WordPress packs a built-in comment option that helps with interactions within a community around the content that is on your WordPress site. In this article, we would go through the process of moderating comments in WordPress, prevent spam comments and anything and everything that concerns the comment section in your WordPress site. If you have no idea about the comments section, you don’t have to worry at all, since this is a guide for the beginners and the article contains everything that would help a beginner find his/her way around the option.
Comments – What are they?
To some people this might seem a childish question but we did come across several people while delivering classes on WordPress asking about the same question. Users who have been using WordPress since as long as 6 months had no idea what the main purpose behind comments, what they are for and where they are coming from.
Comments is a bridge between you and the reader of your website. It is a medium for the reader and the writer to get into communication and for the reader to provide a review about the piece of writing, it also provides the reader with the capability of asking the writer any questions related to the topic and provide their feedback.
On WordPress sites, anyone with a valid Name and Email id is eligible to place a comment on a site without any sort of verification. The comments are turned on by default, depending on the theme you have selected the comments will be displayed at the bottom of the website.
After a reader submits a comment, it is queued for moderation. The administrator/owner of the website then decides whether the comment should be approved or declined.
Comments Moderation in WordPress
All the comments on your website can be viewed by selecting the Comments option from the left menu bar.
Next, you will see four different tabs (All, Pending, Approved, Spam and Trash). Pending Comments are awaiting your approval.
To endorse a comment take your mouse over to the comment, and you will see activity connections show up beneath the comment. Click on Approve to make a comment freely unmistakable on your site. You can likewise answer to a comment by clicking on the answer join. Answering to a comment consequently favors the comment too.
For preventing spam comments, WordPress comes with Akismet, this is a plugin that prevents spam comments make it to the comments section on your website. For using the plugin you need to activate the plugin first. Comments marked by the user are recorded in Akismet and the next time a similar comment appears akismet automatically blocks it.
In the event that you need to evacuate a comment without checking it as spam, then just click on the Trash interface beneath the comment. Comments erased by you will be sent to trash and will live there for next 30 days. After this time WordPress will consequently erase them for eternity. On the off chance that you unintentionally erased a comment, then basically visit the trash tab and click on Restore connect underneath the comment.
How to View Comments for a Single Post in WordPress Admin Area
You can see all endorsed and pending comments for a post by opening it in post supervisor. Just go to Posts » All Posts and click on the Edit link underneath the post you need to open. On the post supervisor screen span down to the base, and you will see all comments made for the post.
You can edit, delete, reply and moderate comments specifically from here. In the event that you don’t see the comments under the post editor, then click on Screen Options catch at the upper right corner of the screen. This will cut a fly down menu where you have to check the container by Comments. After that essentially span down, and you will see comments for that post under the post editor.
