Commenting system giant Disqus powers reader conversations on millions of sites, including large publishers like Rolling Stone and the Atlantic. So when Disqus quietly introduced ads into their free plans last year, there was some understandable frustration.
Why did @disqus just add a bunch of ads to my site without my permission? https://t.co/CzXTTuGs67 pic.twitter.com/y2QbFFzM8U
— Harry Campbell (@TheRideshareGuy) February 1, 2017
I might be late but now getting tacky ads injected into my comments on my site so saying goodbye @disqus . I refuse to pay for an ad-free experience when it has been free all this time. #baitedandswitched
— KenyaRae (@IamKenyaRae) April 18, 2018
Around this time, one of our clients, Military.com, decided to move their content out of Disqus, not only to avoid licensing fees to avoid ads, but also so they could own their comment content. Aside from those two issues, Military.com was satisfied with the user experience of Disqus. An interactive component like comments presented a perfect opportunity to progressively decouple using React.js. So we began work on the React Comments module.
React Comments is a drop-in replacement for Drupal Core’s Comment module. It has all the same features, but with a few added benefits. Because it was built using React, user interactions appear on the page immediately, with no page refresh needed.
Editors can moderate comments in context from the node’s front-end display, rather than digging through the Drupal Admin UI. And regular users can flag comments as inappropriate, too, so you can identify repeat offenders and block them from commenting. Coupled with the Comment Admin Notify module, site administrators can get emails about new comments on their site, so they can take action right away.
And, of course, there are no ads.
Military.com has been using this module on their site since launch in December 2017. With over 10 million active users, they amassed over two thousand comments within just a couple weeks of launch.
Our site uses it as well, as you can see right on this blog post!
In the future, we’re looking to add the ability to improve the theming experience by including an option to wrap the comments section in an iframe with an optional custom stylesheet. Also, setting up notifications for commenters who receive replies is on the horizon.
Try the React Comments module on your site and see what you think. We’d love to get a comment from you with your thoughts on it!
