Plugins

WordPress Comment System Intense Debate

Blog Post Comments
I have long searched for a commenting system for my site. There are a couple popular commenting systems that I will not mention by name but have been around for a while. None of them seem to fit what I was looking for. Then I came across a system by intense debate. Not only does it have a nice clean, neat interface on the blog itself, but the feature list is quite impressive. The creators seem to have thought about the needs of the users of the system as well as the administrator. It was very simple to install and basically set itself up. As a disclaimer I need to say I do not know anyone at this company nor did they ask me to try their product, I merely ran across it and gave it a try.

I seem to have a disease when it comes to new plug-ins for WordPress or new software. Ever since the days of downloading shareware via modem and a BBS trying everything under the sun, installing so much that I constantly had to reinstall my operating system, I have no problem trying something new.

Comment Syncing

One of the first things to note, as a feature, is that your comments are uploaded into their system. However, not to worry, as there is always a sync between their system and yours in case you ever want to deinstall. That of course was the first hurdle I had to come over because I was not sure if I was going to keep it. By merely installing the sync feature they calmed my fears and I gave it a try. Brilliant customer acquisition feature on their part.

Comment Threading
I personally enjoy the comments and the dialogue around each post. However sometimes when you have 10, 20 or 100 comments it becomes difficult to follow the conversation. This is probably due to the fact that there are actually many conversations within the comments. While people reply to others comments, some people choose to post new questions or comments. This system allows for comment threading so that you or others can reply to one particular comment. Instead of the reply being added to the bottom of the list it is indented along with the comment it replied to.

User Profiles
Here is something I did not think about, and that is the relationship between the various commenters on your site. Most of those who maintain a blog think of themselves as the one individual that everyone is having a conversation with. A one to many relationship. However intense debate has implemented commenter profiles so the readers can learn about one another. Therefore you have a many to many relationship as readers can learn about each other and comment to each other. While users have always been able to comment to each other, this allows them to know more about one another.

Login

No one, myself included, wants to create a new ID or account at every blog they read and comment on. There is the ability for you to login via Facebook, Twitter, or open ID. Now your users can login and comment on your site with an ID they actually created elsewhere and do not have to create a unique one for your site. This helps because now everyone has an instant profile and the comments among users becomes more likely.

Admin Features
There are many administrative features, if you are the site owner, to make your life much easier. One that I think is excellent is the reply-by-email. Therefore you can respond to and moderate comments via email without having to log into the site.

There are many other administrative features, take a look at what they have the offer and try out the system by posting comments to this post if you like.

Conclusion
There are many reasons to give the system a try, I suggest you take a look at intense debate and what they have to offer. I am very glad to consider my search for a worthy commenting system to be done. Whenever you use a service or a product that you do not think is just right, it is always in the back of your mind, however I am glad to put this one to bed.

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