Here on Teenius, one of the things I often seem to be rambling on about is the Top Commentator Widget. Incase you don’t know, the TC Widget is a Wordpress Plugin that shows a list of the people who have left the most comments on your blog. Take mine for example, just look to the right of this post!
So, what’s this post about? Well basically, I wanted to discuss ways that people could get the most out of this amazing plugin, so I’ll be discussing techniques for both the blog owner and the commentator to get the most out of this!
Blog Owners
I’ll start with the blog owners, after all without you guys there wouldn’t be any need for the other section! Firstly though, you’ll need to make sure you have the plugin installed! So, how can you make sure you the TC Widget effectively?
- Publicise! The main reason to have the widget is obviously to increase the comment count on your blog, but you can also use it to build traffic. For example, getting yourself included in lists like HellBoundBlogger’s one is vital to maximise the widget!
- Make it obvious. The second point is to make sure you let people know you have the widget. Lots of commentators will only visit your blog for the widget, so you need to make sure it’s in a prominent place. Personally I have it above the fold in the sidebar. Also, by enabling the commentators gravatars it makes the list stand out more as there are pictures too!
- Don’t let spammers in! The thing about the TC widget is that quite often, spammers will leave lots of useless comments to get on that list. Whilst you should embrace these people, make sure you delete enough of their useless comments to make sure genuine, helpful commentators can get on the list; after all, they’re the ones that really deserve it!
- Make the list dofollow. Personally, I have general comments ‘nofollow’, but the list is dofollow, meaning that if people get on the list, they automatically get a free PR3 link. This will, of course, encourage more people to comment!
Commentators!
This little section will let you, the people who leave the comments, know how to get to the top of the list without leaving spammy comments, which are very, very bad. So, on to the list.
- Guest Posting. I would say this was the best piece of advice. My doing a guest post on that blog, not only do you get awesome exposure, but it also means that when you reply to the comments, you’re bumping up your comment count!
- Sign up to the RSS Feed. To get to the top of a list and stay there, it’s going to require commitment. You’ll have to do regular comments, and to stay up to date with the blog’s latest posts there is no better way than to sign up to the RSS feed. Remember to sign up to the Teenius feed to get the latest updates on my posts!
- Reply to other’s comments. By replying to other people comments, you not only get to know more people in the community, but you also get more comments to your name! Double win!
To the top!
I hope that this article has helped you realise the massive potential behind the plugin, but I’d still love to hear from you. How do you get to the top of commentator plugins? How do you get more exposure from the plugin? What effect has the list had on your blog?
Really really cool post Simon.
Liked the way you explained Top Commentator’s Widget to two different type of people.
Enjoyed reading, cheers !
Glad you enjoyed it! I wanted to try something a bit different and, as this topic is valid for bloggers and commentators, I thought this was an ideal way to try it out
It is a very useful plugin.
I like it on my blog as a guide to see who has been active on my blog that month and I also like to be included in other peoples lists so that they know I have read their posts!
That’s another good use for it, David! Thanks for the comment!
Great article.
I think the top commentators list is a valuble part of a blog. You get so many benefits for yourself and the commentor so basically it’s a win win situation. You’ve listed all the advantages, good job.
It’s always fun to see different people climbing up and down on the top commentator list.
You are right friend it is beneficial for both. If they use it properly and honestly.
Yeah, I agree that it’s pretty interesting to see who does well on the list
Glad you enjoyed the article.
Blog commentators are sometimes the people who helps to get you going. I personally have this experience, if you receive a very supportive or maybe just a comment, the feeling is totally different than an article you spent a lot of time on, without a comment.
Spammers can be troublesome if you have a high PR blog, I believe we all understand why, but is there a plugin that will detect these kind of spammers?
Anyways, thanks for the awesome post
Thanks for the inclusion mate!
And there is a good coincidence.. you are amongst the top commentators in my blog and I’m amongst the TCs in your blog!
Kudos…
This way u have build a relation in blogging so u dont forget to comment in each others blogs so u r there in the top position
> this is also a way to thnx the commenter to comment back on there blog
No problem Pradeep, it’s an awesome list!
And, yeah I noticed that too, lol 
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Great tips for both the commentators and the webmasters. I am much concern with importance top commentators Widget for any blog or site.
I think you should explained for your followers that how they can get this widget for their blog and sites. I am also wants to know that.
You can click on the link Simon provided in the Post at the top. Download the Plugin, upload to the plugins directory and activate from the Wordpress Admin Panel > Plugins.
Ok. I consider you are using WP. It is simple to implement. Just go to your Dashboard | Plugins | Add New
And in the search text box, type Top Commentators Widget.
Most probably you will get the good one first. So click Install Now and follow the instructions! That’s all!
As Enk said, I provided a link, but I’ll post up a tutorial of how to upload things if you want?
BTW, thanks to Enk and Pradeep for the useful comments
@Simon Rogers i just saw this thing that the “commentluv” is not working correctly since i am not getting the last post thing in my comments
>see other commentators comments that there last post link is also not seen
So look into this
I’ve been having some problems with the plugin for a while. As I’ve explained to people before, I’m working on fixing the problem but need a small hosting issue to be sorted first.
Guest posting on this blog sure helped me to increase my comments on this blog.
The competition I held on my blog surely invited lots of people to comment on my blog. At the same time I was dealing with lots of spamms. Some of them also looked quite geniune.
Yeah – spammers seem to be getting cleverer
A regular commentator on here often copies other comments and tries to claim them as his own. Obviously I delete them when I can, but some slip through the radar 
And, I’m glad guest posting helped your comment tally! It’s certainly been competitive this month
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how to keep comment section nofollow and the top commentator widget with dofollow ?
m fed up of spam comments, have been using Akismet but still there are many such comments who pass on and comes in for moderation
Your comments should automatically be nofollow, and then to get the list dofollow, you go in to the plugin options and select the ‘dofollow’ option!
And, hmm, that’s odd; usually Askimet is really good for me, infact it works too well sometimes, catching genuine comments
I started using this widget a little while ago, not directly to get more comments but just to give some recognition to those who are most loyal to my blog. I think that’s important too
Yeah, very true. There are certainly quite a few different ways and reasons to use this plugin; it’s definately very versatile and, in my opinion, it deserves a place on every blog
Hi Teenius,
Great tips. I try to encourage my readers to comment, I’m trying to build a good sense of community in my blog but sometimes it’s difficult. I’m using CommentLuv, and the Top Commentators List, and my blog is DoFollow; all these plugins helped me to increase comments, but it’s not enough. I would love to see my readers answering each other’s questions and asking questions, and much more, but it needs hard work.
Thanks for sharing this.
See you soon
Dave
Yeah, community is, for me, one of the most important parts of blogging. Returning commentators is what it’s all about!
And, yeah, it really takes hard work, but introducing plugins like these should help slightly; try organising some comment exchanges with quality commentators, and they might stimulate some interaction although, admitedly, it’s very hard to achieve and very few blogs do it. 