Commenting systems and pitfalls
I am fatally unlucky with commenting systems. I have one site, even, rather, a blog, for which I myself wrote the engine in php. It was about five years ago, when I didn’t know about modern CMS at all, but it didn’t matter. With the engine everything is fine, it works quickly and without problems, but the most acute was, of course, the problem of comments on the blog.
At that time, I was not too lazy to code something of my own, but I still wanted some kind of external authorization, and my choice fell on Google Friend Connect promoted by Google. Having thoroughly tinker with their API, I made a very cozy system, where the user on this Google Friend Connect itself logged in, and already left a comment using the engine of my site.
Everything was smooth as long as Google did not massively cover its services, promoting its Google Plus. Zasim the entire authorization system flew, so I had to look for something new. A year ago, I chose the Cackle system, but recently I had to abandon it.
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Since you looked under the cut, let's stop for a moment. What am I writing this post for? Probably, then, to talk about commentary systems and the dangers associated with them. I have already solved my problem, although I had to allocate time for coding to change the system in a timely manner, but that’s okay. But I think I'm not the only one who has problems with commenting systems.
What can a user want from a commenting system when installing it on a site? It seems to me that the very first item is the confidence that these comments can be touched. And that tomorrow the whole system will not go to hell, leaving you without your valuable comments. In this sense, I really liked Cackle back then, because I offered a system for synchronizing comments in their database and your database on the site.
The second useful thing is indexing comments. It is now reliably known that the comments Disqus are indexed, although they are displayed using javascript. But this is all the development of search engines, even a year ago there was no such certainty. Therefore, like many, I was looking for the possibility of indexing comments in a different way. Simply put, I needed comments to be stored in the base of the site and output using php. After that, in the case of javascript loading, this entire block of comments was replaced with an already beautifully drawn block by means of a commenting system. This is not possible in disqus, but it was implemented in Sackle.
Unfortunately, time passes and systems change their policies and their API. Consider this a bit of a complaint book, although I know perfectly well that habr is not a complaint book. Just next time choosing a commenting system, think about how much you start to depend on it. And read the next paragraph just as an example.
In this case, two things changed at once. First, the API. The system began to give recent comments only on the new API, which required a change in the database structure. But it was just impossible to switch to it, because the system did not send imported comments through the API - those made before installing Cackle on the site. Thus, in addition to changing API calls, I also had to do database conversion. Secondly, the pricing policy has changed. A year ago, simple use was free, and White-label (no link to the site) cost 300 rubles. Now, the use has cost 300 for the site (and for some reason they tried to charge me for 6 sites), and the White label - 3000r (all prices per year). I am not ready to pay so much for it is not clear what.
Now I have chosen Disqus and I hope that such a change will not occur. But I do not forget about backups either.
The moral of this story: using an external commenting system, keep in mind that you give one of the valuable parts of your website to a third party. Very carefully choose this side. Because all the functionality can change, and you suddenly find yourself without comment. Or, at best (as I happened to Google Friend Connect and Cackle) - with comments, but without the ability to leave new ones. Although maybe I just fatally unlucky with commenting systems.
At that time, I was not too lazy to code something of my own, but I still wanted some kind of external authorization, and my choice fell on Google Friend Connect promoted by Google. Having thoroughly tinker with their API, I made a very cozy system, where the user on this Google Friend Connect itself logged in, and already left a comment using the engine of my site.
Everything was smooth as long as Google did not massively cover its services, promoting its Google Plus. Zasim the entire authorization system flew, so I had to look for something new. A year ago, I chose the Cackle system, but recently I had to abandon it.
')
Since you looked under the cut, let's stop for a moment. What am I writing this post for? Probably, then, to talk about commentary systems and the dangers associated with them. I have already solved my problem, although I had to allocate time for coding to change the system in a timely manner, but that’s okay. But I think I'm not the only one who has problems with commenting systems.
What can a user want from a commenting system when installing it on a site? It seems to me that the very first item is the confidence that these comments can be touched. And that tomorrow the whole system will not go to hell, leaving you without your valuable comments. In this sense, I really liked Cackle back then, because I offered a system for synchronizing comments in their database and your database on the site.
The second useful thing is indexing comments. It is now reliably known that the comments Disqus are indexed, although they are displayed using javascript. But this is all the development of search engines, even a year ago there was no such certainty. Therefore, like many, I was looking for the possibility of indexing comments in a different way. Simply put, I needed comments to be stored in the base of the site and output using php. After that, in the case of javascript loading, this entire block of comments was replaced with an already beautifully drawn block by means of a commenting system. This is not possible in disqus, but it was implemented in Sackle.
Unfortunately, time passes and systems change their policies and their API. Consider this a bit of a complaint book, although I know perfectly well that habr is not a complaint book. Just next time choosing a commenting system, think about how much you start to depend on it. And read the next paragraph just as an example.
In this case, two things changed at once. First, the API. The system began to give recent comments only on the new API, which required a change in the database structure. But it was just impossible to switch to it, because the system did not send imported comments through the API - those made before installing Cackle on the site. Thus, in addition to changing API calls, I also had to do database conversion. Secondly, the pricing policy has changed. A year ago, simple use was free, and White-label (no link to the site) cost 300 rubles. Now, the use has cost 300 for the site (and for some reason they tried to charge me for 6 sites), and the White label - 3000r (all prices per year). I am not ready to pay so much for it is not clear what.
Now I have chosen Disqus and I hope that such a change will not occur. But I do not forget about backups either.
The moral of this story: using an external commenting system, keep in mind that you give one of the valuable parts of your website to a third party. Very carefully choose this side. Because all the functionality can change, and you suddenly find yourself without comment. Or, at best (as I happened to Google Friend Connect and Cackle) - with comments, but without the ability to leave new ones. Although maybe I just fatally unlucky with commenting systems.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/216671/
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