Categories: Blog Central

Ch-ch-changes

An all-new commenting system is coming to Macleans.ca

by Philippe Gohier on Monday, May 9, 2011 12:11pm - 247 Comments

We’re a restless bunch over here at Macleans.ca. To prove it, we’ve been working on some tweaks here and there, the most noticeable of which will go live today.

Some time in the next few hours, we’ll be switching our comment system over to Disqus. What that means for you, dear reader/commenter, is mainly three things:

(1) Most of the old comments have been imported (the really old ones are coming soon), but your IntenseDebate profiles will not be transferred over to the new system. So all those reputation points you’ve been collecting/squandering over the years will be gone for good. Sorry; we just couldn’t make it happen.

(2) From now on, you’ll have to register before you can comment on articles. You don’t necessarily have to register with Disqus—you can also log in with Twitter or Facebook—but the days of completely anonymous guest comments are over.

(3) Comments will now be relegated to a separate page. You’ll have to click a link at the bottom of an article to see the comments attached to it. The good news is that this should improve load times quite a bit for articles that have a ton of comments.

This is all part of a broader effort to give the site a bit of a spring cleaning, so you’ll be seeing some other, more subtle, changes as well. And since there’s no such thing as a bug-free website, you may notice some glitches as we work out the kinks. Please be patient with us as we sort everything out. In the meantime, feel free to add your comments and suggestions to this post. We’ll be keeping an eye on it.

Hope y’all like what we’ve got in store.

Tags: Comments, disqus, housekeeping, spring cleaning

More by Philippe Gohier

Anonymous

You’re right about Nothing being Left for names… I gave up after about 30 tries. I’ve decided to stop being an anonymous stalker.
Anonymous

You’re right about Nothing being Left for names… I gave up after about 30 tries. I’ve decided to stop being an anonymous stalker.
Anonymous

You’re right about Nothing being Left for names… I gave up after about 30 tries. I’ve decided to stop being an anonymous stalker.
Anonymous

When I click on my screen name (which is red, presumably that means I’m registered) I just get a 404 error message. Anyone else getting that?
Anonymous

When I click on my screen name (which is red, presumably that means I’m registered) I just get a 404 error message. Anyone else getting that?

Anonymous

I think red means you have a blog or something similar to which the clickee is supposed to be directed…

http://dougsamu.wordpress.com doug rogers

try a variation on “Emily”
http://dougsamu.wordpress.com doug rogers

try a variation on “Emily”
http://dougsamu.wordpress.com doug rogers

try a variation on “Emily”
Great White North

and here I am, newly re-incarnated, but with a strangly similar build..
Great White North

and here I am, newly re-incarnated, but with a strangly similar build..
Great White North

and here I am, newly re-incarnated, but with a strangly similar build..
Anonymous

I’m a little concerned people will be less inclined to comment on stories now that the comments section is on a separate page. One of the main reasons I started commenting on the Maclean’s website was my observation that many of the commentators had genuinely intelligent and insightful things to say. I’m not sure I ever would have noticed this if the comments were on a separate page.
Anonymous

I’m a little concerned people will be less inclined to comment on stories now that the comments section is on a separate page. One of the main reasons I started commenting on the Maclean’s website was my observation that many of the commentators had genuinely intelligent and insightful things to say. I’m not sure I ever would have noticed this if the comments were on a separate page.
Anonymous

I’m a little concerned people will be less inclined to comment on stories now that the comments section is on a separate page. One of the main reasons I started commenting on the Maclean’s website was my observation that many of the commentators had genuinely intelligent and insightful things to say. I’m not sure I ever would have noticed this if the comments were on a separate page.
Anonymous

Seeing if this works, I had to pick a different username to login to this new Disqus, it claimed JSC was already taken.
Anonymous

Seeing if this works, I had to pick a different username to login to this new Disqus, it claimed JSC was already taken.
Anonymous

Seeing if this works, I had to pick a different username to login to this new Disqus, it claimed JSC was already taken.
Anonymous

Testing, testing, one, two, three…
Anonymous

Testing, testing, one, two, three…
Anonymous

Hey, Sean’s back! Yay!

Edit: Wait a minute: this was a “reply” top my own “testing” comment but it somehow got turfed out to sit all alone.

TonyAdams

”

Hey, Sean’s back! Yay! ”

I agree. Voice of sanity and moderation. Welcome back, Sean.

I like new comment section but we need more nesting. Have got use to it now. I also gave you liked, try it out.
TonyAdams

”

Hey, Sean’s back! Yay! ”

I agree. Voice of sanity and moderation. Welcome back, Sean.

I like new comment section but we need more nesting. Have got use to it now. I also gave you liked, try it out.
TonyAdams

”

Hey, Sean’s back! Yay! ”

I agree. Voice of sanity and moderation. Welcome back, Sean.

I like new comment section but we need more nesting. Have got use to it now. I also gave you liked, try it out.
Sean

Good to you see you all again (though I’ve never stopped visiting – just a long break from spewing my feeble thoughts).
Sean

Good to you see you all again (though I’ve never stopped visiting – just a long break from spewing my feeble thoughts).

modster99

Can’t really say I am thrilled. The system needed a tweak, for sure, but this is a bit much.
Anonymous

Can we get a few more reply levels, please?

Well, actually, a few few?
Claudia Lemire

: )
Anonymous

Drat someone beat me to my old login . Change is inevitable one supposes. If the goal is to reduce smears and reduce strain available space; consider limiting the number of postings one commentator can make on a thread. There’s been a tendency for snipping at each other in the past and I have been guilty of it myself.
Anonymous

I don’t understand why people are suddenly afraid. You can track IPs without people logging in. I’m guessing your average political hack isn’t smart enough to use a proxy.