Ment-O-Matic.NET

thegeek (at) djslim.com

Latest Release

1.0.2b is the latest release as of 9/28/2003, go here for the change log.

What does it do?

It adds commenting capabilities to your blog or similar websites hosted on a server that supports ASP.NET. I'm using it in conjunction with the publishing system provided by Blogger.

How does it work?

You download the zipped source, unzip it and follow the instructions layed out in README.txt. It should be very very simple to set it up. If it isn't you HAVE to lemme know. :)

What platform does it run on?

It runs on any web server that supports ASP.NET (IIS is the only server I know of that supports ASP.NET). I do have a pure ASP version of it as well, but I'm not supporting that anymore.

Can I see it running?

Most certainly! Check out the test bench set up on Brinkster, or just visit my home page to see it in action.

Where can I get it?

You can download the latest release from SourceForge.

Why don't you just be a conformist and give me the typical bullet point feature list already?

Sheesh... ok...

Drop-in install (integration is another story)
Full walk-through of the install process with sample integration code
Highly componentized for easy integration
Automatic e-mail mangling as an antispyder measure
Remembers commentor information
Style, Layout and HTML tag usage completely controlled by XSL and CSS files for those who'd like to customize the look, feel, and the interaction.
Auto Parsing of URL in the comment body
Uses DSN-less connection to an access database file for those who cannot setup DSNs

Happy?

Why did you make it?

I am running my personal homapage on an IIS host, and I needed a commenting system for it, which back then (early 2001) there were none. So I wrote one in ASP and used it for a long time, then when .NET 1.1 came around I ended up redesigning my content management system using ASP.NET in C#, so I rewrote Ment-O-Matic for use with ASP.NET in C# as well.

Didn't you have other options?

Yeah, there were quite a few on the hosted commenting system side, but I specifically wanted a non-hosted version that would lemme have total control over how I use the commenting module. On the non-hosted side there was only a single module for ASP.NET.

ASP.NET Comment

So what did I do? Well, I thought "heck, I might as well write run and share". This should give users some choice, too. ;)

What's the next step?

I'll probably add an example that shows you how you can integrate the comments into the page itself rather than using a popup. It's not that difficult to do, but it's slightly more involved than using a popup. I do it on my personal site, but only once you click on the entry itself cuz that's the way I like it. Some people seem to want to just plop it into the main page, so I might as well show them how they can do it. I'll get around to it, but I'm not in any hurry.

I'm also entertaining the idea of having an RSS feed of the last N comments.

Who the hell are you?

I'm just another guy who likes to solve problems, I guess. If you're really interested, visit my Homepage.

Why am I still reading this?

I have no clue. You should download Ment-O-Matic if you haven't yet, and start hearing from your readers! Market is a conversation!