Facebook is the largest social network in the world. That’s why some of the top WordPress blogs use Facebook comments instead of the default WordPress comments.
If you are planning to add the Facebook comment system to your WordPress site, then you are in the right place.
In this article, we will show you how to install and setup Facebook comments in WordPress. We will also explain how to display the Facebook comment count on your website.
Pros and Cons of Using Facebook Comments in WordPress
Before we get started with the tutorial, let’s cover the pros and cons of using Facebook comments compared to default WordPress comments.
One of the most obvious benefits is that Facebook comments increase your website’s visibility on Facebook.
When someone leaves a comment on your site, they can check the “Also post on Facebook” option to share their comment with their Facebook friends. This has a huge potential for additional traffic to your website.
Also, spammers will stay away from your website because they won’t receive a SEO backlink by commenting on your posts.
Another benefit of using Facebook comments is that it removes the anonymity factor, so users are less likely to leave spam comments because it’s tied to their Facebook profile.
However, this can act as a major downside as well.
Some users don’t feel comfortable leaving a comment using their Facebook profile because they like the sense of being anonymous.
Another disadvantage of using Facebook comments is that they are not stored or synced to WordPress, whereas third-party commenting systems like Disqus does sync with WordPress.
If you have older posts with default WordPress comments, then those comments may appear before or after the Facebook comments.
However, it is better to remove the WordPress comment system entirely if you are using the Facebook comment system on your site. Otherwise, spammers and bots will use the WordPress comments to spam your website.
Now that you know the pros and cons, let’s take a look at how to install Facebook comments in WordPress.
Video Tutorial
If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.
Setting Up Facebook Comments in WordPress
The easiest way to add Facebook comments in WordPress is by using a WordPress plugin.
We will be using the Lazy FB Comments plugin for the sake of this tutorial. This free plugin not only adds the Facebook comment system to your site, but it also lazy loads the comments to improve page speed.
First, you need to install and activate the Lazy FB Comments plugin. You may follow our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin for detailed instructions.
Upon activation, you need to visit Settings » Lazy FB Comments to configure the plugin.
To use Facebook comments on your website, you will have to create a Facebook app and then add the application ID to the plugin’s settings page.
If you have previously created an app for your site, then you can use that application ID here. Otherwise, you will have to create a new app by going to the Facebook for Developers page.
To get started, you need to register for a Facebook Developer account if you don’t have one. Next, you will have to click on the My Apps link, present at the top-right corner of the page.
A dropdown menu will open up where you need to click on the Create App option. This will open a modal window where you will have to provide your email address and a name for your app.
Once done, you need to click on the Create App ID button. This will open a popup box and will ask you to enter some CAPTCHA letters. Simply fill in the CAPTCHA textbox and then click on the Submit button.
Facebook will now create a new app for you and then redirect you to the app dashboard. You will notice your APP ID displayed there.
Next, you need to tell Facebook how you’d use the App.
Simply click on the Settings » Basic link from the left sidebar, and then click on the + Add Platform button, present at the bottom of the page.
A new popup window would appear on the screen. You need to click on Website to select it as your platform.
This will add a new “Website” section in your app’s settings page where you can enter your website URL.
After saving your settings, you can now copy the APP ID and paste it in the FB Application ID textbox of the plugin’s settings page on your WordPress site.
Once you are done, you need to scroll down and then click on the Save All Changes button to store your settings.
Now you will see a new option to “Moderate Comments” beside the title of this plugin. We will explain how to moderate Facebook comments in the next section.
This plugin also comes with a comprehensive set of options. You can go through the settings to see if there is something that you would like to change.
For example, you can change the Load Comments option to “On Scroll”. This will load the Facebook comment system only when someone reaches the end of the article. This will help you improve page load speed.
Other than that, the default settings should work for most websites.
Now, you can visit any post on your WordPress site to see the Facebook comment system in action.
Moderating the Facebook Comments on Your Website
As the admin of the Facebook app, you will get notifications for new comments when you log in to your Facebook account.
You will also find a link to moderate comments on the plugin’s settings page.
Just like WordPress comments, you can set comment moderation rules on Facebook by clicking on the Settings link. This will open a popup where you need to click on the “Moderation Rules” tab.
From here, you can decide the maximum character limit to be allowed in a comment. You can also set a limit after which the comments will be automatically closed on your posts.
Facebook allows you to add new comment moderators as well. You need to click on the “Moderators” tab and then add the person using the textbox.
Once you are done, you need to click on the Save button to store the settings.
