Ubscure Article Directory Blog

On August 29th I added a new commenting system to Ubscure. This system is courtesy of IntenseDebate, a commenting platform that’s used by a lot of other sites. I thought about trying to implement something like this by doing my own coding. However, I quickly discovered that something as complicated as a comment management system was way over my head. I’ve only been doing web development for about 3 years and I’m not quite an expert. Things like HTML and CSS are fine, but when it gets down to serious script writing it can be a bit challenging.

Needless to say, finding a system like IntenseDebate was a godsend. The comment boxes at the bottom of each article allow users to post as a guest, or they can log in and post using their IntenseDebate, Facebook, or Twitter accounts. Commenters can also subscribe to the posts that they comment on in order to keep up to date with any conversations that might be occurring. I think this is a pretty cool feature.

One of the main reasons I wanted to implement commenting on Ubscure was to help get the community of authors, as well as guests, more involved with the site. The web-scape is constantly changing and websites need constant updating in order to keep up with the current popular trends. One of those trends, as you might have guessed, is commenting.

Commenting has been popular for a long time, but it doesn’t seem to be as prevalent among article directories. Most article directories host static pages that don’t allow reader interaction and that’s exactly how Ubscure has operated, until now.

I’ve read quite a few SEO articles and reports that seem to be emphasizing the fact that search engines like Google are putting more emphasis on fresh, updated content. Therefore, I’ve taken a little more time to examine exactly how my site (Ubscure) fits in with what the search engines want. My hope is that by adding things like a commenting system I will be able to keep my users more engaged, as well as attract more attention and traffic from search engines.

Updating my site with new features is not done for the sole purpose of personal gain (more traffic = more money for me), but also for the overall benefit of my users. The goal of an article directory is to provide readers for the article writers. The more readers that an author has, the more chances he or she has of making a sale, spreading awareness for a business, or getting a brand name established. If I can perform my job as a webmaster to the best of my abilities, then all of my users benefit.

If you currently run a site that depends on user interaction I would highly recommend that you add something like a comment system if you haven’t already. It’s a great way to promote activity and buzz on your site. And as I said before, it will benefit your business in terms monetary results, as well as increase the satisfaction of your users.

For those of you who are already users of Ubscure, I hope you enjoy the new comment system. I’ll be tweaking it over the coming weeks and months in order to make it fit well with the operations of this site. Thanks for reading.

Patrick Brady

Owner – Ubscure

Hey guys, thanks for taking a minute to check out the new blog at Ubscure. I finally decided to start a blog section of the site to help keep my members informed about what’s going on. It will probably take me some time to get this blog set up the way I want it. So if you’re surfing around and you see things changing, don’t worry.

Some of the things I’m going to be sharing in this blog are:

• How this site got started
• Tips on building your own website
• News related to Ubscure (what’s happening, what’s changing, etc.)
• Article marketing tips
• Tips from you guys (submit them in the contact page once I get it set up)

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed. I probably won’t be posting here constantly, so you don’t have to worry about being bombarded with RSS updates. I hope you guys are enjoying Ubscure so far, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions.

Patrick Brady

Owner – Ubscure