10 Best Plugins To Get More Comments
January 7th 2008
Comments are one of the most important aspects of blogging, and something that all bloggers appreciate. And yet, comment areas are a typically boring affair.
By making commenting a more enjoyable experience, you will encourage more commenters to return to your blog to check up on previous comments, and to leave new ones.
Use A Visual Text Editor
The default comments field is boring, and quite limited. It is possible to write your own HTML tags in the comment, but that's a nuisance that you won't do often. It's usually easier to just leave out the formatting, isn't it?
NicEdit is just 30kb in size, and gives a full featured text editor. Check out the comments field of this post to see it in action. It's much easier to format a comment this way.
For anyone; NicEdit.
Let Users Edit Their Comments
We all make mistakes. Most of us like to correct those mistakes though. Give users the ability to do so, so they aren't annoyed at their comment (At you!), and also so that you don't have users making double and triple comments to fix those mistakes.
The Edit option is a necessity for code blogs in particular. Anyone who has ever written snippets of code into WordPress knows how many mistakes you (or it!) makes.
For WordPress users; AJAX Edit Comments.
Subscribe To Comments
It's hard to keep track of all the comments you leave around the blogosphere. Subscribing to comments lets you keep track of the most important ones. At the very least, this is a good way of bringing people back to your blog.
For WordPress users; Subscribe to Comments.
Publish The Commenter's Latest Headline
Being honest, we've all left comments hoping that someone will notice it and click back to our blogs. Why not encourage this with your readers?
CommentLuv tries to find the commenter's RSS feed, and from that it will post their latest headline underneath their comment. Readers will see that their blog gets more exposure on your site, and they may take note of that.
For WordPress users; Comment Luv.
Threaded Replies
When you get a large number of comments, it can be hard to keep individual conversations straight. Threaded comments let you leave replies directly underneath others, so conversations are much easier to have. A good conversation is one of the best ways to win a person over to your blog.
For WordPress users; Brian's Threaded Comments.
Post Comments Via AJAX
When a user posts a comment, they're more-or-less finished with that particular page. AJAX allows the comment to be posted without reloading. It saves the reader time, letting them head off to other pages on your blog before they get bored.
For WordPress users; Moojax Comment Posting.
List Recent Comments
A sidebar widget listing the latest comments on your blog can be a good way of showing that your blog is alive, but also that you take the time to interact with your readers (Try to get your own name there as often as possible!). A reader will always respond well to seeing a blogger take an interest in their readers.
For WordPress users; FreePress Recent Comments.
Offer Customised Clickable Smilies
I think smilies are under appreciated in the blogging world. They're a fun way of showing your mood while you write, and they let you make a joke and show that what you said is actually a joke.
Or perhaps I just overuse them?
For WordPress users; WP-Grins.
DoFollow Back To Their Site
Stop worrying so much about Google. Your readers are more important. DoFollowing back to their site is not about the tiny amount of link juice they might get. It's about showing that you appreciate their comment and their time.
For WordPress users; NoFollow Free.
Add User Avatars
Amidst a long list of comments, a single comment can get lost quite easily. Avatars add distinction between individual comments, and it will make you smile when you start seeing faces you recognise. You might even consider having the image link back to their blog as well (Remember how the readers love that little touch of publicity?).
For WordPress users; MBLA.
As an inspiration to us all, have a look at regular commenter Pelf's blog. She has 7 different comment enhancements installed! And you notice it.
What have you done for your blog's comments, and what more could you do?
Here on Pro Blog Design, I've always had DoFollow and Subscribe to Comments, but only recently added the visual editor, AJAX comment editor and avatars. I'm thinking about adding threaded replies as well because I do respond to every comment. Would you prefer that?
NB - I'm a WordPress user, so WordPress plugins are the only ones I know off-hand. If anyone knows Blogger equivalents to those mentioned below, let me know and I'll add the link. Sorry!
