Saturday, November 10, 2012

Feel free to DISQUS

While perusing my friend Anne's blog, Chic Pixel, late last week, I noticed that its comments section was different. Specifically, I noticed it was now using DISQUS, which I'd previous seen and used at blogs like Tiny Cartridge, rather than Blogger's built-in comments engine, as had previously been the case.

After putting Chic Pixel's new comments section through its paces (you know, by leaving a few comments), I decided I had to add DISQUS to this blog, too. The main reason: It allows for nested or tiered comments. In other words, should someone named, er, TheGayGamerFan leave a comment that says, "Awesome! I've been waiting for you to fix your broken comment system!!" I'll be able to reply to him/her directly without having to preface my response with something like, "Thanks, TheGayGamerFan..."


Don't worry if little or none of what I just said makes sense. Just do what I did while visiting Chic Pixel last week and leave a comment on this or any other of this blog's many posts. That should go a long way to helping you understand why this comments engine is better than the built-in one I was using before.

Note: Although I enabled "guest commenting" while setting up DISQUS earlier today, I'm not entirely sure if that means you can leave a comment here without signing up for DISQUS. If that's not the case and you do have to sign up for DISQUS to leave a comment, please accept my apologies. Believe me when I say, though, that registering for DISQUS is quick and painless, so please don't shy away from doing so.

39 comments:

Lizzi said...

Hey there,

I have noticed the different comment section on Annes blog too.

And I think it is reeeally helpful, that you can answer directly to a comment.

But I have to say, that I hate the fact that it always need to load a new page for leaving a comment.

Sometimes my firefox stops working when that happens...

I don't know why but I liked the extra window for the comments. And if I wantend to see the comments below the post I had the chance to click on the title of the post...

I had never trouble with checking your answers but maybe you're right and the "direct answer" is important enough for most people to change it.

By the way I never singed up for DISQUIS and I already posted a comment on Annes blog so... I think it is not necessary.
What also disturbs me is the fact that DISQUIS always puts free lines in my comment even if I don't want it to... But it's alright that you changed it I think.

Lizzi said...

P.S. what I always hated was that you newer knew what date a comment was posted. Does DISQUIS include this?

apricotsushi said...

You know, someone else mentioned the need to load a separate window with Disqus to comment, but I've never had that problem? I wonder if it has something to do with the browser? But I'm using Firefox right now, actually...

Lizzi said...

I really have no idea why that happens so often. My firefox works perfectly till it comes to load a window because of DISQUIS. So strange...

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey you two! Look at us -- we're already experiencing the nested/tiered comments. Yahoo! :)


Also, Lizzi, I'm like Anne and haven't had to load a separate window while using DISQUS in the past, but I use Safari and not Firefox so maybe that's the reason?


Anyway, I hope it's not too much of a hassle for you -- or for others who come here. If it is, let me know -- and if too many people complain about issues related to DISQUS I can always go back to using the regular ol' Blogger comments engine.

thegaygamer.com said...

Yay! That's great, Lizzi :)

thegaygamer.com said...

One thing I just thought of is that I'm guessing people won't be able to comment using their Blogger profiles/log-ins any more? I hope that's not the case, as that may be annoying for some people. I guess they could comment as guests, though? Anyway, folks, if you have issues, let me know!

michaelstearns said...

I've never had any trouble with Disqus over at Tiny Catridge, I like it a lot actually, so I support this. :) Also now I can log in with the same account.(formerly gsilverfish)

thegaygamer.com said...

Er, I mean Melody. That's what you prefer, right?

thegaygamer.com said...

Hello, gsliverfish! Er, I mean Michael :) I'm glad to hear Disqus earns your seal of approval. Hopefully others here will like it, too. I definitely like this ability to reply to comments directly. Makes things a lot less confusing!

diaglyph said...

woot! so much better :D

diaglyph said...

I think disqus allows you to login thru your google profile, so it might be able to link up

diaglyph said...

Hi Liz - I suggest going to Chrome. I switched a while ago because I had found Firefox had become slow and clunky with loading pages, and i think its probably because of all its multitudes of updates they are fond of sending out. I don't want to sound like some sort of ad, but Chrome seems more responsive and you can import all your settings.

Random J said...

Blogger allows for nested / tiered comments. I have them on my Blogger blog!

thegaygamer.com said...

Really, J? I swear I've looked for the option on a number of occasions in the past and never saw it. Anyway, I'm going to give this a try for a bit, as I like that it allows for some other things that Blogger doesn't seem to allow.

thegaygamer.com said...

Ah, yes, there's that, too. Also, I think Disqus lets people keep track of their comments better, too. Fingers crossed that other folks like this change, too :)

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, that's good. I just don't want to screw over any long-time commenters, you know?

thegaygamer.com said...

I agree with you about Chrome, Igor. When I'm using our PC, I only use Chrome, and I love it. On my Mac, I often switch between Chrome and Safari. Neither have given me any problems with Disqus, BTW.

thegaygamer.com said...

Can you remind me of your blog's URL, J? I can't remember it. Also, what option do you use via Blogger to allow for nested/tiered comments? Not that I'm planning to switch back anytime soon, but it would be nice to know just in case...

diaglyph said...

The thing that irritated me the most with the blogspot comment system is the annoying captcha. It would most times come up with a random garbled mess, so I'd be sitting there clicking the reload captcha button to see if one comes up that I could understand. Also the captcha system does not work properly on mobiles, which only made it more frustrating to comment.

thegaygamer.com said...

Oh, I didn't realize until right now (LOL) that Disqus doesn't use captcha. Yay! I've always found captcha annoying as hell, too :)

Matt S said...

Welcome to the party! :D Now I can follow comments on here easier.

thegaygamer.com said...

Thank you, Matt! I'm glad people seem happy with the change so far. It really does seem to make things easier to use and read and follow. And if it adds to the conversation and sense of community around here? All the better, I say :)

apricotsushi said...

Pretty sure Google and Blogger are interconnected, now, so the count as the same account? Anyway, I'm very glad I could be of some help – I hope you end up liking the new system :)

thegaygamer.com said...

Ah, yes, I think you're right, Anne. Anyway, I'm already liking the new system! Some of it's a bit confusing, but I'm sure I'll wrap my head around it quickly enough.

Lizzi said...

Thaks! We do use Safari in art-school but I already switched to Firefox a while ago because of loading-problems. And I don't want to start with Internet Explorer... maybe I'll try Chrome.

Lizzi said...

I kind of like DISQUS but I think the order of the posts is a but confusing. There should be a clear structure.

thegaygamer.com said...

Yeah, try Chrome. I really like it whenever I use it -- although like I said earlier, I tend to use Safari more these days. Whatever you do, I hope it helps!

thegaygamer.com said...

I agree with that, too, Lizzi. It's going to take my brain a while to make sense of the comment order, I think :|

Tom Badguy said...

An excellent move. I can't imagine a website not using DISQUS for its comments. It fucking rocks.

thegaygamer.com said...

Thanks, Tom! I'm still a little confused about the placement of comments, but I'm sure I'll come to understand it soon enough. In the meantime, it's nice knowing that replies to comments won't get lost in the mix as I'm sure they did in the past.

Justin Difazzio said...

Whoa. I'm not gonna be shy about hating this setup. The reverse-chronological order of the listings is an awful setup for nested comments. For something like this post, you've gotta scroll to the bottom, find the first one, and read from there, then repeat. I think if the order was switched, it'd be more appealing...but...ugh. No likey.

thegaygamer.com said...

Well, thanks for being honest, Justin! Also, I agree with you about the reverse-chronological order setup. I don't like it either! I have a feeling it can be changed, but I'm not yet sure how to do it. I'll do some more digging and try to figure it out, OK? If nothing else, I'll ask folks for assistance on Twitter.


All that said, I do think that in the long run Disqus will work out better for most folks than Blogger's comments engine. You really have to actually sign up for Disqus, though, to make the most of its features and benefits.

thegaygamer.com said...

Hey there, Justin! I just found out (thanks to the help of someone at Disqus) how you can make it so the comments are ordered as you'd like them to be. I think you may have to sign in using Disqus to take advantage of it, but don't take that as gospel...

Anyway, next time you click on a post (so you can read its comments or leave your own), look near the top of the comments section of the "Discussion" tab. (This may only show up if you're logged in through Disqus.)

Click on the arrow that sits to the right of the word "Discussion" and then choose either "Best," "Newest" or "Oldest." I just switched my setting to "Oldest," which means that comments are ordered from oldest (at the top) to newest (at the bottom).



According to the folks at Disqus, it's set up this way so each viewer can alter/adjust a site's comments section to his/her own taste, which is pretty cool if you ask me. Anyway, hopefully this will make reading through comments here a bit more enjoyable. I know it's made things more enjoyable for me!

Justin Difazzio said...

That makes sense!

thegaygamer.com said...

Great! But does it work for you when you use the blog without logging into Disqus? I hope so!

thegaygamer.com said...

One more reply and then I'll shut up. From my experience so far, it seems you have to click on the "Discussions" tab every time you visit a post -- which is kind of annoying, if you ask me. Oh, well :|

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AlexCSC said...

Disqus is better then the build in WP comments