Enabling and using comments on beehiiv posts

Comments are a powerful way to boost engagement and build a sense of community around your newsletter. They encourage reader interaction, provide valuable feedback, and can even inspire future content. Active comment sections not only make your posts feel more dynamic, but they can also improve reach through sharing and enhance SEO by adding relevant content.

To use comments, you'll first need to enable the feature in your Website Builder (steps below). From there, the experience differs slightly depending on your role, whether you're a publisher managing the conversation or a reader/subscriber joining in. We'll walk through both, simply click on each tab to reveal the content.

Looking to collaborate on posts with your team during the publishing process? Check out our guide on leaving internal comments for team members.

Subscriber experience: Leaving likes, comments, and replies on published posts

Subscriber experience

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. Log in to a beehiiv publication that you'd like to comment on or reply to a comment.
2. Depending on the site, there are two places to access comments from. Either down the left side of the post from an icons menu. Or more commonly, you’ll find the comment options at the bottom of the post or page.
3. Like the post and/or leave a comment in the Reply box. 
   
   
   
4. After submission, your comment will appear with a timestamp at the bottom of the post. You can like, delete, or reply to your own comment. Other subscribers can reply to your comments and vice versa, creating up to 5 nested comment threads. 

Editing a comment

To edit a comment after posting, click the 3 dots icon next to your comment and select Edit. Then, make your changes and save. Edited comments will display an 'edited' label so other readers can see that a change was made. 

The window of time you have to edit a comment depends on the settings the publication owner has configured. 

Liking a comment 

To like a comment, click the heart icon below it. Your like will persist when you return to the page. 

Email notifications 

When someone likes or replies to your comment, you'll receive an email notification with a direct link to the thread, making it easy to return to conversations you're already part of. 

Updating your profile picture 

You can update your profile picture directly from the comment section without navigating away from the page. Click on your avatar in the comment section to open the Update Profile modal. 

For more information, see How to add or update your profile picture.

Publisher Experience: Enabling, configuring, and moderating comments

How to enable comments for a publication

Note: You must first enable comments for the publication by following these steps before you can enable comments for individual posts.

1. From the left panel, go to Website > Builder.
2. From the left panel of the Website Builder, click the Settings icon.
3. Select All settings, then click on Comments.
4. Under the Post Comments Section, toggle on Enable comments.
   
   
   
5. Click Publish in the top right corner to make your changes live. Comment settings will not take effect until the updated version of your website is published.

Important Note: This setting is only available to Admin and Owner user roles with publications using the new Website Builder. If your publication site was built with the legacy builder, these steps won’t apply. Instead, legacy users need to go to Website > Builder (Legacy), switch to the Settings tab, then click Comments in the left panel. Toggle on Post Comments Section. You can also set the order comments display in (Newest First, Oldest First, or Most Popular First) and add comment bans by subscriber email address. Changes are saved automatically. Please migrate to the new builder for the best use of this feature.

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How to enable comments on an individual post

Reminder: You must first enable comments at the publication level in the Website Builder before turning them on for individual posts (see the steps above).

1. Open a new post draft or select to edit one of your saved posts.
2. The Post Builder will open on the Compose page. Switch over to the Web page from the top navbar. Under the Web post settings, find the Comments section.
   
   
   
3. Click on the down arrow next to All subscribers and choose one of the following:

• All subscribers: Allow all subscribers to comment.
• Paid subscribers only: Restrict commenting to paid users.
• Disabled: Hide the comments section entirely.
• Locked: Show the comments section, but disable new comments.

4. After publishing, you can preview and moderate the comments section on the live post.

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Post comments settings: Ordering, editing window, notifications, and bans

Note: These settings are only available to Admin and Owner user roles with publications using the new Website Builder. If your publication site was built with the legacy builder, this info won't apply. Please migrate to the new builder for the best use of this feature.

Once comments are enabled, you can select the order of them, set the editing window, enable reader comment notifications, and set comment bans. 

To access the full comment settings, go to Website > Builder > Settings > Comments > All comments settings. 





Available edit windows include:

• Never: Comments cannot be edited after posting.
• 15 minutes: Readers can edit within 15 minutes of posting.
• 30 minutes: Readers can edit within 30 minutes of posting.
• 1 hour: Readers can edit within 1 hour of posting.
• 24 hours: Readers can edit within 24 hours of posting.
• Always: Readers can edit their comments at any time.

Pro Tip: Allowing edits gives readers a chance to correct typos or refine their thoughts, which tends to improve the overall quality of comment sections.

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How to add an engagement button for comments or likes on a post

You can add options for Likes & Comments to the email version of your post, allowing subscribers to interact with a single click.

1. Open a new post draft or select to edit one of your saved posts.
2. The Post Builder will open on the Compose page. Click the Email page in the top navbar to move to the Email part of the post flow. 
3. Under Email header buttons, toggle on Likes & Comments to enable the engagement button for the post.
   
   
   

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How to manage and moderate comments

You can view, reply to, and manage comments from each post's dashboard.

1. Go to Posts and select a published post with comments enabled.
2. Click on the Comments tab (only visible if comments are active for that post).

3. Click Login and Comment to access the live comment thread. 

   You can now reply as the moderator by entering text into the comment field and clicking 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.
   
   Removed comments will display as 'Removed by Moderator' and will not be visible to other users.

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.   
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?
No, because 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.