Disqus replaced with wpDiscuz

The Disqus plugin hasn’t been automatically syncing with Cat Nine’s WordPress comments so I’ve disabled it for now and used this as an opportunity to try wpDiscuz. So far, I like it better since wpDiscuz actually uses WordPress’ native commenting system while adding some great features.

Pros

• It’s not a third-party website so it should load the comments faster.
• I learned a bit of SQL so I have more control over the comments. Now I can fix or modify multiple comments. Don’t worry, I won’t abuse this power!
• I’m planning to pay for some add-ons for it in the future. The most notable is the Emoticons add-on for the built-in emoji palette… and custom stickers! I’ll definitely add the Discord emojis as stickers later if I get it.
• Guests can now comment without an account, although they’ll still need a name, email, and click on the reCAPTCHA. Logged-in users won’t need nor see the reCAPTCHA. Might change this to the invisible reCAPTCHA if I get that add-on.
• Badges depending on your role, particularly for patrons. I can style them too for additional bling, though I’ll reserve that for higher tiers.
• I’ve finished setting stuff up so you can log-in with Facebook, Twitter, Google, Patreon, WordPress, and Disqus (only available in the comment form). Or you can just register if you don’t want to use any of these or want to set your own username.
  • Be warned, using any of the log-ins mentioned might use that account’s profile pic. Just installed a plugin that allows you to upload a profile pic. Hope it works!
  • You can also sync your FB, Twitter, and Google account to your account in your profile page.
• Users and guests can add a link to their website when commenting.
• Possibly more features if I get the add-on bundle. I’ll likely use these two:
  • Points/reputation system for frequent and/or highly upvoted commenters, which award badges.
  • Embed stuff from Twitter, Youtube, and etc.

Cons

• Your profile pic might be missing if you didn’t have an account here in Cat Nine, or if you didn’t have an email associated with Gravatar when you commented. I might be able to fix them upon request or if you log-in here.
• I’ve disabled uploading media since my webhost has limited space. The only way you can post images is by posting the image’s URL.
• Have to agree/check the Terms and Privacy policy checkbox before commenting, but you’ll never see it again afterward.
• Lacks some features compared to Disqus until I get the add-on for it.

Because of APO (mentioned below), you might have to refresh the page after logging in to see that you’re actually logged-in. To make it more obvious you’re logged-in, I’ve activated the admin bar again for logged-in users. If you can’t see the admin bar, you’re not logged-in or have to refresh the page.

Admin bar, for reference

You might need to resubscribe to notifications

I moved from HTTP to HTTPS so I had to reconfigure some stuff in the website, particularly the notifications. You can just subscribe again if the pop-up shows up, but now you can also do it manually yourself through your browser’s Site settings.

Chrome’s site settings

Faster speeds with Automatic Platform Optimization by Cloudflare

It apparently makes WordPress sites faster so I’m trying it out for a month. Hopefully, it speeds things for you guys and worth the $5/month. Thanks for helping out by voting on the poll below!

[poll removed, thanks for voting!]