7 ms·

How to kill your community

18 points by zen53 17y ago

barredo 17y ago
The 'bonus' section is a rant against the popularization of systems like IntenseDebate or Disqus. Is really WP so afraid of these?
- behe101 17y ago
  Automattic owns IntenseDebate, so I don't think they are. He is in fact arguing against JS commenting systems that have no non-JS alternative. IntenseDebate is meant to augment the existing Wordpress commenting system, rather than replace it entirely with a fancy Ajax widget that can't be read by search engines.
- mgrouchy 17y ago
  I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with intense debate, considering Automattic(the company behind WordPress owns IntenseDebate). However, disqus would probably be a prime target. I think the issue is that if the services like Disqus goes away, you don't have the comments anymore either(I believe). With things like IntenseDebate and Backtype you still own the comments, as they are saved in your database with appropriate plugins. Also some talk about appropriate SEO, etc. but I haven't researched that.
aw3c2 17y ago
"Design Like NASCAR. The more buttons, widgets, stickers, and visual clutter the better. I want to see every possible login system including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Google Friend Connect, and that Myspace thing. Because of their respective crappy terms of service, use the giant buttons they insist on. Also include a megabyte of “share this” icons for every obscure service in every language. People love options! Complexity is for closers." - check
Locke1689 17y ago
7. Use blog software like WordPress, which will get hacked in a second if anyone cares enough to attack your site.
- ryanwaggoner 17y ago
  What about all the large, successful, serious content and community sites running Wordpress? And what's the realistic alternative? Many of those sites used to run custom CMS software coded from scratch years ago by some random development agency who farmed the work out to a freelancer who has long since disappeared. Seems doubtful that that's better in any respect. Edit: Removed my sarcastic tone :)
  - Locke1689 17y ago
    I'd honestly say that Drupal is better than Wordpress. Seriously, the extreme number of automated attacks and security holes in wordpress have made it a very dangerous game to play. They do fix problems quickly (a couple of days), but that's still enough time to get hacked.
    - photomatt 17y ago
      Running an online system is a responsibility, one which includes keeping up with vendor updates. Is it possible to run WordPress securely? Absolutely, we do it for 8 million blogs, including some of the most high-target blogs in the world like CNN's. In the case of WP we consciously take a perception hit versus some of our competitors by not batching security updates every few months but putting fixes out there immediately, even when there's no public disclosure. I think this worth it though it can be painful in cases like this comment where people have permanently internalized their negative perception of the platform.
      - brandnewlow 17y ago
        Hey, Matt, re: your point about requiring a login to comment. Isn't that good for community building? If MetaFilter let just anyone leave a comment, that would kill it off pretty quickly. Having some barrier to entry can add value, you just need to find the appropriate one for your community.
        17y ago

18 points by zen53 17y ago

The 'bonus' section is a rant against the popularization of systems like IntenseDebate or Disqus. Is really WP so afraid of these?

behe101 17y ago
Automattic owns IntenseDebate, so I don't think they are. He is in fact arguing against JS commenting systems that have no non-JS alternative. IntenseDebate is meant to augment the existing Wordpress commenting system, rather than replace it entirely with a fancy Ajax widget that can't be read by search engines.
mgrouchy 17y ago
I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with intense debate, considering Automattic(the company behind WordPress owns IntenseDebate). However, disqus would probably be a prime target. I think the issue is that if the services like Disqus goes away, you don't have the comments anymore either(I believe). With things like IntenseDebate and Backtype you still own the comments, as they are saved in your database with appropriate plugins. Also some talk about appropriate SEO, etc. but I haven't researched that.

aw3c2 17y ago

"Design Like NASCAR. The more buttons, widgets, stickers, and visual clutter the better. I want to see every possible login system including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, OpenID, Google Friend Connect, and that Myspace thing. Because of their respective crappy terms of service, use the giant buttons they insist on. Also include a megabyte of “share this” icons for every obscure service in every language. People love options! Complexity is for closers." - check

Locke1689 17y ago

7. Use blog software like WordPress, which will get hacked in a second if anyone cares enough to attack your site.

ryanwaggoner 17y ago
What about all the large, successful, serious content and community sites running Wordpress? And what's the realistic alternative? Many of those sites used to run custom CMS software coded from scratch years ago by some random development agency who farmed the work out to a freelancer who has long since disappeared. Seems doubtful that that's better in any respect. Edit: Removed my sarcastic tone :)
- Locke1689 17y ago
  I'd honestly say that Drupal is better than Wordpress. Seriously, the extreme number of automated attacks and security holes in wordpress have made it a very dangerous game to play. They do fix problems quickly (a couple of days), but that's still enough time to get hacked.
  - photomatt 17y ago
    Running an online system is a responsibility, one which includes keeping up with vendor updates. Is it possible to run WordPress securely? Absolutely, we do it for 8 million blogs, including some of the most high-target blogs in the world like CNN's. In the case of WP we consciously take a perception hit versus some of our competitors by not batching security updates every few months but putting fixes out there immediately, even when there's no public disclosure. I think this worth it though it can be painful in cases like this comment where people have permanently internalized their negative perception of the platform.
    - brandnewlow 17y ago
      Hey, Matt, re: your point about requiring a login to comment. Isn't that good for community building? If MetaFilter let just anyone leave a comment, that would kill it off pretty quickly. Having some barrier to entry can add value, you just need to find the appropriate one for your community.
      - 17y ago