Review of the TalkBack Comment Script
The Best Darn Comment Script
on the Web Today...Period!
From the very beginning, Tea Discussion was meant to be a "blog review"
site, for lack of a better word. Problem was, I was never satisfied with
blogging software. Either they were a real pain to customize, had to
deal with frequent upgrades, or lacked this or that which I really wanted
for this site.
As such, I chose the develop this website on my own, basing everything
on php/mysql. Yet, I STILL wanted people to be able to leave comments
about my reviews. And so...I went on the great comment script hunt. And
what a lousy hunt it was, until, buried way, way down in Google, I stumbled
across TalkBack, a relatively new script for php/mysql that performs
every conceiveable comment function a webmaster would want.
Oh yeah...did I mention this script was free, too??
What's to Like About TalkBack
You can always visit the TalkBack
Site to see more details. Instead,
I'll describe here what I like about this nifty script.
- Installation : Simply set up a database, change
a few configuration files within the code and, well, instant comment
scripts for your site. In short, install could not be easier. Just
make sure you have a free MySQL database to use.
- Customization : This is where TalkBack really shines.
The script itself, as you can see on TalkBack's site, looks nice right
out of
the gate. However, you can tweak the CSS (which is well documented)
as much as you need in order to hit the appearance you require for
your site. Moreover, the appearance of the form on your site is immensely
customizable too. Don't want url's to be hyperlinked? Easy, change
on line of code that is well documented. Don't want all the smiley
faces? Easy...change one line of code that is well documented.
- Easy Configuration : Once installed, the configuration is easy. Just
go into the configuration menu, fill in your AKISMET key, a few other
site-specific settings, and you are off to the races. It really is
that easy.
- Talk About Support : Richard, the creator of this
scirpt, has a support forum where questions never go unanswered. And
private messages are
always answered within hours - and always with detailed answers. And
all this from a free comment script.
- NO SPAM : Admittedly, I was a bit curious to see
how this would work. Instead of using the popular CAPTCHA image verification
systems like most other comment scripts, this
script uses the WordPress AKISMET anti-spam process. Basically, you
get a WordPress blog (or at least sign up for one), where you then
get a AKISMET spam key. Fill in the key into your configuration settings
in the maintenance menu. And...presto...instant anti-spam technology
courtesy of WordPress. And it works really, really well.
- Easy Comment Moderation : So many comment scripts make moderating
comments a time-consuming affair. What is so nice about TalkBack is
that all recent comments appear on one page. You don't have to go hunt
them down.
- Pre-Approval for Comments : Another nice feature. This is off by
default, but can easily be turned on in the maintenance menu. Enabling
this feature will require all comments to be approved before being
posted.
- Customizable # of Comments Per Page : For me, this
was a big one. There are few things worse in life than blogs that have
500 comments on the page. This script allows you to specify how many
comments will be displayed on the page, 5, 10, 20, 200? Whatever you
want, is what you can display.
- Easy Insertion Into Existing Web Pages : If you
have a php/mysql powered website already, you are basically good to
go. Insert a few
snippets of code into the header of the page, insert the form code
into the body of the page and you now have a comment script ready to
go. And have no fear, if you don't have a php/mysql powered page, Richard
on his site explains how to go about "fooling" your server into thinking
you do.
- It's Free! : This to me was rather amazing. After
looking over a bunch of comment scripts that cost quite the pretty
penny - yet looked bad
and performed worse - to find this free script that was so well done
was nothing short of amazing. I would gladly buy this script considering
the features available, but to have it free is always nice too.
Screen Shots
Listed below are a few screen shots from my own TalkBack installation.
On the TalkBack site you
can do the full demo routine and take the script for a test drive if
you want. (TalkBack
Demo)
The Recent Comments Administration Section. Nicely Oranized. Easy
to Read. Perfect. You can read all comments posted on your site right
here from this menu, and do whatever you want to with them!
The Comments List by Page is Handy to quickly find what pages have
new comments on them.
The Extensive Help Menu. Even most paid for software doesn't have
such a good help menu as this script does. Conclusion
Basically, if you need a comment script for a web site, you have now
found the script you need. I've been using this script on virtually all
pages of TeaDiscussion and have absolutely no complaints whatsoever.
Resources
Here's links to the relevant information on the TalkBack web site about
this great script.
TalkBack Home Page
Detailed Feature List for TalkBack TalkBack Demo
TalkBack Support Forum
Other Sites Using TalkBack
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