Disqus

Online Commenting Platform

Published 04/01/2009 and rated 4 out of 5 stars by AppAppeal Editor

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Disqus can be used to enhance the commenting system on your blog. It is apparently pronounced discuss and is a web based tool that can be incorporated into your blog. It’s a JavaScript application or plug-in for a variety of popular blogging platforms including TypePad, Blogger, MovableType and Wordpress. It is designed to make commenting more exciting and interesting. It integrates comments on your blog to a moderated forum that’s hosted on the disqus site. The discus system will also thread comments together, and includes ratings, and spam control. It’s possible to incorporate this into a new blog, or an existing blog. Disqus is funded in part by Y Combinator. The competitors of Disqus include Tangler, Intense Debate and SezWho. It’s possible to use the Disqus application in any application, blog or website. It is designed to make commenting much easier and a more interactive experience. All of the comments are then linked together, which in turn links commenters in a community. Perhaps the best thing about Disqus is that it’s completely free, and there aren’t any adverts in the comments. There is a premium service being developed at the moment.

Work began on the site during May 2007; however the site wasn’t live until October 30th 2007. It was founded by Jason Yan and Danial Ha. It has received $500k in funding from Union Square Ventures, and it’s a Y Combinator Company. In May 2011, Disqus added $10 million to its funding from North Bridge and Union Square Ventures.

There are a number of commenting platforms that can be incorporated into blogs; however this one also has a JavaScript application which can be embedded in virtually any website even if it’s not a blog. Another key advantage is that it’s a free service that’s proving to be very popular. There are a number of competing systems that do virtually the same thing, however the name disqus is much easier to remember than many of the others.

There are a number of commenting platforms that can be incorporated into blogs; however this one also has a JavaScript application which can be embedded in virtually any website even if it’s not a blog. Another key advantage is that it’s a free service that’s proving to be very popular. There are a number of competing systems that do virtually the same thing, however the name disqus is much easier to remember than many of the others.

Signing up for an account takes a matter of seconds, you simply need to enter your email address, and then choose a username and password. You will then need to enter your website address that you want to integrate the system with, your website name, and a short name. You must choose a unique short name; it will form the address that’s used to access your comments. Once you have completed that you will need to choose the platform of your blog, if you’re not sure then make sure you find out. It’s also possible to select custom integration; also some other platforms are available but are not supported by the main site. Once you have chosen your platform you will be given instructions about how to install the software. Once you have finished there are a number of other options that you can choose from, although these are all optional and can be left as they are.

Disqus is completely free to use, the site has reported that they will release a paid version for larger sites in the near future.

Disqus is ideal for any blog or website owner that wants to improve the commenting system that their site uses. Disqus makes commenting easier and much more interactive. The comments being linked through a discussion forum also makes it much more interesting and much easier to increase the number of readers that your blog gets.

• Threaded comments
• Rating system for comments
• Track comments and replies
• Increase readership of your site

Disqus video

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