Blog template: comments not displaying on site but I can see them when logged in

[creativeguy]

Hi everyone. First, my blog site is NSFW. It's a sex doll blog. FYI.

I just realized today that people have been commenting away on the blog, but I didn't even know. They weren't (and still aren't) displaying on the site. I just thought no one was engaging with comments. Nope. I only realized it because I was logged in and writing a blog post. I forget why, but this time I stayed logged in to the admin and loaded a post to check something, then saw a whack of comments. But, it was half legit and half SPAM. I popped over to another browser where I wasn't logged in and there were no comments displayed. I then popped into the admin and checked the comments - sure enough they they are. But, they have been set variations of either "Pending" or "SPAM". I was seeing them all on the posts. I then checked the template - not written by me, and I'm not a developer at the level of most here - I'm a creative pro with some experience. I can't recognize a glaring problem, but obviously there is one and I can't diagnose it.

On the blog-post.php template, here's the code to kick out a blog post comment and the form:

	<?php 
	
	// blog post content
	echo dbbBlogPost(page());
	
	// comments
    $comments = page()->comments;



	// comment list 
	if(count($comments)) {
		echo ukHeading3("Comments", "icon=comments");
		echo ukComments($comments);
	}

	// comment form
	echo ukHeading3("Post a comment", "icon=comment"); 
	echo ukCommentForm($comments);
	
	// link to the next blog post, if there is one
	$nextPost = page()->next();
	if($nextPost->id): ?>	
		<p class='next-blog-post'>
			Next <?=ukIcon('chevron-right')?>
			<a href='<?=$nextPost->url?>'><?=$nextPost->title?></a>
		</p>
	<?php endif; ?>

This is what's in the _func.php:

function dbbBlogPost(Page $page, $options = array()) {
	
	$defaults = array(
		'summarize' => null, // Display blog post summary rather than full post? (null=auto-detect)
		'metaIcon' => 'info-circle',
		'moreIcon' => 'angle-right',
		'moreText' => __('Read full post'), 
		'categoryIcon' => 'hashtag',
		'bylineText' => __('Posted by %1$s on %2$s'), 
	);

	$options = _ukMergeOptions($defaults, $options);
	$title = $page->title;
	$date = $page->get('date|createdStr');
	$name = $page->post_author->title;
	$body = $page->get('body');
	$mainImage = $page->image->url;
	$metaIcon = "<i class='fas fa-".$options['metaIcon']."'></i>";
	$moreIcon = "<i class='fas fa-".$options['moreIcon']."'></i>";
	$categoryIcon = "<i class='fas fa-".$options['categoryIcon']."'></i>";
	$n = $page->get('comments')->count();
	$numComments = $n ? "<a href='$page->url#comments'>" . ukIcon('comments') . " $n</a>" : "";
	$gallery = "";
	
	if($options['summarize'] === null) {
		// auto-detect: summarize if current page is not the same as the blog post
		$options['summarize'] = page()->id != $page->id;
	}
	
	$categories = $page->get('categories')->each($categoryIcon . 
		"<a class='uk-button uk-button-text' href='{url}'>{title}</a> "
	);

	if($options['summarize']) {
		// link to post in title, and use just the first paragraph in teaser mode
		$title = "<a href='$page->url'>$title</a>";
		// $body  = sanitizer()->truncate($body, $options['summarizeOptions']);
		$body = explode('</p>', $body); 
		$body = reset($body) . ' ';
		$body .= "<div class='post-preview-more'><a href='$page->url'>$options[moreText] $moreIcon</a></div>";
		$class = 'blog-post-summary';
	} else {
		$class = 'blog-post-full';
	}

	if($options['summarize']) {
		$heading = "<h2 class='uk-margin-remove'>$title</h2>";
	} else {
		$heading = "<h1 class='uk-article-title uk-margin-remove'>$title</h1>";
	}
	
	$byline = sprintf($options['bylineText'], $name, $date); 

	if(!$options['summarize'] && $page->gallery) {
		$gallery = renderGallery($page);
	}

	// return the blog post article markup
	return "
		<article class='uk-article blog-post $class'>
			<img class='feature-image' src='$mainImage' alt='Post image' />
			$heading
			<p class='uk-margin-small'>
				<span class='uk-article-meta'>
					$metaIcon
					$byline
				</span>
				<span class='categories'>
					$categories
				</span>
			</p>
			$body
			$gallery
		</article>
		<hr>
	";	
}

I also know there's a comments field with various settings, but nothing I can find there would prohibit anyone from seeing comments, nor would it specifically show a logged in user all comments including SPAM.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

[kongondo]

5 hours ago, creativeguy said:

I also know there's a comments field with various settings, but nothing I can find there would prohibit anyone from seeing comments, nor would it specifically show a logged in user all comments including SPAM.

