Intense Debate versus Disqus, the clincher…

by Damian Saunders on October 17, 2009 · Comments

Intense Debate versus Disqus, wow, what a quandary that turned out to be, obviously if you′ve noticed, I ended up deciding to implement Disqus, it wasn′t an easy decision. Until the clincher.

In case you don′t know Disqus and Intense Debate are comment management systems that integrate into a number of popular blog applications, including stand alone Wordpress, the technology this site is built on.

I′ve never been that keen on the standard Wordpress comment system. The latest revision combined with the Thesis theme I use, and recommend, is a significant improvement, but I was looking for something that had more on, and off site integration with Social Media applications, and the ability to aggregate my comments from other sites into a single location. Both Disqus and Intense Debate do this.

I′m not going to go into a detailed comparison of the two systems, do a search for Discus versus Intense Debate and you′ll find plenty of information. Alex Popescu′s post called Commenting Services face to face… is a good place to start. But, what I found was that, although I got a sense that Disqus was edging out in front of Intense Debate in terms of overall take up, I never read anything that gave me a clear winner. I was undecided.

So I went ahead and installed Intense Debate.

Twenty four hours later I′m using Disqus, and I′m happy with it.

Here′s the thing…Intense Debate would not allow me to edit comments, nor could I edit my replies after they were submitted. That, folks, was a show stopper for me.

Ok, so you can get around it with a bit of maneuvering backwards and forwards in Wordpress but that defeats the purpose. On the Intense Debate blog they cite concerns about censorship in their rationale, I’m really not sure this holds up, after all we still get a delete button – if I want to censor something, I′ll delete it.

It′s not about censorship, healthy debate and opposing opinions make great conversation and a lively blog. It′s about editorial discretion and quality control. If I want to fix a typo, repair a broken link, remove content that might be subject to a company′s confidentiality from an otherwise good comment, or any other quality issue, I should be able to.

For a regular reader, or commenter – especially if you comment on a lot of blogs – I recommend that you get a Disqus profile. You can have one for a commenter, publisher, or both. It′s free and helps you keep track of your online activity. I hope you enjoy this feature on my site.

  • Disqus is a great tool for those who want a robust commenting tool but aren’t using Content Management Systems with good internal tools built in (so folks who have flat HTML sites, homegrown CMS products, etc.).
  • Except unfortunately, Disqus doesn't work on ASP.NET. I'm using JS-Kit instead. The login system isn't as nice as Disqus (bulky and confusing) but at least it works.
  • That's what it comes down to in the end eh? Whether it works for you or not. There's always multiple options and some pretty good apps out there.
  • Yes there are good systems. I really like Disqus but whether it actually works when you try and use it really is a factor in whether you rate it or not.
  • Thanks for the Disqus commenting system this will help my comments more interactive..
  • Disqus allows your readers to comment using their Facebook & Twitter Credentials.
  • Yes, I'm sure Intense Debate allows the same.
  • I also like the way I can tap into the off site discussion related to posts on my blog.
  • Disqus looks like the winner to me, but Automattic bought ID, so not too sure.....
  • I think it is very likely that it is better than Disqus, and I can see some value in grabbing comments off friendfeed and republishing them on the blog; however, most of what it does is in WordPress by default, and is more configurable, so the main reason for switching off Disqus still applies to IntenseDebate. At least for me.
  • I'd debate the fact that Wordpress already does, by default, what Disqus and Intense Debate do. If that was the case then both companies would be nuts to spend the development cost on their products. They are both filling a significant gap in currently available functionality, and doing it well.
  • excellent post, thanks alot for the share!
  • Let's keep in touch. BTW, have you tried BackType? I am just trying it out. It is supposed to compliment Disqus in finding related comments and bringing them to your site. http://www.backtype.com/home
  • Sure, trying BackType now, it looks good in terms of it's ability to find conversation threads so I'm thinking it will help with my research for an upcoming post about Mark Hurd and corporate "ethics".
    I also like the way I can tap into the off site discussion related to posts on my blog.
    All these new Social Media applications are making my head spin a bit :-)
  • Damian: If you and your users are waiting for an invite to Google Voice, click on through to my site. I am running a contest to give away an invite. Here is the link: http://raywaldo.com/2009/10/gv-contest/
  • Hello Damien. I also went through the WP - Intense Debate - DisQus process. But I must be a bit SLOWER than you. Rather than 24 hours, it took me about 2 weeks to switch from ID to Disqus.

    I really like both programs but Disqus is just more full-featured and it picks up the old comments better than ID. I installed Disqus on all four of my sites and it is working great. http://raywaldo.com. I would like to support the WP/Automattic team because I feel certain that ID will eventually be better suited for WP but I am not willing to be a beta tester. And, I don't think I want to go through another change in comment systems.
  • Yeah, thought the same thing myself about WP and Intense Debate. I don't have time to beta test as I want to concentrate on my writing with what little time I have to spare.
    Disqus has just integrated very nicely into my site and Social Media activity with little or no effort.
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