How to Show Comments on the Homepage of Your WordPress Theme

Showing comments on the homepage of your WordPress theme is actually easier than you think.

If you want to boost your comment section, then displaying comments on the homepage is the way to go. It can inspire new visitors to join in on the action and even showcase your credibility as a blogger.

The great thing about WordPress is it offers several ways to customize your website, whether it’s using its built-in features, a plugin, or custom code. We’ve tried them all to figure out how to help you in adding comments to your homepage.

In this guide, we will show you how to add comments to the homepage of any WordPress theme, even if your theme doesn’t support it by default.

Why Show Comments on Your Homepage?

Here at WPBeginner, we love getting comments from our readers. They’re one of the best ways to build relationships with our community, answer questions, and get valuable feedback on our content.

Comments are powerful social proof. When new visitors see active discussions on your posts, it shows them that your content is engaging and valuable. We’ve seen how a lively comment section can encourage more readers to join the conversation.

That’s why displaying recent comments on your homepage can be so effective. Since your homepage is often the first thing new visitors see, showcasing active discussions there can immediately demonstrate that you have an engaged community.

In our experience, highlighting comments on the homepage also makes it easier for regular readers to jump into the latest conversations without having to search through individual WordPress blog posts.

That being said, it’s important to maintain the quality of your comment section. Make sure to moderate comments carefully and don’t approve spam comments, as these can hurt your site’s credibility.

In this guide, we will show you how to add comments to the homepage, no matter what WordPress theme you are using. You can use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you prefer:

Method 1: Showing Comments on Your Homepage Using the Latest Comments Block

WordPress comes with a built-in Latest Comments block that you can add to any page or post.

There are three ways to use them: adding the block as a widget in the sidebar, adding the block in the WordPress Full Site Editor, or adding the block using a page builder plugin.

Using the Latest Comments Block as a Homepage Sidebar Widget

If your theme lets you add WordPress widgets to your homepage, then you can simply add the Latest Comments section as a sidebar widget.

For more information about this, you can follow our guide on how to show recent comments in the WordPress sidebar.

However, not all themes support adding widgets to any pages. If you are experiencing this issue, we recommend creating your own homepage design using the WordPress Full Site Editor or page builder plugin.

Using the Latest Comments Block in the Full Site Editor

If you are using a WordPress block theme, then you can display comments on the homepage using the Full Site Editor.

To access the editor, simply go to Appearance » Editor.

From here, go ahead and select ‘Pages.’

This is where you’ll see all the pages that exist on your WordPress website.

Up next, select your theme’s homepage.

In this case, it was ‘Blog Home,’ and it was already set as the front page of the website, as marked by the house icon.

Now, simply click the pencil ‘Edit’ icon next to the name of the page.

This will direct you to the editing interface.

At this point, go ahead and click on the blue ‘+’ button in the top left corner.

This button will show you all the blocks available to use for your page.

Start typing ‘Latest Comments’ into the search bar.

When the right block appears, simply drag and drop it onto your layout.

After adding this block, you can configure the Latest Comments widget using the settings in the left-hand menu.

For example, you can change how many WordPress comments the widget displays, hide visitor avatars, and more.

When you are happy with how the comment section is set up, simply click on the ‘Save’ button. Your WordPress website will now be showing the latest comments on the homepage.

Using the Latest Comments Block in a Page Builder

The second method is great if you are happy with the customization options of the WordPress Full Site Editor. However, if you are looking to elevate your design, we recommend using a page builder plugin.

SeedProd is the best page builder on the market and makes it easy to create a fully custom WordPress theme, including a custom homepage.

For more information about creating a homepage with SeedProd, please see our guide on how to edit a WordPress homepage.

After creating your homepage design, simply scroll to the ‘Widgets’ section in SeedProd’s left-hand menu.

Here, just find the Recent Comments widget and add it to your layout using drag and drop.

With that done, click to select the widget in the page preview.

You can now change how many comments appear on your homepage using the ‘Number of comments to show’ field.

You can also add an optional title, which will appear above the latest comments.

When you are happy with how the widget is set up, you can change how it looks by clicking on the ‘Advanced’ tab.

Here, you can change the text color, font, spacing, and more.

You can even draw attention to the recent comments by adding CSS animations.

As you make changes, you can click on the ‘Apply’ button to see those changes in the live preview. This allows you to try different settings to see what looks the best.

When you are happy with how the custom homepage looks, it’s time to publish it by clicking on the ‘Save’ button.

Then, choose ‘Publish.’

After publishing your design, you’ll need to tell WordPress to use it as your new homepage.

To do that, simply go to Settings » Reading in the WordPress dashboard.

Here, scroll to ‘Your homepage settings’ and select ‘A static page.’

You can now open the ‘Homepage’ dropdown and choose the page that you want to use as the new homepage.

Method 2: Showing Comments on Your Homepage Using Code

Another way to show the most recent comments on your homepage is to use code.

This method is recommended if you are comfortable with coding and your custom theme doesn’t support the Latest Comments block or widget.

Do note that it isn’t the most beginner-friendly method. Adding code to your site can also cause problems, including common WordPress errors.

With that being said, it’s a good idea to create a backup so that you have something to restore in case you get any errors.

If you don’t already have a backup plugin installed on your site, then see our expert pick of the best WordPress backup plugins.

If this is your first time adding code to your WordPress files, then you can check out our guide on how to copy-paste code snippets in WordPress.

To add the comments to your homepage, you’ll need to edit the index.php file. To access this file, you’ll use an FTP client such as FileZilla, or you can use the file manager of your WordPress hosting cPanel.

If this is your first time using FTP, then you can see our complete guide on how to connect to your site using FTP.

Inside the FTP client, go to wp-content/themes.

You can then open the folder for your current theme and find the index.php file.

Now, open the index.php file in a text editor such as Notepad.

After that, go ahead and add the following code snippet inside the WordPress Loop. This will typically be either right before the endwhile statement or the else statement:

<?php
$withcomments = "1";
comments_template(); // Get wp-comments.php template ?>

For example, in the TwentyTwenty-One theme, you’ll need to add the code snippet after twenty_twenty_one_the_posts_navigation(); and before the } else { statement, as you can see in the following image:

After that, simply save the index.php file. Now, if you visit your WordPress site, you’ll see the comments displayed on the homepage.

If you created a child theme and don’t see comments on the homepage after adding the code snippet, then you may need to add an extra line of code.

If this is the case, then copy and paste the following code into your theme’s index.php file:

global $withcomments;
$withcomments = 1;
comments_template(); // Get wp-comments.php template

Bonus Tip: Use a Comment Plugin to Boost Your Engagement

If you want to get more people commenting on your website, try installing a comment plugin. Besides comment moderation, these plugins come with features to encourage more conversations on your Website.

Take Thrive Comments, for example, which is the best comment plugin on the market.

This plugin can boost user engagement by adding likes and dislikes as well as voting and badges. This way, fellow users can show appreciation for comments they find most useful.

Additionally, you can see the performance of your comments, including which pages are getting the most action and which commenters are the most active. This information can help you figure out how to optimize your content for engagement even further.

We hope this tutorial has helped you learn how to display comments on a WordPress homepage. You may also want to check out our guides on how to moderate comments in WordPress and ways to get more comments on your WordPress blog.

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