Blog Comment: Happy with IntenseDebate

Very quickly i got frustrated with Typepad comment system because it misses so many features i like: for example the ability to track a conversation via email or RSS, or the possibilty to easily manage a white list/black list of commenters. In the past year surged many new alternatives for blog comment systems the main 3 players are SezWho Disqus and IntenseDebate. I only tried IntenseDebate on this blog because this is the only one that enables zero code manipulation set up which is a major driver for adoption in my view. however i do recognize that Disqus is well done once integrated.

I was not happy with it at the beginning and played back and forth with it to see, until their last version which was stable and reliable. I have been tested the new IntenseDebate for 2 months and it is working well. There are bugs from time to time but the team behind the service is super reactive when i shoot them an email. They have a nice comment widget that i have added on the left.

For a reader their are several advantages to this type of solution:

- one time login: multi blog usage so you can post from other blogs using the same system without having to post your details again
- easy track of conversation with RSS or email
- reputation system: to see whether other commenters are "long timers"
- comment rating
- comment ranking by date or rating (for long comment lists, so not relevant for most blogs)
- Good thread system to reply to a specific comment
- zero spam: i have not a single spam in 3 months

For editor it is a no brainer:

- zero code install, 3 clicks install
- super dashboard monitoring
- great widget tools
- perfect template integration with no bells and whistles


My only complaints to IntenseDebate?

- Comment link at the bottom of the post takes too long to display vs the rest of the blog
- no integration with FriendFeed which they should work on ASAP
- integration of html code for rich commenting

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