January 7th at 11:00 am GMT
Comment #1
Interesting, I've added gravatar support by one line of code to the comments template, under
< li class = " < ? php echo $ oddcomment; ? > " id = " comment- < ? php comment _ ID ()� ? > " > "
(without obligate spaces) add this:
< ? php
if ( ! empty ( $ comment -> comment _ author _ email ) ) {
$ md5 = md5 ( $comment -> comment _ author _ email );
$ default = urlencode( 'PATH to default image' );
echo " < img style = ' STYLE IT ; ' src = ' http : // www . gravatar . com / avatar.php ? gravatar _ id = $ md5 & size= 20 & default = $ default' alt = '' / > " ;
}
?>
(again without obligate spaces) or take a look here
c template.
EDIT: Sorry Michael, code kills the code.
January 7th at 11:11 am GMT
Comment #2
Thanks for sharing Milo. That way probably works with less bugs than my current setup!
But with the plugin, it looks for a Gravatar, and then a MyBlogLog avatar if it can't find one. That way, it doesn't matter if a person only has one or the other.
At least, in theory...
January 7th at 12:17 pm GMT
Comment #3
Your PI should work without flaws, ain't? Take a look at your previous post comments...
January 7th at 12:28 pm GMT
Comment #4
I know, it's a mess (Hit "View Image" on one of the missing ones. You'll laugh!).
I think it's a cache problem though. It only started when I refreshed the cache manually. For now, I'm just crossing fingers that it won't keep happen on a new post.
January 7th at 1:26 pm GMT
Comment #5
Hi Michael.
I gave threaded comments a shot, but didn't like how it kept pushing the text further and further to the right. I know you can set a limit on how many threads it takes, but I just didn't like it.
Some great suggestions here though, and I've thought for some time now that 'subscribe to comments' shouldn't have to be a plugin, but should be as standard with WordPress.
January 7th at 1:33 pm GMT
Comment #6
David,
So it was the presentation of it that annoyed you, more-so than the functionality itself? I wonder if that is something that could be improved by a better design.
I agree with you about the Comment Subscriptions, but I suppose the plugin is so good that WordPress couldn't do much to improve upon it?
It may even be somewhat of an advantage to them to have such popular plugins in the community; merely because it encourages people to dive into that community, and find other plugins as well.
There probably is some point where they will include it though (Like tagging), even if it's just to add it to the feature list for a certain release.
January 7th at 2:08 pm GMT
Comment #7
One of the best plugins to encourage comments, especially used in conjunction with a do follow plugin, is Comment Luv. When a commenter hits submit, the plugin seeks out the feed from the URL left in the field, and displays a link to the last post and title. You're giving link love in the best way possible, and of course, more people will click on a catchy title from your blog than just your name. You can download it at the WordPress plugins, or get it direct from his site. He's recently updated it to include it in your feed if you want.
http://www.fiddyp.co.uk/commen.....ss-plugin/
Another plugin I use rather than DoFollow is No Follow Case By Case. If you're unsure of a trackback or ping being spam, or for whatever reason, you can make the individual link nofollow. I'm just happy to get any comments (my audience doesn't usually add comments) so anything I can do to encourage them is great.
January 7th at 2:32 pm GMT
Comment #8
That's right Michael, it was the presentation of the threaded comments rather than the functionality. It's a great idea, in practice, but I didn't like the end result.
Going to give the commentluv plugin a shot now. Thanks for the heads up!
January 7th at 2:49 pm GMT
Comment #9
Michael,
Thanks for the list, I personally like comment love, I have been meaning to put it on my site for a while. There are a few blogs I comment on with this plugin, I think it encourages bloggers to comment.
Regards.
January 7th at 3:07 pm GMT
Comment #10
Thanks for this! I've been looking all over the internet for the plugin about being able to edit comments.
January 7th at 4:36 pm GMT
Comment #11
The comments I've received today since installing CommentLuv have prompted me to visit the blogs of my readers, so it'll be great motivation for keeping my commenting levels up.
January 7th at 4:42 pm GMT
Comment #12
Sue - When using CommenutLuv, have you ever noticed comments taking some time to post? I haven't used it too often before, but it's something that I do wander about.
The NoFollow plugin sounds great. The plugin I use here is Link Love. It only removes the NoFollow from a comment link if the commenter has already left 2 comments previously. It helps weed out the spammers a little.
David - Okay. I think I might try playing with the comments design here, to incorporate threaded comments well. It might work, or it might now work...
