Help Center

What is HTML Comment Box?

HTML Comment Box (HCB) is a website comments solution. As a widget, it can be pasted directly into your website's html. The comment box script provides an easy way for web designers & developers to put a simple comment box on their web page in order to receive comments from visitors. Comments are currently accepted "anonymously", meaning anyone can leave a comment on your page. However, you can delete any undesirable comments you receive by becoming a moderator.

Why would I put HTML Comment Box on my website?

1. Because building your own working comment box is pretty hard.
2. Because you can get feedback from your visitors and find out what they really want.
3. Because it's a very easy way to get user generated content.
4. Because it's free and frequently updated.
5. Because you can!

How To

1. How do I use HTML Comment Box?
   If you know basic HTML this is very straight forward. First you copy the code in the big text box at the top of this site's homepage. Now, you need to be able to access the HTML source code for you web page. In site builders / editors, there is typically a tab or button that says "HTML". You must paste the copied code into the HTML code of your website. The position of the code determines where on the page your comment box shows up. If you're unsure, I'd suggest getting someone who knows HTML to help you.
2. How do I change the color, size, font (etc.) of my comment box?
   You can do this with CSS just like the rest of your website. See the CSS guide.
3. How do I moderate (delete) comments?
   Part 1: Sign into Google before copying the code.
   Where you copied the HTML code for the comment box, there is an "options" section. Inside there is a link to "log in" to your Google account. After signing in to Google, copy the HTML code for the comment box. Paste it into your site's HTML.
   Part 2: Delete the undesirable comment.
   You can find an sign in link which shows up next to the comment box on your site. After clicking "admin", you'll be able to delete comments by clicking a little link to the left of them.
4. How do I change the options if I've already copied it previously.
   Just re-copy the code from this site's homepage with the desired options checked, and paste the new code over your old code (which you copied previously), replacing it.
5. How do I get rid of the "by HTML Comment box" link?
   If you subscribe to any of our paid plans, the link will no longer appear.
6. How do I change the text in the comment box form (ie, into another language) ?
   Labels and text in the comment box can be changed in the advanced settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. If I make changes to my website will I lose my existing comments?
   No.
2. If I change the URL of my website will I lose my existing comments?
   Yes, but you can get them back by entering copying the code again, entering the old "Page URL" before doing so. Specifically, add this above your comment box code.

   <script>
   hcb_user = {
       PAGE: "http://oldurl.com/oldpage.html"
   };
   </script>
   

3. The test comments I leave on my comment box does not stick.
   Please read the next item. You will most likely find your test comments in the Received Comments page (https://www.htmlcommentbox.com/received.html).
4. I can see the comments in the admin (https://www.htmlcommentbox.com/received.html) but they're not showing on my website. Why is this the case?
   Comments that need approval do not appear immediately on your website. You would have to approve them first by clicking the approve button .
   
   However, there are also cases where either approved comments or comments that don't need approval are also not showing. These comments are most likely corrupted. Read more about it below.
   
5. How do I tell if a comment is corrupted?
   You will know right away by checking their URL. If they don't match your website's URL, then they are corrupted.
6. Why do some comments get corrupted?
   Your comments are guaranteed to get corrupted if you place the Comment Box inside an iFrame. Read more about iFrames here: HTML iFrame Tag
   Another reason would be if the user adds (maybe accidentally) a non-functional query string. Read more about query strings here: What are Query Strings?
7. How do I fix corrupted comments?
   If your Comment Box is inside an iFrame, edit your website's code first. Move the Comment Box where it is not enclosed in an iframe tag. Do this to make sure you don't get corrupted comments consistently in the future. As for fixing already corrupted comments, use the migrate feature in the Received Comments page (https://www.htmlcommentbox.com/received.html).
   
