If you’re running a blog and you’ve enabled the comments so that your readers can join in and contribute to the conversation, then you’re doing it right and congratulations on that!
However, if you’ve done this, you’ve probably also noticed that many of the “comments” that you get are not “real” comments. They are, yes, (sound effects here: dramatic soundtrack with clap of thunder and rain)… SPAM.
This problem can quickly multiply if you’re running several blogs and receiving email notification each time someone comments (spams). You can easily see your inbox overflowing with this activity and it can be a real pain just to have to go through it all.
A Nice Solution
On some of the blogs I read regularly I started noticing that the comments sections were being handled by Disqus. Chris Brogan uses it on ChrisBrogan.com and I figured if this guy is using it, it’s probably worth looking into. I checked it out.
Here are just some of the benefits to using Disqus to manage your blog’s comments:
- Easy to install and set up through your WordPress admin area.
- Adds some nice functions to the comments area, such as “Like” buttons, RSS buttons, etc..
- Has a clean look and feel. Doesn’t mess your blog up with extra bulk, big logos or branding graphics.
- Makes it easy to manage all your comments all in one place. (especially nice if you’re running several blogs)
- Doesn’t affect the comments in your blogs database. If you stop using Disqus, you can disable it without losing your comment data.
- It deals with spam very effectively.
- It’s free.
This weekend I set it up on my blog here at ImagePerceptions.com. It was easy to install and as soon as it was set up, the spam (a considerable amount) stopped immediately. (sound of crickets chirping)
Disqus is just a handy tool that you can use to enhance the blogging aspect of your life. You can check it out at Disqus.com.
Do You Use Disqus?
I’ve just started with this so if some of you would like to share what you like or don’t like about Disqus, that would be great!