Have you noticed the new style comment box on WordPress?
In line with the Block editor, WordPress has rolled out a new cool comment box on most WordPress blogs. While I’m writing this post, I still see a few blogs with the old-style comments box, but I’m confident all WordPress blogs will soon display the block-style comment box.
The new style comments box appears on blog posts, but not when you add your comment via the comments box on the WordPress Reader.
For the purpose of this post, I’m using an iMac desktop computer.
Here is a breakdown of what users can do when leaving comments on blogs with the new block-style comment box.
What does it look like?
This is what the new style comment box looks like.
It looks very simple, doesn’t it? And it is very easy to use. Your Gravatar image appears in the bottom left corner.
The comments box looks like this as soon you click in the box.
Notice the difference? A toolbar has opened along the top, and an ‘+‘ icon has appeared inside the comments box. Let’s examine what they do. I’ve numbered some icons in the following image.
- Block being used.
- Aline text
- Bold
- Italic
- Pingback link
1 – This is the type of block being used when commenting. It will always be the Paragraph block by default, but you can switch to the List or Quote block by clicking on it. If you change it to the List or Quote block, a new toolbar will appear.
2 – Use this icon to align text to the left, right or centre.
3 – Use this icon to make the text bold.
4 – Use this icon to make the text italic.
5 – Use this icon to create a pingback.
Most readers only use text when leaving comments and they will never feel the need to align it or make it bold. However, many bloggers want more.
You can now insert other blocks into the comments box by clicking the ‘+‘ icon. For example, you can now easily insert an image in your comment by clicking the ‘+‘ icon and choosing the Image block.
How cool is that? (not the photo of me, but the fact that I can add an image to the comments). This is especially good for participating in photography challenges without creating a blog post or when explaining something where including an image or screenshot helps.
I want to mention that you can create pingbacks in your comments. Pingbacks are powerful and can help boost visitors to your blog. We could already add pingbacks when using the Classic view on our blog’s dashboard but we can now finally do it using the Default view.
Are you unsure how to create a pingback? My post, The Power Of Pingbacks: How To Create One, provides full details.
Before submitting your comment, remember to click the small settings cog next to your Gravatar photo to open a new menu. Why?
Not only will the menu that opens confirm if you are logged into WordPress, but you can also sign up to receive web and mobile notifications for posts on the blog you are leaving your comment on, get email notifications of new posts, and receive email notifications of any new comments left on the post (including a response to your comment from the blog host).
Press the ‘Comment‘ box to submit your comment.
Is this true?
I’ve heard that some bloggers are threatening to stop leaving comments or are thinking of leaving WordPress because of the introduction of the new block-style comment box.
Given that the bare minimum somebody has to do to leave a comment is to type their comment into the box, I find it hard to believe that people are threatening to stop leaving comments or leaving WordPress because of the introduction of this new comments box. If you are, please reconsider your decision.
The new block-style comments box is not hard to use; it’s just a little different!
Update
Users can now disable blocks in comments. Go to Settings – Discussions, and in the ‘Comments‘ section of the page, turn off ‘Enable blocks in comments.’ Remember to save the change.
WordPress’s new comments box style is a refreshing update that enhances the user experience. Its modern and intuitive design makes interacting with comments more enjoyable. If you have any questions about it, feel free to leave them in the comments section. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Layout, content, settings, and format might differ on self-hosted blogs.
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Oh I didn’t know about adding a photo into the comments Hugh! Many thanks for this interesting update, it’s not hard to use at all :)
Very simple to use, Debbie. And a great addition to WordPress.
I can’t believe people are talking about leaving WP just because of this change - they don’t have to use the new features so what’s the problem??? There are other changes WP has made that are far more annoying….
But they do have to use the new comments box. There is no way of overriding it. So, if you want to comment on blog posts, you’ll have to use it. But I do agree that allowing this change to make you want to leave WordPress or to stop blogging is very silly. It’s very simple and easy to use and certainly gives those that want to do more with their comments the tools to do so.
I like the new comment feature but everybody say’s they can’t leave a comment. When I try it’s no problem. I’m not sure I have it set up right.
You don’t need to set it up if you’re a WordPress.Com user as it will appear automatically.
Anybody saying they are not able to comment should report the problem to WordPress.
I use WordPress.org with Explorer. I tried what you suggested in prior blog and now waiting to see if it fixed my problem. Thanx for addressing this and your quick response.
