I thought we could have a full out WordPress Comment System death match between Disqus vs Intense Debate, and ReCaptcha vs me screaming, “Die, Die, Die!” This entire post is the result of my replies to comments not posting on my blog. In response, you must all suffer and learn about how each WordPress Comment System works and does not work below.Be prepared, this could get ugly!
Now, for those devotees who were with me since the beginning. I thank that one reader out there wherever you are in the universe (not a typo), you probably recall that we had a brief discussion last year about how to use a WordPress comment system. This will be a more in-depth look at the systems behind WordPress. It’s like undressing The Wizard of Oz with your eyes. Yuck!
Anyways, As we head into an all-out death match over the best WordPress comment system we have to take a look at the contenders and the battles they are about to undertake! Let us take a moment to understand to how we have reached such a major milestone in history. I almost feel like saying, “Stardate 4.72.52.73.”
It all starts about a week or two ago, when I was replying to comments. I noticed that none of my comments were actually being recorded, so I switched to Disqus for a while to see if that would resolve my challenges, and then tested out Intense Debate. When that did not work, I then went back to the drawing board. But enough with this tale of woe and boredom. On with the matches for a much more detailed, action pack view of each WordPress comment system.
Now, The 1st WordPress Comment System Death Match
WordPress Comment System Applause Device
APPLAUSE NOW! APPLAUSE NOW!
Disqus Vs Intense Debate
Now, for our first match Disqus versus Intense Debate.
In this corner, with an Alexa ranking of 1,378 and a pagerank of 3, Disqus!
This WordPress comment system has been used by practically everyone from Mashable, Techcrunch, and Engadget to WordPress and Blogger blogs. It is a pretty easy system to use. The one downside is that you have less control over including other plugins with the site, such as CommentLuv. The other challenge, and I would like to thank Kim Castleberry who pointed this out on the TSA forums, Disqus can cost you valuable comments(see post from Wassup Blog).
And in the other corner, we have a fierce, new competitor entering the ring. With an Alexa rank of 3,827 and a pagerank of 7, Intense Debate!
Intense Debate works very similar to Disqus. The big benefit is the ability to include plugins, such as CommentLuv. My big challenge is that I have had challenges adding this WordPress comment system to my blog. I followed the instructions, as someone who has a unique perspective for a social media person (I am not a techie), found it impossible to incorporate into my site. Now, that does not mean it will not work with every site. Just right now, I was having trouble with it working for mine.
So, the winner of this round of the WordPress Comment System Death Match is: Disqus. For obvious reasons, like reliability I went with Disqus.
ReCaptcha vs. Bad Behavior (Please use Applause button above)
In this corner with an Alexa ranking of 1, part of the Google throng of divisions, and guaranteed no matter what you say a guaranteed spot on the top 10 results for various categories, Recaptcha.This is also where my challenges started with this entire debate. Something was not working with ReCaptcha, and my responses. However, when I uninstalled, deleted, and reinstalled this it worked fine recently.
And in the other corner, weighing a scrawny 93,450 on Alexa, Bad Behavior! When Disqus did not work with other plugins, I installed this plugin. It works great. The only challenge that I found was that it not only blocked the good bots, but also blocked Bing, Yahoo, and Google bots from scanning my site for search engine goodies to show to the world. I am not sure what happened when I noticed this first, my heart or my mouth dropping farther to the ground.
So, the winner of the Recaptcha vs Bad Behavior fight is ReCaptcha. Despite the obvious flaws of not recording my responses temporarily, all was fixed and Bad Behavior was bad for search traffic.
WordPress Comment System Finals: Disqus Vs ReCaptcha
Now, for two competitors who need no introduction, because we did it above, I give you Disqus vs ReCaptcha. Let’s recap here for a moment.
1. Disqus works fine as a system all by itself, but does not play well with others. You are not able to use this plug-in on WordPress with other comment systems, such as CommentLuv. As anyone who is in TSA knows, that is a big no-no to not include this. The other huge challenge is that people are reticient to use Disqus, so it could cost you valuable comments. For a huge organization, such as Mashable or Techcrunch it is not huge, but for a starting blogger this might be a big loss to your credibility.
2. ReCapatcha sort of got angry at me a few weeks ago . It just stopped putting my responses into the system. That being said, it has worked fairly consistently for the past year.
So let’s see who the last WordPress Comment System standing is. Oh boy, the suspense is killing me!
So, it was a tough all out battle, and many appendages were lost in the battle to become the WordPress comment system all-out champ. ReCaptcha won it, because aside from a few hiccups here and there they have shown the most consistency among the major WordPress Comment Systems. So, with the being said, leave me a comment about what you think is the best WordPress Comment System.
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I am seriously sick of Disqus not only do they not listen when you tell them of CSS issues and have to work around this, it never seems to work for other sites i want to leave messages on…steer clear i say.
