I started using Disqus comments late last year and it felt good then. Spam was greatly reduced and I had less to worry about. Although the rate at which readers commented dropped significantly, I didn’t really care because I was satisfied with the results I was getting: zero spam, less comments to moderate, nice looking comment system.
No doubt, Disqus is quite good and it eliminates a lot of worries but then, there are certain cons that eventually made me switch back to default WordPress commenting system.
What I loved about Disqus Comments
Just like other third party comment systems, Disqus strives to give you features you wouldn’t find in your default CMS comment system.
1. Almost Zero Spam: Although a few spam comments still find their way through once in a while, Disqus spam filter is so efficient and this was the first thing I loved about. I was using it with no anti-spam plugin and it worked great.
2. Great looking UI: Truth be told, Disqus looks good. It looks a lot better than the default WP comment system.
3. Eliminates the need for email address: With a lot of sites using Disqus, chances are that lots of users logged in to their Disqus account won’t need to re-enter their email addresses on your site to comment. This may encourage some users to comment easily.
Also read: 3 WordPress Plugins to Make Backup Easy
There are other features too that made me stick to it for this long but somewhere along the line, I realized I shouldn’t have made the switch in the first place.
Why I Switched Back to WP Comment System
Earlier this year, we moved all our content from doncaprio.com to geek.ng and a few things went wrong. Some comments failed to show up and that was the Genesis of the whole problem. A certain post with over 200 comments had zero comment.
Being a site that depends heavily on search engine traffic, Disqus comments messed things up a little bit. Some comments contain valuable keywords that actually bring in a reasonable amount of traffic but in my opinion, I’m not sure Google indexes Disqus comments.
Also read: 9 + 1 Easy Ways To Speed Up your WordPress Blog
If you’re using the default WP comment system, copying an approved comment and searching on Google should show that particular article on Google search (if the article is old and already indexed) but during the time I was using Disqus, no comment was indexed even though I ran this test several times.
Disqus claims Google should index your comments normally and suggests you contact Google directly if that isn’t happening. :/
Apart from this, it appears Disqus doesn’t play well with certain mobile browsers. A few users complained they couldn’t comment on mobile but I was too stubborn to look into the issue. Even though I loved Disqus back then, I later realized this blog is actually about my readers, not me.
Last week, I decided to make the switch. I was delighted to see all lost comments appearing again!
As for spam, Anti-Spam is taking good care of that.
Obasi Miracle says
May 17, 2014 at 3:32 AMHi Don,
I love the way you explain almost every little changes made on this blog, this helps your followers to make amends when necessary.
I think disus do index user’s comments, to confirm I just made a search for a comment posted on my blog days back.
Below is the excerpts:
“I had no idea there is such a software, or even the need for such an app. I must be living in the dark ages! Thanks for this review.”
Searching for this brings up my site in the result.
Great points though
Don Caprio says
May 21, 2014 at 1:23 AMThat’s good to hear. I guess I wasn’t that lucky with good old Google. But even if those comments are being indexed, the issue of difficulty posting comments from certain mobile browsers and low end devices is still there.
Samuel Nwosu says
May 17, 2014 at 5:14 AMWow thanks for this wonderful explanation u made about disqus, i was even planning of using it on my blog but after reading your post i felt a little disappointed, but any way am gana give it a try 😉
Don Caprio says
May 21, 2014 at 1:18 AMPerhaps you shouldn’t, bro.
taiwo says
May 17, 2014 at 6:17 AMThanks So Much….U Are The Best…..
#Question: Which One Good For Backlink .nofollow or dofollow Please Explain Better
Don Caprio says
May 21, 2014 at 1:45 AMPlease check this article: https://www.doncaprio.com/2011/11/nofollow-dofollow-backlinks-guide-to.html
Alex says
May 17, 2014 at 10:57 AMBelated I must say. I have been here a number of times and unable to make comments being on a mobile device.
Don Caprio says
May 21, 2014 at 1:17 AMSir,
I made the change for you. 🙂
Aseize Okaztle says
May 17, 2014 at 8:33 PMThe first time I saw disqus comment form here I couldn’t comment on my phone until I access via pc, then the taught of readers having problem commenting on low end device runs through my mind, then,, I lost interest in making a comment here…
It’s nice to see you revert..
Don Caprio says
May 21, 2014 at 1:16 AMLike I said, I finally realized this blog is about readers, not me. My choice may not really go down well with visitors and in such a case, a reversal is very necessary. Thanks for dropping by.
Djsamlegxy says
May 18, 2014 at 11:10 AMIts great thing you switched back, and count me as one of your loyal reader although I’ve never commented on any post here before, but i really feel like commenting on every post on the blog now.
Thanks for switching back.
Chiazoka says
May 19, 2014 at 11:07 PMSure right from day 1, I really don’t like disqus comment, because it don’t appear well on operamini mobile. Though I love the platform. Nice write up Don
lalitha lalitha says
May 20, 2014 at 8:39 AMHi
I love This Post , Thank You For Sharing .
Oyegbenga says
May 20, 2014 at 9:11 AMHi Don, nice and great article but hope you have time to go over the comments and reply those with questions.
Am finding it a bit hard with the post on how to removing URL and website box from comment. After adding the code to my function.php it started showing error on my blog and all the new code was shown above my site. Can you please expantiate more on the procedure? I use sahifa theme. Thanks
Don Caprio says
May 21, 2014 at 1:12 AMThe code still works unless it’s not well inserted in your functions.php file. Alternatively, you can use these plugins:
http://osamashabrez.com/wp-disable-author-url-and-comment-links/
http://www.freebloggingtricks.com/hide-comment-author-link/
http://fivera.net/remove-links-comments-free-wordpress-plugin/
Timothy Ozovehe says
May 21, 2014 at 8:15 PMI love the words “this blog is about my readers not me” lot of wisdom in them. Thanks for switching back cos normally I don’t comment on blog that uses disqus commenting system reason been because it’s stressful for me. I don’t know bout others.
Don Caprio says
June 11, 2014 at 9:45 PMWell, Tim, I made the change for you. 🙂 Glad to see you here.
olili Bob says
June 5, 2014 at 9:42 AMNice one boss, I really learned a few thing about diqus here i must say disqus rocks but they really need to fix their flaws if they intend to have more blogs using their comment system.
sulman says
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Dixit says
June 13, 2014 at 6:17 PMNice article bro! Keep it up;)
Jackson Nwachukwu says
June 16, 2014 at 5:06 PMHi Don,
It’s been a long time bro! Making the switch was one of the greatest step you took to ensure a good reader experience. I hate to hear when a reader writes to tell me about how he or she struggled to drop a feedback or comment on any of my posts.
Like you rightly said “the blog is about your readers, not about you.”
Cheers!
Neo (CreativityKills) says
June 18, 2014 at 9:24 PMIt all boils down to choice. You could have imported your old comments into disqus and not lost anything, but generally people don’t know that even exists. Simply tweaking the wp_config file a bit to turn alternate WP cron on.
And you said you don’t think Google indexes Disqus. You’re actually wrong, Disqus loads the comments as text (list) before overloading it with javascript. The Google bot does not parse JS so, the comments will be parsed.
Matrix says
June 19, 2014 at 10:24 AMDisqus is never friendly to little screen mobile phones, I was using it back then and even me can not comment Bcos of my small phone then.
Maneksh says
September 1, 2014 at 2:55 PMGreat post Don.
MIchael says
September 18, 2014 at 5:58 PMWell, I just uninstalled Disqus, because comment boxes were not showing up on old posts. The only ones showing comment boxes were the most recent two posts. I think the sync from WordPress to Disqus comments has issues. I have tried on other websites in past with Disqus, and they got issues.
I do not think I am going to ever use them again. I love the way Disqus looks, but with these problems of working right out of the box, its not worth the hassle, especially when searching online for fixes, and none of them work. Plugins or Themes not even causing the problems.
I think if you got a good enough theme that is premium and looks good with default WordPress comments, then keep it and stay with it. May have the spam, but there are plugins that you probably have installed that will help with the spam anyways. Plus, I have commented on Disqus on other websites, and there are just way too many fights with Disqus commenting.
Don Caprio says
September 19, 2014 at 1:06 PMI’ve decided to keep it very simple around here. Disqus doesn’t just work for all of us.
Tony Onwujiariri says
October 24, 2014 at 7:37 AMI use commentluv on my blog www.seraphichubviews.com though I have very limited commentaries, they have all been indexed by Google and I am sure commentluv would be better than Disqus
Zain says
April 1, 2015 at 8:35 PMDisqus is really good platform .But the readers don’t really engage with the blog .they remain revolving in disqus own social cycle
Chinedu says
August 19, 2015 at 9:52 PMDiscus did the same thing to me but I prefer the wordpress comments and their new and constant updates are awesome. Thanks for sharing as I am a big fan of the tech and I will feature your blog in list of best top bloggers in Nigeria.