This guide explains how JoomFAQs comments work, how to configure them, and how to manage the feedback your visitors leave on FAQ answers. Comments in JoomFAQs are tightly linked to the voting (poll) feature -- when a visitor indicates that an answer was not helpful, they are prompted to leave a comment explaining why.
How the Comment System Works
The JoomFAQs comment system is not a general-purpose discussion feature. It is a targeted feedback mechanism designed to help administrators improve their FAQ content. Here is the flow from start to finish:
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A visitor reads an FAQ answer. At the bottom of each answer, a poll box asks: "This information was useful?" with a thumbs-up and a thumbs-down button.
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The visitor clicks thumbs-down. Instead of immediately recording a negative vote, JoomFAQs opens a modal dialog asking the visitor to explain why the answer was not helpful.
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The visitor fills in the comment form. The modal contains a comment text area (and optionally a CAPTCHA challenge). The visitor types their feedback and clicks Save.
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The comment is saved to the database. JoomFAQs stores the comment in the
#__joomfaqs_commentstable, linked to the question by its ID, together with a creation timestamp. A confirmation message is displayed: "Thank you! Your feedback will help us improve our Help Center." -
Administrators review comments. In the Joomla backend, open any question in the JoomFAQs editor. The Feedback to answer tab shows all comments associated with that question in a table, with the option to delete individual comments.
Because the comment form only appears when a visitor votes "not helpful," comments serve as actionable feedback rather than open-ended discussion.
Enabling and Disabling Comments
Comments are controlled by the Poll setting. When the poll is visible, visitors can vote and leave comments. When the poll is hidden, neither voting nor commenting is available.
Global Setting
To control the poll (and therefore comments) across your entire site:
- Navigate to Components > JoomFAQs > Configuration (or click the gear icon on the JoomFAQs dashboard).
- There is no separate "Comments" on/off toggle. The Comments tab in the global configuration only contains the CAPTCHA provider setting (see the CAPTCHA Integration section below).
- The poll visibility is set at the category level.
Category-Level Setting
Each JoomFAQs category has its own poll toggle, which also controls whether comments are available for questions in that category:
- Navigate to Components > JoomFAQs > Categories.
- Open the category you want to configure.
- Under the Questions Options tab, find the Poll setting.
| Setting | Option | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Poll | Show | The "Was this useful?" poll appears on each answer. Visitors who click thumbs-down are prompted to leave a comment. |
| Poll | Hide | The poll is hidden. No voting or commenting is possible for questions in this category. |
The default value is Show.
CAPTCHA Integration
JoomFAQs supports Joomla's CAPTCHA plugin system to prevent automated spam submissions on the comment form. CAPTCHA is configured at two levels: the CAPTCHA provider is chosen globally, and the display rules are set per category.
Step 1 -- Choose the CAPTCHA Provider (Global)
- Navigate to Components > JoomFAQs > Configuration.
- Open the Comments tab.
- In the Captcha field, select the CAPTCHA plugin you want to use (for example, reCAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA Invisible, or any other installed CAPTCHA plugin). You can also choose Use Global to inherit the setting from Joomla's global configuration, or - Do not use - to disable CAPTCHA entirely.
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
| Use Global | Inherits the CAPTCHA plugin configured in Joomla's global configuration. |
| - Do not use - | Disables CAPTCHA for comment forms entirely, regardless of category settings. |
| (specific plugin) | Uses the selected CAPTCHA plugin for comment forms (subject to category display rules). |
Important: The CAPTCHA plugin you select must be installed and enabled in System > Manage > Plugins before it will function. If you select a plugin that is not enabled, the comment form may display an error.
Step 2 -- Choose Who Sees the CAPTCHA (Per Category)
Each category controls which visitors are shown the CAPTCHA challenge:
- Navigate to Components > JoomFAQs > Categories.
- Open the category you want to configure.
- Under the Form Options tab, find the Security code (Captcha) field.
| Option | Value | Behavior |
|---|---|---|
| Do not show | 0 | CAPTCHA is never shown on the comment form for this category. |
| Not logged | 1 | CAPTCHA is shown only to guest (not-logged-in) visitors. Registered users who are logged in skip the CAPTCHA. This is the default. |
| All | 2 | CAPTCHA is shown to everyone, including logged-in users. |
This two-tier approach lets you enforce CAPTCHA globally while giving you category-by-category control over who sees it. For example, you might disable CAPTCHA in an internal-only FAQ category where all visitors are already logged in, while enforcing it in a public-facing category.
Comment Form Fields
When a visitor clicks the thumbs-down button on a poll, a modal dialog opens with a simple form. The form contains the following fields:
| Field | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comment | Text area | Yes | The visitor's feedback explaining why the answer was not helpful. The form label reads "Please tell us why you did not help this information." |
| Captcha | CAPTCHA | Conditional | Only displayed if CAPTCHA is enabled and the visitor matches the display rules (see CAPTCHA Integration above). |
The comment form is intentionally minimal. There is no name or email field on the comment form -- it is anonymous feedback. The form opens inside a Bootstrap modal overlay, keeping the visitor on the same page.
An informational note at the top of the modal reads: "First Comment" to guide the visitor.
Managing Comments in the Administrator
All comment management happens inside the question editor in the Joomla backend.
Viewing Comments
- Navigate to Components > JoomFAQs > Questions.
- Click on a question to open it in the editor.
- Click the Feedback to answer tab.
If the question has received comments, they are displayed in a table with the following columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Date creation | The date and time the comment was submitted, formatted according to the component's date format setting. |
| Comment | The full text of the visitor's feedback. |
| Removal | A delete button (red with a remove icon) that lets you delete the comment. |
If no comments have been submitted for the question, you will see the message: "There are no results."