Display the Facebook Comment Count in WordPress
One of the downsides of using the Lazy FB Comments plugin is that it overtakes WordPress comment count functions and outputs a Facebook-branded version of the comment count.
If your theme displays comment count, then this would not look good
If you still want to display the Facebook comment count, then you can do that with the help of a code snippet.
First, you need to connect to your WordPress hosting account using an FTP client and then go to the /wp-content/themes/ folder.
From here you need to open your current theme folder and then locate the single.php file.
Next, you need to right-click on that file and then click on Download.
After that, you should open the single.php file using a plain text editor like Notepad. Once the file is open, look for the code used by your theme to display comment count and carefully replace it with the following code.
<fb:comments-count href="<?php echo get_permalink($post->ID); ?>"></fb:comments-count> Comments
This code snippet will help you to display the Facebook comment count on every post.
Finally, you need to save the file and then upload it back to the current theme folder using FTP.
That’s all! We hope this article helped you install and set up Facebook comments on your WordPress site.
You may also want to check out our guide on how to add Facebook open graph meta data in WordPress or how to get a virtual phone number for your website.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you for these instructions. I’ve tried to install Facebook comments for a long time and this is the first time it’s worked.
Glad our guide was able to help
Thanks so much for this! Your site is incredibly helpful! I appreciate what you all do sooooooooo much!!!!!
You’re welcome, glad our articles have been helpful
Awesome, Thanks!
You’re welcome
Thanks. The plugin is very useful indeed.
It seems that the Plugin has changed its name to “Lazy Social Comments”, and is being supported by other people.
Thank you for letting us know, we’ll be sure to look at updating this
thanks for sharing useful information !
You’re welcome
As per my personal experience, Facebook Comment is one of the best ways to increase your visitors to comment on a post or interact with existing comments.
Thanks for sharing your personal experience
Post comment error handle on same page ?
If the plugin is having an error, if you reach out to the plugin’s support they should be able to assist
really helpful. I tried the mentioned plugin and it totally worth it
Glad our guide was helpful
That plugin has been closed on author’s request. Please update the post.
Thank you for letting us know, we will certainly take a look into updating the article.
The Facebook plugin mentioned has been disabled by its author. Please update.
Thank you for letting us know, we will certainly take a look into alternatives for Facebook Comments
this plugin has been discontinued, what do you reccomend?
Just updated the article
Was able to add the facebook comments plugin successfully. But, the default wordpress comments section is also showing below. How do I remove it?
Which plugin do you use for social sharing, that is below the posts (has the share counter too)
Hi Prashanth,
We use a custom plugin for that. Please see our list of best social media plugins for WordPress for alternatives.
You may want to update this article as the plugin author of Facebook Comments has stopped supporting it & prompting to switch to the Spot.IM Comments plugin instead.
Dear Wpbeginner. Nice article. Installed FB comments. everything working fine. Is there any waty to enable “Also post on Facebook” selecxt box?
You need to review this article! The plugin you’re referring to is no longer being updated and is days away from breaking (when the older FB API will be deactivated). The developer started up spot.im which I guess he’ll have his hands full with.
Also I don’t really see any other good plugins for this, they all have a small install base, unsolved issues to which they aren’t responding, no proven compatability with latest wp version, …
Hi Hosana,
Thanks for the suggestion we will look into it. You can also try to reach out to plugin developers for support.
but how to change text color?
i used dark themes and i can’t see any comment
Is there a way to turn off the comments on certain posts?
how to mirror the facebook comment on facebook page with facebook comment on wordpress blogpost and vice versa?
Thanks, this article was very helpful! I followed your instructions, and everything appears to be working on my site.
This plugin does not work anymore.
Im having trouble using this into my wordpress site. Please help me
Hey, great article and very useful. Can you link the comments to a Facebook post or page?
The facebook comments plug in is working on my site however I still see the wordpress comments. How do I remove the wordpress comments?
Hi Patrice,
You Can Disable Default WordPress Comment By Using This Plugin Disable Comments
Details:- Requires: 4.0 or higher
Compatible up to: 4.6.1
Last Updated: 2 months ago
Active Installs: 900,000+
If you have another Question Feel Free To Reply To This Email
Or You Can Read This WP Beginner Article https://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-turn-off-or-disable-comments-in-wordpress-pages/
I Hope I Help Some One Today
Best Regards,
David Chriss
Hi David, Hope you are well, Has this plug in for facebook comments been updated for the new wordpress 4.7.2? And perhaps you might also know of a pinterest plugin that doesnt just show the pictures but also the description below, which works with the latest version of WordPress.
