Disqus: changes to commenting system on this website will go live tomorrow morning
UPDATED: Tomorrow morning (rather than later on today, as I told you earlier), the commenting system on this website is switching over to Disqus.
This will not apply to posts that are up already when the switch-over takes place; the existing commenting system will carry on being used for those. But posts which are uploaded as from tomorrow morning, after we switch to Disqus, will use Disqus only.
Eventually the old commenting system will be phased out naturally as comments stop coming in for older posts, and we’ll stick with Disqus only.
Disqus is the system which has been used, for some time now, by all the newspaper portals with which you are familiar. Many of you will have a Disqus account already, which you use to comment on those portals. You will obviously not need to re-register to comment here.
If you are not registered already, the system on this site will ask you to do so, so as to be able to comment. If you are not a regular commenter and don’t wish to register, just put any old name in the GUEST field and click the box which says ‘I’d rather post as a guest’.
You do not have to use your real name to register. But you will need a valid email address. This does not have to be your usual email address – you can create one easily in your alias on Gmail or some other email service. But it has to be valid because you will receive a return email asking you to verify/validate it.
But whether you use your usual email address or an alias email, rest assured that it never shows up publicly in any way or form. You know this already through the use of Disqus on newspaper portals.
You will receive notification on this same email address any time somebody responds to one of your comments.
You can also have two registered names: your real one for when you wish to comment using your actual identity, and your alias. But they must be linked to different email addresses. The more sensible way is to link your real name to your usual email address, and your alias to a created Gmail account.
As always, you can be certain that any information or details you provide are secure and cannot be accessed by anybody other than me at any time.
If you have any questions, please post them here – we are still using the old system for this post and for all other posts for the remainder of today.
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Disqus does not really provide the privacy that many people used to enjoy here. It groups your messages and sort of creates a profile around you. I’m sure you have good reason to switching to a more stable commenting system, but just for the record, I am out as a commenter. It is not a great loss really; I am not such an avid commenter anyway. Just sharing my thoughts, not having a dig at your choice to switch to this system.
[Daphne – Please distinguish between privacy and neurosis. At that level of obsession, the latter applies. I don’t wish to be offensive, but really.]
@anon – you always have the option to make your profile private, thus no one will be able to see and track your activity.
I agree with Anon. I’d rather not have people associate any comments of mine here with any comments I place elsewhere.
[Daphne – The solution is simple. Create another email address and register under another name. Then you will have two Disqus accounts: one for this site only and another for whatever you post elsewhere. Otherwise, you can simply choose to keep your existing Disqus account private and then nobody will be able to look at your track record.]
May I ask just out of curiosity? What are the benefits to the Disqus system?
[Daphne – You can give other people’s comments a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and you will receive notification (on the email you use to register) when somebody responds to your comment. It’s also generally all-round more efficient, which is why it is now used across most busy portals.]
Scalability.
Thank You
I believe you can also track which of your comments are rejected.
Jaqaw il-PBS u Super One izzewġu?
That’s great.
If I, as a registered user, post a comment on this website, and you reply to it, or someone else does, will Disqus flag it up?
On Times of Malta for instance, you find out when the annoying sorts like Eddy Privitera and M. Borg (slm) reply to a comment I have posted earlier. Will Disqus on this website work in exactly the same way as it does on Times of Malta?
There’s one fundamental distinction – your Disqus allows people to post without being registered, whereas you can’t do that on The Times.
[Daphne – Disqus is an independent system and isn’t tailormade for different sites. Yes, you will receive an email telling you that somebody has replied to your comment. Thank you for pointing this out, because I should have mentioned it in my explanatory post above. Notification of responses to your comments is sent on the email address you use to register. So if you have created an email address especially for this purpose, check it for notification of responses (if you wish).]
Will we still be able to search your previous articles?
[Daphne – Yes, because these are not changes to the website itself, but to the commenting system only. Disqus works independently of the website itself.]
I am already on Disqus in my name and using this e-mail.
I do submit comments – even satirical – when I feel I can contribute to the on-going discussion on a particular story in one of the newspapers.
I would prefer, however, to keep my ‘Observer’ nom-de-plume for site. Is that possible without my having to create a new Gmail account?
[Daphne – You will have to create a new email address liked to your ‘Observer’ name, the simplest being on Gmail.]
Well done and good job on the continuous improvements done on this site!
May i suggest the next improvement to be the ability to read your blog on mobile and small screens.
To clarify, I can read your blogs on mobile, but font size is too small and it requires zooming in, plus one must continuously scroll horizontally on each line.
Nowadays, most phones have a “reader” capability, where the text on a webpage is automatically laid out in e-reader format, increasing text size for accessibility and wrapping text to the width of your screen.
You may want to check if your phone has this capability.
Rather than that, the only issue I find when using my phone to read through the blog is that whereas before articles were marked as ‘visited’ once read, they no longer are. I do not have this problem on my laptop.
Prosit. Note I have no problem reading your blog on mobile except that it is small print. On my PC I can increase the font for easier reading.
This blog needs fan apparel. Something we can wear to show our support.
If we were using Disqus, this comment would get a thumbs-up.
Designed by Christina Betke of course.
This is a very good implementation. Disqus is a great commenting platform which is used in many sites and is slowly becoming the standard of comment sections.
Great move. Have just created a new Disqus account for the nom de plume above which I shall continue to use specifically for your blog and am looking forward to all ‘going live’ in the morning.
Good idea to move to Disqus. It makes it easier to follow responses to comments. It is possible to keep profile private so that no one will be able to see and track your activity.
People who habitually comment here should also consider commenting on the newspaper portals, if they are not already doing so.
Recently I started following the comments on the portals of The Malta Independent, Times of Malta and Malta Today. I was surprised to find how many daft and brainless comments from PL-leaning commenters go unanswered.
A daft comment repeated many times eventually becomes accepted as the truth. I could not stand reading so much stupidity and felt that I had to register on Disqus and post my comments to counter some of the silly things being said.
I encourage more people to do the same.
Very good move, I’m tired of scouring the site for any comments I posted.
Thank you so very much, Mrs Caruana Galizia, for giving us a welcoming virtual space, where we can all get together and find solace among like-minded souls.
The simple fact that centre-left liberals, social democrats, constitutionalists, progressives, conservatives and Christian democrats find themselves very welcome on this Blog is a testament to your vision and journalistic abilities.