Title: Remove text field from comment form
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Remove text field from comment form

 *  Resolved [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/)
 * Hi,
 * I would like to remove the text field from the comment form. The idea is that
   users can vote if they like the post or not. The like/unlike option must be done
   with radio buttons in a custom field (that would be the next problem).
 * But first: How can I remove the text field? I don’t want it hidden, but entirely
   removed. What is the best practice for this? I can’t find a decent solution.
 * Hopefully anyone can help me with this.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 49 total)

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 *  [nickohrn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickohrn/)
 * (@nickohrn)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673115)
 * Are you looking to do this on your site alone or make a plugin that is reusable
   across multiple sites? What theme are you using? How are you displaying the comment
   form? Are you just using the `comment_form` template tag?
 * There’s ways to do this, but it really depends on your exact setup.
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673129)
 * Hi,
 * I want to do this on one site only and I made the theme myself.
    I use `<?php
   comments_template(); ?>` to display the form. So I think it’s the same?
 *  [nickohrn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickohrn/)
 * (@nickohrn)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673133)
 * `comments_template` simple sets up some variables and includes a template file(
   probably `comments.php` in your theme). The form is usually generated by the `
   comment_form` template tag which has a bunch of things you can override.
 * For your purposes, you probably just need to find where the `comment_form` template
   tag is used and pass the correct arguments to it. Something like:
 * `comment_form(array('comment_field' => '<input type="hidden" name="comment" value
   =" " />'));`
 * That basically says, replace the textarea (which is the default value for `comment_field`)
   with a hidden input that contains a space character so that the comment isn’t
   empty.
 * Whether or not this works from that point forward is a question of whether WordPress
   allows almost empty comments. You should be good to go for the most part, though.
 * For adding additional elements to the comment form, you can hook to one of the
   following actions:
    - comment_form_before
    - comment_form_must_log_in_after
    - comment_form_top
    - comment_form_logged_in_after
    - comment_form_before_fields
    - comment_form_after_fields
    - comment_form
    - comment_form_after
 * Your best bet is to just open up `/wp-includes/comment-template.php` and figure
   out where there are hooks available to modify the behavior you want and take 
   advantage of them. Best of luck!
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673140)
 * Thank you for your response. Tomorrow I’ll take a look at this. Thanks in advance!
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673247)
 * My comment_form tag looks like this:
 * `<?php do_action('comment_form', $post->ID); ?>`
 * I’m not sure how to use your line of code, because the form doesn’t show anymore
   after I use your code within my code. I think I’m doing something wrong.
 * If it will work, doesn’t the database get full of code of tags (?) with whitespace?
   I’m not sure how this works, but I suppose the space from the textfield is saved
   in the database?
 * Sorry for my bad English.
 *  [nickohrn](https://wordpress.org/support/users/nickohrn/)
 * (@nickohrn)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673250)
 * edow – I’m sorry, but I can’t help you any further at this point. If you have`
   do_action('comment_form', $post->ID)` then you probably have a form hardcoded
   into your comments.php file. If that’s the case, simply remove the textarea tag
   and see if that works. Beyond that, I recommend contacting a WordPress developer
   who can take on small jobs like this.
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673254)
 * I appreciate your quick replies.
 * I’ve managed to remove the text field, because (as you said) it’s hardcoded.
 * This is my code now:
 *     ```
       <div class="comment">
       					<label>Review: (verplicht)</label>
       					<input type="radio" name="comment" id="comment" value="like">Like<br>
       					<input type="radio" name="comment" id="comment" value="unlike">Unlike
       					<br />
       					<input type="submit" class="commentsubmit" value="Review plaatsen" />
       					<?php if ( is_user_logged_in() ) { echo ''; } else { echo '<span> - Het is niet verplicht, maar je kan een <a href="http://aigoo.nl/wp-login.php?action=register">gratis profiel aanmaken</a> of <a href="'.wp_login_url( get_permalink() ).'">inloggen</a></span>'; };?>
       				</div>
       ```
   
 * I also made radio buttons as you can see. The problem now is that it says “Your
