Add Live Commenting to WordPress Sites
Quick Start 
This is the "too long did not read" version of the WordPress instructions.
- Go to your WordPress dashboard Plugins page. Click
Add Plugin. - Search for
FastComments. - Install and activate our plugin.
- Click
FastCommentson the left navigation. - Follow instructions. This usually takes a few minutes, but not more.
- If you have tens of thousands, or millions of comments, it may take some time to sync.
Installation
The FastComments WordPress plugin installation is designed to be easy and limit any downtime of availability of commenting on your site. The plugin will not switch over from the WordPress plugin until the sync is complete.
First, you'll want to set the expectation with your moderators according to the details in the below section Moderation. Let them know soon they will
be moderating from FastComments, and not the WordPress dashboard.
Next, install the plugin. You can do this by going to the WordPress plugins dashboard, clicking Add Plugin, and search for FastComments. The plugin is also available for download here.
The plugin setup will ask you if you are in the EU. If this is the case, your account will reside in the EU on eu.fastcomments.com, otherwise it will be on fastcomments.com.
Next, you have the option of selecting whether you already have a FastComments account. Follow the steps thereafter and your comments can optionally be uploaded during the installation process.
Note! Do not close the WordPress plugin page while the setup and sync is in progress.
Comments are uploaded in batches, and sorted using existing indexes in your WordPress database to limit load on your site.
Once the sync is complete, the default WordPress commenting system will be replaced by FastComments. We hope you love our platform, but if you don't reach out to us.
Customization
FastComments is designed to be customized to match your site.
If you'd like to add custom styling, or tweak configuration, Checkout our Customization Documentation to learn how.
Moderation
FastComments replaces the default WordPress moderation tools with its own. You can access Comment Moderation here.
Our moderation tools are designed to be fast and easy to use. All moderation actions are done live.
Learn more about the moderation workflow, moderator stats, configuration and more here.
Users, Moderators and Admins
FastComments and the corresponding WordPress plugin are ready for your moderators and admins to keep working.
You'll most likely want to add your administrators to User & Administrators and your moderators to Comment Moderators.
This is required if you are not using SSO.
Membership-Only Sites (SSO)
FastComments works with membership-only sites by using what is called SSO, or single-sign-on. Your members sign in to your WordPress site, but don't have to worry about creating an account with FastComments, or login with social media, to comment. If your members (including admins) are logged into your WordPress site, they will be able to comment. Your admins and moderators will be able to moderate comments directly from your WordPress blog posts, as well.
(Optional) Remember to also add your administrators to User & Administrators and moderators to Comment Moderators to improve their experience and enable stat tracking for moderators.
SSO can be enabled by going to the plugin dashboard and clicking "SSO Settings".
You will first have to enable the "Anyone can Register" feature of your site.
All user information is seamlessly and securely transferred to FastComments each time a user views a comment thread via HMAC.
There is no initial or continuous sync that needs to be run to copy your members over to FastComments servers. This is automatically done when they view comment threads by opening a blog post.
Names and Avatars
The plugin will automatically update the user's display name and avatar on all their comments within FastComments when they view
any comment thread. Avatars are supported via Gravatar or any avatar management plugin within WordPress as the plugin will call get_avatar_url.
Notifications
Your members will receive the same notifications as any other type of FastComments.com user when they are replied to or mentioned. Learn more.
Custom Themes
While we can't control how themes are implemented, FastComments supports the majority of themes.
Some themes that try to move the comment area into modals and similar layouts may require custom development support from us.
Syncing Back to WordPress
By default, FastComments syncs back to your WordPress site daily. This is purely for backup purposes so you continue to own a copy of the data, and for plugins that may depend on it.
This does not happen immediately with every comment saved due to the nature of some sites being able to handle heavy read traffic, their database deployments are not always able to handle the heavy write traffic (hence offloading this work to FastComments).
The sync schedule back to the WordPress can be customed by installing a plugin. We recommend WP Crontrol.
Steps:
- Install WP Crontrol
- Go to
Settings -> Cron Schedules. - Go to the
Cron Eventstab. - Search for
fastcomments_cron_hook. - Edit the event. You can configure the hook to run hourly, twice a day, daily (default), or once a week.
The sync back to WordPress can also be performed any time manually by going to the FastComments plugin dashboard and selecting Manually Sync. You will have
the option to sync back to your WP install, or to re-upload your WP comments to FastComments servers.
Comment Counts
The FastComments WordPress plugin will replace the default WordPress count mechanism with a system provided by FastComments. We will make one asynchronous request per page load when there are a list of posts with comment counts to show. If the user has JavaScript disabled, it will fall back to the default WordPress counts so there is not a loss in functionality.