I have not had that many problems with Disqus, but I have definitely had my share. As long as there is a better solution I will keep using it.
Hey Andy,
Awesome comparison. I wanted to know if you’d like to feature this post on mokabla.com – a project we’ve started to house all the best product comparisons on the web under one roof! You can back-link to this original article of course. Check it out, and if you’re interested, I will send you an invite.
Cheers,
Akshay Arabolu, Founder
Akshay,
Feel free to share the article. As long as you put a backlink to my site that is fine.
Andy
I am a member of Disqus, but I have never used it on my blog. Until recently. I was using Intense Debate, but now I am just using the standard comments that you get with WordPress, along with a paid Onlywire subscription.
You might want to test out Growmap Anti-Spam as well, so you can reduce your spam comments. That is great that you have a paid onlywire solution to help you with additional traffic!
I have some issue with Disqus, thus I used WordPress Comment System now.
Marivic,
Are you referring to the default wordpress comment system or a plugin?
Andy
I wanted to know if you’d like to feature this post on mokabla.com – a project we’ve started to house all the best product comparisons on the web under one roof! | 😛
Please feel free to include this on your site. All I require is a backlink to my site in the article. Thanks!
Honestly I never knew about disqus, but thanks i learn something from here.
Tricia,
Glad to help you! Let me know what type of comment system you are currently using?
Andy
Your comparison between Disqus Vs Intense Debate and ReCaptcha Vs WordPress Comment System Die provide good quality of information.. Thanks for posting!
Krysthal,
Thank you very much!
Andy
That is great that you have a paid only wire solution to help you with additional traffic!
I only have the free version.
Another huge challenge is that people are reticient to use Disqus, so it could cost you valuable comments.
Very true! Disqus was a little scary for me to start, and I am sure I am not alone.
Cool, Its nice to be here! very nice to heard about disqus, Thank you for the details.
Your welcome!
Jane,
Glad to help!
Andy
Hi and thank you for the detailed comparison. But I think your thoughts about ID are not fair, because it is all based on the fact that “it did not work for you” and not on poor performance and features and compatibility. I mean you should have it working, then start comparing.. you decided even before getting it to work 🙂
I am not ID employee of course 🙂 Just started using it today.. and guess what, it never workd for me at all ! But I knew it is something I am responsible for. After some checking, I found that one of my plugins (AWD Facebook all in one” is in conflict with ID (and LiveFyre as well, BTW), and when I disabled it, ID worked like a charm.. and I really LOVE IT..
🙂
Mouad,
That is a fair insight and I am glad that you got it to work.
Did I miss a conflicted plugin, possibly? But the fact is that if I have a plugin on the site it is generally already there for a reason. I long ago stopped adding plugins for non-existent reasons that ended in the idea that it was fun. Because plugin scouting can sometimes be a lot of fun. However, I believe that unless a plugin is crucial to your ability to market your blog and maintain it that you should not have to bend your previous plugins to the new one.
In the meantime, I was actually thinking of what to write today and you gave me the idea that I can talk about GASP, which is a simple button that stops 90% of my spam and also makes it easier for people like yourself to enter in comments without the hassle of Recaptcha.
On another note, how is ID working out for you?
Andy
Hi Andy. ID is working as expected. There some minor things that I wanted to be changed, I emailed the support (they re-opened email support beginning with 31 October), and they replied and did care for my inquiries. They were very responsive.
ID is great for me, compared to LiveFyre, for instance, since it is localized to my blog language (Arabic). Add to that, it has the CommentLuv plugin, and a plugin (small button) that allows you to share your comment on FB after posting it (although I would prefer it to be via a checkbox that is enabled by default).
In a nutshell, it is what I expected it to be. Currently testing it on WP Multi.
I wonder why did my comment gave you that idea about GASP 🙂 . I did not -BTW- enter any captcha. I clicked that checkbox that asks if I am not a spammer . I believe I am not, so I ticked it 🙂
Btw, you should set your comments setting to automatically approve comments whose authors have comments that were previously (manually) approved .
Mouad,
I like to be able to read your comments, so I can interact with you first. That is something that I have thought about doing in the future, and might have to if I can not keep up with the comments.
Andy
Moaud,
I am glad that ID is working for you. Just for the record, I am using GASP. That is my new spam blocker. It is what I eventually decided to use in order to make this process as easy and simple as can be.
Andy
This is very helpful in taking right decision. thanks
How does it help you?
I was planning to change my wordpress blog Comment system and was planning to put Intense debate on it but now i will not change.
What are you using now?
Default WordPress Comment System at 1goldinvestment.com
MaheInfo,
Why don’t you put in some of the other spam options that were discussed in this article?
Andy
Will surely do it
this is a good reference to us..thank you for sharing this article…
Jane,
How were you mentioned?
Andy
I suspect Jane mean to to type “this is a good reference FOR us’. I also suspect it’s comment spam.
