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!

Bloggy Basics: Guest Post: Blog Commenting 101

I am so excited to have a guest poster for Bloggy Basics today!  I saw this post on Donna's blog and loved how she broke down the very basics of commenting in Blogger in a way that non bloggers can really understand!  I asked her to post here.  She agreed as long as I added in information about my Intense Debate comment system!  A full tutorial is coming soon!

Donna Perugini is a Children’s Author of 4 books, now available through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Christian bookstores. 

Her Author Website (when finally online) is www.DonnaPerugini.com  for purchases, book trailers and FREE coloring pages 

Check out her blog:  http://www.donnaperuginichildrensauthor.com/  for FREE coloring pages of the book’s characters, Subscribe by Email and leave a comment on any posting for FREE music with book illustrations DVD to download of The Flight of Orville Wright Caterpillar,and watch all 4 book trailers. 

Donna lives in the Pacific NW, Washington State , and is a loving, appreciative wife, mother of three and grandmother of four.  She is also a Women’s Ministry Speaker and a Potter/Sculptor, entering juried shows with her ceramics. 

My Books will be ready October 2010!  The Author
Website will be http://www.donnaperugini.com/
Subscribe to my blog by email to be informed!!

 This is for all my Facebook friends who wonder

• what a blog is,
• how do I read it,
• what do you mean subscribe by email,
• why isn't my comment being accepted after hitting the accept button at least 3 times, and
• why are you frustrating me this way? 

A BLOG is simply my way to give you useful information as parents and grandparents, stories, book reviews and interviews with interesting people (who you might even know).

READING A BLOG can be done a few ways.  You might have found it 'partially' on Facebook.  If you click the 'like' or 'thumbs up' or 'comment', it will appear on your Facebook wall.  To really get to my blog, you will need to click the title of the Posting on my Facebook wall.  This takes you to my blog where at the top of my blog you will see a header with tabs underneath.  These tabs offer you great opportunities to get FREE coloring pages, look inside the books, see book trailers (simply a partial video of the book being read with illustrations), my ceramics website (I'm also a potter/sculptor and do pottery with the book's characters on them).

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL means my postings will always show up in your personal email box. The email address you leave is never revealed to anyone else...just me. I'll use it to send announcements of new books, giveaways and freebies.  Soon I'll have a musical DVD link available for each book for FREE when you subscribe by email to my blog.  It's a simple step to take and get songs that were specifically written for each book. If you subscribe by email before the musical DVD URL is posted, I'll simply look at my email list you subscribed on and send you the URL.  Please subscribe by email to my blog postings.

COMMENTS can be left by clicking at the top of the posting where it shows the words, "Intelligent Thoughts".  The number of comments appears before the words, "Intelligent Thoughts".  This takes you to the place where you'll post that intelligent opinion.  After posting, you'll see that you need to sign in under one of these headings (if you belong to any of them).....Google, TypePad, WordPress, Live Journal, AIM, Open ID, Name/Url, Anonymous.Okay, so you don't recognize what to do next?  More than likely you are not someone who has a blog. 

So this is what you do....you click Anonymous.

If you click on Anonymous, please let me know who you are in the body of your comment by leaving a way to reach you.  You may be anonymous to the blogging world, but I don't want you to remain anonymous to me!  I REALLY ENJOY HEARING FROM MY READERS.  As a matter of fact, your comments count a lot to a Literary Agent or a Publisher looking at my blog and interaction with my readers through 'intelligent thoughts' on my blog.  They believe if you like me enough to leave your thoughts, then they see possibility in acquiring me as one of their authors.

FRUSTRATION IN COMMENTING is common for Blogspot (where my blog is hosted).  I took off the 'spam checker' that made my readers jump through hoops when they wanted to leave a comment(spam checker makes you spell out the word you see) because of that frustration.  My own sister said, "When you get with your Peeps and straighten this out, I'll leave a comment".

Don't Leave the Comment Page After Clicking Once

This is what will happen to you when you click the "Post Comment" button....it will look like it worked, but then you'll need to click it again.  Then it will look like you were successful but you need to check and see if it posted on the blog.  If it did not post, click it one more time.  I know, you'd think the people who make the software for Blogger would have this one covered, but until then, that's the format.  Keep clicking until you see it took you comments.  You know it took them by looking to see if it posted on the blog like you see the others posted.

I Learned The Hard Way!!

One piece of advice from someone who learned the hard way:  Copy your comments until you know for sure that everything went okay.  If your commenting was deleted by leaving the page somehow or you left after the first click, then you'll at least have what you copied to put it in and try again (don't quit!)  I figured that one out by losing too many comments...and some were brilliant! 

When you are at the Post Comment button, look to your right and you'll see another Subscribe by Email button.  You'll even see the Subscribe by Email link in the body of this posting.  And another place to find it is in the top right corner of this blog page where it says Subscribe by Email. 

You want to get FREE updates by email or RSS.

**********************

Thank you Donna!  Now, a little bit about alternative comment systems.

Q - Why?
A - I chose to use one so I could INTERACT through comments. Readers can respond directly to comments through a reply feature. If a reader opts to leave an email address, I can respond directly to them. It's great to build a community.  I can even reply to comments directly from my email!

Q - What's out there?
A - The two main systems are Intense Debate and Disqus.  Both offer very similar features.  Both help prevent spam. Both allow replies. Both allow for leaving email addresses (which are never published).  I chose Intense Debate because of CommentLuv. Readers who blog can leave their blog address and  show others what their latest post was - a great way to help promote other blogs.

Q - Is it hard to set up?
A - I had a few hiccups installing Intense Debate, but after a few tries, I got it right. I installed it on my now-ended PennyPinchingPenguin blog and did it lickety split.  I'll walk you through the steps so you don't have the same issues I did.  I just about installed Disqus.  It seemed to be a very simple install as well.

Here is a post I wrote explaining how to use the system right after I installed it.  Hopefully it will shed some light on the systems.  Next week I will teach you HOW to install Intense Debate!




For past Bloggy Basics, make sure to check the "For Blogs" tab at the top!