You’re welcome. Most of my tips about WordPress are for WordPress.Com users, but I know that some of them also work for those who self-host with WordPres.
Thanks for explaining this new WordPress feature to us, Hugh. I had noticed a difference in the comment box on other people’s blogs recently and was annoyed that when I started typing my comment, the first letter wasn’t capitalized. Usually, this happens automatically.
When I start a new paragraph the same thing happens. Maybe this is not WordPress related, but I don’t like that part. On the other hand, having more options when leaving comments – like the task bar above – is nice. The big winner to me seems to be the ability to leave a photo in the comments. Although, in this particular circumstance, I don’t see that plus sign in the box. Maybe because I’m on my iPad. I will investigate this new feature! :)
I’ve never noticed the first letter being capitalised, Lisebet. I’ve always had to press the shift key on my keyboard to make that first letter a capital, although if I forget, Grammarly always suggests changing it.
Regrading the iPad, I have to go into the post via the browser on my iPad to get the ‘+’ icon to appear in the comments box. If I go via the WordPress Reader or the Jetpack App, the new comments box is not available yet.
You can still leave images in your comments. This old post of mine gives the details.
Amazing Hugh. WordPress is the best no doubt about that. How about the Jetpack Mobile App? What do you think about it?
It is so cool too👏
I do all my blogging on a desktop computer so I don’t use the Jetpack mobile app, I’m afraid. However, I’ve heard mixed reaction to it.
This is such a cool post, Hugh. I don’t know why I didn’t recognize that it was new. I love the idea of adding a picture. Terri put one in this week, so she must have read this post, too. Thanks for keeping me up to date.
You’e welcome, Marsha. The new comment box has some great features for those that want to use them.
I can’t wait to check it out.
Thanks for that detailed explanation. It is really helpful.
You’re welcome. I’m glad it helped. Let me know if you any questions about it.
I don’t mind this comment box and your explanation as always was very clear..thank you Hugh I like that I can add an image if its relevant to the comment 😊If I can ask a question Hugh not related to this post. I have noticed that blogs I have recently followed when they post a new post it appears in my notifications as well as in reader and its getting slightly annoying as my email inbox is also filling up with a notification for everyones comments…
Hi Carol, you can turn off web notifications by clicking the cog next to your Gravatar profile in the comments box. You can also turn off email notifications of any new comments left on the same menu. However, you can also turn off these settings by clicking on Reader – Manage Subscriptions, and clicking the three dots (known as a meatball menu) next to each blog you follow.
I hope that helps, but please come back to me if you have any further questions.
Thank you, Hugh I will try those suggestions when I googled it the answer was some plug in that enables a blogger to do this its just strange that its only new blogs I have followed not older ones but I will definitely try your suggestions as nothing else has worked ..Thank you , Hugh 😊
If your blog is self-hosted, a plugin may be the answer, Carol. But if you’re a WordPress.Com user, those suggestions I gave should work.
This post also mentions the managing subscribers I mentioned in my last comment. The images in the post may be helpful.
I’m not self hosted I have a subscription to WP not a free blog. ..I have applied your suggestions.so the next few days should let me know if they have solved the problem I will let you know…Thank you, Hugh 😊
I hope it works, Carol. WordPress.Com users can all decide which emails and notifications they receive. For example, I unsubscribed from ‘Like’ emails. You can also unsubscribe from a comments thread by clicking the ‘Unsubscribe’ link in the email you get.
One thing you can’t do is remove any blogs you follow from the WordPress Reader. Once you follow a blog, all new posts from that blog will appear on your WP Reader feed, although if bloggers publish more than once daily, their posts get condensed on the reader.
Thank you for the info, Hugh I have found it all extremely helpful. I hope you are having a great weekend😊
Thanks for the update. What frustrates me on comments us when I’m promoted to sign in to leave a comment… no time for that do I don’t leave a comment. I was hoping for an edit button… as I hate seeing a misspelled word after enter!
Unfortunately, it’s up to each blogger to decide whether somebody who wants to comment has to sign in to be able to leave comments.
This post may help with further details.
As for being able to edit comments after they have been left on another blog, that’s a great ides. I’ve seen the idea float around and hope that one day it’ll be available on WordPress.
Well, I’m not about to leave WP. Having read your post, it seems to me that the change is positive. Thank you for the help in this post.
