Disqus vs. Intense Debate

November 26, 2008 · Posted in Blogging 

I recently made the move to install Disqus here on GeekLad. I had been running it on WealthBoy for a while and decided to go ahead and install it here as well. I did also take a look at IntenseDebate, but in the end Disqus won out.

First, let’s take a look at the major common features between them:

  • Comment Threading – By default, WordPress comments do not allow threading, and all comments appear in a single thread. With Disqus and IntenseDebate, a thread is created when responses are posted to other comments.
  • Reply by Email – When responses are made to other comments, they are sent via email. A reply to the email sent will post right into the comment thread. There is no need to revisit the post to reply.
  • Comment Synchronization – Comments are synchronized between WordPress’ built-in system and Disqus/IntenseDebate
  • Comment Voting/Ranking
  • Importing Existing Comments
  • Commenter Profiles
  • Moderation
  • RSS Feeds
  • Gravatar Support

All of these features make sense and are relatively comparable between the two. Here are the IntenseDebate features that are lacking in Disqus:

  • Twitter and FriendFeed integration
  • Visual Appeal – I think that IntenseDebate comment threads have a better overall look and feel to them.

Not a particularly long list. Now for the features in Disqus that are lacking in IntenseDebate:

  • API
  • Full Comment History in Profiles
  • Community Page – The community page mirrors post/comment activity on the blog, but also allows Disqus members to start new discussions.

Not a particularly long list either. I think they are both great products. If you like the Twitter and FriendFeed integration that IntenseDebate offers, that feature may be what sways you toward IntenseDebate. However, if you’re concerned about search engine optiimzation, then Disqus is probably the better choice.

The community page for your blog will contain backlinks to your posts. That can help to boost your status with the search engines. The profile pages of the folks that comment on your blog will have backlinks to the posts as well. The more folks you have commenting on your blog, the more backlinks you will receive from profile pages.

IntenseDebate was recently acquired by Automattic (creators of WordPress.com), so they will most definitely be working on tightening up the integration with WordPress. I believe that they recently updated the WordPress plugin to have WordPress display the comments, rather than displaying them via JavaScript. That’s definitely a good step towards making it more search engine friendly. I’d like to also see them make changes to the profile pages, to allow people (and search engines) to see all of the comments that IntenseDebate users have posted.

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Comments

  • I am joining this conversation more than a year after it started. In my case I am looking to potentially replace Disqus at it fails to perform up to its promises. Trackbacks are lost - or rather never found, twitter and FriendFeed reactions are hit or miss at present. So, I am looking at IntenseDebate kind of...er.. intensely. We'll see.
  • Guest
    Thanks. That was helpful. I was using JS-Kit until they recently became the paid service ECHO. I'm "Grandfathered" in at the moment to use a lite version of ECHO, and that was okay until I recently purchased a new Domain name. It will cost me to redirect ECHO to the new domain. So once again I've gone "shopping" for a free alternative. Your comparison between the two favored options was very helpful.
  • evelyntiffany
    I'm wondering why you chose to compare Disqus with IntenseDebate...You have JK-kit has a greater coverage than IntenseDebate. I found an article about the differences between Disquis, JK-kit and IntenseDebate. You can see a chart there with statistics on how these three services are being used ad the results each brings in. I really hope it will help you see how IntenseDebate hasn't been used lately.
    _____________
    Evelyn Tiffany - dedicated server programmer.
  • I'm not sure if JK-kit was around back when I went with Disqus. I've been
    using Disqus for some time. If it was around, it was not as prominent as
    Disqus and IntenseDebate were.
  • evelyntiffany
    Disqus has been prominent since it appeared. Maybe this happened because lots of bloggers felt the need for something new and Disqus represented that change.
  • I felt like intensedebate was always a little buggy on every wordpress installation I ever used it on. So I did an across the board migration to Disqus and could not be more happy with the change. I LOVE IT!
  • 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.
  • One of the main advantages Disqus is; it has is the ability for users to login with Facebook Connect where the comments also appear in the commentators newsfeed, which has the capacity to go viral.
  • Thanks for this comparising. I use Intensedebate right now and the main issue I am having is moderating comments. When I approve comments from intensedebate, they don't get approved in wordpress and when I log into wordpress, I have to approve the same comments at least three times in wordpress before they finally get approved. Anyone experiencing this?
  • Yes. And it is getting very annoying. I have had comments show up three times on "Recent", but only once in moderation window. Some show up in Wordpress db, but not Intense and vice-a-versa. The immediate approval of non-ID users after their first approved comment doesn't work.

    I am close to trying disqus.
  • Good post. Disqus has been freaking me out as I show up to a new blog and already it says I have made 108 comments and I'm like, not on Busty Babes from Beyond the Grave... ;-) Intense Debate is out of Vancouver so if I had a bug I'd walk three whole blocks and give them a piece of my mind. I like Disqus now that I've learned more, it is a shame OpenID doesn't rule all, now Facebook integration seems big because they like Google and Yahoo have so many existing users...

    I'll keep researching but I'm leaning towards Intense Debate if it is easier to install will win...
  • I used Intense Debate for about a week before switching. For me, the layout had a lot to do with it. ID's layout is pretty blah.
  • I am using disqus. But my problem is... I can't make plugins (comment luv, link love) working with it. I want to reward my valuable commentators who contribute a lot in my blog. Also, disqus is in a nofollow attribute, which sometimes, scare commentators away. Is there a solution to make it a dofollow. I have already installed dofollow plugins, but it did not work.
  • I had trouble getting dofollow plugins to work as well. I just resorted to editing the plugin file to remove the nofollow tags from the comments.
  • Hi there,
    When you edit the plugin, did it work? Can you tell me how to make Disqus an dofollow? Thank you very much.
  • I don't remember exactly, but I believe it was in the comments.php file in
    the plugin directory. Just look for the rel="nofollow" in the code and
    remove it.
  • For me, they're pretty equal. My superficial and relatively quick judgment was based on following pros cons.