And does this make us even now? You showed me Link Love, I showed you CommentLuv?
Jsanderz - Cool. I always liked the plugin, but it really does seem to be the one people are noticing out of this list. Perhaps it's even better than I thought?
Sly - No problem. You'll love the one I linked to. It's an edit comments plugin of course, but it's also a fantastic admin tool. You can Edit/Delete/Spam a comment using Ajax, right from the actual post page!
January 7th at 4:44 pm GMT
Comment #13
David - That's a good point. A headline is definitely more clickable, and would help a blogger "return the comment" a little more. It looks great on your blog.
January 7th at 5:10 pm GMT
Comment #14
Yep, that's us even. Just.
January 7th at 5:16 pm GMT
Comment #15
Haha, cheers! That was a few months in the making.
January 7th at 5:43 pm GMT
Comment #16
Yeah, Gravatars!
Nice list of plugins, Michael. Expect a link in Saturday's BlogBuzz.
EDIT: Are you using the AJAX comments plugin now? Firefox is freaking out when I comment (it froze-up for about 30 seconds).
January 7th at 5:56 pm GMT
Comment #17
I recently added gravatar support to my blog, now I just need to get more articles done and more visitors on the page
I'll give some of the other plugins you listed a shot sometime later as one or two of them truly caught my interest...
January 7th at 6:34 pm GMT
Comment #18
Michael, you can set the timeout on Comment Luv if it seems to hang. Part of the problem is locating the feed, if it's not in the usual spot, then it checks the header. And truly, it's not much slower than some sites that seem to hang while Akismet decides if you're a spammer or not. ProBlogger comes to mind with that one.
January 7th at 6:38 pm GMT
Comment #19
Matt - Cheers! But no, just Ajax for editing comments. I was playing with the text editor earlier though (Turns out there is a bug in Safari
). Perhaps that was the problem?
Marco - Cool. Gravatars are great, and they're the plugin newest to me. What ones were you thinking of trying out?
Sue - That's great! Thanks for letting me know. I have a lot more confidence in it now.
January 7th at 7:26 pm GMT
Comment #20
Maybe. Because when I added my comment, the text editor wasn't there.
EDIT: I guess it was ,because there wasn't a problem this time.
January 7th at 7:38 pm GMT
Comment #21
Redwall,
That was probably it then. Thanks for letting me know it worked this time.
January 7th at 11:45 pm GMT
Comment #22
Hi Michael - this is a tremendously helpful post!! Funny, I came over just to make sure I had the spelling of your website right for our interview next week and I come across a really worthwhile post
January 8th at 12:08 am GMT
Comment #23
Hey Michael,After reading this post, I was considering the following delema about this ajax editor inside of comments.The first is all the options to edit your text inside the comments. Usually when I leave a comment, I wouldn't bother to create a numbered list or strike-out certain phrases.The second is that wouldn't all the editing (Colours, Lists, Bolds, etc) distract from other posts that the reader could come by?Anyway thats just my two cents..I like all of the other plugins, thanks for helping me out. Brad.http://daily-rambler.blogspot.comhttp://bradblogging.com
January 8th at 12:08 am GMT
Comment #24
Mark,
Haha - If you can spell Michael right, then you're already ahead of about 50% of the people I know. xD
January 8th at 12:35 am GMT
Comment #25
Brad - That's trye. Some of it is just a gimmick (There are more options that what I've shown here), but I do like using the bold, italics, underline and link options.
I'm not so sure how many others feel the same though... It could be because this blog has a more technically inclined audience than normal?
January 8th at 1:03 am GMT
Comment #26
Great list and the first time I've heard about Comment Luv. I'll have to consider it.
So far, I've experimented with a few things including comment editing, live comment previews, gravatars and smilies but the only� things that stuck throughout are Brian's Threaded Comments and� Subscribe to Comments.
David isn't the only design person I've heard criticize the layout of Threaded Comments but I accept it because of the functionality it provides. I try to reply to each and every comment on my blog and this makes it loud and clear that I'm responding to a particular person. I compromise on the layout concern by limiting the number of nesting levels to 2.
