#commenting system

First, make sure to backup your blog’s theme, so in case anything goes wrong, you can revert the changes you’ve made.

Now, go to one of the posts on your blog. Scroll down to the bottom then right-click on the last element that shows up before the Disqus comments section. This could be the tags list or the social media sharing buttons or even the related posts section. This depends on the theme you’re using.

So, right-click on this element and choose “Inspect” or “Inspect element” (the wording depends on the internet browser that you’re using). Use this to find the class name of the element in question.

Again, this depends on the theme you’re using. For example, the class name could be “post-footer.” You can see something that looks like this:

<div class="post-footer">

Take note of the class name. Now, go to the dashboard of your Google Blogger blog. Click the “Template” link in the sidebar then the “Edit HTML” button.

Click on the screen where the codes for your theme are being displayed. Now press the Ctrl + F buttons on your keyboard to open the search bar. Use this search bar to find the class name that you got earlier.

Once you find it, you can try writing your comment guidelines or any text that you want to appear before the comments section of your blog. Type the text at the very end of the codes for that element. 

For example, if the class name you found is “post-footer,” you’ll see something like this in the HTML part of your blog’s template:

<div class="post-footer"> More codes here </div>

The end of the codes for that element is marked by “</div>,” so put your comment guidelines text right after that piece of code. Just writing the text as-is should work. But you can also enclose it in paragraph (<p></p>) tags.

Looking for a commenting system

This all began because I was looking for a commenting system that I could use for my Tumblr (microblogging platform and social networking site) blog. My search led me to IntenseDebate. I liked the way that it looked and it had a lot of pretty neat features so I began to read its terms and policies before creating an account on the site.

IntenseDebate terms and policies

One part of IntenseDebate’s terms of service made me stop reading. It’s the part where they pretty much say that they reserve the right to do whatever they want to your account (like delete, edit, modify, etc) “for no reason at all”. So you can follow all their rules but they can still delete your account or something if they want to “for no reason at all”.

Livefyre terms of service

Of course, it wasn’t like I was planning to break the rules on that site or something. I mean, all I wanted was to add a simple commenting system on my Tumblr blog (if Tumblr just made this feature available, this wouldn’t have to happen, huh?) but I couldn’t get over that part of the TOS.

So, even though I really liked the look of IntenseDebate, I started to search for an alternative. This led me to the Livefyre commenting system. I was ready to settle for this third-party service but a quick peek at their TOS revealed the dreaded “for no reason at all” statement, which was what bothered me about IntenseDebate in the first place.

Back to IntenseDebate

I thought if I was going to have to deal with such a statement anyway, then it might as well be with IntenseDebate since I really did like its appearance. So I went back to finish reading its TOS and privacy policy. Honestly, I wish I hadn’t, because, after creating an account on this site and trying to install the commenting system on my Tumblr blog, I found out that it doesn’t work so I ended up wasting all that time for nothing.

Disqus commenting system

The incident led me right back to Disqus. The codes for the Disqus commenting system are actually already included in my chosen Tumblr theme so all I really had to do was join Disqus and add my Disqus shortname to the settings of my Tumblr blog.

But I just wanted to make things difficult for myself so I ignored Disqus and went to IntenseDebate (read: I really just liked the appearance of the latter, okay?). Since IntenseDebate unfortunately doesn’t work on my blog, I thought I’d go with Disqus. If that doesn’t work either, then I’ll try Livefyre next.

Disqus terms and policies

So, I began to read the terms and policies of Disqus. Guess what? That dreaded phrase is also on the Disqus TOS. It’s even on their privacy policy. Actually, Disqus might be the worst because it repeats that statement more than once.

Creepy? Scary? Worrying?

Isn’t it really kind of worrying how the terms of service of these sites have phrases like that? It’s like how you’re completely at their mercy with words like “for no reason at all”, “in their sole discretion”, “reserves the right”. It’s like you don’t really have a choice or you don’t get to have a say in this. Is this fair?

Is this right? It’s nice to think that you won’t have to worry about anything if you’re honest and not planning anything shady and if you’re really just going to use the service the way it’s intended to be used but words like “for no reason at all” make it seem like it doesn’t matter even if you’re not doing anything wrong because you can still fall victim to that statement.