   You may also try ignoring URL querystrings through the account settings page (https://www.htmlcommentbox.com/received.html). Do not enable this if the URL's query string dictates the state of your page.
8. If I re-copy the htmlcommentbox code will I lose my existing comments?
   Only if you become the moderator (or quit being one). The other options don't affect your existing comments.
9. What can be submitted in the comments box?
   Currently, only a very limited set of html tags are supported. <b> (bold) <i> (italic) <u> (underline)
10. Will the box work with my online site builder (like Google Sites, webs.com, Weebly)? HCB works with some site builders, and has problems with others. Luckily, it's easy just to paste the code and see if it works!
11. There is no captcha! Will I get bot spam?
    There has not been much trouble with bot spam so far because reading HTML Comment Box requires javascript, which most bots don't understand. If spam becomes a big problem in the future, I'll implement a captcha.
12. Can I have more than one comment box per page?
    No.
13. So HTML Comment Box is Free? Who pays for storage / bandwidth of comments?
    HCB is free for everyone to use for now, and will probably always be free for low bandwidth users (under 100 visits / day). There is currently no limit on the amount of page views or stored comments, so please be reasonable. As more people, particularly larger sites, adopt HTML Comment Box, I will eventually have to start charging a fee for heavy users (less than 2% of you would probably qualify).

Common Problems

1. My Comment button says "Disabled (publish first)"
   You should follow the instructions on the button and publish your website. Your website needs to be "on the internet" for comments to work.
2. I can't moderate (delete) comments:
   Please ensure you are logged in to Google before you copy the code. This is vital because when you are logged in the code changes, making you the Moderator. Also, try using firefox. IE is reported to have issues deleting comments sometimes. Finally, HCB requires that you enable cookies in your web browser. In firefox, you can do this by going to
   tools -> options -> security (tab) -> "Accept third-party cookies". You may have to select "Use custom settings for history" in order to see this option.
3. My comment box looks "messed up" in some way:
   There are a couple possibilities. First try copying the most recent code from the homepage into your HTML, replacing your old one. If this fixes the problem, I apologize for the backwards incompatibility.
   The other possibility is the comment box is conflicting with your website's CSS. You can probably make your box look better using the techniques from the CSS guide.
4. It says, HTML Comment box is loading...
   This could mean you have a javascript error. This can be caused by pasting code into something that's not intended for javascript code (or widgets). Some site builders insert <br> tags, which breaks javascript code, for instance.
5. Some characters (like ő, ű) aren't showing up in my comments! Why?
   This is because HTML Comment Box only supports the UTF-8 character set. Here's a good article from HTML Purifier which explains why you should probably be using UTF-8 too.
6. Comments do not appear in my Google Sites website! Why?
   Google Sites' embed function, the one you will most likely use when integrating HTML Comment Box with your website, places your Comment Box inside an iFrame that points to a dynamic site, so the URL, or the src property of the iFrame, will change from time to time. Because of this, your Comment Box will have difficulties connecting your comments to your website.
   
   To successfully integrate HTML Comment Box to your Google Sites website. Simply add the following code before the install code. Make sure to replace the dummy URL with the actual URL of your Google Sites website.
   
   

   <script>
   hcb_user = {
       PAGE: "https://sites.google.com/mywebsite/url"
   };
   </script>
                               

7. I can't login! Why?
   This is because you have Cookies disabled. HTML Comment Box uses Cookies to determine session, so if you have cookies disabled, your attempt at logging into the site will only take you back to the same page you were previously in without anything happening.
   
   To enable Cookies,+ check this page out: Enabling Cookies. For Safari users, you will need to enable cross-site tracking as well, which is under the same settings section as described in the document above.
8. My HTML Comment Box sometimes doesn't load on my Squarespace website! Why?
   For Squarespace versions prior to 7.1, it has a setting called "Enable Ajax Loading" which is enabled by default. You have to make sure that this is unchecked so the HTML Comment Box will load consistently.

Technical Stuff & Acknowledgements

1. Comments are Identified by URL
   The comments are saved for each unique page (URL), so in the case where 2 URLs map to the same page, you may see different comments depending on the URL.
2. SEO considerations and javascript
   Google now appears to index your comments based on tests I've done! This means your visitors' comments can show up in Google search results.
3. Silk icon set
   HCB now uses the silk icon set because it's pretty, and a couple icons from the glyphicons set.