How can I effectively respond to blog comments?

[Carol_AJS]

I have been searching for a way to respond to blog comments.  I found a post on the discussion forum that said that it was not possible.  This is a major design fault and needs to be resolved. This issue was raised in this thread back in 2019 - it's now 2023 and there's still no resolution.  That seems ridiculous.  It seems to me that this is just a minor blog function - why supply a comment function if there's no way to respond to them - it makes no sense.  Can you please give an ETA on when this will be resolved - yes, resolved because it is a problem.

[Maz]

Hi @Carol_AJS!

Your question is a great one and one that does come up from time to time.

I can appreciate why you would want this feature to be implemented and how it would be beneficial to your business. It would be great to be able to keep the customers updated and acknowledge their feedback on your blogs.

Currently, as it stands, the only way to reply to a comment is to add another comment in response, however I can see that this would not be ideal. For the time being, if you're looking for an alternative way to reply to blog comments, I would recommend checking out the apps in our app store here which help with this feature. Sunny ‑ Blog Comment Manager here might be a workaround to look into, they offer a 30-day free trial and a plan that costs $2.99/month.

As mentioned, this has been requested previously by merchants in the past. We'll continue to provide this feedback to our developers for this use case, so I have added this to the already existing feedback for you. In regard to an ETA, we do not have a timeline for when updates will be available, but we will update you here on our Changelog once we have further information to share.

We appreciate this feedback, and hopefully we will see some updates in the near future. In the meantime, let me know if you have any further questions about this or if you'd like some help with marketing or tips on your store!

[MonsterMawd]

I echo Carol's feeings. We're creating the content in our blogs that drives traffic via search to our Shopify stores.  Not allowing us to respond hurts our growth in sales , which ultimately hurts Shopify's revenue

[Carol_AJS]

@Maz thank you for your response and for adding this to the change log.  As Shopify provides a blog feature, this should be standard with the blog, as it is with all other blogs around.  I don't think having to pay for it is acceptable.  $2.99USD is almost $5NZD or $56 per year.  I know this is tax deductible but it still should be part of the software.  Others have been requesting this for years and personally, I don't understand how hard it can be to implement.

[MyJuly27]

I am adding my voice to this thread. It would make a world of difference to have this commenting ability. Please do pass this up, as it would highly benefit so many of us trying to drive traffic to our stores via blog posts. 

[Maz]

Hi @Carol_AJS, @MyJuly27, @Room5Owner & @MonsterMawd!

Thank you all for providing your feedback on this thread!

Regrettably, I cannot provide a timeline for this feature, however I will continue adding this feedback to the already existing feedback which is open for our developers to review.

Please do keep an eye on our Announcements page here and also the Changelog at this link

for updates and news on features.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with!

[MonsterMawd]

Thank you Maz. I do feel responding to blog comments should be a default capability, not a "feature", It's like not having capability to Reply to an email.  

[Maz]

Hi @MonsterMawd!

Thanks for reaching out on this thread and providing your feedback, and you are most welcome. I'll be sure to add this to the current feedback and mention it as a capability for you. The more votes we get for this, the more chance it may become available in the future.

Is there anything else I can do to help you today? I can take a peek around your store and see if I have any suggestions on how to improve your business if you'd like to share your URL?

Let me know if there is anything else you need! 

[redpriestess]

Adding my voice to this thread. A reply feature to blog comments is essential, and Shopify should update and add this as a basic feature as soon as possible. Those of us who use blogs to drive traffic to our sites are hindered by the lack of this feature, which is offered by every other platform.

[Tashai]

If it has taken this long to add this "feature", that should be automatic to any blog in the first place. Shopify obviously has a vested interested in not providing us with this option and just wants to upsell and us to pay more money for an app on something that should be a basic feature. That's ridiculous and shows they care more about their app partners making money than their actual paying customers with a Shopify store. By it's self is not a deal breaker but with so many other things lacking I'm starting to look for other providers.

[Maz]

Hello @redpriestess, @Tashai!

I appreciate you both joining this thread and sharing your feedback. 

I can understand that if your main source of traffic is via blogging how this would be most beneficial to your business, so I can appreciate how this is a pain point for you @redpriestess!

@Tashai, I'm sorry to hear that  you're considering switching to another provider due to the lack of basic blog features, and your insight and feedback is very much acknowledged here. 

As previously indicated on this thread, I will be added these pieces of feedback for our developers as use cases. Hopefully we may have an update in the near future about this. Please let me know if you both have any other questions you would like to ask!

[MonsterMawd]

any updates on this topic Maz?

[Maz]

Hey @PacMoldBW & @MonsterMawd!

Thanks both for checking in on this thread. @MonsterMawd there haven't been any updates since my last reply. 

