I’ve installed a new commenting system to the site today called Intense Debate. Basically, it enhances the commenting process by allowing for nested comments, reputations points, and more. I’m going to try it out as an experiment, but I’m hoping it will make the discussions on Reclaimer a little more fun and enjoyable. Feel free to check out the ID website. You can actually sign up for an ID account directly from the comment form on any post on Reclaimer when you leave a new comment. Let me know what you think of Intense Debate as you use it.
Also, before anyone points it out – yes, I’m aware that there’s a slight formatting issue on the left side of the comments area. I’m going to be out of town from now until tomorrow afternoon, but once I get back, I’ll try to sort out the issue with the formatting. In the meantime, consider this an open thread to play with ID.
UPDATE: I’ve decided to go ahead and remove the Intense Debate plugin (as evidenced by the missing 18 or so comments on this thread) due to the fact that, while there are a lot of things I really like about the system (like the ability to reply to comments via email and the reputation system), there are a number of things I don’t like about it, as well. The chief among those reasons is the fact that comments are no longer stored locally on my server, and I’m a bit of a data junkie. I like to have everything about my website stored locally (as much as possible) for maximum data management. I’ll continue to keep an eye on ID as they develop past their beta phase, and if they start tweaking the system more to my liking, I may bring it back.
Good. While the ID had its uses and interesting aplications, there were a LOT of bugs I saw with the increased complexity; and sometimes, simpler is better.
I’m sorry to hear that you encountered a formatting bug with ID. I do have a fix to correct that issue.
I would like to let you know that all of your comments are stored locally with our new WordPress beta plugin (which is currently available for testing). The main feature is data synchronization. This feature syncs all of your comments back into your WordPress comment system so you always have all of your comments. Uninstalling ID is a one click process and you won’t lose any comments.
Is there any chance that you would reconsider and give ID another try? If you would like to, please email me for an invite to download our new plugin. Also, I’ll send you that fix for your formatting issue.
I hope to hear from you!
Michael
^no
Well, you see, Michael, things don’t quite work that easily. And by posting your advertisement (that is what it is, don’t deny it) here, you have allowed those of us who didn’t like it to tell Jim not to use it.
In many things, simpler is often better (Reclaimer’s plot is not one of those things but the forums and comments are)
KEEP IT CLEAN!
Ok, you guys. Be nice. I’m actually really interested in using Intense Debate. It’s just not at a point in development yet where I’d be completely happy using it on this particular site. I’ve already exchanged a couple of emails with Michael about it, and I expect there will be some more of that as things develop. I have to admit, though, that some of the spice of ID will be nullified when WordPress 2.7 releases at the end of this month and brings with it some new features for commenting. When that happens, I may, in fact, lose interest in ID, since things like reputation points are more like icing on the cake. What I do like is threaded comments, and those are going to be built in to WordPress 2.7. So, basically, the jury’s still out on ID. I’m not complete for it right now, but I’m not completely against it, either.
And just for your information, fox, that really wasn’t an ad.
That was Michale addressing one of my concerns with ID. There’s actually a lot of other nifty little features to ID that he didn’t mention. As I said, you boys play nice with our guests, alright? 
I know, I know. It just came off to me a bit like a sales pitch. Which is why I said he simply shouldn’t have posted that here; he should have sent it to you privately, and addressed the rest of us here. Still, I do respect his efforts to clear up the problem, but a few of us are still a little…miffed…over that unsuccessful foray.
I do recognize that’s no reason for me to act that way, though. So, sorry about that. I’m just a little stressed by an 8-page history paper and other homework at the moment.
And, sorry about the double post.