Leaving Comments

It seems that disabling Comments and Talkbacks for posts and static pages is one of the more common tasks that people want to do, but have trouble finding the right options to do it. I don’t think the WordPress interface makes it very clear what is going on, because this topic may be the #1 most asked question on the Weaver forum. So, here’s the scoop on controlling comments.

1. This is really not a theme issue – the control is entirely done using regular WordPress options.
2. Comments are controlled in the Dashboard Settings->Discussion page. There are quite a few options available, but if you want to disable comments by default for posts and pages, select the appropriate options on that page. (Unchecking the first 3 boxes will do it.) Don’t forget about trackbacks and pingbacks because they can generate “comments” as well.
3. If you’ve turned off comments by default (and you will probably end up doing that because even with Akismet and a Captcha plugin, you’re likely to end up with plenty of spam), then you can re-enable comments for specific pages and posts from the Page and Post editor screens. There is an option panel on the Page/Post editor pages called “Discussion” with check boxes for that option. If you don’t see that panel, you need to display it by opening the Screen Options tab in the upper right corner of the Page/Post editor page, and then check the Discussion show option.
4. Now, if you created any posts or pages before you disabled comments, you’ll have to go to each individual page and post and disable comments explicitly. Setting from the Settings->Discussion screen doesn’t retroactively change the option. You’ll have to delete any old comments you’ve accumulated as well.
5. After you’ve done all this, by default, you will not see any reference to comments in the Post bottom info line, or at the bottom of regular pages. There is a Weaver Main Options in the Post Specifics section to display a “Comments are closed”e message if you want .