Blogging and commenting go hand in hand and there is little point in expressing an opinion or informing the web if we don’t allow feedback. Feedback in WordPress is done via comments.
Out of the box, WordPress works really nicely with comments. In the WP admin, and in settings and discussion, you can configure the commenting aspect of your blog, including some anti-spam measures, approvals, and avatar support … if your theme supports it.
Here are three plugins that will give you a lot of mileage and help you out with encouraging discussion on your blog.
Akismet
First and foremost let’s introduce Akismet. This is a free plugin that is included with a base install of WordPress and it’s a great plugin to thwart a lot of comment spam out of the box. Activate it and get an API key from WordPress.com and stop the comment spammers before they even get a chance to start.
My second and third recommendation is for you to install ReplyMe and Subscribe to Comments.
Subscribe to Comments
Subscribe to Comments is something I have found invaluable. Blog posts can gain popularity in an instant or they can continue to be a topic of discussion over time. Either way, you want a way to let other comment contributors that “Hey! Someone has responded to the blog post you commented on.”
This plugin has kept users on my own blogs very much active and has increased the number of inbound links from other bloggers when they are blogging about a similar topic. Note, commenters don’t always check the box to receive notifications. This is still a great plugin, get it here and install it now.
Reply Me
ReplyMe is a great secondary plugin that compliments the above plugin. It sends a response to a commenter that “someone has replied to your comment” as opposed to Subscribe to Comments, which shows responses to the general blog post.
Where Subscribe to Comments has a fully featured interface for managing your subscription, ReplyME is great for managing individual responses. Both encourage feedback and you can download ReplyMe here.
Carlo Scappaticci is a WordPress aficionado and Affiliate Program Manager at Rialto Affiliates. This is another of his contributions to the Casino Affiliate Programs blog.