Disqus Account

Better Disqus Comments talks to Disqus directly. Showing comments needs only your site's shortname. The API keys are optional and only needed for Comment Sync and a few addons.

• Shortname
• API keys
  • How secrets are stored
  • The sync token
• Saving
• Related

Shortname

Panel: Disqus · Stored in: dcl_disqus_account.shortname · Default: empty

The unique name of your site on Disqus — the example in example.disqus.com. Disqus calls it the site's shortname; you chose it when you created the site on Disqus.

To find it, log in to Disqus, open your site's admin, and look under Settings → General — or see Disqus's guide, What's a shortname?

You can paste any of these; the plugin keeps only the name:

You enter	Saved as
example	example
example.disqus.com	example
https://example.disqus.com/admin/	example

The shortname isn't checked against Disqus when you save. If comments show a Disqus error such as "We were unable to load Disqus", check the spelling.

While no shortname is saved:

• no comments or comment counts are shown to visitors;
• the settings page shows "Enter your Disqus shortname to start showing comments.";
• every other admin screen shows a reminder linking to the settings;
• the toolbar Disqus menu only has Configure Plugin.

API keys

Panel: Comment sync · Stored in: dcl_disqus_account

Field	Key	Needed for
Public key	public_key	Comment Sync, the Latest Comments Widget, the comment count on Advanced Buttons
Secret key	secret_key	Comment Sync
Admin access token	access_token	Comment Sync

All three come from a Disqus API application:

1. Go to Disqus API applications and log in with the account that owns your Disqus site.
2. Register a new application. The name and description are only for you.
3. Open the application. Its Details page shows the API Key (public key), the API Secret (secret key) and your Access Token (admin access token).
4. On the application's Settings, make sure the access level allows reading and writing to your forums, and add your site's domain.
5. Paste the three values into the Comment sync panel and click Save Changes.

How secrets are stored

The secret key and access token are write-only:

• They are never sent back to the browser. After saving, the fields are empty with the placeholder "Saved — leave blank to keep".
• Leaving a field blank when you save keeps the stored value.
• To replace one, type the new value and save.

The keys are stored in their own option, dcl_disqus_account, not with the rest of the settings, so they are never exposed through the WordPress settings REST endpoint.

The sync token

There is a fourth credential with no field on the settings page: the sync token, which Disqus uses to sign the comments it sends to your site. It is generated for you — a random 64-character value — the first time you click Enable sync. Sites upgrading from the official Disqus plugin keep their existing token.

Saving

Account fields save with the same Save Changes button as every other setting. The button stays disabled until something has changed, and a message at the bottom of the screen confirms the save: "Settings saved."

Related

• Comment Sync — what the API keys unlock.
• Upgrading — how the shortname and keys are carried over from the official Disqus plugin.