Ways to use comments on beehiiv posts

Advantages to using comments 

Comments are an excellent way to enhance user engagement and foster a sense of community within your publication. They facilitate personalized interactions, helping to build stronger relationships, and their real-time nature makes the newsletter feel dynamic and alive.

Not only do comments encourage reader participation, creating a more interactive experience, but the feedback can provide valuable insights for improvement and inspiration for future content. Engaged readers are more likely to share content, which can easily increase your newsletter's reach. Plus, comments can enhance SEO by adding relevant content, making your publication more discoverable. 

To enable comments on your posts, you first need to activate the comments feature in the Website Builder for your publication.

Depending on your role, there are two primary ways to interact with comments in beehiiv: as an admin or as a user. We’ll cover both experiences below.

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User Experience: Leaving likes, comments, and replies on published posts

Comments are governed by the settings of each post. If the post is free for all users, then everyone can see the comments. If it's for paid subscribers only, then only those subscribers can see and leave comments. To participate by leaving a comment or liking a post, users must subscribe to the beehiiv publication.

1. Open a beehiiv publication that you'd like to comment on or reply to a comment. 
   
   
2. There are 2 places to access comments. On the left side of the post, you’ll find an icons menu. If they have comments enabled, then you will see an icon for comments. Or, at the bottom of the post, you'll find an option to Join the conversation.
   
   
3. If it's your first time commenting, you'll be prompted to log in to participate. You’ll need to enter your email address and then open and click a link in that email in order to gain access to the comment.   
   
   
4. Once logged into the publication, you can like the post or leave a comment. 
   
   
5. After submission, your comment will appear with a timestamp at the bottom of the post.
   
   You can delete or reply to your own comment. Other subscribers can reply to your comments and vice versa, creating up to 5 nested comment threads. 

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Admin Experience: Managing and moderating comments

As an administrator of the publication, you are considered a moderator and can view, reply to, and manage comments from each post dashboard. 

1. Go to your Posts and select a published post.
   
   
2. Click on the Comments tab. (This is only available when the comments were enabled for the post.) 
   
   You’ll be able to click the Login and Comment button to view and reply to comments for your post.
   
   
3. You can comment as the moderator by adding your comments to the field and then click on Submit. 

Moderating Comments
Comments that are inappropriate can be removed, and you can choose to disable comments completely if necessary. You can also disable comments on a case-by-case basis.

After removing a comment, it will be labeled as 'Removed by Moderator’ and it will not show up for users.  

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Frequently asked questions about comments

Is it possible to use comments with my team when I am creating a post?

Yes, however, using comments for collaboration while creating a post is a different process that is outlined in this article.   

Can I test the comment section from a test email?

Unfortunately no, because the URL is not yet live and accessible until you publish the post. Once you publish the post and it is live you will be able to preview the comment section.

Can I use the comment section if my content is not hosted on beehiiv?

Unfortunately, comments are built directly into the web architecture of all beehiiv websites. If your content is hosted on a different platform, you would need to use a custom plugin or create your own integration.

Can I make it so only some people can comment?

Yes, the comment permissions are set at the post level. You can do this from the Web page in the Post Builder of any of your posts (published or unpublished).

Under Comments, click on the down arrow next to All subscribers and choose between it and Paid subscribers only, Disabled: Hide comments section, or Locked: Show comments section but disable new comments.





How do I add an engagement button to my email header?

You can enable an engagement button for likes and comments when creating your post on the Email page in the Post Builder.

Can anyone leave a comment or like my post?

No, readers would need to subscribe to your publication in order to comment on or like your posts.

Do I need to login every time I want to leave a comment on a beehiiv post?

Yes, for security purposes, we require a quick email check each time you access the comments of a beehiiv post.