    Intense Debate - pros: Owned by Automattic, meaning it will integrate beautifully with Wordpress.
    cons: Kind of ugly and difficult to use Facebook connect.

    Disqus: Pros: ease of use, Facebook Connect is less buggy and weird than ID. Great out-of-the box formatting
    cons: some annoyances such as deleted comments appearing in recent comments list for long periods of time
  • i think Intense Debate has a better look. when posting a comment, it don't have to reload the page
  • its win-win solutions when use disqus, we can manage comment with easy when use it but it will give more chance for spammers to do a commenting
  • From my experience, Intense Debate took forever to load!
  • Another great thing about disqus is that it seems people comment more! I used Disqus for a long time and switched back to wordpress only to find that I would loose a lot of conversation! I am needless to say switching back now!
  • Disqus has experienced some downtime this year. Bloggers using a local install of WordPress and running the API plugin don’t have much to fear: comments revert to native WordPress comments when Disqus is down.
  • disqus wone here, but i use intense debate on my site because the css was fairly easy to customize and i really don't care too much about a web-wide profile.
  • i like disqus.. it rocks.. easy modifications... there should be an option to delete the comment too... but sometimes we dunno whtr the comment has been approved or not... anyways thanks for your nice post..
  • That's what is nice in disqus...You can edit your comments many times.
  • personally.. i prefer for disqus.. simple as is it.. easily managed and well writen also..
  • gabrielpdansby
    Not a particularly long list either. I think they are both great products. If you like the Twitter and FriendFeed integration that IntenseDebate offers, that feature may be what sways you toward mocospace.com IntenseDebate. However, if you’re concerned about search engine optiimzation
  • brunsky
    i think it's a great plugin,but i want to see how it's going to bee with spam comments,cause i'm really sick of those mf.
  • bem69
    Hi GeekLad,

    I have one question, if you don't mind answering.

    Any idea how to enable dofollow with Disqus in Blogger?

    Just trying my luck :)
  • Check out this nice tutorial on integrating Disqus with
    Blogger:

    http://webdev.gameshogun.ws/10tutorials/how-to-...
  • It is said that the comments are synchronized but somehow I am facing problems on my site..
  • Does it mean, when I get an email from disqus for a comment I can reply to the email which would actually be commenting on the post? If this is true then I should say it is great..
  • Yes, that is how I just responded to your comment. Responding by email is a
    great feature, because it saves a lot of time. Most likely you've received
    the notification of the comment by email, so why waste time visiting the
    site to respond? You can also moderate via email as well (mark items as
    spam and disapprove comments).
  • I've been using CoComment for my blog, but Disqus really rocks.
  • Disqus is the best comment sytem out right now, hands down, Its goin to really take of with video.
  • I have been loving Disqus now, I like it especially when it's resizeable for my small layouts. :)
  • As a blog owner Disqus has a lot of great features but as a commenter it also very comfortable to post comments without repeating the same information.
  • I am also in favor of Disqus, its just the best choice compared to anything..
    I have tried multiple stuff but nothing Disqus..
    It is going to make a revolution in the comment management process and I am sure they are geared upto get us new features on and on..
  • This looks like a battle between HD and Bluray :) Disqus is going to win.
  • nice article.
    my question is this diqus will read by google as backlink?
  • Yes. Comments posted on Disqus are not nofollow, meaning they will be
    counted as backlinks toward PageRank.
  • "Disqus" similar to "comment luv" but i prefer disqus more feksible
  • I would go for Disqus. That's work best for me.
  • Disqus is great but would anyone think if there are certain conditions or circumstances where Disqus should not be installed?

    Thank you.
  • The only situation that comes to my mind is if you have many customizations
    and plugins installed that deal with your blog comments. Otherwise, you're
    right, there's hardly any reason NOT to install it.
  • I looked at both and ultimiately decided to go with Disqus. I preferred the integration method and API feature. To be honest, both are excellent and the choices really comes down to your personal needs or preferences. You can't go wrong with either.
  • Disqus rocks. No blog commenting system can compete with disqus today.
  • in my opinion, disqus is really helpful tool for bloger to manage commenting style and process.

    thats it.
  • CMS
    Disqus, in my opinion is the future of commenting. It simplifies that work of the webmaster and makes everything much much simpler.
  • I think this debate will rage on until there is a new platform where everyone can comment freely, disqus may have the solution for that, only time will tell
  • Great decision, Disqus is commenting 2.0 and I believe its here to stay. Nice blog btw, I will have to take a look around and dive deeper.
  • hard to choose between those two... but in the end i've selected disqus aswell... well written.
  • Ben
    Disqus stores your comments and have all sorts of options. How is it hard to choose?
  • Your analysis matches the extensive one I've posted here: http://themindstorms.wordpress.com/2009/01/11/c... It's good to see that these are aligned.

    ./alex
  • I've been using CoComment to track comments on my Wordpress blog but haven't been that impressed with it's integration...it's a little rough around the edges. Thanks for the heads-up on Disqus, I'll give it a go!
  • what is coComment? is it like disqus too?
  • ravm
    Check out CoComment here: http://www.cocomment.com/. Disqus helps improve search engine rankings because it no longer uses javascript to render comments and it builds backlinks through user profiles. Intense debate has a really smooth integration with WordPress, and is very easy to uninstall while keeping your comments. So it's worth trying and you can always turn it off.
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