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WordPress How to Make a WordPress Blog Managing Comments Preparing for Comments

Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points
Posted by Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points

Settings > General: Membership

What does it mean if my theme does not have "Membership" option on the general settings page?

I'd like to cut down on spam comments to my page by requiring registration to comment, but with no way to allow anyone to register how do I enable this feature?

6 Answers

Gareth Borcherds
Gareth Borcherds
9,372 Points
Gareth Borcherds
Gareth Borcherds
9,372 Points

Take a look at something like http://rocketgeek.com/plugins/wp-members/

There are a lot out there and I'm a little out of the Wordpress plugin game these days. My advice for selecting plugins, make sure an update has happened in the last 2-3 months and it's always best if they have their own site with documentation to help you out.

Dustin Matlock
Dustin Matlock
33,856 Points
Dustin Matlock
Dustin Matlock
33,856 Points

Checking the box basically enables user registration on your website. You'd then go to Discussion and check the box Users must be registered and logged in to comment.

Akismet is free for non commercial use. It works fairly well but a lot of people are also using Discus to help combat spam.

Gareth Borcherds
Gareth Borcherds
9,372 Points
Gareth Borcherds
Gareth Borcherds
9,372 Points

There are also plenty of plugins out there that will give you user registration capabilities pretty easily. As Dustin said to, you can also look at third party things that handle comments, like http://web.livefyre.com/comments/ is another popular one.

Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points
Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points

Thank you, Dustin. Yes, I was just going over some video training that covers this material. I have just enabled Akismet for free, so that should help reduce the spam comments I've been receiving.

However, my site does not seem to be able to enable membership, and I would like it to do so. There is no option in the Settings > General for Membership, as was discussed in the video tutorial. It is simply not there.

I am a bit baffled by this, as this seems to be a fairly robust responsive theme that I paid almost $50 for. So it's odd to me that it wouldn't include the ability to have registration. I feel like I am missing something, and maybe there is a different way to enable people to become members of my site.

Dustin Matlock
Dustin Matlock
33,856 Points

For the most support I'd recommend themes similar to these:

  1. Avada

  2. X Theme

  3. Enfold

Ink claims to directly support Restrict Content Pro.

Have fun!

P.S. I couldn't imagine a theme somehow disabling the membership option in Wordpress, but here's a screenshot to help locate that.

Enable Wordpress Registration

Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points
Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points

Hi Gareth,

Thanks for your response as well. I think you have provided the answer I was looking for. Apparently I can install a plugin to allow member registration.

In that case, before closing the topic I'd like to ask if there a particular plugin for this that you recommend?

Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points
Sam Fitz
Sam Fitz
7,036 Points

Much appreciated, Gareth. I'm checking into that one now. :-)