Moving to new Disqus... gently

Let's inaugurate the new Disqus with a couple of aww pictures. It should help soften the blow...

Disqus

I mentioned in a previous thread that Disqus is going to implement their new version of the system on all sites from March and discontinue all older versions. Pallottine suggested we change it sooner rather than later so we can get used to it. I tend to agree with him.

This is the appearance of the new Disqus. I have already switched to it on the other blogs and can't change it back anymore.

The new features, in a nutshell:

1. The avatars are small and can't be enlarged anymore
2. Comments may be voted up or down via the arrows on the left
3. The nested threads (replies, replies to replies and so on) will cut off after 10 comments automatically
4. They promise real time updating, but I haven't seen any evidence that it works
5. They have discontinued pagination and will have a "load more comments" button at the bottom of the thread
6. They have removed most options for customizing any of it

Some of these features won't affect us greatly because we never have too many comments (the beauty of a small community!), but I'm not happy about small avatars and have made my feelings known to Disqus. I also suggested they stop tweaking the bloody thing. Every time they "improve" it, everything goes wrong.

In the past, they offered more options and we could stick to an older, stable version. They left the old versions alone and concentrated on "improving" the most recent one. Now they offer a single version, take it or leave it!

I'm toying with the idea of switching to the new version as we won't be able to avoid it for much longer. Let me know if you want to make the most of the few weeks left on the old version or bite the bullet and take the plunge now!

Registering with Disqus - UPDATE

UPDATE - I may have confused people with this post. Registered readers should ignore it. This tutorial is to help unregistered people who may have been given the runaround by charming but temperamental Disqus...

*****

This is a long overdue tutorial about registering with disqus. Only registered users can have avatars and the "edit" button feature. It also means you'll have the same identitity on all sites using Disqus.

Start by clicking on the settings icon (gear symbol), and a drop menu will appear. Click on "Login."

A box will appear. Click on "Need an account?"

Fill in the required fields. Click "Register."

Once you've clicked "Register," an email will be sent to you for confirmation:

Click on the "Verity" button and you'll be taken to a Disqus page to choose a password:

Type your chosen password, then "Let me in!"

On the blog, you will appear next to the comment box, still showing the default clock avatar. Now you can edit your profile. Click on the gear icon again and choose "edit settings" from the drop menu:

You'll be taken to a disqus page, with your account open. Click on "avatar" on the left menu.

Choose how you will upload the picture. It may be from your own files or from the web. If from your files, click on "Browse" and choose the file you want to use. Click on "Upload." Scroll down and click on "Save changes." A new box will allow you to tweak your picture. Play with it until you're happy and click save.

Make sure that the picture has appeared at the top, scroll down and click on "Save changes" again.

Now refresh the blog page and your profile will be updated to show your chosen avatar. That's it. You may repeat the process whenever you wish to change the picture.

If uploading from the web, you'll need to find the picture you want and have it on its own on the webpage. Copy the text on the address bar. Just click on it and it will turn blue. If it doesn't turn blue with one click, left click on your mouse, hold it and run it over the whole address. Once it's all blue, press the control key on your keyboard, followed by the "c" key. Go back to the disqus box and click on the field under the upload from the web, press the control key followed by the "v" key and the text you copied will be pasted there. Scroll, save and the process will be the same as for uploading your own file. Always click save at the bottom of every box in the process.

That's how you can post links in the comments: Copy the address bar (Control + "c") click on the comment box and paste (Control + "v").

When you want copy & paste text, choose that start point in the text you want to copy, left click on your mouse, hold it and run it over the text, up to the point you wish to copy. It will turn blue. Do the control + "c" as explained above, go to where you want to paste, click on the field, then do control + "v." I copied this from Palingates last open thread:

Then I pasted it in the comments:

You may also set your "Notifications" to anything you wish. Click on it on the menu and check the things you want, then save.

Welcome to Disqus. It's guaranteed to give you hours of exciting fun and drive you up the wall!