Good article, and I am still – for three months now – mulling over which way to go. I currently simply use the WordPress comments, standard with the installation, and although I look longingly at the social media integration of Disqus et al, there’s something to be said about the simplicity of WordPress’ standard commenting.
Scott,
Use GASP it easy to use, and more effective than Disqus.
intensedebate vs disqus vs Recaptcha vs wordpress is good for new users like me they dont have idea of different commenting sites.I have only used disqus ,intensedebate,or wordpress all have their prons and cones.
Let me know if I can help!
I started using Disqus on my site recently and have been happy with it’s spam prevention. Otherwise, I haven’t noticed an increase or decrease in the amount of comments since switching to it from the default WordPress comment field.
Do you use a specific plugin for the comments on this site?
Dustin,
I have been using GASP for the past few months and that works like a charm.
Andy
Good article, and I am still – for three months now – mulling over which way to go. I currently simply use the WordPress comments, standard with the installation, and although I look longingly at the social media integration of Disqus et al, there’s something to be said about the simplicity of WordPress’ standard commenting.
Let me know what you decide upon?
How does it help you? Otherwise, I haven’t noticed an increase or decrease in the amount of comments since switching to it from the default WordPress comment field. I am glad that ID is working for you. I mean you should have it working, then start comparing..
Monica,
Quality comments take time to happen. Right now I get more comments in a day than I can keep up with. The reason you use Disqus or Recaptcha or GASP is because you want to stop the useless spam comments. When the bad comments are gone then you can get a lot more traffic from the really good commenters who are interested in what you write.
Andy
Very nice review.
Two other issues I would like to note is that, unless I’m doing something wrong, all Disqus and Intense Debate comments appear to be invisible to Alexa. This does not happen with the generic Blogger comments, WordPress/Gravatar comments and the other usual comment systems like the one you use here. Intense Debate is a sort of gray area (I am not sure if it is a direct link).
While Disqus appears to be visually direct it might redirect through disqus.com. I have set it up so that the avatar links to my profile at disqus.com and my username links directly to my blog, but I guess it was not actually direct after all; at least to the eyes of alexa 🙁
Korios,
You are referring to the backlinks not showing up on Alexa?
Andy
Yes Andy thanks. I wrote “comments” instead of “backlinks”, sorry. But I believe I found the answer in my stats, when I took a closer look (in Google Analytics). All the Disqus links, everywhere, redirect through disqus.com, just like I suspected. So, while they are useful as backlinks to the users, they do not show up in the Alexa count since they are not, technically, direct links. So I guess not even Google regards them as backlinks. Because only direct backlinks count, right?
Korios,
I have never looked that deeply into backlinks from Disqus. I would assume that you have your link on your Disqus page that it could, but I am not 100% sure. I would have to go through all the blogs that I comment to give you a better idea.
Andy
i feel that among all plugins Intense Debate is the best one as it offers you a do-follow backlink too via blog comment which is a very kool thing about it that attract blog commentators to come back to your blog again and again ! 🙂
That is a very good point! In the end I found that GASP was even easier, since I had more control over the comments and less spam.
Last Tuesday, after careful evaluation and weighing in Pros vs Cons I have decided to add Intense Debate WordPress plugin to my blog and in this post I want to outline what lead to this decision and why you might want to consider doing same.
Congrats!
I followed the instructions, as someone who has a unique perspective for a social media person (I am not a techie), found it impossible to incorporate into my site. Now, that does not mean it will not work with every site. Just right now, I was having trouble with it working for mine.
I am not a techie as well! Which is exactly why I mentioned using Recaptcha in this article. Also, since then I have mentioned using GASP, which is a lot easier.
I followed the instructions, as someone who has a unique perspective for a social media person (I am not a techie), found it impossible to incorporate into my site. Now, that does not mean it will not work with every site. Just right now, I was having trouble with it working for mine.
Which one did you use?
That is a very good point! In the end I found that GASP was even easier, since I had more control over the comments and less spam.
GASP is very easy. Glad you like it.
nice article! I personally like the Disqus pluggin, but it does require more work to keep your blog clean!
Why does it take more work with Disqus?
Disqus dosn’t have the best spam filter on it, which is why I feel like it is more work to run it, But I prefer it over any other blog plugin. It is clean and gives more options over the normal wordpress blog. I have found other plug-ins that auto-kill spam but they do knock out 20% -/+ of good posts, So I don’t like to use them.
Which plugin are you using now?
Thanks for this insights
Your welcome! Glad you enjoyed the post.
I think both commenting systems are on par but I’ve seen a slow death for intense debate recently. Disqus was nearly dead but is making a comeback now.
I agree that IntenseDebate is on the way out.
Disqus and Intense Debate differ a little but are both good comment systems, thanks for your article.
Ann,
Glad you enjoyed the information!
Andy