There are some cases when a comments section is not showing on some posts and pages. Sometimes, a missing comment box can lead to the communication problems between you and your site readers. If the comments section is missing then they will not be able to leave comments on your pages. Let’s explore some reasons why the comments box is not showing up on your WordPress site.
Site settings
Each WordPress installation includes settings for the comments. These settings are located in your dashboard. It is a good idea to check these settings first:
- In your dashboard, navigate to Settings → Discussion to open the Discussion Settings page.
- On the Discussion Settings page, make sure the setting is enabled to allow comments on your site. This setting is located in the Default post settings section, next to “Allow people to submit comments on new posts”.
Individual post settings
The WordPress core provides the functionality to turn off comments per post as well. If you have completed the previous check then it is time to check each post where the comments box is missing:
- In your dashboard, open the post in the Editor.
- Now, make sure comments are enabled for the post in the Discussion box.
There are some cases when the Editor does not display this this box. If the Discussion box is missing then make sure it is enabled on your site. The location of these options are different in the Classic editor and the Block editor. Below you can find instructions for both editors.
Block Editor
To find the Editor options in the Block Editor (Gutenberg), please follow these steps:
- In the Editor, click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner. It will show more tools and options for the Editor.
- In the list that appears, click Options to open the Options panel.
- In the Document Panels, make sure Discussion is checked.
- Click the x in the upper right corner to close the Options panel. The Editor settings should be ready for use.
Also you can use the Options panel for customizing your Editor. Simply select the checkboxes for items that you want to display in the Editor and clear the checkboxes for items you don’t.
Classic Editor
If you are using the Classic Editor on your WordPress site then please follow these steps to locate the Editor options:
- In the Editor, click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the page. It will additional options for the Editor.
- In the Screen Options, make sure Discussion is checked.
Also you can use the Screen Options for customizing your Classic Editor as well.
Automation system
Furthermore, there are processes in WordPress core that happen automatically based on the set settings. So, there is a possibility that the setting may have been checked to automatically close comments on new posts after a certain number of days.
It is a good idea to check that scenario too. Just to make sure that this option does not hide the comments section on your WordPress site. These settings are located in the Discussion Settings page:
- In your dashboard, navigate to Settings → Discussion to open the Discussion Settings page.
- On the Discussion Settings page, make sure all the settings that can automatically disable your comments.
Other cases
Please note, comments or the comment form will generally not be shown on your blog and archive pages, such as categories and tags pages. By default, WordPress does not have such functionality for archive views.
Moreover, some custom templates might not include the comment form. For example, some of our premium themes, such as Fortune, Appetite, Venture and Prosperity, do not display the comments section on the Front Page template.
Have you ever had a case where these options have not helped? If yes, how did you resolve it? Please share your experience in the comments.
19 responses
Thank you so much for this. It was the last option you mentioned in the article (“automatically close comments on posts older than x days”) that finally got me my comments section back. Thank you.
You are very welcome, Anna! I am happy to hear that you’ve found this article useful, and you were to solve the problem with comments on your WordPress site.
Kind regards,
Taras
Me too. I read that as =REMOVING= comments older than 14 days, not remove the whole reply block!
I am still not able to get the comment section back. I am using classic editor and followed your steps. You are saying to check the box: automatically close comments on post older than x days, correct?
Everything was fine until the latest post and then all of a sudden Leave a Comment isn’t visible.
Hi Nicki,
First of all, check Discussion settings in your post using the Editor options (located in the the Discussion box). Make sure “Allow comments” option is checked.
Then, check Discussion settings located at Settings → Discussion in your dashboard. Make sure “Automatically close comments on posts older than x days” option is unchecked.
To make sure that the issue is not cause by one of your plugins, try the “Disable plugins” method described here.
If it still does not solve the problem, then you may need to contact the author of your theme to find out what’s causing this issue regarding the comments on your WordPress site.
Kind regards,
Taras
OMG it finally worked when I unchecked that automatically close comments box! Thank you.
I’m wondering how you got your comment section on this website though? It looks nicer than what I have now I think. Thank you!
Hello,
You are welcome. I am happy to hear you’ve found this solution useful for your case. Please see an article about WordPress comments layout to gain more information regarding this topic.
Best regards,
Taras
Thank you for the tutorial. I installed astra starter templates but my comments wont show on those pages. However, my comments are showing on all the other pages. Is there a way around this
Hello Mutaasa,
It’s highly possible that those templates simply do not support the comments section. For more information about it, I would recommend you to contact a developer of these templates.
Kind regards,
Taras
Or, the theme may need to be updated to remain compatible w/updated PHP and WordPress version updates, else the comment feature may look like it disappeared. That was the case for me, at any rate.
Thank you very much! It was very helpful!
Thanks for this thread. I’m trying to get comments running on my website.Just activated wpDiscuz to try it, but I can’t get the comments element to show up on posts. (checked that everything is marked appropriately)
Is the comment box being denied by the theme, perhaps?
Thanks
Hello Joe,
If the plugin does not automatically output it then, most likely, you have to make some changes in your theme. I would recommend you to contact the author(s) of the plugin for a solution.
Kind regards,
Taras
Thanks so much for this post. As some of the people here, the last option was the last tip was the one that showed the comments back on the post. Thank you very much!
HUGE HUGE HUGE Thanks man
Wow, 2 days of fruitless effort, then your suggestion to uncheck “delete comments older than X ” did the trick.. this platform can be so frustrating, thank you, thank you…
Even though your suggestions didn’t fix my issue I thought others might benefit from what my issue was. I started deactivating plugins one at a time until I found it was my caching plugin. I reset it to one of the preset settings and my comment issue id fixed. Hope that helps someone.
For me, I had the “Let visitors use a WordPress.com or Facebook account to comment” setting enabled in Jetpack. Disabling that got comments back!
Leiif, Thanks for your help.
It worked for me as well.
Even though your suggestions didn’t fix my issue I thought others might benefit from what my issue was. I started deactivating plugins one at a time until I found it was my caching plugin. I reset it to one of the preset settings and my comment issue id fixed. Hope that helps someone.