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Disqus vs. Intense Debate

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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223 thoughts on “Disqus vs. Intense Debate”

  1. Greg Baker
    Reply

    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!

  10. SEO Test
    Reply

    disqus is growing better right now. they are really improving commenting system and move on with successful integrating with other social network like facebook. Really love disqus plugin comment.

  24. Brad
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    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.

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    1. GeekLad
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      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.

  42. Wedding Engagement Rings
    Reply

    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..

    1. GeekLad
      Reply

      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).

  62. bem69
    Reply

    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 🙂

  65. brunsky
    Reply

    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.

  66. gabrielpdansby
    Reply

    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

  74. Debt Financing
    Reply

    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..

  76. john99s
    Reply

    hey, thank you for this information. i’d never hear about this before. I hope, it’s useful service and it will help me to boost up traffic to my blog.

  77. cyclosity
    Reply

    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.

  78. Website Maintenance
    Reply

    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.

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  81. SEO Blog
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    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!

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      1. Mental Math
        Reply

        I like Disqus and commentluv. I’ve been debating what to use because after reading posts from people about Disqus selling data to third party, I’ve been going around reading posts and comments. So far, I can’t find any hard proof. 

  87. lepricon
    Reply

    plus one
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  88. Amna
    Reply

    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

  106. jameshowardyoung
    Reply

    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.

    1. viclogic
      Reply

      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.

      1. James Howard Young
        Reply

        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

          1. GeekLad

            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.

  110. Muskie
    Reply

    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…

  114. Tatesjourney
    Reply

    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?

    1. Jason
      Reply

      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.

  117. Hostelio
    Reply

    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.

  121. Damian Saunders
    Reply

    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.

    1. gatodiakritikos
      Reply

      This con is now being updated! But i have a question, because i use intense debate. I use blogger platform, and i consider adding disqus comments instead of intense debate: Am i gonna lose my excisting comments (even those on intense debate), when i install the disqus? plz let me know!!

  125. Donald Gilbert
    Reply

    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!

  130. evelyntiffany
    Reply

    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.

    1. GeekLad
      Reply

      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.

      1. evelyntiffany
        Reply

        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.

  135. Brother John
    Reply

    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.

  138. twitterfools
    Reply

    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.

  140. antikeyloggerantikeylogger
    Reply

    This is my first comment but I feel like I should have been making loads of comments now because I always like your stuff. Maybe comments are for more hit and miss blogs than your own. When you maintain a consistent level of high quality output I reckon people are less inclined to comment because they have come to expect it from you. Just a theory.

    Never really occurred to me to leave a comment on the designboom weblog.. i mean sure, i read you guys everyday, but the posts i find interesting i fave or bookmark or share the url to others, rather than clicking the comment link.

    It's good to know your stand towards this comment thing going on. I've visited some design sites before that I find have repetitive comments from visitors, might be one of those you were pertaining to.

    I find I respect designboom more for the lack of comment obsession 🙂

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  186. willsmith1
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    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! ts been helping me to moderate and manage my comments efficiently, even while I ma on the move from my mobile. This is the best comments moderating tool I have used…
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