Bug #487: Replace Backtype Connect with something that works - CUNY Academic Commons - CUNY Graduate Center - Project Tracking System

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Bug #487

closed

Replace Backtype Connect with something that works

Added by Matt Gold almost 14 years ago. Updated over 13 years ago.

Status:

Resolved

Priority name:

Normal

Assignee:

Boone Gorges

Category name:

WordPress (misc)

Target version:

1.3

Start date:

2010-12-15

Due date:

% Done:

Estimated time:

Deployment actions:

Description

When I click on the "Backtype Connect" link in the Settings menu of the dashboard on the CUNY DHI blog, I'm redirected to http://commons.gc.cuny.edu/wp-admin/?c=1, so there seems to be a problem with the plugin. It hasn't been working on our blogposts lately . . ..

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Updated by Boone Gorges almost 14 years ago

I believe that the plugin is broken and has been abandoned by the author. Can I ask someone to do research on alternatives?

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Updated by Boone Gorges almost 14 years ago

Subject changed from Backtype Connect Options Redirect to Replace Backtype Connect with something that works
Target version changed from 1.1.4 to 1.2

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Updated by Boone Gorges almost 14 years ago

Scott, I'm adding you as a watcher to this ticket, as I'd like to ask you to help do a bit of research. Backtype Connect was a WP plugin that helped to harvest tweets and display them as comments on a WP blog. It's been discontinued. Would you mind researching a bit to see whether replacements have emerged?

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Updated by scott voth almost 14 years ago

According to Backtype, they have retired Backtype Connect and replaced it with Disqus (pronounced "discuss"). See the following link:
http://blog.backtype.com/2010/10/retiring-the-backtype-connect-wordpress-plugin/

Disqus (http://disqus.com/) seems to be a standalone application, but now also has a WordPress plugin.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/disqus-comment-system/

People seem to really like it - lots of downloads. See also: http://www.bloggingpro.com/archives/2010/07/02/wordpress-disqus-plugin-why-you-should-get-it-today/

Alternatively - here are instructions to fix the old plugin (Backtype Connect):
http://www.thinkervine.com/blog/2010/09/09/fixing-backtype-connect-with-wordpress-3-0-1/

Saw one warning: "Note: uninstalling our plugin will remove existing reactions unless you want to modify the plugin manually." in http://blog.backtype.com/2010/10/retiring-the-backtype-connect-wordpress-plugin/

Not sure if that means we will lose comments from Backtype Connect if we move to Disqus?

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Updated by Boone Gorges almost 14 years ago

Target version changed from 1.2 to 1.3

Thanks for doing this research, Scott.

I'm a bit wary of calling Disqus a one-to-one replacement for Backtype Connect. Backtype Connect found links to your blog and recorded them as regular WP comments; Disqus actually replaces your comment section with Disqus's comment thread. In other words, Disqus does way more than BC did. For individual blogs, this is fine, but it could be problematic on the Commons, because replacing the comment section could mess with BuddyPress's sitewide comment recording.

In the Backtype blog post that Scott links to, there is a link to a guide for the new Backtype API. In the end, it might end up being a greater service to our users and to the community to have a look at fixing the Backtype Connect plugin so that it's compatible with the new API.

So here's my suggested course of action, unless there are any objections. I think we should pass on using Disqus on the Commons. And I'll punt this ticket to a future release number, when I'll have more time to adapt the plugin for the new API.

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Updated by Matt Gold almost 14 years ago

I've gotten trackbacks from a service called Topsy (http://topsy.com/), which might be another option, though it, too, is a different kind of thing than backtype

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