You’re welcome. Yes, this change to the comments box is a positive one, especially to those of us who wanted to be able to do more with our comments.
Oh well. Seems this might not be a feature for self hosed WordPress blogs. I tried it and I still get the old style comment form.
Back to my wpDiscuz plugin for now I guess.
Afraid I can’t help with self-hosted sites, but I hope this new comments box becomes available to those on self-hosting platforms.
Oh yeah, forgot to update you. It seems self hosted blogs now have the new comment block. Goodbye WpDiscuz. Lol.
That’s great to hear.
Well, huh. I may just ditch my comment plugin that I’m using now because I didn’t like the old style. Not sure why people say they’ll stop leaving comments when this actually makes commenting a whole lot easier. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Thanks for the heads up Hugh!
I can’t understand why some bloggers refuse to have anything to do with the Block editor. It’s as if it’s some kind of monster. But imagine how dull and boring WordPress would be if they never made any changes.
I like the block comment box. Having the B/I options is much better than guessing if the site supports markdown and remembering the keystrokes required. I’ve always been somewhat reluctant to leave links, unless necessary or invited. I think I’d extend that to images as well, but I like that the option is there.
I have no problem leaving links or images in the comments section of my own posts, but, yes, I always ask first if I can leave any in the comments sections of another blogger’s blog unless invited to do so, Dan.
I’m glad you like the new style comments box. It’s got many useful features for those of us that want them.
And, it presents no problem if you don’t want those features.
Absolutely, Dan. That’s why I don’t understand people who get upset with these changes. Use what you what and ignore the rest.
Hi, Hugh, just wanted to let you know that your Twitter @ is missing a few letters. I noticed it when I shared it on Twitter. Hope that helps!
Thanks, Natalie. I’ve no idea where they got that Twitter name from, but I’ve updated it now. It seemed to be still working when clicking on the name, though.
Thanks for the info, Hugh.
I’m glad it has helped, Stevie. Was there anything in the post that you found particularly helpful?
Clicking the pingback icon, I think.
Pingbacks are powerful because they tell SEO that sites they lead to are being endorsed, so it’s great that we can now include them when commenting.
Thanks again for sharing useful information, Hugh! You are so great in explaining such things, to make them understandable by everyone. I am seriously awaiting the day, when WP reads our thoughts, and comments completely by itself. Lol Best wishes, Michael
Now there is a thought about WordPress in the future, Michael. That’s an interesting one.
I’m glad the post has helped. And thank you for the feedback on how I explain these types of post.
Good morning Hugh. I hope its not too wet in Wales.
Great, informative post as ever and some great conversations in your comments too. 😁 I think I’ll need to move away from using the reader so I get access to the full functionality. I agree, this seems like a good step forward and I don’t understand why it would make people want to stop leaving comments or leave WP. I know some people don’t like change, but this is a positive one. My instinct is maybe they just see the change and react without really understanding it.
It’s a shame the WP Reader does not have this new comment box yet, Brenda. But who knows? Maybe WordPress will introduce it sometime?
I often read posts from people complaining about changes on WordPress and how those changes have caused them problems, but often these people jump in too quickly before checking everything out or taking some time to find out more about the changes. This often results in the user causing the problems rather than the host platform. Too many bloggers seem to be in a rush all the time rather than taking their time. As I often say in some of my posts, ‘Blogging is a marathon, not a sprint.’
I wasn’t going to stop commenting, but this new change did irritate me, mainly because of the change to the spacing. Thanks for your detailed explanation of the uses of the new box, it has helped me understand it, as I am completely non-technical when it comes to computers. You don’t appear to have a reblog button, so I am unable to reblog to my followers.
Best wishes, Pete.
Hi Pete, thanks for sharing a link to this post. I’m glad it helped. I’ve had some people come over from your post to visit my blog. I appreciate that very much, so thank you.
I removed the reblog button from my blog a few years ago due to copyright problems and a number of other reasons. Strangely, I seldom see bloggers reblogging anymore. Here’s a link to my post that explains why I chose to remove the reblog button from my blog.
Thanks for the link, Hugh. I am still very much a ‘Reblogger’, I have already done one this morning. 😀
Best wishes, Pete.
OK, Pete. But please do be careful with what you reblog, especially any posts containing photos or images. I’ll leave a link to a post Deborah Jay wrote for my blog on what happened to her 10 years after reblogging a post that contained images that were protected by copyright and not free to use or download.