Disqus is a blog commenting platform that’s used on hundreds of thousands of blogs. Its top features include threaded comments, so people can reply directly to someone else’s comment directly rather than all comments in general. You can also reply by logging into a social media ID, like Facebook or Twitter.
You can also use Disqus’s notification system to let people know when they’ve got a response to a comment. They can reply to the comment right in the email response.
Here’s how to sign up for and use Disqus.
Step 1: Sign Up for a Disqus Account
Go to: http://disqus.com/profile/signup/
You’ll see the signup page. Choose to sign up with either your Facebook, Twitter, Google account or an email address.
Fill out the sign up form, or fill out the connect authentication.
Step 2: Adding Your Website
Once you’re logged into your account, click “Add” under “Your Sites” to add your blog to your profile.
Fill out your website’s basic information.
Click “Continue.” Here you will get to choose your platform.
At this point, your site’s profile is setup on Disqus. The next step is to setup Disqus on your blog. You will setup instructions depending on the platform of your choice. If you choose WordPress, this is what you will get.
Step 3: Installing Disqus on Your Blog
Go to “Plugins” and “Add New.” Search for Disqus, then click “Install Now.”
Click “Activate Plugin.”
You’ll be asked to configure the plugin. Click the link.
Enter your username and password that you chose on the Disqus site.
Select the website profile you want to use. Assuming you just setup one site, there’ll only be one option.
When you hit next, the installation process is complete and Disqus will be running on your blog.
Step 4: Using the Disqus System
To make a comment, just type in a comment as you would in any other system.
Click the “Like” button to like a post. You’ll also be able to share the post on Facebook or Twitter if you choose.
To add an image to a post, just click the “+ Image” button. A file selection box will pop up and Disqus will automatically resize the image to fit its format.
To reply to a specific comment rather than the whole thread, click the “reply” button below every comment.
This allows people to reply to specific replies and create whole sub-discussions in an orderly manner. Here’s what an original post and two replies looks like.
You can subscribe to receive all future comments by email or RSS. Just click on either button on the bottom of the Disqus box.
You’ll see a confirmation box.
Congratulations! You’ve learned how to setup a Disqus membership, how to add it to your site and how to use the plugin to post comments, reply to specific comments, post images, like and share on social media as well as how to subscribe by email or RSS.