Update (2009.11.14): With the new plugin, comments are synchronized between IntenseDebate and WordPress.
  • Cons: The current design is a bit intrusive and less intuitive. Disqus logo is nicely placed at a corner of the comment box, while IntenseDebate logo is displayed prominently at the bottom of the box.
    • Update (2009.12.10): After trying the IntenseDebate plugin 2.5 for a while, i decided to disable it since all WordPress comments somehow disappeared, and it costs 1-2 hours to make them resurface (The guide in WPrepair and optimize the database, then run this script from AnkurB).
    • Update (2010.01.23): Trying the IntenseDebate plugin 2.5 again, and it still cannot import any comment from WP. A little good news is WP comments came back right after disabling the plugin.

JS-Kit Echo: The best system, and not free (US$12/year).

  • Pros: Its design is quite intuitive, simple as email with From and To fields. With ‘From’ field, you can choose which ID you want to use. With ‘To’ fields, you can choose to share your comments on the current site, as well as with your friends on Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, etc. The biggest advantage is that JS-Kit Echo does not replace your native commenting systems, but synchronizes comments and co-exists with them.
  • Cons: No free version to try

Some interesting comparison:

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