Identifying Questions with Comments
When viewing a question that has the poll enabled, editors (users with core.edit permission) see an informational bar within the answer area on the frontend that reads:
Status survey: Yes - X No - Y review: Z
Where X is the number of positive votes, Y is the number of negative votes, and Z is the total number of comments. This gives you a quick way to spot questions that are receiving negative feedback without opening each one individually in the backend.
Deleting Comments
To delete a comment:
- Open the question in the backend editor.
- Go to the Feedback to answer tab.
- Click the red delete button next to the comment you want to remove.
The comment is deleted immediately via an AJAX request -- the row fades out and is removed from the table without reloading the page. A confirmation message "Deleted successfully" appears briefly in place of the delete button.
There is no bulk-delete feature for comments. Each comment must be deleted individually.
Comment Moderation Workflow
JoomFAQs does not include a dedicated moderation queue or approval workflow for comments. All comments are saved immediately and are visible only to administrators in the backend question editor. Comments are not displayed publicly on the frontend.
Here is a practical workflow for managing comment feedback:
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Monitor the dashboard. The JoomFAQs dashboard shows a "Comments" count, giving you a quick overview of total feedback across all questions.
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Check questions with negative votes. On the frontend, look for questions where the poll shows a high number of "No" votes. These are the questions most likely to have associated comments.
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Review comments in the backend. Open those questions in the editor and check the Feedback to answer tab.
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Act on the feedback. Use the visitor's comments to improve your answer. Common actions include:
- Rewriting an unclear answer.
- Adding missing information that visitors are asking about.
- Correcting outdated or inaccurate content.
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Clean up. After you have addressed the feedback, delete the processed comments to keep the list manageable. You may also want to reset the poll results for that question (using the "Reset poll results" option in the question editor's Details tab) so that the vote counts reflect the quality of the updated answer.
Comment Display Settings
Comments themselves are not displayed on the frontend. They exist exclusively as backend feedback for administrators and editors. The settings that affect the comment experience on the frontend are:
| Setting | Location | Effect on Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Poll (Show/Hide) | Category options | Controls whether the poll and comment trigger (thumbs-down button) are visible. |
| Security code (Captcha) | Category form options | Controls whether a CAPTCHA challenge appears in the comment modal. |
| Captcha (provider selection) | Global Comments tab | Determines which CAPTCHA plugin is used across all comment forms. |
There are no settings for comment display formatting, threading, or pagination, because comments are not rendered on the frontend.
Who Can Comment
The comment system is designed to accept anonymous feedback from any visitor. The specific permissions that affect commenting are:
| Scenario | Can Comment? |
|---|---|
| Guest visitor (not logged in) | Yes, if the poll is set to Show for the category. CAPTCHA may be required depending on category settings. |
| Registered user (logged in) | Yes, if the poll is set to Show for the category. CAPTCHA may be skipped depending on category settings (when set to "Not logged"). |
| Poll set to Hide for the category | No. The poll and comment trigger are not displayed. |
| CAPTCHA provider set to "Do not use" | Yes. Comments are allowed; CAPTCHA is simply not shown. |
| CAPTCHA provider set but plugin not enabled | The comment form may show an error. Make sure the selected CAPTCHA plugin is enabled. |
There is no dedicated "comment" permission in the JoomFAQs ACL. The ability to comment is governed by the poll visibility, which is a category-level display setting rather than a permission.
Note that users with core.edit permission on the component see additional information (vote counts and comment totals) on the frontend, but this does not affect who can submit comments.
Database Reference
Comments are stored in the #__joomfaqs_comments table with the following structure:
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
id |
int(11) |
Auto-incrementing primary key. |
question_id |
int(11) |
Foreign key linking the comment to a question in #__joomfaqs. |
comment |
mediumtext |
The full text of the visitor's feedback. |
created |
datetime |
The date and time the comment was submitted. |
Comments do not store the visitor's name, email, IP address, or user ID. The feedback is fully anonymous at the database level.
Best Practices
Here are some recommendations for getting the most out of the JoomFAQs comment system:
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Keep the poll enabled for public-facing categories. The poll and comment system is one of the most valuable tools for identifying FAQ content that needs improvement. Disabling it means losing direct visitor feedback.
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Enable CAPTCHA for guest visitors at minimum. Set the category-level CAPTCHA option to "Not logged" (the default) so that unauthenticated visitors must complete a CAPTCHA challenge. This provides a good balance between spam prevention and convenience for logged-in users.
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Check comments regularly. Since comments are not displayed publicly, there is no urgency pressure, but checking weekly (or after publishing new FAQ content) helps you catch problems early.
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Delete comments after acting on them. There is no archive or status system for comments, so keeping old, already-addressed comments in the list just adds clutter. Once you have improved the answer based on the feedback, delete the comment.
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Reset poll results after major answer rewrites. If you significantly rewrite an answer in response to negative feedback, use the "Reset poll results" feature (in the question editor's Details tab) to clear the old vote counts. This ensures the poll reflects the quality of the updated answer rather than the old one.
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Use the dashboard for a bird's-eye view. The JoomFAQs dashboard shows aggregate comment and vote statistics. Use it as your starting point to identify which areas need attention, then drill into specific questions.
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Do not rely on comments as a support channel. Since comments are anonymous and there is no way to reply to the commenter, they work best as one-way improvement signals. If you need two-way communication with visitors, pair your FAQ section with a contact form or support ticket system.