I haven't looked at your code but the comments field is where I'd look first (with respect to comments visibility). As for a logged in user seeing all comments, you are logging in as a superuser, hence can see everything (including the comments field). 

Edited February 27, 2022 by kongondo
Add more info

[creativeguy]

2 hours ago, kongondo said:

I haven't looked at your code but the comments field is where I'd look first (with respect to comments visibility). As for a logged in user seeing all comments, you are logging in as a superuser, hence can see everything (including the comments field). 

Yes, I went through that as well, as I mentioned, I can't see anything in my settings that would prevent a user from seeing comments.

[kongondo]

50 minutes ago, creativeguy said:

I can't see anything in my settings that would prevent a user from seeing comments.

It's right there in your settings ? (as per your screenshot). Under Comment moderation, your setting says All comments must be approved by someone with page-edit access. Hence the 'Pending' comments you are seeing. You need to approve them in order for them to be visible on your site for your 'guests' (commenters).

Edit: If you specify an email under Admin notification email, you will get notified every time someone (or something -> spam) posts a comment on your blogs. You will be able to approve/disapprove the comment directly within your email (if you wish).

Edited February 27, 2022 by kongondo
added more

[creativeguy]

35 minutes ago, kongondo said:

It's right there in your settings ? (as per your screenshot). Under Comment moderation, your setting says All comments must be approved by someone with page-edit access. Hence the 'Pending' comments you are seeing. You need to approve them in order for them to be visible on your site for your 'guests' (commenters).

Edit: If you specify an email under Admin notification email, you will get notified every time someone (or something -> spam) posts a comment on your blogs. You will be able to approve/disapprove the comment directly within your email (if you wish).

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Approved comments are not showing up on the site. Yes, I have another PW site that uses comments and it works as you describe. This site does not. No comments, approved or otherwise, appear on the site. I only see them on the site if I'm logged in.

[aagd]

• Do you have the _uikit.php* in your templates folder? (Required to render ukComments($comments))
• Do the comments appear in the page source? If so they might be just be hidden by CSS.

 

*Edit: Which should be included in _init.php.

include_once('./_uikit.php');

like in the site-regular theme in the ProcessWire Source download.

[kongondo]

50 minutes ago, aagd said:

Do the comments appear in the page source? If so they might be just be hidden by CSS.

He can see the comments if logged in, so might not be a CSS issue but an access one ?.

9 hours ago, creativeguy said:

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Approved comments are not showing up on the site. Yes, I have another PW site that uses comments and it works as you describe. This site does not. No comments, approved or otherwise, appear on the site. I only see them on the site if I'm logged in.

I see. Given that everyone can see other parts of the page even if not logged in (e.g. blog  title, etc), this seems to suggest an access/view issue with the comments field itself. Have you checked the 'Access' tab in the comments field?

[aagd]

49 minutes ago, kongondo said:

He can see the comments if logged in, so might not be a CSS issue but an access one ?.

You're right, I assumed he just sees the comments in Admin.

[creativeguy]

Thanks both of you for the help. Actually, your dialogue back and forth got me to thinking I should check the blog post entry in the admin. I found the issue. There seems to be an error between the comments manager as a separate utility, and the comments on the page itself. The same comment that is "Approved" in the comments manager is marked "SPAM" on the blog-post page in the admin. Once I set the status inside the post VS the manager, the correct status is reflected on the site.

So, there's a problem between the comments manager and the site-wide approval of the comments. Weird.

[kongondo]

Aha :-).

3 minutes ago, creativeguy said:

So, there's a problem between the comments manager and the site-wide approval of the comments. Weird.

What's the difference between this site and the other non-problematic one? If they are different with respect to ProcessWire versions and/or PHP versions, then best to file a bug report, thanks. If they are not different in this regard, then we'll need to keep digging; maybe a third party module interference, etc.

[creativeguy]

4 minutes ago, kongondo said:

Aha :-).

What's the difference between this site and the other non-problematic one? If they are different with respect to ProcessWire versions and/or PHP versions, then best to file a bug report, thanks. If they are not different in this regard, then we'll need to keep digging; maybe a third party module interference, etc.

I'll take a look. That other site has since moved to a different platform (no longer hosted by me), but I do have an archive version. I'll pop the admin open on my local and take a look at the differences. That might take a week or so, though. I'll update this once I'm able to do that.