If you'd like to keep an eye for any updates surrounding this feature, then I would recommend bookmarking these pages below;

• Announcements page here
• Changelog at this link
  
  

@PacMoldBW, this is some very detailed and helpful feedback you've provided, so I will also be adding your comments on this thread as a use case with our developers.

Let me know if you both have any other questions or concerns!

[EmptySet]

We just spent thousands having a contractor help set up our Shopify site. If I had known the blog doesn't allow threaded comments, I would have never signed up. This is the most basic blogging functionality there is. I never thought to ask if I could reply directly to comments, because its a standard feature on every other blogging platform out there. I'm already looking for a Shopify replacement, what a waste of our money.

[Maz]

Hello @EmptySet!

Thanks for getting in touch and for providing this feedback.

I can understand how this would be beneficial for your business and how the lack of this feature may change things. Regrettably, I do not have any updates on if and when this feature will be added.

I would be more than happy to feed this back up to our developers for future consideration. While it’s not possible at the moment, maybe we will see this option in the future, so I appreciate your feedback on this.

Any questions, let me know!

[Room5Owner]

I saw a thread regarding this issue from back in 2010. Please tell me if there will be a way to reply to blog posts in 2023. It's a simple solution to add. I didn't realize that moving from WIX to Shopify would be a disaster. There are so many features on WIX that Shopify doesn't have and it is very disappointing and frustrating to say the least.

[PacMoldBW]

Layering on: comments drive customer engagement and retention. Some of the post comments may go unanswered which can lead our customers to feel stranded when troubleshooting or seeking assistance. Please consider opening this up as a standard option.  

[hoguephoto]

Adding our voice to the request of this feature!! I cannot believe that it hasn't been added. It is such an important part of customer service, community and brand trust building. PLEASE SHOPIFY----ADD THIS FEATURE!

[Maz]

Hello all, @hoguephoto!

Thank you for sharing your reasons for wanting this feature.

It's greatly appreciated. We are aware of this, and we understand how this would be an essential improvement for your business and increase efficiency. So I'm going to forward your feedback to our team.

Have a great day!

[JCTGE]

Hi Maz. Any update on this feature? Many have been asking for it since 2010. Seems like Shopify isn't being forthcoming on why they won't allow this simple feature that every other platform offers. Can we at least be told why it's being withheld from us, as business owners? 

[Maz]

Hey, @JCTGE!

Thanks for getting in touch.

I understand your frustration and the desire for this feature that has been requested for quite some time. However, I don't have any insight into the development roadmap or when specific features will be released.

I acknowledge that there can be various complexities and considerations involved in the decision-making process for implementing new features. While I don't have the specific reasons for why this feature has not been made available, I can assure you that Shopify continuously evaluates feedback and strives to improve its platform based on the needs of its users.

I recommend keeping an eye on Shopify's official announcements here at this page for any updates regarding this feature.

Once again thank you for taking the time to leave your feedback.

[APFOH]

Hi there,

So I've just finally started using Shopify and I'm already starting to regret it. All these small things are impossible to research before signing up and they are incredibly frustrating. I mean how can such a basic thing not be available?! Make it make sense! I mean other than Shopify forcing people to pay for yet another app for a basic feature...it makes no sense to me.

I won't even ask if there's any news on this topic, because following this thread I can tell the answer is always the same year after year. So disappointed 😞

[ForestofWisdom]

This is ridiculous that this has not been implemented yet. It is obviously a very highly requested feature. What is it going to take for something to finally be done about it?

[Imogen]

Hi there, @ForestofWisdom. Thank you for taking the time to follow up on this thread, and share your feedback. I've gone ahead and made sure that I've completed a feedback request on your behalf around more robust blog replying features on Shopify. This has been a largely requested feature, I agree, and our Developers appreciate folks continuing to share their feedback around it with us. Though I can't promise what the outcome of sharing this feedback will be, you can trust that the appropriate folks here at Shopify will see your feedback.

[Catharina_Coyle]

Hi there,

Just wondering if this has been fixed yet? 

[patrickb]

Hi there!
Just wanted to chime in and let you all know that I've built a small little app that overhauls the Shopify blog comment system. It's called Better Blog Comments and it basically brings all of the modern blog comment features that you expect (like on Wordpress and other platforms) to Shopify.

Here is what it looks like in the Shopify Admin:

As you can see, you can view all comments from a birds-eye view; reply to those comments, mark them as spam, bulk delete, etc.

You also get instant email notifications (you can reply to the comments from the email), much better spam/bot protection, 5 star ratings/reviews for your blog posts, and so many more little features to make your life easier.

I just released the app, so I'd love for you to try it and let me know your thoughts and how I can make it better.

It will even import your existing comments from the Shopify native feature, so the transition is quite easy.

Check it out:

https://apps.shopify.com/blogcomments

https://betterblogcomments.com