How I made intensedebate work for me

I've talked about commenting on blogs before, but today, this is different. Today I'm going to talk about why I use intensedebate and not any other free commenting program. I'm not going into the whole intensedebate vs. disqus vs. Google+ comments + other commenting programs. I'm going to talk about why this works for me, and how I made it work for me.

Why I love intensedebate...

It notifies the original commenter via email when I reply to their comment/s
For me, this is important because blogging is about discussing, and it is somehow a forum to exchange ideas, and get to know the blogger and the reader more. I have found this to work on my last Goldie's musings post, How has book blogging changed you?, and I was able to meet new bloggers (Hello, Ella, Monica, Amir, Mel, and Anna!) and go back and forth a couple of times. We were having a discussion! Finally!

But some comment programs don't notify the reader if I replied. And I also hate this when I comment on other blogs, because I do want to go back and continue the discussion. It's easier for me to know when someone has replied, and I just have to click the link on my email notification.

I can tweak its appearance...and it's got smileys!
Granted, I haven't really tweaked it much because I'm fine with the basic look. As for the smileys, if you've seen my previous commenting system, I have some pretty nifty smileys with wine glasses (I used that particular emoticon smiley, I was wondering if my readers thought I'm a drunk). I miss them, but they're a small sacrifice to pay. However, intensedebate has a few, though basic, smileys through their Plugins, and I use them once in a while, too.

It enables me, a Blogspot blog, to have Commentluv
I think I mentioned this to another blogger before, that I envy Wordpress users for having Commentluv. Why? Because it makes it easier for me to visit the blog of my reader who left a lovely comment! I don't have to go through the trouble of finding their URL, or clicking on their profile to be brought to their website, or latest post. Easy peasy.

My initial Googling of Commentluv for Blogger didn't yield favorable results, but I tried again this year. And voila, there is a way for us Blogspot bloggers!

How?
1) Sign up for intensedebate/log in to your account. Add your blog to your account.
2) Click Plugins. Look for Commentluv, then click Activate.
3) Download your blog's code through the Template tab, upload to intensedebate, wait for their instructions.

And there you have it!

However, my installation of Commentluv hasn't been smooth-sailing. I know some of my readers complained that their comments were lost. I'm so sorry, and believe me, I'm sad that they're gone, but I don't think there's a way for me to retrieve them because Blogger overrode the intensedebate comments.

If you're like me, where intensedebate suddenly disappears, to be overtaken by Blogger, here's a possible fix (which worked for me):

1) Go to Template tab on Blogger
2) Click the gear button under Mobile template.
3) Choose mobile template --> Custom. Save.

I haven't had any trouble with my comments since then. And visiting other bloggers and paying back the commenting love has never been easier! But as always, I'm still open to suggestions. I like software and tinkering with it.

How about you, what do you use for your commenting system, and how has it made your blogging life easier?