   comment is awaiting moderation.” and I can only place one review. Maybe because
   it’s from the same IP.
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673255)
 * Now it works. In the WordPress settings I changed the option that the user must
   have a previous approved review. It looks like it works well.
 * The next problem is that I want to sort the people in two lists. One list with
   people who choose “LIke” and a list of people (avatars shown only) who choose“
   Unlike”.
 *  [Media2U](https://wordpress.org/support/users/media2u/)
 * (@media2u)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673273)
 * Hello, i was just saw this about comment so im try to ask you here. For a while
   ago I made a site to a guy that had try to do it by himself, hes mistakes was
   he let anyone register as (administrator) instead of authour. When he contact
   me i removed a hacked link into main template of hes site and i thought that 
   was enough but still even i make a sign up as auhour and want to leave a comment
   on hes food recipes i cant do that.
 * this is hes website: [http://www.svenskakocken.se/](http://www.svenskakocken.se/)
   and its impossible for me atrleast to leave comment but i see that now after 
   few days he got several other ppl logged in and register as authour but as what
   i see no comments only one had did one comment and i cant allow that comment 
   coz i know thats a hacking person…
 * What should i do to fix this error on hes comment section.
 * OK next Questian..
    Im adding few social plugins on hes website, im kinda new
   onb doing that coz before i never add those stuff not even on mine…
 * BUt however, hes website is simular to a women website also foods but different
   country and taste…
 * Google plus on her site i can see a big picture of some foods and her profil 
   picture in google plus and the circle following thing, he want like that on hes
   but the plugin i was choose seems not allow that and im not sure what to do here
   to help him… he had just hes profile picture there.
 * [http://frenchcookingfordummies.com/](http://frenchcookingfordummies.com/) this
   is the french women site
 * [http://www.svenskakocken.se/](http://www.svenskakocken.se/) and this is my friends
   site….
 * hoping to get some help here
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673324)
 * Hello Media2U,
 * If a hacker had access as administrator, there is a good chance he installed 
   a hidden backdoor somewhere on the site. These can be extremely difficult and
   time consuming to find and successfully remove. It’s usually best to wipe the
   entire site and restore it from a known clean backup. See [FAQ My site was hacked](http://codex.wordpress.org/FAQ_My_site_was_hacked).
 * FYI, tagging onto someones topic is frowned upon in these forums. Please start
   your own topic so your issue can be fully addressed without being confused with
   other answers. I also suggest you focus on one issue per topic, an expert in 
   hackers may know nothing of social media or vice versa, so he may be reluctant
   to help you since he cannot fully address all your issues. A focused topic will
   more likely get you a focused answer.
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673326)
 * I’ve still my question. Is it possible to sort the comments in two lists? Comments
   can only contain the word “like” or “unlike”. Is it possible, based on these 
   words, to sort these comments in two seperate lists? One list with the “likes”
   and the other one with the “unlike”. In this list only the avatar should be shown.
   Hopefully anyone can help me with this.
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673344)
 * Sorry edow, I didn’t realize you still had a pending question.
 * Yes you can sort comments as you envision. The specifics depend on how your theme
   handles comments, exactly how the vote selection is stored, and your coding abilities.
   There’s a number of possibilities. You could do a single query, ordered by the
   vote field. The comment loop would detect when the votes change and start a new
   list. You could do two separate queries. You could use a single query and sort
   the results using PHP, either as part of the comment loop, a user array sort,
   or part of a walker function. There’s probably hybrid variations of any of those
   approaches.
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673346)
 * Hi bcworkz,
 * No problem and thanks for your reply!
 * These are the input fields for the like/dislike buttons in the comment section:
 *     ```
       <div class="comment">
       					<label class="commentformtitle">Do you like <?php the_title(); ?>?</label>
       					<span class="radiobuttonleft"><input type="radio" name="comment" id="comment" value="like">I like this!</span>
       					<span class="radiobuttonright"><input type="radio" name="comment" id="comment" value="unlike">I don't like this...</span>
       					<input type="submit" class="commentsubmit" value="Submit review" />
       				</div>
       ```
   
