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04

Dec

2008

Joomla Comment Extensions
Written by David Towers   

Joomla Comment ExtensionsJoomla, unlike Wordpress doesn't come with a comment system pre-installed, so today we're going to talk about comment plugins for Joomla.

We will be sharing our favourite Joomla 1.5 blog comment extensions, and then ask you which comment system you prefer.

Adding Comments to Joomla

We really like the Joomla content management system because it is pretty easy to use, can be search engine optimised and with extensions is a very flexible web development platform.

The Joomla installation package comes with a number of extensions installed by default such as the contact, polls and weblinks plugins. One of the features that lots of people using Joomla want to have, is the possibility of visitors commenting on articles. The good news is that there are a number of comment extensions for Joomla.

Joomla Comment Extensions worth considering?

These are the blog comment extensions that we think are worth considering for Joomla 1.5:

Here are some examples of websites using the comment extensions above:

Our favourite comment system for Joomla?

We will be bringing you a more detailed analysis of these plugins in the future, but essentially, each of the comment systems mentioned above have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, the IntenseDebate and Disqus comment systems for Joomla are well suited to blogs and the exchange of comments between blogs.

We currently use JomComment as it's our prefered extension. We reviewed JomComment here, but the main reason we like Azurl's Jom Comment is that it has a good set of features, the front-end look can be customised and it works really well. We're not alone in using JomComment, a number of other Joomla bloggers use JomComment including Steve Burge at Alledia and Barry North at Compass Designs.

Which is your favourite comment system?

You've heard which comment system we like using, what about you? Please vote:

Do let us know about your experience in using any of these comment systems in the comments below.

19 Comments
0
Kyle Ledbetter
December 04, 2008
Votes: +2

We use an love JomComment. My ONLY complaint is how it seems to take control of all the rest of your site's "Read More" links...though I haven't updated to the latest release.
!JoomlaComment is also a nice free comment system http://extensions.joomla.org/c...Itemid,35/ (nice job on your site refresh btw)

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David Towers
December 04, 2008
Votes: +2

Hey Kyle, thanks for the comment. Yeah I think I'll add !JoomlaComment to the list, just a shame it requires legacy mode. But yeah you guys have done some good customisation with it on JoomlaPraise, so will add it on there.

Thanks for the feedback.

Moved the site over to Joomla 1.5, gone ok but took ages!

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Pete
December 04, 2008
Votes: +1

Hi David,

well my favorit is Jxtended Comments.. Flexible and adaptable and I think Development is not yet where they want it to be...

Cheers

Pete

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Jason
December 05, 2008
Votes: +1

I use !JoomlaComment. It's free and once you spend the time to template it, it works great and even integrates with Community Builder. Except for the fact that it only runs in Legacy mode, I see no reason to pay a separate license for each site like you have to do with JomComment. Also as mentioned, it doesn't try to take over your site as with extensions like MX Comment.

I'd be interested in Jxtended Comments if it could link w/CB, but I don't think it does.

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David Towers
December 05, 2008
Votes: +1

Today we learnt about another extension that can be used for blog comments, Google Friend Connect. We've written an article about it here: http://www.goodwebpractices.co...oomla.html

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Rob Schley
December 06, 2008
Votes: +1

JXtended Comments does not integrate with CB. Let's just say we have bigger plans for it. smilies/wink.gif

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Rob Schley
December 06, 2008
Votes: +0

By the way, you might want to look at the way your Comments form renders in FF on Mac. It is getting pushed down into the module positions on the bottom.

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David Towers
December 06, 2008
Votes: +0

Hi Rob! Thanks for your comments. Looking forward to see how Jxtended Comments develops - please do keep us upto date about it so we can mention here at GoodWebPractices.com.

Thanks for the tip off about the comments form getting pushed down into the module positions at the bottom of the page, we haven't found a fix for it yet.

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qiutian
December 07, 2008
Votes: +0

Thanks to david for this good article

I will try the comment system later

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85
Jason Boyette
December 08, 2008
Votes: +1

Kyle,

I agree with you on the Read More thing with JomComment. My problem is the Read More link is not very visible any more. If you figure out how to change that, post back or write something at JoomlaPraise.com.

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David Towers
December 08, 2008
Votes: +0

Kyle and Jason, you guys can easily disable JomComments "Read more" link always appearing.

Just go into the JomComment component admin, then select: General Settings > Layout > Read More Integrations. Then uncheck "Use Jom Comment's "Read more"". Should be pretty straight forward.

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Jason Boyette
December 08, 2008
Votes: -1

Perfect. I should have tried that before!

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Uuganaa
December 11, 2008
Votes: +0

Your Extension appears to be written for an older version of Joomla!. You must enable the System - Legacy Plugin in the Plugin Manager if you wish to complete this task.

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Jason
December 15, 2008
Votes: +0

Just found a new comment extension (and another that starts with J) to add to the list, JComments. I haven't used it yet, but it sounds promising. Supports J1.5 Native, a bunch of components including community builder, even Virtuemart and features sound pretty good. Note that the main page is not updated for version 2 (read the news page).

It appears to be open source and free to download, but I couldn't find the license anywhere on the site. Maybe that's why it's not at the Joomla Exchange...

http://www.joomlatune.com/jcomments.html

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David Towers
December 15, 2008
Votes: +1

Thanks for the information about JComments Jason, I'll keep my on eye on that for further developments.

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Lionel Chew
January 22, 2009
Votes: +1

Great information on the commenting systems.

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Mike
January 31, 2009
Votes: +0

I installed jcomments recently, and I'm loving it. I don't have experience with the others, but did a lot of research on them. I'm using it w/ joomla 1.5.

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Anne
March 08, 2009
Votes: +0

i installed joomla coment 3.26,but can't contact with article..dong't know why?

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bouji
April 20, 2009
Votes: +0

I just wonder why you guys haven't mentioned my favorite jcomment extension?

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