The Settings > Discussion SubPanel allows you to set the options concerning comments (also called discussion). It is here the administrator decides if comments are allowed, if pingbacks and trackbacks are acceptable, and what constitutes Comment Spam. On this SubPanel you also control the circumstances under which your blog sends you e-mail notification of certain events at your site.

Default article setting
These settings may be overridden for individual articles.
* Allow people to post comments on the article – Check this box if you wish to allow comments to your posts. Remember that this can be overridden for individual articles. Comments can also be controlled by making an article PRIVATE, which requires the appropriate password before a comment is allowed. If you don’t wish to allow comments uncheck this setting.

Other comment settings
* Comment author must fill out name and e-mail – Check this box as a way to force spammers to do a bit of extra work. In reality, the name and e-mail address are not verified in any way prior to the comment being submitted. Most legitimate commenters are more than willing to fill out a name and e-mail address.
* Users must be registered and logged in to comment – If this checkbox is checked, only logged in registered users will be able to write comments on your site.

Email me whenever
These two settings give you control of when authors and administrators receive notification that comments have been made, or that comments are held for moderation. Please note that the use of “me” refers to either a post author or the administrator (person whose email address is used for admin purposes).
* Anyone posts a comment – Check this box so that every single comment posted will generate an email to the author of that post. Be warned that if your posts receive a large number of comments, post authors may find a very full email Inbox. If you wish to micromanage comments, then by all means, activate this setting by checking the box.
* A comment is held for moderation – Check this box if you want WordPress to send notification that a comment is being held for moderation. The email notification is sent to the E-mail address listed in the Administration > Settings > General SubPanel. This is useful if your blog has multiple authors and each author is authorized to allow or decline comments. That way, you, the owner of the site, can review what comments are being allowed or denied.

Before a comment appears
These settings provide you even more control over the instances of when and how comments are posted.

* An administrator must always approve the comment – Select this option to force comments to be approved by a blog user or owner having the proper Role to approve comments, even if the comments appear to be spam . See the Comment Moderation options below regarding spam.

* Comment author must have a previously approved comment – Check the box to insure comments are only posted if the comment author’s email address matches the address of a previously approved comment, otherwise, the comment is held for moderation. Comments from blacklisted email addresses (those listed in the Local Spam Words Text Box) are held for moderation regardless of whitelist status.

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Tags: comment settings, comments, discussion, discussion settings, email notifications, Word Press Tutorials