How do I add a comment box under each post?

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  sidetrackseven · Member · Jul 23, 2013 at 12:07 pm

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  Hi,
  I cannot seem to find the “Comment box” widget – so that people are able to comment on my posts.
  I thought this was a default feature but apparently not. Could you help me out, please?
  Thanks,
  Olya

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  ifmomsaysok · Member · Jul 23, 2013 at 12:56 pm

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  I see your comment box at the end of each of your posts, either by clicking on the grey “balloon” at the top right corner, or “leave a reply” in the blue links at the bottom of the posts. Is that what you’re asking about?

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Jul 23, 2013 at 1:03 pm

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  @sidetrackseven

  Comments don’t appear on your front (blogging) page by design. Image that you had a hundred comments on each post; consider how difficult it would be for readers to find your posts because they’d have to scroll down and down to get past the comments!

  There is one theme which displays comments on the front page: P2. It’s more of a twitter-style than any of the others here on WordPress.com.

  If you want to feature some comments on your front page, then I’d suggest adding a “recent comments” widget to your sidebar.

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Jul 23, 2013 at 1:10 pm

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  I did see one unusual use of the contact form on a blog recently. It appeared that the blogger wanted to encourage comments by putting a contact form at the end of each and every post. But of course if you do that, the comments will go to your email and won’t be published automatically on your site.
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact-form/

  (This sort of thing might be useful for a blogger who is giving personal advise whose readers would feel more comfortable communicating privately with the blogger.)

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  sidetrackseven · Member · Jul 23, 2013 at 1:14 pm

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  Great, thanks, guys!
  
  @1tess
  I’ve tried “recent comments” but this pulls comments from all posts.
  Is there a way to display only a couple of comments (not that I have any yet) and have “view more” without going into CSS customization or changing the theme?

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Jul 23, 2013 at 1:52 pm

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  Yes, the “recent comments” widget will show comments from any post: to look at it in a good way, it shows that your writing is enduring the passage of time. Old posts are still of interest! But I know what you mean…

  I don’t know of any other automatic way to display comments. You could copy and paste your favorites into a text widget. That way you’ll have complete control of what is shown.

  I also don’t think CSS is going to help in this case. CSS doesn’t change the function of a theme, only its appearance.

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Jul 23, 2013 at 2:04 pm

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  I’m late for work, but you might consider changing themes to one which allows custom excerpts. Here is an old article (not updated to include recent themes) about them:
  http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/2009/03/25/the-excerpt-function/
  with this note:

  Twenty Eleven and Duster display excerpts in the “Featured” post of the “Showcase” template.

  Some of the newer themes also use custom excerpts and would allow you to add a featured comment to each post…

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  sidetrackseven · Member · Jul 23, 2013 at 2:49 pm

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  Thanks for your help!