Tech Tuesdays - Integrating Disqus comments on your blog

Today, I would like to show you how to go about integrating the Disqus commenting system on your blog.

Why Disqus?

• Rich features - threaded comments, reply by email, track all your comments etc.
• Sign in with ANY id - you can sign in with Facebook, Twitter, Google and so on. Anything.
• Well integrated with social media - You can share your comments and replies on twitter and facebook too.
• Other add on widgets like Recent comments, popular commenters etc.

Until recently, it was not so easy to integrate disqus with blogger, it had to be done manually. But now it takes less than a minute. I would strongly recommend every serious blogger to do it. Here's how we go about it.

Step 1 - Sign up for Disqus and add your sites.

After you sign up for an account with Disqus, be sure to add your blog to the list of sites that you manage.  Then go to your Admin panel and click on the "Install" tab.

Admin -> Install

Step 2 - Choose the platform on which you have to install. Blogger, for instance.

• When your site is already added to your disqus profile, all you need to do now is to click on the button as it is shown below, to add the widget to your blog. 
• You will then be required to login to blogger and authorize the widget.
• When the page element is added in blogger, you can drag and drop it to where you want. Typically, in the end of the post body. 

Install to blogger

Step 3 - Import existing comments

• Since disqus is the default commenting system on your blog now, you have to also import the older comments in your blog so that they don't disappear now. 
• Click on the tab "Tools" in your admin panel.
• Now select "Import and export" and select the platform from which you have to import comments. Here, it is blogger again.
• This will take a while, depending on how many comments you have in your blog. 
• Once it is completed, you would be able to see your old comments in the new system.

Import comments from Blogger

Wasn't that super easy?! Try it out and let me know if you face any issues. I'd be glad to help. If you have any suggestions for posts in my "Tech Tuesdays" series, drop me a line.

Tech Tuesdays - How to set up a custom welcome tab for your Facebook page

So here comes the first installment of my new series - How to set up a custom welcome tab for your Facebook page. If you are a blogging artist, I assume you have a business page on Facebook already. If not, get yourself one right now and come back to reading this. :) 

Here is my page on facebook - Fine Art by Nithya Swaminathan, and what you see when you click on the link is my "custom" welcome page. You will be shown this page if you are not a fan of my page already. If you are a fan of my business page, then you will be seeing the "Wall" by default and you can click on "Welcome" to your left to see the welcome page. 

Why do you need a welcome tab?

When someone visits your facebook page for the first time, this tab will give them "intro" to your work. You could list all your important links, like your blog, website, online store and so on so that a visitor is not left searching for them. 

You could include a call for action, like I have, requesting them to like the page. 

Now shall we go about building such a page in less than 30 minutes? Here you go!

Step 1 - Choose your app

• Search for an app that builds custom tabs and add them to your fan page by giving it the necessary permissions (clicking "Allow" to authorize the app).
• A simple search for "custom" in the facebook search bar will list many apps that provide this functionality. Examples are Pagemodo, Custom Welcome Tab, Static FBML etc. 
• My page uses "Custom Welcome Tab" and it is very easy to use.
• When you "add" the app to your page, you could also specify the text that is to be displayed in the left side of your page. I have just chosen "Welcome". 

Add the app to your page

Step 2 - Configure Custom Tab

After adding the app to your page, when you go back to the app you will be able to see your page listed in the dashboard. Click on the "Configure Tab" button to customize it's contents. 

Configure Tab

Step 3 - Add content to your custom tab

• The app provides a rich text editor to add text, images, links and format them as you would like your page to be. 
• In my page, I have added an image just like I have done in the home page of my website. I have actually added the same image as on my website. You could even add a video introducing yourself and your art. The possibilities are endless.
• I wanted to keep it simple, so my welcome tab shows an image of my work and my links. 
• The editor also provides an option to preview your changes so that you could make changes after previewing them. Save your changes and come back to your page admin panel.

Rich Text Editor with image added

Add links to website

Step 4 - Configure the landing tab

• Once you have designed your custom welcome tab, it has to be configured as the "default landing tab" in your page, only after which it will be displayed when visitors land on your page.
• Go to your fan page and click on Edit in the left side. 
• In the admin view, click on "Manage Permissions".
• In the option "Default landing tab", select the tab that we have just designed from the dropdown box. 
• Save your changes.

Set as landing tab

Voila and you are done! That's it and when a new visitor, who is not a fan of your page lands there, they will be shown the welcome page first. Cool isn't it. This is how my page looks.

Custom Landing Page
Fine Art by Nithya Swaminathan

How did you like this step by step guide? Was it useful? Was it confusing? This is the first time I am trying something like this so I welcome all your feedback. Do let me know what was fine and what was not. And do come back for the next installment on the 28th of June 2011. 

I look forward to hearing from you.