Public Comments

Public Comments are an extension of Private Comments / Public Ratings plug-in.  This documentation is separated for clarity.  Public Comments are displayed on the website, unlike Private comments.  Public Comments are also nestable for a reply hierarchy.

Follow Along with this Video Tutorial

 

Overview

Four e-mails used in conjunction with Public Comments are in the above image:

• Email Approved: E-mail sent to the user when a comment is approved
• Email Notify: E-mail sent to notify an administrator that a comment has been submitted; only used when there is no approval process
• Email Rejected: E-mail sent to user when a comment is rejected
• Email Pending Approval: E-mail sent to administrator when a comment is submitted and pending approval

Editing

When comments are submitted, they can be found in the CMS under the Content > Comments tab.  Here a comment can be approved, rejected, or deleted.  Note: typically an administrator will not need to visit this area, as pending approval e-mails have a one-click ability to approve or reject a comment.

Properties

Public commment properties can be found in the CMS under Home > Panels > Comments / Ratings > Properties.

• Require Login: force user to login in order to comment or rate
• Show Ratings: show ratings controls on an article with Ratings enabled
• Show Comment Box: show comment box on an article with Ratings enabled
• Login Message: the message displayed to a user when being forced to login
• Comment Type: the mode in which comments will function on the website
• Public: comments will be displayed on the website
• Private: comments will never be displayed on the website
• Approval Type: approval process behavior
• Administrator: administrators will approve comments
• None: comments will be displayed instantly on the website without approval
• Notification E-mail: e-mail in which administrative notifications will be sent; also the from e-mail address for notifications to the user
• Notify Type: Notification behavior for e-mails
• Admin: Administrators will receive e-mails; but, users will not
• User: User will receive e-mails; but, administrators will not
• Admin & User: Administrators and Users will receive e-mails based upon actions

User Experience

When users reply or add a comment to an article, they must enter a Captcha code.  If login is not required, a name field is also presented.

Once a comment is approved or displayed on the website, it appears in a hierarchical structure like so:

Notes

Combinations of properties will cause different behaviors.  Styling and initial setup should be configured by support - create a ticket requesting Public Comments to be installed if you would like this functionality.