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Creating an account on Disqus

I decided to join Disqus to add a commenting system on my Tumblr blog since, unfortunately, Tumblr doesn’t provide a comments feature for its users. Before creating an account on the site, I read everything about it first including its Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Something scary in the Disqus TOS

Actually, there are a few things that can be said to be scary or kind of worrying (maybe even unfair) about the Disqus TOS but, for this post, let’s focus on the very first thing that you’ll notice when you check out the site’s TOS. You’ll see the following located at the very top of the Disqus Terms of Service page and, yes, the entire paragraph is in all capital letters:

“THESE TERMS CONTAIN A MANDATORY ARBITRATION OF DISPUTES PROVISION THAT REQUIRES THE USE OF ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS TO RESOLVE DISPUTES, RATHER THAN JURY TRIALS OR CLASS ACTIONS, AND ALSO LIMITS THE REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO YOU IN THE EVENT OF A DISPUTE.”

Possible problems with Disqus?

In capital letters, Disqus is telling its users and potential users that they have a limited course of action available to them should they have problems with the site. They’re saying that you have to deal with the issue individually or by yourself instead of being able to gather several people for a class action. Is that fair? Is that right?

Just need a commenting system

Of course, those who just want or need a commenting system and who don’t want any trouble or problems will hopefully never have to experience any possible issues with Disqus that will require mandatory arbitration. 

So far, things seem to be going well. But, really, if Tumblr had just provided a commenting feature, we wouldn’t have to deal with this now, would we? What do you think about this part of the site’s TOS?

Since Tumblr (microblogging platform and social networking site) doesn’t have a comments feature, I thought I’d use IntenseDebate to allow people to comment on my Tumblr blog if they want to. Yes, I do know about Disqus and how some Tumblr themes, like Rustelia, Weiss Zima and Mystic Summer, already have it built-in but there’s a reason why I chose this particular comments system and that reason is this.

Reading the IntenseDebate Terms of Service

Unfortunately, before I could create an account on IntenseDebate and install it on my Tumblr blog, I had to read the site’s terms of service and privacy policy first. This is because I’d like to know everything that I can about a website or platform before joining.

I started with IntenseDebate’s TOS and, not only was it long, it was also boring. Actually, I’m still in the process of reading it. Naturally, I had to take lots of long breaks in between paragraphs and sections because, really, who can read all this in one sitting, right?

Something off about the IntenseDebate TOS?

When I reached a certain part of the IntenseDebate TOS, I had to pause and reread it again because it sounded and seemed really off. The part that I’m talking about can be found under the heading “3. Rules and Conduct”. Take a look at these lines:

“…IntenseDebate reserves the right to (i) remove, edit or modify any Content in its sole discretion, including without limitation any User Submissions, from the Site or Service at any time, without notice to you and for any reason… or for no reason at all and (ii) to remove or block any User Submissions or API use from the Service…”

This made me stop reading the site’s TOS and made me quite reluctant to continue reading it. The bolded part is what really bothered me since the part about “sole discretion” also appears on other sites and the “for any reason part” does include an explanation (it’s listed on the TOS) and said explanation is reasonable and makes a lot of sense (for example, if someone is violating the TOS, then, of course, IntenseDebate should be able to do something about that person such as removing their comments, etc).

But the “for no reason at all” is quite alarming, isn’t it? It’s like they can just “remove, edit, or modify” your content whenever they want to for absolutely no reason at all and you can’t do anything about it.

At least, with the “for any reason” part, you get some idea as to what you should avoid doing so you won’t get your content deleted. But how can you fight against the “for no reason at all” part? Does this mean that even if you’re following all of the rules, you can still get your account deleted?

I don’t know. But, really, I like the way IntenseDebate looks and I did a bit more research and no one seems to be talking about this so, maybe, it doesn’t really matter? Maybe there isn’t anything to be concerned about? What do you think? Anyway, all I really want is to add a comments section on my Tumblr blog, so, I don’t know. For now, I think I’ll still stick with this commenting system.

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Weebly’s comments feature

The fact that Weebly actually has a comments feature is definitely one good thing to like about this platform since there are actually platforms that don’t offer this important feature.

Giving your readers and visitors the ability to share their thoughts and opinions about your article via its comment section is a good way to keep them engaged.

Use Disqus with Weebly. Or don’t. It’s your choice 

Weebly has a built-in comments system but you don’t have to use it if you don’t like it or if you don’t want to and that’s really super special awesome, you know?

This is because Weebly actually gives you an alternative in the form of Disqus, a third-party commenting system. You can easily add the Disqus comments system to your Weebly blog or site so you can use it instead of the site builder’s built-in comments system.