WordPress Installation <> FastComment Server Communication
For the plugin to work, a token is saved in your WordPress database and also your FastComments account. When the plugin makes request to our servers, it provides this token.
You can view all integrations authorized to your FastComments account here.
All communication is done via HTTPS.
All communication is outbound from your WordPress server to FastComments.com, including the sync back to your WordPress installation as it is implemented via polling from a cron setup in your WordPress installation.
Domain Errors
You may get an authorization error, like the following:
This is because FastComments doesn't know it's supposed to allow your account to be used on this domain.
In this case, the fix is simple. You just have to add your site to your FastComments.com account.
Go here to add your site to your account.
Domains are automatically added to your account during the trial period, but this can occur when adding new sites to your FastComments account.
Recent Comments Widget
The Recent Comments widget displays the most recent comments posted across your entire site. It's useful in sidebars, footers, or anywhere you want to surface fresh activity to encourage further reading.
Options
- Title (optional): The heading shown above the list. Defaults to "Recent Comments".
- Count (optional): How many comments to show. Range 1 to 50. Defaults to 5.
How to Add It
Inside a Post or Page
In the block editor, add a Shortcode block and paste:
The count attribute accepts any value between 1 and 50.
In a Sidebar or Footer (Classic Themes)
Go to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress admin. From the block inserter, search for "FastComments" and choose FastComments: Recent Comments. Drag it into a sidebar, header, or footer area, then configure the title and count from the widget panel.
In a Block Theme (Full Site Editing)
Open the Site Editor under Appearance > Editor. Navigate to the template part where the widget should appear, insert a Legacy Widget block, and select FastComments: Recent Comments from the dropdown.
Troubleshooting
The widget only renders after FastComments setup is complete and a tenant ID is stored. If the widget area is blank, complete setup under FastComments in the WordPress admin and reload the page.
Recent Discussions Widget
The Recent Discussions widget displays the pages on your site with the most recent comment activity. It's useful for highlighting threads that are still being added to, so visitors can jump back into active conversations rather than landing on quiet pages.
Options
- Title (optional): The heading shown above the list. Defaults to "Recent Discussions".
- Count (optional): How many discussions to show. Range 1 to 50. Defaults to 20.
How to Add It
Inside a Post or Page
In the block editor, add a Shortcode block and paste:
The count attribute accepts any value between 1 and 50.
In a Sidebar or Footer (Classic Themes)
Go to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress admin. From the block inserter, search for "FastComments" and choose FastComments: Recent Discussions. Drag it into a sidebar, header, or footer area, then configure the title and count from the widget panel.
In a Block Theme (Full Site Editing)
Open the Site Editor under Appearance > Editor. Navigate to the template part where the widget should appear, insert a Legacy Widget block, and select FastComments: Recent Discussions from the dropdown.
Troubleshooting
The widget only renders after FastComments setup is complete and a tenant ID is stored. If the widget area is blank, complete setup under FastComments in the WordPress admin and reload the page.
If discussion ordering looks stale, check that the underlying pages have finished syncing in the FastComments dashboard. The widget reads live data, so freshly imported comments may take a moment to surface.
Top Pages Widget
The Top Pages widget displays the most-commented pages on your site. It's useful for surfacing your most-engaging content to new visitors and increasing time on site.
Options
- Title (optional): The heading shown above the list. Defaults to "Top Pages".
The Top Pages widget chooses its own layout based on available data and does not accept a count attribute.
How to Add It
Inside a Post or Page
In the block editor, add a Shortcode block and paste:
In a Sidebar or Footer (Classic Themes)
Go to Appearance > Widgets in your WordPress admin. From the block inserter, search for "FastComments" and choose FastComments: Top Pages. Drag it into a sidebar, header, or footer area, then set the title from the widget panel.
In a Block Theme (Full Site Editing)
Open the Site Editor under Appearance > Editor. Navigate to the template part where the widget should appear, insert a Legacy Widget block, and select FastComments: Top Pages from the dropdown.
Troubleshooting
The widget only renders after FastComments setup is complete and a tenant ID is stored. If the widget area is blank, complete setup under FastComments in the WordPress admin and reload the page.
Deactivating vs Uninstalling The Plugin
Deactivating the plugin will remove your token from your WordPress install. Your data remains on FastComments servers until you delete your account. If you re-activate the plugin, then you will have to perform the initial sync again.
Uninstalling the plugin removes all data related to the plugin, but you still would have to delete your FastComments account to delete the data that resides there.