Disqus just released their WordPress 3.0 Plugin Beta which includes an updated API to take advantage of new WP-API features, as well as improved stability for offline comment syncing. This update is important for Shifter and other static site generators since 3rd apps like Disqus makes online commenting possible.
At times, online commenting is a necessary evil. On one hand, it’s an easy way bring more users to your site by creating new channels for engaging conversation, and on the other hand, it’s also hard to secure against spam bots, scale effectively, and a typical point of origin for hacks.
Shifter paired with Disqus gives you premium commenting features at low or no cost with the security you expect. Once your Shifter sites are set up with Disqus not only is there no WordPress admin to hack, SQL injections and Zero Day exploits related to WordPress are no longer relevant.
Deploying Disqus on Shifter
Adding Disqus to any Shifter is the same process as any other WordPress Plugin.
1. Launch or import your site on Shifter. We’ve created a step-by-step guide if you need help getting started.
2. Install Disqus from the plugins directory or upload one of their latest releases from Github.
3. Activate and link your account to Disqus.
Simple as that!
As you can see adding Disqus to any WordPress site on Shifter is the same any other plugin. But now, when you deploy and generate new versions of your site you’ll have online comments without a headache.
If you’ve avoided using comments in the past for any of those reasons, we suggest giving it another try. Disqus and WordPress on Shifter is a perfect combination.
Other Benefits of using Disqus on WordPress
Security is usually the primary concern for using Disqus with WordPress, but that’s not all. For larger sites that use comments, it can also improve performance.
Depending on how you write functions for displaying WordPress comments, large queries can be slow. With traditional hosting that puts a strain on your server, which isn’t a factor here, but it can still impact your database size and performance.
Let WordPress handle what it does best such as managing content and leave security and commenting to Disqus on Shifter.