Disqus vs Squarespace's commenting system

With Squarespace's commenting system, when a reader wants to comment on one of my blog posts, a box with three fields pops up, asking for their name, email, and URL. Below the box, there is a link with the text "Comment as a guest." This link becomes clickable when the commenter simply enters their name; they don't need to enter the other two pieces of information to proceed.

However, because it is set up this way, you wouldn't know that you can proceed and comment as a guest until you've actually entered your name! Only then does the "Comment as a guest" link become clickable.

If you don't wish to provide your email and URL, you'll likely stop right there, thinking you can't proceed without providing those pieces of information.

I don't like this setup at all. It turns potential commenters away and you'll likely get fewer comments because of it.

So, now I'm considering Disqus. I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with it and if it provides a more straightforward, user-friendly commenting experience for my blog readers. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Disqus if you've used it and how it measures up. Thank you!

4 hours ago, LenaB said:

With Squarespace's commenting system...you wouldn't know that you can proceed and comment as a guest until you've actually entered your name!

There may be ways around this. Please share a link to the page on your site and the password to access it. 

On 8/13/2024 at 7:19 AM, paul2009 said:

There may be ways around this. Please share a link to the page on your site and the password to access it. 

Hi Paul. Just following up to make sure you received the url and password that I PM'ed you. Thanks so much.

Have you tried adding some Custom CSS like this:

.AQXsL1OzRgXJ8goKFJbP .u-field-wrapper:nth-of-type(2),
.AQXsL1OzRgXJ8goKFJbP .u-field-wrapper:nth-of-type(3) {
  display: none;
}

Did this help? Please give feedback by clicking an icon below  ⬇️

Hi, Paul. Thanks so much for that! Inserting your code fixed the problem as far as commenting from a laptop. I tested it, and a notification box popped up, asking me for my name. That's it, no other personal info--and after that, I'm allowed to "continue as a guest," and the comment is posted. Perfect! 

However, when testing from my phone (an android), no box popped up: I clicked "post comment," and my comment instantly posted without requesting my name. The result is that now, next to the posted comment, instead of a real name, the "name" Not Logged In is displayed.

Additionally, these comments did not appear in the "Manage Comments" section of my Squarespace back office, and I received no email notification about them.  

(Note: When testing, both from my laptop and my phone, I opened the site in an incognito window each time.)

If people comment from their phones, and next to almost every comment, it says Not Logged In instead of a name, it may look spammy, the comments may not look like genuine comments, and it won't do much to help build credibility. 

Any solutions?

Thanks sooo much for your help so far. Hopefully this is an easy final fix 🙂

What happens if you remove the CSS and post? Are you seeing the same issue?

No, without the CSS, I'm experiencing a different issue, as described in my initial post in this thread:

Quote

 

A box with three fields pops up, asking for their name, email, and URL. Below the box, there is a link with the text "Comment as a guest." This link becomes clickable when the commenter simply enters their name; they don't need to enter the other two pieces of information to proceed.

However, because it is set up this way, you wouldn't know that you can proceed and comment as a guest until you've actually entered your name! Only then does the "Comment as a guest" link become clickable.

If you don't wish to provide your email and URL, you'll likely stop right there, thinking you can't proceed without providing those pieces of information. I don't like this setup at all. It turns potential commenters away and you'll likely get fewer comments because of it.

 

Yay, problem solved! I removed the code you gave me from the css box, then re-entered it. Next, I tested in a different browser on my phone, and now it worked exactly the same way it worked on my laptop (I'm prompted only for my first name, after that, I'm allowed to proceed and comment as a guest, same as you did). So maybe it was simply a phone browser issue. Thank you so much for your help. You are brilliant! It's exactly the solution I was looking for. Let me know if you have a “buy me a coffee" link. 🙂