As far as Subscribe to Comments is concerned, I consider it a big success. A number of readers use it to track comments on their favorite articles. I personally use it whenever I comment and see it available.
And while, gravatars are interesting and I appreciate them in theory, my audience isn't big on their use so I don't use them. I also appreciate that they can make the author's comments stand out more but in my case there are cleaner ways to do this that don't result in a bunch of anonymous gravatars and my lone real one among them.
Having recently redesigned my site, I decided to focus on clarity in my comment section so I tweaked the layout of the threaded comments code. Some changes included getting rid of the ability to collapse comments (I didn't see the point), either eliminating or replacing all the small text descriptions and changing the layout of the comment input fields. Overall, I'm pleased with the results.
However, I recognize that my comments section can stand a bit of pop so my next comment related tweak will be to highlight author comments. For those of us with audiences where gravatar isn't widely in use, I think it's a better choice.
January 8th at 2:56 am GMT
Comment #27
OMG Michael, I didn't know that I have 7-freaking-comments-enhancement plugins running on my blog! Now, is that TOO much?
January 8th at 10:20 am GMT
Comment #28
Good post!
I used to use threaded comments, but there was a time that it fell behind the WP updates and I got tired of being dependent on something that didn't work properly. It mut be better now since it's still going and seems a fairly popular.
I saw a plugin that allowed you to quote another comment as you would in a forum. I thought it was on Moshin's blog, but it's not there now. That would be a good alternative to the styling and dependency issues of threading.
At the moment I use Subscribe and AJAX Edit. I'll look into MBLA and AJAX post. I also use Custom Smileys rather than WP-Grins (hadn't heard of that one actually).
January 8th at 10:22 am GMT
Comment #29
Thanks for the list
I will be adding a few of them.
January 8th at 11:04 am GMT
Comment #30
Michael, I thought about trying the commenter headline, ajax posting and smilies plugin.
Maybe I also give the editor a try although I'm not a big fan of visual text editors.
Listening recent comments has no real use for me until I see more visitors and commenters on my blog.
well, before I even care about installing new plugins I'll have to fix an odd issue with my CAPTCHA...
January 8th at 3:47 pm GMT
Comment #31
@Kristarella - You're probably thinking of Quoter. I played with it a bit as well but found it just a bit cumbersome in practice. Your results may vary.
@Michael - The more I look at this visual editor, the more I like it although I'm not sure I want to permit image posts. I suppose there's a way to disable it so I guess it's time to go investigate.
January 8th at 5:25 pm GMT
Comment #32
Michael, I'm glad David started using that CommentLuv plugin, because the title of this post made me come visit (it'll make us think twice about our headlines now, won't it?). Excellent plugins here and I haven't heard of most of them. Bookmarked in del.icio.us!
This visual editor is neat, but it's different than commenting on other blogs and I find myself having to delete extra returns. I think I could get used to it though! It would really give the visitors a way to make comments more interesting (colors, images, bulleted lists, etc). Very cool!
Have you seen a plugin in your research that will automatically put the "http://" if the user tabs to or clicks in the Website field? Or maybe that's just some code? I like that one. I believe I saw it first on Randa Clay's site (oh I especially like the link function of this visual editor!!! Links are such a pain to enter via code)
I've read we need to be careful about how many plugins we install as they can increase bandwidth and load times. How do you find these working out for you?
January 8th at 8:29 pm GMT
Comment #33
i was looking textedit like urs. Thanks for a NicEdit, thats a very good digg.
January 8th at 9:56 pm GMT
Comment #34
Robert - Good to hear someone sticking up for threaded comments! They look good on your blog. Gravatars do make the blogger stand out a little more, but that's not why I added them. My comments were already styled differently, and still are. The Gravatars are more for my readers.
Pelf - No, not at all! I said that as a complement. I think that the commenting on your blog rocks.
Kristarella - That happens to too many plugins sadly. I haven't used it yet, so I'm not sure what the general state of it is like now. (Don't try the Ajax posint though. It's not compatible with Ajax editing.
)
Jacob - Cool. Glad it was useful to ya.
Marco - Now that you mention it, I didn't think of Captcha. I suppose that with Akismet being so good, I've never needed it on a blog before. The others sound good though (The smilies in particular
)
Robert (again
) - Yep, you can pick and choose what you want to use. You just list the buttons you want (Have a look at the <head> of my page source if you want to see, or just read the "Examples" page on the NicEdit site)
Lauren - I'm glad as well then! And adding the http:// could be done with a little JavaScript just. Have a look in your comments.php file, there should be a line like this:
<input type="text" name="url" id="url" value="<?php echo $comment_author_url; ?>" size="22" tabindex="3" />Replace that with:
<input type="text" name="url" id="url" value="<?php echo $comment_author_url; ?>" size="22" tabindex="3" onfocus="if(this.value=='')this.value='http://'" />Try it out and let me know how ya get on.
Kuldeep - No problem. Glad you liked it as well.
January 9th at 1:17 am GMT
Comment #35
Wow! Thanks so much for the great list! I recently re-designed my blog and am now on a constant effort to improve upon it.
One thing that really bugs me is when I post on other blogs and can't edit my post.
I'll be adding this plugin for sure. I like the mini editor and avatars you have here, too. I think I'll be adding at least these 3 features, if not more.
I can't wait to get started on it (hopefully tomorrow, if time allows).
January 9th at 12:34 pm GMT
Comment #36
Wah(web)Mommy - Cool. Your blog looks great, and I'm glad you've found something here worth adding (You've picked out 3 of my favorites as well
).
January 9th at 1:12 pm GMT
Comment #37
Thanks for the positive comments on my blog, Michael!I've just installed the edit comments one. The visual editor isn't working for me (I'm not seeing it in the list of plugins in my WP admin?) I'll have to come back later today to try to figure it out.
January 9th at 1:39 pm GMT
Comment #38
NicEdit isn't actually a plugin (It's the only one of the list that isn't). You just have to upload the files somewhere, then add a line or two of JS to your header. Have a look at their examples (And even the source code of this page if you want) to see how exactly.
January 9th at 1:43 pm GMT
Comment #39
Oooh! Duh! LOL. Thanks for the tip, Michael. I'm excited to try it out and get it working now.
January 9th at 1:54 pm GMT
Comment #40
Haha, no problem. It's always the little mistakes that frustrate us, isn't it?
January 9th at 4:30 pm GMT
Comment #41
Michael, thanks for that bit of code. I shall have to try it out! It's a nice little feature that's not a big deal, but I appreciate that bit of thought on other blogs
January 9th at 4:40 pm GMT
Comment #42
Wow. If I'd known people wanted a WYSIWYG editor so much, I'd have added NiceEdit ages ago...
January 9th at 6:29 pm GMT
Comment #43
I'm not really a fan of WYSIWYG editors, as I said already, but I'll give it a try for the comments on my blog based on the responses on here...I'll see how it will turn out
January 9th at 10:18 pm GMT
Comment #44
Lauren - No prob. Little touches always stand to make a big difference.
Redwall - Hehe - That's why experimenting with things rocks!
Marco - Cool. Let us know how it goes.
January 10th at 6:44 pm GMT
Comment #45
Some great suggestions, Michael!We use some of the plugins you recommend on one of our blogs. We do like how your comment text box, so we might just do some changes!
January 10th at 9:10 pm GMT
Comment #46
Cool. It's easy to install, if yous do decide to go for it.
January 11th at 1:09 am GMT
Comment #47
Thanks for the great article, Michael. I definitely need to give my comments area more of that "special touch". I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and all of these great tools.
January 11th at 3:13 am GMT
Comment #48
Great tips, you think comments in blogger is hard ?
January 11th at 3:40 am GMT
Comment #49
You don't even need a plugin for dofollow. XDYou can simply hack your WordPress wp-includes/comment-functions.php file and you're all set.I don't know if this works on WP 2.3.2, though.As for Blogger, well they don't have plugins. They have "Blogger Hacks". Visit this site for cool Blogger comment hacks. :)Useful article, as always, Michael. I have the AJAX comment preview on my blog. I plan to start on those gravatars as well, when I finish my blog site revamp.
January 11th at 7:01 pm GMT
Comment #50
Tay - All the credit goes to the creative plugin authors who came up with it all.