 * My coding abilities aren’t so well. I’m not sure how to achieve this. Is it possible
   that you help me a little bit further with this?
 * The comment form itself works good. Guests have to input their name, email and
   choose like or unlike. After submit the comment text is “like” or “unlike” so
   that works great.
 * I realy don’t know how to handle this. In the database the comment text only 
   saves “like” or “unlike”, so perhaps with PHP I can sort the likes and unlikes
   based on the comment-text? Hopefully you can help me a little bit further.
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673351)
 * So there aren’t any true comments with authored words, the entire comment text
   will either be “like” or “unlike” and nothing else? That certainly simplifies
   things if so. Do you just need a count of each vote, or do you actually want 
   a list of who voted one way, then those voting another way?
 * Which approach would make the most sense somewhat depends on the scale of the
   site. Small sites can do almost anything without consequences. Huge sites must
   carefully consider every approach. What scale do you ultimately see for this 
   site? How many comments per post? Dozens, hundreds, thousands? Same for how many
   posts eventually.
 * I generally don’t code for people except in way of illustrating a point or something
   simple and short. You may fall into the latter category if I understand your 
   situation correctly. Unfortunately, I’m under a major time crunch for the next
   few days. (and currently have no access to my usual development tools) I can 
   probably help you out in a few days if no one else jumps in before hand.
 *  Thread Starter [edow](https://wordpress.org/support/users/edow/)
 * (@edow)
 * [12 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/#post-4673353)
 * Yes you’re right, the entire comment text is “like” or “unlike”. There is no 
   text field, only the radio buttons and the input field for your name and email
   address.
 * I want a list with people who voted “like” and a seperate list of people who 
   voted “unlike”. I have two lists like this:
 *  `<div class=”upvoters” id=”votes”>
    <h2>We like this!</h2> <div class=”voter-
   img”> <a href=”#respond”><img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/upvote.png”
   class=”upvote”></a> <img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/voter.png” class
   =”tooltip” title=”John”> <img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/voter.png”
   class=”tooltip” title=”Edo”> <img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/voter.
   png” class=”tooltip” title=”Peter”> <img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/
   voter.png” class=”tooltip” title=”Joey”> </div> </div>
 *  <div class=”downvoters”>
    <h2>We, not so much…</h2> <div class=”voter-img”> 
   <a href=”#respond”><img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/downvote.png” 
   class=”downvote”></a> <img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/voter.png” 
   class=”tooltip” title=”Chris”> <img src=”/wp-content/themes/aigooNL/images/voter.
   png” class=”tooltip” title=”Michael”> </div> </div>`
 * There are two classes: upvoters and downvoters. These lists reflects the votes.
 * I have a small website. Sure, I want the site to grow, but right now I’m thrilled
   if someone gave a review 😉
    Hopefully the site will grow and I get dozens “likes/
   unlikes” on each post, but certainly not thousands.
 * I understand if you don’t have the time to help me with this, but I would really
   appreciate it if you or someone else could help me a little bit more. I understand
   how to design and know about html, but I don’t know much about PHP or other coding
   languages.
 * I’m not in a hurry. If you need more information please let me know. Thanks already
   for any help you can give.

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The topic ‘Remove text field from comment form’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Hacks](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/plugins-and-hacks/hacks/)
 * 49 replies
 * 5 participants
 * Last reply from: [esmi](https://wordpress.org/support/users/esmi/)
 * Last activity: [11 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/remove-text-field-from-comment-form/page/4/#post-4673510)
 * Status: resolved

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