The far right button at the top of the comments page is the “Configuration” button. This button enables you to set up your preferred options for the comments feature.

• Email Address – The Comments module has a feature which allows you to be notified by email when someone posts a comment.  By default, the comments will be sent to the default email address that has been set in the website “Config” section. To send the comments to a different address, enter that address in the “E-mail Address” field. Note: Only one email address can be used at one time. Comments cannot be sent to multiple addresses.
• Disable E-mail Notifications - Checking the “Disable E-mail notifications box” will prevent notification emails from being sent when visitor’s post comments.
• Comments Display Mode - The “Comments Display Mode” dropdown box determines at what point a comment will be available to the public. You can choose to have the comments immediately available by selecting “Display Automatically” or you can choose to have the comments verified by you first by selecting “Display when accepted”. The “Do not display” option is available for accepting comments, but not showing them on the website.  So, only the webmaster would see the comments.
• Verification Image - The “Verification Code” field asks the visitor to copy a random set of letters or numbers. This helps insure that the form is filled out legitimately and not by a spammer or automated software.  Check the “Verification Image” box to require verification before posting.
• Display Oldest Comments First – By default comments will be displayed in the order they are posted with the newest comments displayed first.  Check the “Display oldest comments first” box to reverse the order in which the comments are displayed.
• Display form above comments – By default the Comments Module displays the posted comments above the comments form.  You can also reverse the order so that the form is displayed above the posted comments by selecting the “Display form above comments” box.
• Thank You Message - The “Thank you message” box allows you to enter a message that will be emailed to each person making a comment. This is usually a message thanking the person for sharing their comments, but can also include additional information, if you wish.  Insert the message you want sent to those posting comments in this box.

Click the “Save changes” button when all information has been entered.

*Tip: If you are concerned about people leaving unwanted comments, select the “Display when accepted” option for the Comments Display Mode.  This way you can make sure only acceptable comments will be shown on your website.

*Tip 2: Spam is a big problem these days and one way spammers like to send spam is using software to search the internet looking for forms.  The software then fills out the form with the spam message and submits it.  Using the “Verification Code” option in the Comments module, prevents spam software from being able to submit their spam through your Comments module comment form.  We highly recommend using the verification code option.

* Tip 3: Use the “Thank You Message” option in the Comments Module’s configuration section to send more than just a thank you.  This be a great way to inform website visitors of events or other info.  For example: “Thank you for sharing you opinion about this week’s event.  Be sure to join us on Saturday from 4pm – 7pm for cookout!”

Another key feature to the comments module is that it is capable of distinguishing between web pages. So, if you put a comments module on a page about the recent youth conference and another comments module on a page about the new building project, the comments module will keep those comments separate. This allows webmasters to use the comments module on several pages at once.

To configure the comments login to your admin section, click the dropdown "Add-on Modules" menu in the top menu of your admin section and choose "Comments".

You can add the Comments module to any page using the "Insert Module" feature when editing a page. For more information about how to insert a module, please see the "Modules: Insert a Module" help page.

*Note: The comments module is available with all hosting packages including the free sites.

Comments Module Help Topics:

Comments Module: Configuration

Comments Module: Deleting Comments

Comments Module: Pending Comments

Comments Module: Public/Private Comments

With the comments module, you can opt to have all comments approved by you before they are posted on your website.  If you setup this configuration, comments will be set as “pending” until you review them and either approve or delete the comment.

A list of these pending comments as well as the latest published comments will appear when you have chosen “Comments” from the “Add-on Modules” menu. Click the “Pending Comments” button at the top of the page to limit the list to only pending comments.  The display can also be filtered by page using the dropdown box entitled “Display All published Comments for page:” It can also be filtered to show all of the published comments or just the private comments using the buttons to the right of the dropdown box.

To approve a pending comment, click the “Publish” button in the bottom, left corner of the comments box.  If you disapprove of the comment, you can delete the comment by clicking the “Delete” button which is next to the “Publish” button.  If a comment is pending, it will not be published until you click the “Publish” button.

A site visitor may wish to keep his/her comments private. When filling in the form, they have the option of doing so. A private comment is one that is only seen by the webmaster. It has been determined to be private by the person who left the comment.  Public comments are published on the website for everyone to see.

You can view all the published comments by clicking the “All Published Comments” button at the top of the page.  You can view all the private comments by clicking the “Private Comments” button.

*Tip: You can filter the published and private comments that you are viewing to only view one page’s comments at a time.  Use the drop-down menu to the right of the “Pending Comments” button at the top of the page to select which page’s comments you would like to view.