Can you tell us a bit about your website?
I'd love to! extreme-macro.co.uk is a labour of love that covers macro, ultra macro and high magnification photography, from the standard 1:1 ratio seen on popular macro lenses to 20:1 using microscope lenses. The site teaches people how to do this type of photography. It's quite a large construct (200 pages) and goes into rather a lot of detail.
How did you discover the Commentics site?
Mr Google discovered it for me! I looked around at all sorts of places and scripts but this is the one that stood out, having a very comprehensive website with plenty of activity to back it up.
What made you choose the script over others?
Initially I purchased a commercial script to add comments on my site but the support was so dreadful and they couldn't even fix the most basic of problems. I wrote that off and started again, and was very impressed by the support here on the forums etc so it seemed a good choice.
What advice would you give to fellow admins?
Don't bother wasting your time with scripts that don't have an enthusiastic person supporting and keeping an eye on their software. Check out the support forums first – if they're full of ‘where is the support' type posts, reconsider your choice.
How, if at all, did you customize the script?
I took away some of the resource consuming aspects, changed some colours and fiddled with the order a bit, but beyond that not all that much. This may change in the months ahead but a simple and straightforward approach seems to be working well for now.
What would you like to see added or improved?
I'll tell you that in a few months time, but after a week and 30 comments in, it's looking good :).
Have you ever needed to use the support site?
Yep, a few little things here and there but a bit of digging soon sorted those. The support here is fantastic, Steven does a huge job of keeping an eye on his baby and keeping his users happy. As a web developer myself I'm genuinely impressed.
Has Commentics helped your website so far?
Yes, as comment scripts are known to do, it clearly attracts people to return and have their questions/comments answered, building an audience. But beyond that it's nice to have human contact with your visitors as well – I was helping some guy in Mexico find a lens only yesterday using comments.
Would you recommend Commentics to others?
Definitely. Easy to install, and has a lot of good admin controls. I'm not having any trouble with spam and the submission process is more or less seamless on my site.
Do you have any final words to add?
It's been a very good experience using Commentics. The support on offer far outweigh the support on various commercial sites, and webmasters with a smattering of php and html should seriously consider using this script for their site.