Thank you
Charne
xx
Hi. I want to know if it’s possible to make the comments on my fanpage’s articles appear directly on my website’s articles and vice versa. Thanks!
Anytime someone tried to comment they get ‘message failed’ error. Pls what’s the solution for thia
Hi,
Even me I Have That Common problem Please WP Beginner Help Us Or Any One can Help Us Please.
Please Help Us
Dear Team, What is the name of social share plugin you are using as i wish to install the same. It looks quite simple and sober. Regards, Amit Jain
thanks for share the update about facebok comment
Do you know how i can change the position that the plugin is placed?
Thx … but how to set notification to our facebook account if there is a new comment ?
Hi Everyone, I was looking for a plugin who’s importing my facebook old comment from my facebook fanpage to my wordpress.
I tried this one but it’s not working, can anyone tell me how it works ?
I used another methode by commenting the embed comment and looks not really fine
Hi WPBeginner – Quick question about Facebook Comments… How does it effect your SEO? Is it better to keep default WordPress comments or maybe Jetpack comments so that the comment content stays attached to your blog rather than fb? thanks.
Default WordPress comments are more SEO friendly in our opinion.
I can’t find the plugin?
This plugin is installed on my site and I have also activated coments mirroring for my page but still comment mirroring is not happening?
Do you know the way around to do this?
i have a site
Hello very well explained!! But I have a problem! The comments should show also on my fan page write? …..
……I did everything and I get my comments on my wordpress but not SHOWING on my facebook page why?? Help !!!!!! Thanks a lot. Daniela
I can’t get the plugin to work in Internet explorer. I can see from other threads on the net that others have the same experience. Some say that header.php should be modified, but I can’t figure out where in the file.
What to do?
I set up this plugin with a test app. Right before I was due to launch the website, I had to switch over to the new app that was set up for the business the website was built for. When I changed the app ID to the new app, all of the comments kept going to the old app I set up for testing purposes. Even after I deleted the old app, deleted and reinstalled the plugin and verified that the correct app ID was being used in the api call.
Now, I have no way to moderate the comments because that old app is deleted and all the new comments are going to that old app even though the app ID I have in the plugin settings is for the new app ID.
Any ideas?
..that facebook plugin is not updated since 11 months. Moreover, the plugin is made by some developer, and not Facebook. It does not feel very safe to use that plugin. Do you have any alternatives?
Sometimes plugin authors don’t feel the need to update a plugin because there is nothing changed or broken.
Hi.. When i hyperlink another post from my wordpress blog to new post. All hyper links get shown below with ping back option. I don’t want them to show. Any advice?
great post !!! i have been searching for how to install facebook comments to my site. now i am going to use it on my site
thank you alot .
ok, that’s all fine, I’ll switch to that from now on.
In order to disable the WordPress comments:
Settings >> Discussion >> uncheck “Allow people to post comments on new articles”
This applies to new posts that you will publish from now on.
To disallow comments from already publish posts:
Posts >> select them all and “Edit” under bulk actions and hit apply >> choose “do not allow” next to comments and hit update posts.
hey guys,
regarding to your plugin issues…
you need ipv6 addresses… without switching from ipv4 to ipv6 it isn´t working…
kindly, autarka
Not getting where to upload the plugin.
Hey, nice article, but I have some questions.
This blog here:
When you comment his facebook publication, it’s automatically commenting his blog, keeping the theme of the blog. When he comments his blog, it’s automatically commenting the facebook thread.
Any idea on how to do that?
Cheers,
Hello,
I would like exactly the same! Can’t find how to. Did you find the answer to this and would you want to enlighten me? What I’ve been Googling so far is things like:
“auto publish to facebook grab retrieve comments”
Thank you so much!
Greetings
I have the same problem. Did you find a solution?
I’m hoping it will help out with the user interaction on my site!
But that just seemed to take me in a circle, and i never got what I needed.
There is NO Create App ID button here:
“Simply visit the Facebook Apps page and click on the create new app button. You will need to provide a name for your app and click on the Create App ID button.”
Follow the on screen instructions to create a new app.
I just set it up and It’s pulling in 1200+ comments, but I’ve only just created my FB page and I have not comments on it yet. The stuff is from all over the place. How do I get it to just show my FB page’s comments
I have exactly the same problem and will remove these coments now as it looks so fake. Anyone can see it is not genuine. What a disappointment! There are no instructions either about this, as far as I can see.
Fake content is a big problem
Can I set up the comments to go with my Facebook page, or will it only work on my personal name feed?
How do you get rid of the default WordPress comments after the Facebook comments is installed? I have both showing up on my website…