Comments - Verba

Comments are a WordPress feature that Verba draws. WordPress decides whether a post accepts them; the theme decides whether the block appears and what it looks like.

#Turn comments on

Three switches have to agree before a comment form appears, and they sit in different places. This is the usual reason comments are missing from a post.

Turning on the site wide setting doesn't open comments on posts you already published. To change those in bulk, select them in PostsAll Posts, choose Edit from the Bulk actions menu, apply, and set Comments to Allow.

#Collapse them behind a toggle

On an article with a long discussion, the comments push everything below them a long way down. Collapse comments in the same Customizer tab hides them behind a "View comments" control, so the reader opens the thread only if they want it.

The count stays visible either way.

#Say when comments are closed

Closed comments note, on by default in the same tab, tells readers a post has its comments turned off, so an empty space at the end of the article doesn't look like a broken page.

#Comment voting

Comment voting adds an up and down control to each comment, and is switched on with Comment up / down voting in VerbaTheme OptionsSingle PostFooter, group Comments. Votes are stored per reader, so one person can't vote twice from the same browser.

This is a Pro feature of the advanced post layout. Without it the comments render normally, with no voting controls. See Likes, views, and comment voting.

#The check mark next to a name

Verba puts a small check mark after the author name on comments left by the post author and by site administrators. Hovering it says which one it is: "Post author" or "Site administrator".

It lets a reader see which replies come from the person who wrote the article or runs the site.

#Pingbacks and trackbacks

These are automatic notices posted when another site links to your article. Verba renders them in a separate list under the human comments, with a smaller avatar, so a machine notice never reads as somebody's reply.

If you'd rather not have them, uncheck Allow link notifications from other blogs in SettingsDiscussion.

#Keeping spam out

WordPress handles comment spam, not the theme, and the settings that matter are all in SettingsDiscussion:

• Comment must be manually approved stops everything reaching the page before you see it.
• Comment author must have a previously approved comment is the middle ground: known people post straight away, new ones queue.
• Automatically close comments on posts older than a number of days cuts off the old articles that spam bots find first.

An anti spam plugin does the rest. Akismet is the one WordPress suggests, and any of the well maintained alternatives works.

#Common questions

The comment form is missing on one post only

Check the Discussion panel on that post. A post published while the site wide setting was off keeps comments closed even after you turn the setting on.

Comments are missing on every post

Check the theme toggle first, since it hides the area regardless of what WordPress thinks: AppearanceCustomizeVerba ThemeSingle PostFooter, Comments block, or on the advanced layout the Comments group in Theme Options. A post page built from a block pattern or an Elementor template shows comments only if the template includes them.

Can I use a third party comment system?

Yes. Most of them ship a plugin that replaces the WordPress comment area, and Verba steps aside for it.

Comments don't appear on a password protected post

The comments area stays hidden until the password is entered, because a discussion about protected text gives the text away.

Last updated 1 Oct 2026