How to Add Disqus Comments to WordPress Blogs?

Disqus has long been one of the most popular commenting solutions. It is cross-platforms and works with a wide range of website tools and software including WordPress. So, how do you add Disqus comments to WordPress websites and blogs? This post will answer the question.

It does not take rocket science to add Disqus comments to WordPress sites. However, first let us take a moment to learn more about Disqus.

How to Add Disqus Comments to WordPress Blogs?

What are Disqus Comments?

Disqus, simply put, is a commenting platform and solution. It allows users to leave comments on your content.

You might be wondering, does not WordPress offer comments by default? Yes, it does. But Disqus comments are more feature-packed.

Your users can upvote or downvote comments, login using their social profiles such as Facebook account or Disqus account, and so on. Obviously, Disqus can also reduce spam because you can enable login-only comments. Disqus integrates seamlessly with Akismet and other popular anti-spam solutions.

Disqus also has the ability to suggest featured content to your readers. Furthermore, you can also sign up for partener content ideas and earn money by suggesting relevant content from other sites.

All said and done, Disqus is a useful commenting mechanism that you should consider taking a look at. However, it also comes with some minor downsides of its own.

First, Disqus takes slightly longer to load as compared to WordPress native comments. For slower connections and users with poor internet (which they can test here), this might be a problem. Second, if Disqus’ servers crash or go down, your comments may not load properly. While this is just a temporary glitch, it can still render your comments system affected.

With that said, let us now learn how to add Disqus comments to WordPress.

How to Add Disqus Comments to WordPress Websites?

The procedure is simple. You first need to install and activate the official Disqus Comment System plugin for WordPress.

Once activated, the plugin will ask you to link your Disqus account. You will need a Disqus username and password for this. If you do not have one, you can sign up for a free account therein.

Once done, you can now manage your comments using Disqus.

Things Worth Noting

Your comments are not going anywhere. You can still view them in the Comments menu in WordPress admin panel. Should you ever wish to disable Disqus, simply de-link and deactivate the plugin and everything will be back as before.

However, you can now manage, moderate and handle your website’s commenting system over at Disqus itself. You can flag comments, ban or approve users, and so on. For detailed help with this, you will need to consult the Disqus documentation.

Lastly, bear in mind that the free version of Disqus is ad supported. You can sign up for a paid plan that does not include ads, starting from $10 per month and going upwards. Also, non-profit sites, personal blogs that do not have advertisements, as well as .edu sites can get the premium plan for free as well.

Conclusion

Disqus is a useful tool if you are looking to drive user engagement and boost the activity in your comments section. While it does have some pitfalls, such as the possibility of ads on the free version and a slight delay in page load times, it is a real upgrade from the default WordPress commenting system.

For the most part, you should give Disqus a spin and see if it works for you. It is rather simple to add Disqus comments to WordPress websites. As a result, it won’t hurt to give it a try.

With that said, if the majority of your audience comes from Facebook or Google+, you might be better off with an alternative commenting system, such as Facebook Comments or Google+ Comments.

And while you're at adding Disqus to your blog, you should also consider getting a great WordPress blogging theme for your blog.

Have you tried to add Disqus comments to WordPress sites? Share your experience in the comments below!