Facebook lets users posts images in the comments. So does Reddit, and most forums, and just about every social network. So, why not add this functionality to your WordPress site’s comments section?
To help you do just that, we’ll show you how to use a free WordPress plugin to let users upload their own images (or even videos) to your comments sections.
What are the benefits of letting users upload comment images in WordPress?
Comment images are useful for a few reasons. Some of those reasons are for fun and engagement, while others are necessary for more efficient workflows. Here are a few examples:
- Users can submit screenshots of problems they’re having to technical support teams.
- Comment images allow people to add user-generated content to your blog posts–like someone sharing pictures of their trip to Florence on a post about Italy.
- You give people the chance to respond with memes, making the conversations more visual and fun.
- You don’t have to limit your comment uploads to images. Some companies might find it helpful to allow PDF or video uploads.
How to let users upload comment images in WordPress
To let users upload comment images in WordPress, you can use a free plugin called DCO Comment Attachment:
Beyond letting users upload images, this plugin also gives you the choice of allowing audios, videos, PDFs, and other file type uploads.
To get started, install and activate the plugin on your WordPress site. If you have any questions about installing a WordPress plugin, take a look at our guide on this topic.
Note: DCO Comment Attachment still exists, but is not actively maintained, so it’s a good idea to test it on a staging site before using it on a live website. Also, this plugin will only work with the default comments section. It will not work if you’re using a third-party comments solution like Disqus or wpDiscuz.
Quick setup steps
- Install and activate DCO Comment Attachment.
- Visit a post on the frontend to confirm the upload field appears in your comment form.
- Go to Settings > DCO Comment Attachment to configure file types, attachment requirements, image sizes, and other options.
Step 1: View the frontend of a blog post
Once you’ve activated the plugin, it starts working right away. To preview the default functionality, go to the frontend of your website and scroll down to the comments section on a blog post.
You should see the standard “Leave a Reply” text and the comment box. But now, an Attachment field also shows up, along with a file upload control and a note about the maximum upload size and allowed file type categories.
Click on the upload control and select a JPG or PNG image from your computer. Type some text into the comment box, then click on the Post Comment button.
You should now see a thumbnail version of the image right below the comment!
Step 2: Adjust your settings for comment images
As you saw above, the DCO Comment Attachment plugin works fine right out of the box. However, you may want to change around the layout of your upload area or restrict the uploads for certain file types.
To do so, go to Settings > DCO Comment Attachment in your WordPress dashboard.
The settings page is now organized into sections such as General, Images, Multiple upload, Permissions, and Admin Panel.
How you customize this is up to you, but some of the most useful settings include Attachment image size, Is attachment required?, Embed attachment?, and Link thumbnail?. You can also set a maximum upload file size, choose whether multiple uploads are allowed, and control who can upload attachments.
At the bottom of the page, you can also specify which file types are allowed for uploads, which is important for a few reasons.
First of all, you don’t want to accept file types that aren’t relevant to your blog or business. As an example, a technical support team for a software company probably doesn’t need to accept audio clips.
So, go ahead and choose the file types you would like to permit. The plugin groups these into categories such as images, audio, video, documents, spreadsheets, text files, archives, code files, and more, with individual extensions available inside each category. After that, don’t forget to save your changes.
Step 3: Test out the comment images and other attachments
Now it’s time to go back to the comment section on one of your blog posts. You should now only see the file types you accept and whatever display changes you made in the settings.
Bonus: Handling attachments other than images
This plugin does a wonderful job of displaying image attachments in the right formats. For instance, uploading a video or audio clip automatically embeds the media into the comment, as seen below.
Documents are handled better than they used to be, too. By default, PDF and other document uploads can appear as clickable links in the comment, and the Embed attachment? setting controls whether supported files are embedded or shown as links. For images, the separate Link thumbnail? option lets you choose whether thumbnails open in a lightbox, a new tab, an attachment page, or not at all.
Bonus 2: Managing comment images and attachments from the backend
It’s not uncommon for site moderators to view, delete, and approve comments from the WordPress dashboard.
If this is the case for your operation, you’ll be happy to know that all of the comment attachments are shown in the Comments area of WordPress. All you have to do is click on the attachment link to view the item.
Therefore, you can still moderate the attachments for spam as you would any other WordPress comment.
To recap, DCO Comment Attachment lets you add images, documents, audio, video, and other file types to the default WordPress comment system. The biggest things to remember are that it only works with the native WordPress comments area, its settings now live under Settings > DCO Comment Attachment, and it’s smart to test compatibility on a staging site before rolling it out more broadly.
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