Rafael - I suppose so, yes. It is possible to customise Blogger a lot, but it's just not as easy as a self-hosted blog, and the "hacks" tend to feel messy after a while. I just don't like it very much, and have never had to work on it so I don't know it too well.
Pam - Thanks for sharing, but you would have to remember to do that every time you upgraded WordPress. The plugin is less hassle because you install it once and that's it done. (Until it breaks at least.... xD )
The Blogger link was great though. I've bookmarked that for the next time I'm stuck on a Blogger question! Thanks.
January 12th at 10:13 am GMT
Comment #51
@Rafael - I have to agree with Michael on both his points - Blogger doesn't provide the flexibility of WordPress and hacking the WordPress files directly requires you to now migrate changes every time you upgrade.
I started on Blogger so I went through the experience of working through it across various template changes and Blogger hacks. While interesting, it lacked the power and flexibility of WordPress. After being on it for about a year, I finally made the change over to a hosted WordPress solution and haven't looked back.
I'm big on tweaking stuff but hacking the WordPress files directly is a lot of effort to go through when a plugin can solve the issue without requiring you to track your changes as you upgrade WP.
That said, I do have a couple of plugins that I've hacked a bit and thus require this sort of tracking. However, I've taken some additional actions to mitigate this. Many plugins simply give you a static call to include in your templates. For example, (used only as an example) Wasabi's Related Posts tells you to include the following:
related_posts () ;
If you suddenly disable a plugin with a static call you break your site. A better choice is to test for the plugin's availability before calling its function:
< ?php if(function_exists('related_posts')) { related_posts(); } ?>
If I mess up migrating changes, suddenly find that a plugin is causing a problem or that that it's incompatible with the latest WordPress version, I can disable it without concern that my site will break.
January 12th at 12:22 pm GMT
Comment #52
Robert - I hate it when that happens. The if statement is such an easy thing to add, and yet it helps your blog so much. Definitely a must-use for all plugins.
January 21st at 9:45 am GMT
Comment #53
Excellent find!!!
January 21st at 9:14 pm GMT
Comment #54
That's a great list. I have installed Subscribe To Comments, but leave to box unchecked a s not to 'trick' any commentors on my posts. think I'll try CommentLuv and 'Offer Customised Clickable Smilies' next...
January 21st at 11:05 pm GMT
Comment #55
Andrew, that's a good policy. I agree entirely with you there. Unknowingly stepping into email subscriptions does nothing but annoy people.
January 22nd at 7:02 am GMT
Comment #56
I've tried some plugins you recommend. They are really useful and look awesome! thank you verymuch for the post, ya
January 23rd at 3:18 am GMT
Comment #57
I'm not sure just how many I have now, but there are some of the "do follow" typ plugins that are the same, just different names, I got on a rol and downloaded three of them before I saw that they were basically the same, but my favorite is the "commentluv" plugin, great job, keep it up!
January 23rd at 12:38 pm GMT
Comment #58
Gunady,
No problem. It's good to hear someone else liked them.
CarpetGuy,
Haha, yes, I can see that happening easily. There are a lot of similar plugins out there!
February 1st at 9:36 am GMT
Comment #59
Hi, just checked out NicEdit. Unfortunately I use the blogger platform and NicEdit doesn't seem to support Blogger. Or does it?
February 1st at 8:38 pm GMT
Comment #60
Shayon,
It might. All it actually needs is a regular old <textarea>. The platform will only matter if it means you can't edit the HTML. I know that blogger isn't great with its comment forms, and it definitely won't work on the pop-up comment form.
But can you get blogger comments inline? If you could do that, you might have a chance. No guarantees though.
February 4th at 11:06 am GMT
Comment #61
Thanks for the list! Found some very usefil wordpress plugins. I became your rss subscriber.
February 4th at 11:08 am GMT
Comment #62
Cool. Hopefully I'll see you around then
February 10th at 6:36 am GMT
Comment #63
Thanks for the nicEdit info, I love to use nicEdit, but it isn't working on my blog and nicEdit still has a few bugs under Opera.
February 11th at 6:08 pm GMT
Comment #64
Piyo,
Yep, there are still a few kinks, but not many, and the developer is really working well at them.
