Do you have comments on your Contact Page?
It’s a simple question. Have you checked lately?
A well-formed contact page features a welcoming introduction and encouragement to contact the site administrator or owner, typically you. If you have a store-front, it often contains an address, phone number, driving directions, and map or link to a map.
Below this is a contact form.
Below that is your site’s footer, nothing more.
Your blog exercise today is to check to see if your contact page has comments.
Comments on a contact page are redundant.
Comments are public conversations on your site. Contact forms send a private comment or request to your email inbox where the conversation may continue through email, not on the site.
Do you need both?
Over the years, some clients and designers have tried to argue with me that comments on contact pages are normal and should be there. “It’s an alternative to using the contact form.”
No, it’s not. I used to do this, but I learned, just as you will, great student.
If your entire site is open to comments on every post and Page, your contact page comments are not necessary. A contact form is where people may respond to you privately, out of site of the world, making personal or professional inquiries or comments.
Having comments on the contact page is confusing. Which one should they choose?
If you want to have a main Q&A page, create one. Make the comment box the focus of the page where people may ask you public questions and you can answer them publicly, making the conversation an open one.
If you are on WordPress, to turn off comments on a post or Page:
- Go to the post or Page you wish to turn off comments.
- Go to the upper right corner Screen Options feature.
- Open Screen Options and make sure Discussion is checked. Close Screen Options.
- Look for Discussion. Uncheck the box to allow comments on that post or Page.
- Update the post or Page.
Remember to include a hat tip link back to this post to create a trackback, or leave a properly formed link in the comments so participants can check out your blog exercise task.
You can find more Blog Exercises on Lorelle on WordPress. This is a year-long challenge to help you flex your blogging muscles.
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4 Comments
Hi Lorelle,
This is bound to make laugh. 🙂
I don’t need or want a contact page. I removed mine as rather than posting to the support forums my contact form and my email address were flooded with support requests. I removed both and I’m so happy I did.
You are in a unique position, my friend. Your “job” is providing customer support to WordPress.com users. People think you are in the full-time business of providing that support – for free no less. For you, I wouldn’t expect that a contact form (nor comments on a contact form) would work.
Bet you have one on your non-support and other professional sites? 😀
As with everything, knowing what works for you and using it is key.
I don’t feel it’s necessary to have comments turned on for ‘pages’. To have comments on my contact form seems redundant and messy. I have comments turned on for ‘posts’ only. When setting up a client’s website, many of my clients want more than one contact form. One form may be for general information and another for booking gigs or engagements. To me, comments should only be used on posts where you actually wish to prompt conversation. 😉 My contact form is not up for debate.
@Heidi: For most sites, this is very true. Comments should be on posts not Pages. As with all things, it depends, but for the most part that is tradition and standard.
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