Enabling Comments on Every Wordpress Page

May 17, 2008 (Click to Rate!) Loading ...

Ok this might seem trivial to the smarter WordPress folks out there, but I’m dumb… dumb like a sack of rocks and didn’t just figure this out until now.

If you’ve been using WordPress for years and always wondered why the ‘Add a Comments’ section only show up on the front page of the blog and nowhere else BUT the admin interface and the rest of WordPress seem to happily support comments on every page then you are in luck.

As it turns out most (if not all?) themes I’ve used for WordPress do not include the comment-enabling snippet of code on the default Page template that is used to render sub-pages of the main site (for example, on this site, like the Contact, About, Reviews, etc. sections).

The trick is to edit the Page template of whatever theme you are using and add the following snippet of code right below the existing post-div (ends with comment: <!–/post–>)

So find that section and right after it, add this new comments div:

<div id="comments" class="box2">

    <?php comments_template(); ?>

</div>

You are now set, every single page on your site will include the Comments section template, and since WordPress already supports pages having comments, there is nothing more to do… it will just suddenly work.

You can see this in action (as an example) over on the kallasoft SmugMug Java API Examples page.

Hope that helps some of you WordPress’ers out there.

Share and Enjoy:

comments, software development, WordPress

This post was written by:

Riyad Kalla - who has written 1725 posts on The “Break it Down” Blog.

"Ultimately I just want to provide a resource that folks find useful."

17 Comments For This Post

Alexander Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pm

Thanks, I just didn´t know how to do it. Now I do. (Big relieve, because other advices could´t help me further). Once again, thanks for sharing. Regards, Alexander

Editor Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm

No problem Alexander, glad it helped.

Muirshin Durkin Says:
October 30th, 2008 at 1:04 am

Ah, after trying a few other potential solutions, this was the one that did the trick. I really needed comments to work on my pages; thanks a bundle!

Riyad Kalla Says:
November 1st, 2008 at 9:34 am

Muirshin,

That’s great news, I’m glad it helped.

Christy Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:16 am

Keep a good work man!,

Helen Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 6:17 pm

Aw, man. The code technically works, but it screws up my side bar. That sucks! Thanks, though.

Riyad Kalla Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 8:24 am

Helen,

I went to your website, the layout looks pretty standard (I wouldn’t expect the comment block to screw up the sidebar). Are you sure you added the code in the right place?

John Says:
April 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pm

Thanks man, worked great. Found this post in a Google search. Tried a different one and it didn’t work, your explanation took 45 seconds to implement and I was up and running. Really appreciate it.

BAM Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am

how do you remove it from themes that already have it?

Sergio Says:
June 15th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Hello,
I have enabled it in every page.

Now how is it possible to disable it from 1 page only?

Or maybe the opposite – to enable it on one page only?

Thanks

Riyad Kalla Says:
June 16th, 2009 at 5:02 pm

Sergio,

You can check the WP API codex and find the variable that is set when comments are enabled on a page, and then wrap that code-block with a conditional in the template editor, so depending on if you set the comments enabled in the admin interface or not, that code block that renders comments is either shown or not shown.

Most themes support that anyway, so on that page try and disable comments (it’s under the post content box) and see if it disappears.

Ramon Says:
July 1st, 2009 at 8:30 pm

Men you saved my life. Keep up the good work.

Jun-G Says:
July 29th, 2009 at 9:19 pm

Thanks man, been looking for this solution. It really helped me a lot.
You rock!

Cheers!

Ivan Says:
September 15th, 2009 at 6:12 am

Thank you! A big mystery cleared up …

Ivan

TheNightOwl Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 am

Hey, Riyad

Thanks VERY much for this. Really.

I, too, am as dumb as a box of hammers with this kind of stuff. (Although, just quietly, between you’n'me… I really AM as dumb as a box of hammers with all this stuff and you, my friend, are NOT!)

I just reinstalled a site and wanted to transfer all posts to Pages. This sorted it out very quickly and easily in my Theme.

Thanks again,
TheNightOwl

Gavin Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 1:40 pm

Sorry for asking a Dumber question .
But Where exactly do I insert this ?
Is it in the comment.php or index.php of the default theme

Riyad Kalla Says:
October 28th, 2009 at 11:00 pm

Gavin, not a dumb question at all — it’s in the Page template, usually page.php or something like that — you just pop the snippet in there and then standard pages (rendered using the ‘page.php’ file) will show the comments box!

Alexander Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Thanks, I just didn´t know how to do it. Now I do. (Big relieve, because other advices could´t help me further). Once again, thanks for sharing. Regards, Alexander
Editor Says:
August 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
No problem Alexander, glad it helped.
Muirshin Durkin Says:
October 30th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Ah, after trying a few other potential solutions, this was the one that did the trick. I really needed comments to work on my pages; thanks a bundle!
Riyad Kalla Says:
November 1st, 2008 at 9:34 am
Muirshin,

That’s great news, I’m glad it helped.
Christy Says:
November 4th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Keep a good work man!,
Helen Says:
November 8th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Aw, man. The code technically works, but it screws up my side bar. That sucks! Thanks, though.
Riyad Kalla Says:
November 9th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Helen,

I went to your website, the layout looks pretty standard (I wouldn’t expect the comment block to screw up the sidebar). Are you sure you added the code in the right place?
John Says:
April 7th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Thanks man, worked great. Found this post in a Google search. Tried a different one and it didn’t work, your explanation took 45 seconds to implement and I was up and running. Really appreciate it.
BAM Says:
June 6th, 2009 at 11:15 am
how do you remove it from themes that already have it?
Sergio Says:
June 15th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Hello,
I have enabled it in every page.

Now how is it possible to disable it from 1 page only?

Or maybe the opposite – to enable it on one page only?

Thanks
Riyad Kalla Says:
June 16th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
Sergio,

You can check the WP API codex and find the variable that is set when comments are enabled on a page, and then wrap that code-block with a conditional in the template editor, so depending on if you set the comments enabled in the admin interface or not, that code block that renders comments is either shown or not shown.

Most themes support that anyway, so on that page try and disable comments (it’s under the post content box) and see if it disappears.
Ramon Says:
July 1st, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Men you saved my life. Keep up the good work.
Jun-G Says:
July 29th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Thanks man, been looking for this solution. It really helped me a lot.
You rock!

Cheers!
Ivan Says:
September 15th, 2009 at 6:12 am
Thank you! A big mystery cleared up …

Ivan
TheNightOwl Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 am
Hey, Riyad

Thanks VERY much for this. Really.

I, too, am as dumb as a box of hammers with this kind of stuff. (Although, just quietly, between you’n'me… I really AM as dumb as a box of hammers with all this stuff and you, my friend, are NOT!)

=)

I just reinstalled a site and wanted to transfer all posts to Pages. This sorted it out very quickly and easily in my Theme.

Thanks again,
TheNightOwl
Gavin Says:
October 27th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Sorry for asking a Dumber question .
But Where exactly do I insert this ?
Is it in the comment.php or index.php of the default theme
Riyad Kalla Says:
October 28th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Gavin, not a dumb question at all — it’s in the Page template, usually page.php or something like that — you just pop the snippet in there and then standard pages (rendered using the ‘page.php’ file) will show the comments box!

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