Subscribe to Comments

The Subscribe to Comments plugin allows visitors to subscribe to a post's comments by toggling a check box when they enter a comment for that post (Figure 61). Each time a new comment is entered for that post, the subscribers get the comment delivered to them by e-mail (Figure 63). This makes it possible for blog readers to keep track of a post's discussion without manually checking in for comments.

Figure 61. When you install Subscribe to Comments, a Notify me check box appears beneath the comment form.

Figure 62. Subscribe to Comments comes with several files.

Figure 63. When you subscribe to a post's comments, you get an e-mail message each time a comment is entered and approved for that post.

Subscribe to Comments was written by Mark Jaquith based on code originally by Jennifer ("ScriptyGoddess"). It can be found at txfx.net/code/wordpress/subscribe-to-comments.

To install Subscribe to Comments

1.	Open the subscribe-to-comments folder. It contains several files (Figure 62), including subscribe-to-comments.php and wp-subscription-manager.php
2.	Upload subscribe-to-comments.php to the plugins folder in your wp-content folder.
3.	Upload wp-subscription-manager.php to the root directory of your blogthat is, the directory that also contains wp-config.php.
4.	In the Plugin Management administration panel, activate the Subscribe to Comments plugin.

To test Subscribe to Comments

1.	If necessary, log out of your blog and view it without being logged in.
2.	View the comments form for any post. A Notify me of followup comments via e-mail check box should appear beneath the Submit Comment button (Figure 61).
3.	Fill in the comment form, using an e-mail address other than the one associated with an administrator account or the account for the post author. Submit the comment.
4.	Enter a second comment, using any e-mail address. You should receive an e-mail message at the first e-mail address with the contents of the second comment and instructions on managing your subscriptions (Figure 63).

Tips

• The Notify me check box does not appear when you are logged in as administrator or author of the post.

• If the Notify me check box does not appear in step 2 and you are definitely logged out of your blog, your theme may have a conflict with the plugin. To learn how to fix the problem, consult the Subscribe to Comments Wiki page at dev.wp-plugins.org/wiki/Subscribe ToComments.

• If comment moderation is enabled, you may have to approve the comments in step 4 before you receive notification by e-mail. We explain how to moderate and approve comments in Chapter 4.