February 13th at 12:56 pm GMT
Comment #65
Dear Michael ..what plugins comment that u're using now ..??i'd love too .. :)i want to put it in my website .. :)thanks b4
February 13th at 8:49 pm GMT
Comment #66
Tin Tin,
I'm using NicEdit, Subscribe To Comments, Ajax Edit Comments, Gravatars, NoFollow Free and Recent Commenters.
February 14th at 12:31 am GMT
Comment #67
Michael, just a comment as you just mentioned NicEdit again:
As you possibly know there is an odd bug with linebreaks. You can now find a solution to this problem on my blog.
February 16th at 12:47 pm GMT
Comment #68
Marco,
Yep, I had heard about that error (Kristarella mentioned it a while back). It's a strange fix though. Have you noticed any drawbacks to it yet?
March 6th at 9:09 am GMT
Comment #69
It is really good that the commentators will see a different kind of commenting styles.. And yes, its may encourage the commentators to post if their RSS feed will be listed below their comments
March 6th at 9:11 am GMT
Comment #70
Great list of plugins. I was using the ordinary commeting plugin and this would be a valuable list for me.. Might as well upgrade my commenting plugins now!
March 6th at 8:10 pm GMT
Comment #71
Edwin,
I like the sound of that one as well.
Richard,
Cool. Which ones were ya thinking of using?
March 11th at 6:06 am GMT
Comment #72
This site is an absolute godsend. I am new to wordpress and had my site designed and coded, but I'm still learning how to tweak it to just the way I want, and learning this is SO MUCH. Thanks for simplifying some of it.
March 11th at 6:12 pm GMT
Comment #73
Public Records Guy,
Glad I've been some help. There is no end to what you can do with WordPress. Just try not to let the vastness of it all swallow you up! xD
March 11th at 10:57 pm GMT
Comment #74
Nice touch with the comments field here. I never thought that formatting comments much easier would be possible.Kudos to you!
March 11th at 11:15 pm GMT
Comment #75
jhay,
Thanks. NicEdit is buggy on Opera still, but when it works, I love it!
March 12th at 2:19 am GMT
Comment #76
Great post, thanks for sharing the links :)I feel like I'll try to follow as many of these points as possible with my next blog.
March 12th at 2:23 am GMT
Comment #77
I have never commented on this kinda text editor...thanks for the information...It looks awesome....
March 12th at 3:11 pm GMT
Comment #78
Tom,
Cool. There are some really great plugins about.
Joel,
No problem. I think it's a nice step up from a plain old text box.
March 12th at 6:22 pm GMT
Comment #79
Great article. Much appreciated.
March 13th at 4:06 am GMT
Comment #80
Ooh, i like NicEdit. Very cool plugin. Will add this to all my blogs. I strongly believe every WP blog should have the "Subscribe to Comments" plug-in, as sometimes it can be hard to recall blogs comments have been left at. I know when i first started blogging, and would leave comments, i would constantly forget where i had left it. This one is a must have.
March 13th at 4:41 am GMT
Comment #81
Perfectly written.
March 13th at 6:58 pm GMT
Comment #82
Moser,
Welcome!
Missy,
The Subscribe plugin is fantastic. I'm a little wary of using it on more popular blogs/posts (e.g. Anyone who subscribed to this post at the start has had 80 emails so far! xD ), but on smaller blogs (The ones you're most likely to forget about!), it's perfect.
Chandan,
Thanks.
March 13th at 7:34 pm GMT
Comment #83
Michael: Yes, one must just go back and unsubscribe from the post.For example, whenever i leave a question on a big or popular post, once i receive my answer, then i will go back and unsubscribe from post. Still a very useful plugin.
March 13th at 9:07 pm GMT
Comment #84
Missy,
That's true. Forgetting to unsubscribe is one of the things that caused me to use it less and less these days. Still a great option for a blog to offer.
March 15th at 7:08 am GMT
Comment #85
Good thing, people will go back to our blog to unsubscribe
BTW, my blog supports DoFollow to attract people coming to it.
