I am currently using on my blog the default comment system with in addition only the “Quote Comments” plugin.
I have seen IntenseDebate and it seems it has many interesting features that probably (and hope) will push the visitors to leave more comments.
The pros are clear but do you see any drawbacks that should I take into account before decide to install or not IntenseDebate plugin on my blog?
There’s an excellent post here which, while it might not be completely balanced (it sets out from the start that it is against external commenting systems), it offers a good view of the cons of such systems.
A quick summary of three main points (a mixture of my personal opinions and from the blog post):
- Comments are stored externally – you no longer have ‘possession’ of the comments on your blog – they are stored by somebody else, physically away from the rest of your blog
- Comments are often loaded in via AJAX after the page has loaded, or even after they are in the viewport which can make your site appear slower to your readers
- Issues with your comments ‘provider’ may disable comment functionality – if there is a problem on IDs side you will not be able to do anything about it
