Bloggy Basics: How to Install Alternative Comment Systems

Last week, I had a fantastic guest poster, Donna, who laid out the basics of commenting for those who would not call themselves blog-savvy.  She asked me to speak on alternative comment systems as part of her post. In my portion, I promised to explain how to install an alternative comment system on your blogger blog.

Here it is!  The big explanation of just how easy the installation really is.

There are two main comment systems that can be added to your blog to replace the traditional Blogger comment box. Intense Debate (ID) and Disqus have many similarities.  Both allow:

• Comment threading - a way for readers to interact with each other by replying to specific comments
• Email reply - ability for blog owner to respond to comments via email either directly to the reader's email address or as a reply to the comment on the blog post.  The blog owner can get comments directly in email inbox and respond! Readers can subscribe to the comment thread to keep the conversation going.
• Comment tracking - readers can opt to set up free accounts with either/both systems and can view and even EDIT the comments they leave all over the blogosphere. (How many times have you said something that didn't quite come across like you wanted? Now you can clarify after you hit publish!)
• Assurance - Both systems help to ensure that those commenting on your blog are who they say they are through their profiles and email addresses.
• Spam Filters - Both systems have their own spam filtering systems.
• Integration - Both systems allow for integration of different social media platforms such as twitter and facebook.
• Portable - both systems allow comments to move with your blog should you leave Blogger to go to a self hosted blog.

I chose to use ID on my blog because of one feature offered that is not offered through Disqus -  CommentLuv.  CommentLuv simply allows readers to leave their blog address with their comment so that their last post is displayed with their comment - a way to share the bloggy love and show off their blog!

Installing these systems is quite simple. You will need to know a few things about Blogger before jumping in.

HTML

You will need to know a few basic things about the HTML on your blog.

First, make sure you can get to the Edit HTML tab in your design page.

Then, be sure to download your template so that if anything should go wrong, you have everything saved!  It's easy.  Once you are in the Edit HTML tab, you will  see this:

Just click the link that says Download Full Template.  I choose to download right to my desktop so I can find it easily.   If you happen to download multiple versions, make sure you make a note (even on a piece of paper) of which template is which since the file will be mostly random numbers.

Should something to awry and you find the need to restore your template, simply click the "Choose File" button and upload the template you downloaded.

Installation

Intense Debate

Each system will walk you through, step by step, with simple installation.  With ID, I recommend the more difficult installation over the widget installation.  I had problems with the widget install.  When you do the more difficult install, you will be walked through how to download your template (that I covered above), how to upload the template to the ID website, how to download the revised template (ID simply installs the code in the correct spot on your website for you), and how to upload the new template to your blog (this is a good time to write down the template you want to re-install so you get the one with the new code).

**  If you find that you can no longer see where to add comments or can only add comments on posts after you click directly on the post, you will need to click one extra button.

Under "Settings," you will need to click on "Comments" and make sure that you have selected to allow comments.

If you would like to use CommentLuv, you simply need to go to the Plugins in your IntenseDebate dashboard and select CommentLuv!  Here's a blog post with a great tutorial for you.

Disqus

Disqus offers just a simple widget installation.  Once you have set up an account and installed and placed your widget, you can add functionality such as allowing sign-in via facebook and twitter.

Troubleshooting

• Make sure you are set to allow comments.  Check the "settings" under "comments."
• Realize that the terminology on these comment sites has not been updated since Blogger launched an update.  The "Layout" tab mentioned is what is now the "Design" tab in the new Blogger.
• Please let me know if you cannot install CommentLuv.  I have all of my blogs installed and can no longer see in ID where to add CommentLuv to new accounts.  If the tutorial I linked doesn't explain it enough, just let me know and I will investigate!

Do you use an alternative comment system?  Which one? Does it work for you?  What questions do you have for me that I didn't answer? Want to just test out a system?  Comment below!



Want to learn more about blogger?  Click on the "For Blogs" tab at the top of this blog to see all the posts in the Bloggy Basics series!