*EDIT*
I have gravatar, but it din't show and my link not followed
March 15th at 12:03 pm GMT
Comment #86
Hi:
I noticed you don't use Brian's Threaded comments. How come? I was about to install it when I learned that changes to the database was no longer necessary (as was with previous editions). But just as I was about to upload it, I got nervous and decided not to go through with it for fear of it messing up my current comment system.
The reason I got nervous was because in the read.text file, the author (Brian) said the comment.php file was designed so that it would fit with the default Kubrick theme; however, I'm using a different theme (XMark). It makes me wonder about compatibility issues.
Does anyone here use the XMark theme with the latest Brian's Threaded comments plug-in? If so, please let me know if you had any trouble with it or whether you had to make some specific changes to make it compatible, etc.
March 15th at 12:14 pm GMT
Comment #87
Stephen,
It's unlikely you'll find someone who has tested it on your exact theme. Just save a backup of all your theme files to your computer, and then go ahead and try it. If things don't work, then just overwrite the files with your backups.
I don't use it here because I'm not sure just how much benefit it would give. It's hard to tell. Perhaps I should try it as well someday? xD
March 15th at 12:41 pm GMT
Comment #88
@Michael Martin: I received notification with a response from you to my comment above but I don't see it here but I will respond back to you anyway. You said I should make a backup copy of all my theme files to my computer and if things don't work out, just overwrite them.
I understand - thanks. However, in Brian's Threaded comments txt file (where he gave instructions on uploading to your server), he said to make a backup copy of the comment.php file. I did that but I noticed that when i saved a backup copy to my hard drive, the file size increased from something like 3800 to 4200. Why? It's supposedly the same file yet when I backed it up, the file size increased.
March 15th at 3:06 pm GMT
Comment #89
Stephen,
I don't know why that happens, but it's completely normal. That happens with all of my files as well, so don't worry about it.
I'll ask a few friends to see if anyone knows. I'd sure like to, now that you bring it up!
March 15th at 8:04 pm GMT
Comment #90
Well, Michael, thanks for telling me that downloading a file from the server to my hard drive always seems to make the file bigger. I'm glad you're going to check it out with a few of your friends as to why that happens. Seems strange. I am still subscribed to these comments so if you find out and you write in this comment section, I'll be able to get your response back.
March 16th at 6:21 pm GMT
Comment #91
Great post. Really, REALLY useful. I've been trying to get more comments on my blog... this is exactly what I need.Thanks.
March 17th at 11:06 am GMT
Comment #92
some really good advice, fantastic post, will take note to publish commenter s headlines now. cheers
March 18th at 6:01 pm GMT
Comment #93
Stephen,
Sorry, but no-one seems to know! And I haven't even managed to find that answer through Google. It's bugging me now! xD
Uri,
Cool. I hope it works out for you.
James,
Cool. That's the plugin which could well have the biggest impact I'd say.
March 18th at 6:33 pm GMT
Comment #94
Michael:
Well, I find it rather interesting - don't you? The funny thing is when I upload from my hard drive to the server, the file name stays the SAME. Yet when we download from the server to the hard drive, it seems to get bigger.
STRANGE! But apparently that's "normal."
March 19th at 11:44 pm GMT
Comment #95
Stephen,
Yes, and I wish I knew now! If I ever do find out, I promise to email ya.
March 22nd at 10:03 pm GMT
Comment #96
Hi, I'm using the WP Premium theme which has Tabber(DOMTab clone) on it, but it clashes with NicEdit (doesn'
t show when NicEdit is enabled). How would I fix this? Also, How do I make the note on the AJAX edit comments plugin show on my site?
March 23rd at 11:28 am GMT
Comment #97
AJ,
Sorry, but the 2 scripts clash, I think the only way to solve the problem would be for one of the script authors to edit their script, which isn't very likely to happen.
What AJAX Edit Comments note do you mean though? The little countdown timer you see when you post a comment? Go into your WP admin panel > Options > AJAX Edit Comments. Turn the "Show a Countdown Timer" option to yes.
March 23rd at 11:51 am GMT
Comment #98
Oh ok thanks =/. I'll try DOMTabs then.
Edit: Nope, no luck either
March 24th at 12:23 pm GMT
Comment #99
AJ,
Are you sure about that? I'm running both DOMtabs and NicEdit here on Pro Blog Design, and they work.