24 replies to this topic

[TWC]

Ace -

I figured that this morning was as good of a time as any to beat a dead horse. Here in HMB it's deeply, deeply foggy... horse beating weather, they call it*.

I'm curious what progress (if any) you've made on improving the commenting experience. A couple times a day, it seems, we see "Oops... where's that edit button?!"-type follow up posts on the front page. The loss of the ability to link quotes from other comments, as well as the rich text formatting options can make for less easy-to-follow replies.

Have you considered Disqus? As far as I can tell, you can log in through your Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ account; you could sign up for a Disqus account; or just comment as a guest. I don't know the logistics, but the interface (as I've seen it used on other websites) is pretty clean, and it threads replies/comments really nicely.

Just a thought.





*well, *I* call it that. I'm not sure anyone else does.

[TWC]

Oh, and I should add...

Disqus also includes comment rankings/up- and down-voting, and ignore features. I'm sure there are those on the front page for whom these options would be welcomed.

[hansman1982]

God yes, I would LOVE to be able to ignore Mr. Conroy...

[TWC]

I'm quite sure you're not alone.

[Cerambam]

I was actually just signing in to add that an up vote/down vote feature (a la reddit) would solve many problems on the commenting board including profanity, politics, or repeats. BUT, this might make people not want to comment. I know that on Reddit, it gets intimidating to post for fear of being dreadfully down voted. Just something to think about because I am pretty sure we want to keep the very friendly, open community of bleacher nation in tact

[hansman1982]

I'm quite sure you're not alone.

Generally, I just ask for your opinion and then ignore you anyway

[TWC]

I'm quite sure you're not alone.

Generally, I just ask for your opinion and then ignore you anyway

That's how the world seems to work.

[TWC]

BUT, this might make people not want to comment. I know that on Reddit, it gets intimidating to post for fear of being dreadfully down voted. Just something to think about because I am pretty sure we want to keep the very friendly, open community of bleacher nation in tact

Yeah, man, that's totally valid. I'm sure that's part of Ace's thought process. Perhaps a system of just "likes" rather than up/down rating. I'm sure that for many more established commenters, a down vote would be pretty meaningless (as would an up vote, I imagine) but I can see that affecting newbies.

IntenseDebate (http://intensedebate.com) is another alternative to Disqus, but perhaps a bit uglier, I think.

[Brett]

It's constantly on my mind, so no worries there.

I last researched re-implementing features about three weeks ago, and the software simply wasn't there. Long-term, the answer is almost certain to be something like Disqus (especially as it is adopted more and more on other sites, since it is essentially a profile that follows you).

I have always had a serious concern about turning the commenting over to a third party service. I like to keep as much of the site experience as possible within my control. I also don't yet know whether Disqus will work with the current site design, but that's something I can (and eventually will) test.

Not sure Disqus has editing, does it? That, to me, is a pretty minor issue, though - very few blogs have editing available on comments.

To the broader commenting experience - Disqus doesn't really have all the bells and whistles, either (that I've seen). Am I just seeing limited versions? I don't see too many features for the actual comment entry portion.

I like this discussion, though.

[Brett]

And, as Cerabam notes, my biggest fear with comments has always been becoming a "closed" community. Can't have that. It's not good for the site's long-term health, and ultimately, it becomes very un-fun over time.

So, for example, I'm probably always going to want to preserve Guest commenting.

[Cubbie Blues]

I think it would go a long way if we had back the limited functions that were there for a little bit. For example italics, bold, quotes ... I've gotten over the lack of editing (for the most part).

[Brett]

I think it would go a long way if we had back the limited functions that were there for a little bit. For example italics, bold, quotes ... I've gotten over the lack of editing (for the most part).

Something to keep in mind: if we go to Disqus, to my knowledge, we would definitely lose the ability to format text (bold/italic/quote/etc.). I believe it's easier to add pictures, though.

[TWC]

Disqus doesn't even allow you to quote?

That blows. I can handle the lack of bold/italics stuff, but having the ability to quote is pretty important.

I got an idea!! Screw Wordpress -- just re-write the code for your site from scratch!

[Cubbie Blues]

Disqus doesn't even allow you to quote?

That blows. I can handle the lack of bold/italics stuff, but having the ability to quote is pretty important.

I got an idea!! Screw Wordpress -- just re-write the code for your site from scratch!

Winner winner chicken dinner.

[Brett]

I know you jest, but that is a long-term plan. I'd gladly pay the right company to do a complete site overhaul (including content management system, replacing Wordpress). But I'm there quite yet - and I don't know how to find the right company.