Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
This new commenting system

This new commenting system

Last updated on: May 10, 2013 at 4:40 pm by Gene Veith

0 Comments

This new commenting system 2013-05-10T16:40:19-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As you have seen, the new “Disqus” commenting system being implemented on all Patheos blogs that I said was coming has gone into effect. I’m still figuring it out myself. One thing I learned: “Disqus” is pronounced “discuss.” (Get it? I know, I know. . . ) Here are a few features that might have benefits for our discussions on this particular blog:

(1) Sometimes people complain about some of the comments and commenters. My philosophy is basically that of John Milton in Areopagitica, favoring free exchanges and minimal (but some) policing. Disqus allows you, “the community,” to have a say. You can click the up arrow if you think a comment is a particularly good one, and you can click the down arrow if you think it is a bad one. This action both rates the comment and literally moves it up or down in the listing. (One with lots of downs will be banished to the very bottom of the comment list where it might never be seen.) Also, there is a provision for “flagging” potentially offensive comments, which sends it into moderation for me to consider. (Disqus notifies me via e-mail when this happens. It makes active moderation on my part–a task I have tended to neglect–much, much easier. So far two comments have been flagged already. One I considered innocent. The other was a hostile rant I was glad to get rid of.)

(2) Ah, but if comments get listed in order of how good people think they are, that ruins the on-going, give-and-take unfolding of a good discussion. I agree. But Disqus gives you the reader the power to determine in what order the comments are displayed on your computer. At the beginning of the comments display to the left is a drop-down menu that gives you the choices of “newest,” “oldest,” or “best.” If you want to trace the conversation as it develops, click “oldest” and you can follow the exchanges in chronological order. If you want the latest additions to a discussion you’ve read earlier, choose “newest” and you won’t have to scroll down to the end. If you are pressed for time and just want what readers consider the best comments, choose that, though the others will also show up afterwards.

(3) One complaint has been that under our old system, comments would go on so long that people would launch off into digressions and rabbit trails. Sometimes those could be interesting in themselves, though irrelevant to the original post. Disqus has nested comments. When people reply to a particular comment, those replies are indented under the comment that provoked the response. That has the virtue of both allowing sub-conversations, while also allowing readers who aren’t interested in those to scroll past them to pursue the main thread.

(4) Disqus will also alert us to similar conversations over similar going on over the web, which you also might want to contribute to. You can also follow the contributions of favorite commenters when they contribute to other forums.

(5) Disqus also allows for integration with social media, so that what you have to say can also go out over your Facebook and/or Twitter accounts and the like.

(6) To take advantage of these features, you need to register for a Disqus account, though you may already be registered without knowing it, if you’ve ever signed up for a blog that has gone Disqus. I think long-time commenters on this blog have been grandfathered in and may not have to register, though I’ve gotten at least one complaint from a regular that he was having trouble. (But did he change his online handle? That would throw it off.) I believe it is possible to comment as a “guest” without having to register, though you can’t use all of the features, including the up-or-down rating arrows. I sympathize with the privacy issues, though if you use Google and Facebook it’s much the same.

There are other technical features that make this a good idea for Patheos–“client side serving” to speed up the loads, much-improved Spam control, and more that I don’t fully understand–and lots of other blogs are adopting it. (With users numbering some 700 million people.)

I’ve already seen that a number of you are complaining about it. (See! The improved moderation features lets me see what you are saying easier!) Some problems, such as not showing the correct number of comments on the post, will, I am told, be fixed.

There are doubtless other features and things you can do with this system that I haven’t picked up on yet. If you’ve discovered any, let us know. In a comment. And if it’s especially good for the rest of us to know, all you commenters, readers, and lurkers, please vote it “up.”

UPDATE: Sorry that just about everyone commenting hates it with such conviction! I especially was struck with the point I made long ago that a good discussion requires attending to the previous points that were made–as opposed to just pontificating–and that good discussions unfold and actually go somewhere, something that non-chronological listings obliterate. If we set our views at the beginning of the comments section as “oldest” (in the dropdown menu to the left) and don’t use nesting (except, perhaps, for non-substantive expressions like “I agree”), won’t that restore the kind of discussion we have become used to? (You can still vote comments up or down, which will only matter to drop-ins, and you can still flag trolls and the like, but those interested in an ongoing discussion can still have that.) If any of you have any other suggestions for how to make this work–it’s out of my hands, unfortunately–please make them.

Blog

Disqus

Previous Post

May 10, 2013

Camouflage

Next Post

May 13, 2013 IRS targeted conservatives

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"While she worked for Trump she was a tool's tool!"

reg

Luther on Tools

"I know wired earbuds are making a comeback (I never stopped using them as I ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

"VCRs, tape decks, and cassette players are all having a revival among a segment of ..."

Tom Hering

Luther on Tools

"As a (retired) lawyer I see potential liability from sharing things like power or sharp ..."

reg

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book of the Bible contains the phrase "Vanity of vanities"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Psalms Ecclesiastes Proverbs Job

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »