Comments allow your visitors to react directly to posts on your WordPress website. Especially on blogs, guide sites, and editorial websites, comments can facilitate questions, additions, and discussions. At the same time, comments must be managed so that spam, unwanted advertising, or problematic content do not appear unchecked on your website.
WordPress offers a centralized comment management system for this. There you can check, approve, reply to, edit, mark as spam, or delete new comments. Which comments are published automatically and which ones require your approval first depends on your Discussion Settings ab.
Note: Comment management and discussion settings have different tasks. Under Comments do you process specific comments from your visitors. Under Settings → Discussion you determine how WordPress should generally handle new comments.
Where can I find the comments in WordPress? #
First, log in to your WordPress admin area. For a standard installation, you can usually reach it via:
Replace your-domain.ch through your actual domain.
After logging in, you will find the menu item in the left navigation:
Comments
A click on it opens the central comment overview of your WordPress website.
Understanding the WordPress Comments Screen #
In the comment management screen, WordPress displays the existing comments along with important information. This includes, for example, the author, the actual comment text, and the post the comment was written for.
Above the list, you can filter comments by their current status. Depending on the available comments, you will find sections there such as:
- All: Overview of existing comments
- Mine: Comments associated with your user
- Pending: Comments still awaiting moderation
- Approved: published comments
- Spam comments classified as spam
- Recycle Bin deleted, but not yet permanently removed comments
Which filters are actually displayed depends on whether corresponding comments exist.
What does „Pending“ mean for a comment? #
A pending comment has been saved, but has not yet been approved for publication. Whether comments must be moderated first is controlled via the WordPress discussion settings.
If you want to moderate new comments manually, you can set it there so that comments only appear after your approval.
This is particularly useful for corporate blogs and websites where you want to prevent spam or unwanted content from automatically becoming publicly visible.
Approve a comment #
If a comment is awaiting moderation, you can review it directly in the comment overview.
Approve comment #
- Log in to the WordPress admin area.
- Open Comments.
- Select the filter if needed Pending.
- Check the author and the content of the comment.
- Move the mouse pointer over the comment in question.
- Click on Approve or the corresponding publishing option in your WordPress version.
After approval, the comment may appear in the comment section of the respective post, provided your theme displays comments there.
Recommendation: Do not approve comments solely because they appear friendly at first glance. Comment spam is increasingly written to look like a genuine reaction to an article. Therefore, always check the sender, the content, and any links that may be included.
Reply to a comment #
You can reply to comments directly from the WordPress comment management. This saves you from having to open the corresponding post on the public website first.
Move the mouse pointer over a comment and select Answers. WordPress will then open an input field where you can write your answer.
For themes with nested comments, your reply is usually associated with the corresponding comment. This allows visitors to see which post within the discussion you are replying to.
Especially with technical blog posts, it is worth actually answering meaningful questions. A good comment section can complement an article with additional information that is also interesting for other readers.
Edit an existing comment #
You can also edit an existing comment afterwards. This can be useful, for example, if you need to remove an obviously faulty link or correct problematic parts of an otherwise useful comment.
Depending on the view, WordPress offers, among other things, Edit and a feature for quick editing.
During full processing, you can typically check various details of the comment and edit the comment text.
Note: Do not alter the content of a legitimate visitor comment in such a way that its original meaning is distorted. In the case of problematic comments, rejecting or deleting them is generally cleaner than a substantial content rewrite.
Reject comment #
An already approved comment can be removed from public view without deleting it immediately. Depending on the language version or view, WordPress refers to this action as Reject.
As a result, the comment remains in the system, but is no longer publicly approved.
This is useful if you want to temporarily hide a comment or need to check it more closely first.
Detect spam comments #
Comment spam is among the most common problems for publicly accessible WordPress websites. Automated bots systematically search websites for open comment forms and attempt to place advertising, links, or other unwanted content there.
Typical indications of spam can be:
- Comments with no discernible relation to the article
- conspicuously general phrasing
- Advertising for third-party websites or products
- suspicious or off-topic links
- an unusually high number of comments in a short time
- almost identical comments under multiple posts
- Texts in a language that does not match the website or the article
- Comments whose actual purpose is obviously a backlink
However, not every comment with a link is automatically spam. The deciding factor is whether the comment has a comprehensible relation to the content and represents a legitimate contribution to the discussion.
Mark comment as spam #
If you clearly identify a comment as spam, you should not just approve or ignore it.
Move the mouse pointer over the comment in question and click on:
Spam
WordPress then moves it to the spam section.
From there, you can permanently delete spam comments later.
Important: Do not needlessly click on suspicious links in spam comments. To evaluate an obviously automated or promotional comment, you normally do not need to visit the linked website.
Delete spam permanently #
Comments marked as spam are initially stored in WordPress. Open the section in the comment management Spam, if you want to check or permanently remove these entries.
There you can delete individual spam comments or empty the spam section.
For websites with a very high volume of spam, regular cleanup is advisable. Thousands of unnecessary spam comments do not need to remain permanently in your WordPress database.
What is the difference between spam and trash? #
Both areas contain comments that are not displayed publicly, but serve different purposes.
Spam is intended for comments that have been classified as unwanted or abusive content.
The Recycle Bin contains, by contrast, comments that you have deleted. As long as a comment is still in the trash, it can be restored if necessary.
When the recycle bin is emptied permanently, the comments in question will be permanently deleted.
