For information on how to write good comments or write responses to comments see the Chapter: Writing Comments. This chapter focuses on the technical aspects of managing comments on your site.

Typically, pages do not have comments; however, blog posts usually do allow for commenting. Blog content provides the option for readers to comment and ask questions on individual posts. That means that visitors are engaging with your blog posts in a different way than they are your main site pages. 

Comments are helpful in building a relationship between the blogger and its readers. Blog commenting gives an opportunity to ask or reply to questions. A user may like to appreciate the content. So it helps in the exchange of ideas, thoughts and opinions related to a specific topic. The development of these connections can prove to be very helpful to you in the long term.

However, allowing comment on your blog posts also has some risks. Even with the help of spam filter services, you still run the risk of providing a space for people to post offensive or defamatory content, off-topic remarks, or promotional content linking back to inappropriate or irrelevant links. One method of managing this is to moderate your blog comments. 

Setting Up Comment Moderation

Comment options are controlled through the Settings >> Discussion menu.

I do not recommend you allow for anonymous comments, especially on a portfolio website. Anonymous comments defeat the purpose of making connections with your audience, but also provide an opportunity for bad actors to leave inappropriate comments. 

I recommend that you setup your blog to either require moderation for all comments (option: Comment must be manually approved) or requiring the first post from a given author to be approved (option: Comment author must have a previously approved comment).

If you are finding you are getting regular comments of a type you do not want, you can use comment moderation features to automatically hold specific types of comments for moderation. 

Comment Spam

WordPress websites often get spam comments. Before you approve comments on your blog, make sure that they don't contain any spammy content, such as excess hyperlinks to websites that are not relevant to your blog. Tools like Akismet Anti-Spam can help reduce comment spam. Akismet is a plugin that comes pre-installed with Reclaim Hosting WordPress installations. You will need to create a key before you can use it. Akismet keys are free for personal websites.

Moderating Comments

Comment moderation is done using the Comments menu. This will list all your blog comments, including spam. It is a good idea to check your spam occassionally to ensure that real comments didn't get routed to spam. In addition to releasing comments that are in moderation, you can also reply directly to comments from the Comment menu.