Chris Gammell wrote an excellent post about his experience using IntenseDebate.  After reading Matt Mullenweg’s post, 6 Steps To Kill Your Community, Chris was compelled to give IntenseDebate a try.  Here are some of his initial thoughts on how you can benefit from using IntenseDebate (via his post):

• Reply directly to comments made by others – No more calling out names, now it’s a hierarchical format that shows your reply directly below theirs.
• Login is easier — IntenseDebate let me create a Facebook app; not that I wanted to for personal gain, but now you can use Facebook to login to the comments here if you like. [...] You can also login with Twitter, IntenseDebate, WordPress.com or it will just pull your photo in if you happen to use Gravatar (another Automattic creation, the same people that do WP).
• Subscribe to comments — I usually “set it and forget it” when it comes to commenting on sites. Once I’ve dropped off my two cents, I usually don’t care to stick around and refresh or I completely forget I commented somewhere. The comments subscription is easy and won’t overwhelm your inbox. Plus you can reply back to any replies you get through email.
• Voting – I don’t want this site to be a popularity contest, but sometimes you see a comment you really like. Now there’s a up/down arrow next to comments you think are really good so they’ll rise to the top. Similar to a reddit or more relevant ChipHacker. I like the “democratic” view of commenting–just because you’re the most recent doesn’t mean you should show up first. Even if you’re not planning on commenting, take a minute to click on comments you agree with.
• CommentLuv — This is a plugin that will pull your latest blog post title into your post automatically. It’s a simple way to show what you’ve been writing about even if you don’t want to write “PLEASE LISTEN TO ME AND VISIT MY SITE” in every post. I doubt that anyone on the internet ever does that kind of thing though. With this new plugin, it’s no big deal.
• Sharing – I really don’t think many people are submitting my posts to social media sites, but this is also integrated as a plugin (previously it was a plugin at the bottom of the post, not in the comments). If you feel the urge, I encourage it! (no pity submissions, please)

Many thanks to Chris for giving ID a try, and for sharing his review!

We depend on your support and feedback, and we always love your help with spreading the word about IntenseDebate.  Let us know if you publish a review of your experience with ID — we’ll be happy to give you a shout out, and help share your feedback with the rest of the blogosphere.

Posted by Michael Koenig in community,feedback

Jon Fox recently chatted about IntenseDebate with James Woodcock on his podcast.  Check it out at http://www.jameswoodcock.co.uk/?p=3421.  Podcast topics include (from James’ post):

• What is IntenseDebate?
• How did it all begin?
• Features of IntenseDebate
• Customization
• Any slowdown when adding so many features to your own site?
• Rating comments
• Facebook and Twitter integration
• Reputation system
• The dreaded SPAM
• Additional plugins for IntenseDebate
• Automattic Inc. purchasing IntenseDebate and the effect of this transaction
• IntenseDebate future on WordPress.com blogs
• What can IntenseDebate offer over any rivals with a similar feature list?
• Looking to the future…
• IntenseDebate on Mobile devices
• HTML5 and VP8

Many thanks to James for having Jon on. We’re always happy to chat, so give us a shout if you’d like to have us on your own podcast.

Posted by Michael Koenig in community,News

WordCamp is coming to my home town of Chicago this weekend, at the Chicago Mart Plaza. If you’re in the area, pick up a ticket at http://wordcampchicago.com/registration. You’d better hurry because there are only 16 advanced tickets left. I’ll be there (along with some slick IntenseDebate stickers for your laptop) and I’d love to meet you!

In case you’re not familiar with it:

WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. WordCamps are open to WordPress.com and WordPress.org users alike.

Posted by Michael Koenig in community

We’re stoked to introduce our latest plugin, Facebook Share for Comments. This nifty plugin was written by Jon, the master code ninja himself, and gives your commenters the option to click to share their comments on Facebook after they post.

While we have offered this as standard integration with our Facebook Connect feature, the new Facebook Share for Comments plugin gives all commenters (IntenseDebate, WordPress.com, Facebook Connect, Twitter Sign-in, and Guest users) the option to post back to their Facebook activity stream when they comment.

After posting a comment, just select the “Share on Facebook” button → connect to your Facebook account (if you’re not already logged-in) → customize the message you’re posting in your activity stream → hit submit!

The implementation is similar to our Facebook Share button plugin, so you don’t need to setup a new Facebook app or enter a Facebook API Key. Like all of our plugins, you just have to go to your Plugins Directory at http://intensedebate.com/plugins, select the “Activate” link next to the plugin, and voilà, the plugin is activated and ready to use in your comments. There’s no additional code for you to manually install, so there’s no need to get your hands dirty messing around with your template.

Interested in flexing your own coding muscles and developing a super-slick plugin? Check out our Plugin Resources and documentation. You can also check out our Plugins blog post for more information.

Posted by Michael Koenig in community,features

Ah spring time… it’s definitely in full swing: trees are greening, days are getting longer, NHL playoffs are here (Go Red Wings!), and Automatticians and WordPress enthusiasts alike are flocking in their annual migration West to San Francisco for some good old-fashioned geekery. Yep, I’m talking about the 4th annual WordCamp San Francisco this weekend at the Mission Bay Conference Center.

In case you’re not familiar with it:

WordCamp is a conference that focuses on everything WordPress. WordCamps are informal, community-organized events that are put together by WordPress users like you. Everyone from casual users to core developers participate, share ideas, and get to know each other. WordCamps are open to WordPress.com and WordPress.org users alike.

So if you’re around this weekend and planning on heading to WordCamp, we’d love to meetup. Drop us a line in the comments below or on Twitter: we’re @mkoenig, @jfox85, @isaackeyet, @beaulebens, and of course @intensedebate. I’ll also be presenting a lightning session on Improving Your Comments with IntenseDebate, so be sure to check that out!

If you can’t make it to WordCamp but are in the San Francisco area, we’ll be in town for the next two weeks and we’re always looking to make new friends.

Posted by Michael Koenig in community,News