Edit multiple comments at once #
If there are many comments, you don't necessarily have to process them individually. WordPress supports Multiple actions.
Manage multiple comments simultaneously #
- Open Comments.
- Select the check boxes for the desired comments.
- Open the selection field for Multiple actions.
- Select the desired action.
- Click on Take over.
Depending on the status of the selected comments, you can, for example, approve them, reject them, mark them as spam, or move them to the trash.
When dealing with a larger number of comments, you should carefully check which entries have been selected before performing a bulk action.
Search for comments by specific content #
WordPress provides a search function in the comment management. With it, you can search existing comments if, for example, you want to find a specific comment or a specific author again.
This is especially useful for older blogs with many comments, where a manual search across multiple pages would be unnecessarily tedious.
Why am I getting so many spam comments? #
A large amount of comment spam does not automatically mean that your WordPress website has been hacked. Public comment forms are constantly being searched for and targeted by automated bots.
This can even affect websites that have very little actual visitor traffic.
If you receive a lot of spam, you should therefore first check your comment and moderation settings. We explain in detail how WordPress handles new comments in the article Configure discussion settings in WordPress.
Should you use an anti-spam plugin? #
For websites with an active comment section and regular spam, a suitable anti-spam system can be useful. Such solutions try to automatically detect unwanted comments before you have to manually check every single entry.
However, do not install multiple anti-spam plugins with the same task at the same time. More plugins do not automatically mean more protection and can cause unnecessary complexity or conflicts.
We explain how to install WordPress plugins in our article What is a WordPress plugin and how do you install a new plugin?.
Recommendation: Only use plugins that you actually need. Before installation, check, among other things, whether the plugin is actively maintained, is compatible with your WordPress version, and comes from a trusted source.
Disable comments completely #
Not every website needs a comment section. For example, on a classic corporate website with static service and information pages, comments can be completely unnecessary.
Whether new posts allow comments by default, you can find under:
Settings → Discussion
configure.
Please note, however, that changing the default setting does not necessarily retroactively change the comment function of all existing posts. Existing content may have its own discussion settings.
If you want to disable comments completely, you should therefore check both the global settings and any content that has already been published.
Disable comments for a single post #
WordPress also allows disabling comments only for specific posts.
To do this, open the relevant post in the editor and look for the discussion or comments section in the post settings. There you can specify whether comments are allowed for this content.
The exact position of the setting may vary slightly depending on the WordPress version, the editor used, and installed extensions.
For example, you can use this to allow comments on blog posts while specifically disabling them for certain posts.
Comments on pages and posts are not the same #
WordPress can fundamentally support discussions for different content types. In practice, however, comments are predominantly used on Posts used.
On classic sites like:
- Home
- About us
- Contact
- Imprint
- Service pages
a public comment function is usually not required.
Whether your theme actually displays comments for a specific piece of content also depends on its templates and configuration.
Comments and Privacy #
A comment function processes visitor data. Depending on the configuration, data such as name, email address, website details, comment content, and technical information can be processed or stored.
Therefore, if you use comments on your website, you should also consider your privacy policy and the configuration of the comment and anti-spam systems you use.
Special attention is required with external anti-spam services when data is transmitted to external providers for checking. Which specific data protection requirements apply depends on the solution used and your website.
Note: Do not install an anti-spam plugin based solely on its technical function. Check also if and what data the service processes or transmits to external servers.
Who is allowed to manage comments? #
What actions a logged-in WordPress user may perform depends on their user role and the associated permissions.
Therefore, you should not give administrator rights to just anyone, simply so they can edit content or comments, for example.
WordPress has a role and permission system that allows different tasks to be separated. We cover this topic in more detail in the article Managing users in WordPress and assigning user roles correctly.
What to do when suddenly a huge number of spam comments arrive? #
If hundreds or thousands of spam comments arrive within a short time, you shouldn't just delete each comment individually.
Instead, proceed systematically:
- Check under Settings → Discussion, whether comments are sensibly configured.
- Consider whether the comment feature is actually needed on your website.
- If necessary, activate a suitable moderation or anti-spam solution.
- Mark recognized spam comments accordingly.
- Clean up large quantities using bulk actions.
- Empty spam and trash after checking.
If you generally do not use comments, it usually makes more sense to consistently disable the feature rather than permanently managing spam that no real visitor needs.
Moderating comments effectively #
Good comment moderation does not mean deleting every critical opinion. Constructive questions, additions, and factual criticism can even improve an article and provide additional information to other visitors.
In contrast, spam, obvious advertising, automated content, and posts that you do not want to publish on your website should be removed or not approved.
In the case of a specialized blog, it can be useful to answer real questions directly. Over time, this turns a single article into an additional source of knowledge for readers who have similar questions.
Tip: When visitors repeatedly ask the same technical question under an article, it is often an indication that this information is missing from the actual article itself. Supplement the article with the corresponding answer if necessary.
Summary #
You manage all comments on your WordPress website in the WordPress admin area under Comments. There you can check and approve pending comments, reply to visitors, edit comments, reject them, mark them as spam, or delete them.
For larger quantities, filters, search, and bulk actions help with management. If your website regularly receives spam, you should not only delete the unwanted comments, but also the WordPress discussion settings check and, if necessary, implement a suitable anti-spam solution.
If you do not need comments on your website at all, you can disable the feature. In addition to the global setting, make sure to check existing posts as well. A sensibly configured comment feature reduces moderation effort and ensures that real discussions do not get lost among spam comments.
