Version 13 makes Better Disqus Comments a complete Disqus plugin of its own. It no longer needs the official Disqus Comment System plugin, and the old Pro plugin is replaced by separate add-ons.
Your settings carry over in every case below. Pick the section that matches your site.
Better Disqus Comments does everything the official plugin did — comments, counts, comment sync, exporting comments to Disqus, the toolbar menu — except Single Sign-On (see SSO). It reads the official plugin's settings once and copies them over:
Install and activate Better Disqus Comments while the official plugin is still installed.
Load any page of your site or the admin. The settings are copied on the first request.
Check the settings under Disqus in the admin menu: the shortname on the General page and the keys on the Comment sync page should be filled in. While the official plugin is active, the admin menu has two Disqus menus; this plugin's is the lower one.
Deactivate Disqus Comment System. The yellow notice at the top of the admin has a direct link.
Delete the official plugin if you like.
Don't delete the official plugin first
Deleting the official plugin also deletes its settings. If that happens before step 2, there is nothing to copy and you'll need to enter the shortname again.
Comments keep showing — Better Disqus Comments takes over the comments area and stops the official plugin's scripts from loading twice. Every admin screen shows a notice that can't be dismissed:
Better Disqus Comments now works on its own and replaces the official Disqus plugin. Your settings have been carried over. Please deactivate the Disqus Comment System plugin — comment sync stays paused until you do.
Comment sync and importing past comments in Better Disqus Comments stay paused until you deactivate the official plugin. After that, Disqus keeps sending comments to the same address and Better Disqus Comments receives them — there's nothing to set up again.
Better Disqus Comments doesn't support Disqus SSO, a paid Disqus feature that logs visitors in to Disqus with their WordPress account. If your site used it, you'll see:
Better Disqus Comments does not support Disqus Single Sign-On (SSO). Your visitors can still comment by logging in to Disqus directly.
Visitors can still comment — they log in to Disqus, or post as guests if your Disqus settings allow it. If you depend on SSO, let us know on the support forum.
Menu. The official plugin's Disqus menu took the place of WordPress's Comments menu. Now Comments is back, and the settings live in this plugin's own Disqus menu, just below it. Moderation opens on disqus.com from the toolbar's Disqus menu.
Lazy loading. Comments load when they come into view by default. To keep the official plugin's behaviour, pick Immediately.
Crawlers. Search engine bots get your synced WordPress comments instead of the Disqus embed — see SEO Mode.
Threads. Comments stay attached to the same posts: the Disqus identifier is built exactly as the official plugin built it.
In version 11, every premium feature came in one Pro plugin. It's replaced by six separate add-ons, each doing one thing, sold alone or together in the Pro Bundle:
Activate your license in Disqus → Add-ons. Use the new key from the email, not your old Pro key. A Pro Bundle key is activated on every add-on at once — see Pro Bundle.
Leave the Pro plugin deactivated, or remove its disqus-conditional-load-pro folder by FTP or your host's file manager.
Don't delete the Pro plugin from the Plugins screen
Deleting the Pro plugin under Plugins runs its uninstaller, which erases the settings it shares with Better Disqus Comments. Keep it deactivated, or remove its folder by FTP or your host's file manager.
Your Pro settings — button style, WooCommerce placement, widget settings, the scroll loading method — are kept and picked up by each add-on as soon as it's active. Widgets you placed stay in their sidebars.
Keep the official Disqus plugin until you switch
The 11.x Pro plugin relies on the official Disqus plugin. If you remove the official plugin while the Pro plugin is still active, comments stop showing. Switch to Better Disqus Comments and the add-ons first.
Upgrading
Version 13 makes Better Disqus Comments a complete Disqus plugin of its own. It no longer needs the official Disqus Comment System plugin, and the old Pro plugin is replaced by separate add-ons.
Your settings carry over in every case below. Pick the section that matches your site.
From the official Disqus plugin
Better Disqus Comments does everything the official plugin did — comments, counts, comment sync, exporting comments to Disqus, the toolbar menu — except Single Sign-On (see SSO). It reads the official plugin's settings once and copies them over:
Values are only copied into empty fields — anything already set in Better Disqus Comments wins.
Steps
Don't delete the official plugin first
Deleting the official plugin also deletes its settings. If that happens before step 2, there is nothing to copy and you'll need to enter the shortname again.
While both are active
Comments keep showing — Better Disqus Comments takes over the comments area and stops the official plugin's scripts from loading twice. Every admin screen shows a notice that can't be dismissed:
Comment sync and importing past comments in Better Disqus Comments stay paused until you deactivate the official plugin. After that, Disqus keeps sending comments to the same address and Better Disqus Comments receives them — there's nothing to set up again.
Single Sign-On (SSO)
Better Disqus Comments doesn't support Disqus SSO, a paid Disqus feature that logs visitors in to Disqus with their WordPress account. If your site used it, you'll see:
Visitors can still comment — they log in to Disqus, or post as guests if your Disqus settings allow it. If you depend on SSO, let us know on the support forum.
What's different
From Disqus Conditional Load 12 or earlier
Update the plugin as usual. Every setting is kept — the option names haven't changed. What's new:
From the Pro plugin (11.x)
In version 11, every premium feature came in one Pro plugin. It's replaced by six separate add-ons, each doing one thing, sold alone or together in the Pro Bundle:
Existing Pro customers get the Pro Bundle; we'll email you your new license key.
Steps
disqus-conditional-load-profolder by FTP or your host's file manager.Don't delete the Pro plugin from the Plugins screen
Deleting the Pro plugin under Plugins runs its uninstaller, which erases the settings it shares with Better Disqus Comments. Keep it deactivated, or remove its folder by FTP or your host's file manager.
Your Pro settings — button style, WooCommerce placement, widget settings, the scroll loading method — are kept and picked up by each add-on as soon as it's active. Widgets you placed stay in their sidebars.
Keep the official Disqus plugin until you switch
The 11.x Pro plugin relies on the official Disqus plugin. If you remove the official plugin while the Pro plugin is still active, comments stop showing. Switch to Better Disqus Comments and the add-ons first.
Related