--- title: "Adding Comments (Disqus) to Your Courses" description: "Enable your users to interact with you and one another within course lessons." url: https://help.teachery.co/en/articles/169-adding-comments-disqus-to-your-courses collection: "Adding Content to Lessons" updated: 2026-05-11 language: en --- # Adding Comments (Disqus) to Your Courses Enable your users to interact with you and one another within course lessons. Teachery admittedly **doesn’t** have a **community feature** that can match up to _Facebook Groups_, _Slack_, etc. Our main priority is to provide you with a simple, easy, seamless framework for delivering courses or digital downloads. That said, we are [considering something](https://roadmap.teachery.co/featurerequests/Fec72vMOxeSmzjsPg8H8Sc1ijvyRCZPVWcfuK7V5xPn28pUBgmIZjvE3EpeJ1u0ZSxJMti) for the longer term. 😉 In the meantime, we do allow you to connect a Disqus account or embed other third-party tools that will enable **commenting** within lessons. Regardless of which tool you use, you have the ability to **enable/disable the comment area** within **each lesson of your course**, giving you more flexibility and limiting comments to only the lessons you choose. ## 🔧 How to Add Disqus to your Teachery Course We enable you to easily connect your (free or paid) Disqus and Teachery accounts. You'll just need to grab your Disqus **shortname** and pop it into Teachery. > **Warning:** Your Disqus **shortname** is different to your Disqus **username**. Note: > → https://**shortname**.disqus.com > → http://disqus.com/by/**username** It’s come to our attention that the free Disqus plan is now ad-supported; which means **ads may appear** in your comment areas. 😞 If you’re seeking an **alternative** **free** tool, [below](https://help.teachery.co/en/articles/169-adding-comments-disqus-to-your-courses.md#heading-4-alternatives-to-disqus) we list several other tools you can experiment with. Watch this video on how to sign up for a free Disqus account and grab your Disqus **shortname.** > **Info:** The signup process for the free plan has changed. Below their paid plan options on the [Pricing](https://disqus.com/pricing/) page, you will see a section titled “_Interested in the Free Version of Disqus comments?_”. Click the **Get Started** button below that. From that point on, you should be able to complete the steps as shown in this video (from about the ~00:34 mark). **Here’s the written version of what you can watch in the video above:** - In Teachery, **edit** any course you’ve already created. - In the left sidebar, click a **lesson** in which you’d like to enable commenting. - Click the **Add Comments** button at the bottom of the lesson. - Teachery will prompt you to add your **Disqus shortname**. - IF you already know your **shortname**, pop it in and hit Save. - IF you don’t recall your **shortname**, go back to [Disqus](https://disqus.com/), and click the **Site Admin** button in the top right of the navigation bar. On the next page, open the **Your Sites** dropdown in the top left of the navigation bar. There you will spot your shortname(s) or be able to create an all-new one. - You’re all set! ## 🥴 Did you enter your Disqus Shortname incorrectly and need to change it? No worries! While editing your course click the **Course Settings** options from the left sidebar and **then click Manage Options**. Scroll down and you'll find the "Enable Comments" field to edit your Disqus Shortname. ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/9O1tvBtQPRL6DTKqTRm7eMWBo5rpwbJN7xRizWDKuSZnnaVI2sQRniRBh5VZcC10XYBcSPVOAqS.jpg) Make sure to scroll to the bottom of the Manage Options page and **hit the Save Options button** and you'll be all set 🎉 . ## 👉 IMPORTANT: Change Advanced Settings in Disqus There have been a few isolated issues where random links are being added to comments and this is easy to fix. Here are the steps to take: 1. In Disqus go to Admin > Settings > [Advanced](https://disqus.com/admin/settings/advanced/) 2. Affiliate Links > **UNCHECK** this setting if it is checked 3. Trusted Domains > Add teachery.co and any custom domain(s) you're using for your course(s)  ![](https://staticfiles.gleap.io/ghelparticle/Nsomx6WC9BWT3WXsLGGAcVWeVtisWfhWLblWc02RMqN6Y2MZXps4GQX43MJgjWVOARazCRFjXNu.jpg) ## Alternatives to Disqus We used to recommend [Commentbox.io](https://Commentbox.io) as a free alternative to Disqus but we can no longer suggest it as the tool is no longer supported. 😞 [Webynize](https://webynize.com/free-comments-widget/) and [Common Ninja](https://www.commoninja.com/widgets/comments) are straightforward tools that offer embeddable widgets. Again, they offer free accounts but with limits ([Webynize](https://webynize.com/pricing/) appears to currently offer the best value). ### How to embed third-party comment widgets > **Warning:** We can't ensure support for any custom code you add. We'll do our best to help, but know that custom code can cause issues if not added properly. Proceed at your own risk. Please be sure to **preview** your lesson page to ensure the widget is appearing and working. Any stylistic changes you want to make to a widget should be done within the third-party tool’s platform (as much as they allow) or with your own [custom CSS](https://help.teachery.co/en/articles/131-custom-css-tricks-course-body-font-custom-favicons-and-more.md). 1. Create an account with your chosen third-party tool and complete their simple setup walkthrough. 2. Create your comment widget and copy the **iframe** embed code provided. 3. Back in Teachery, click **Add a Content Block** at the bottom of your course lesson and select the **Add Embed Code** option. 4. Paste the copied embed code into the content block, and **save**. 5. You’re all set! **Preview** your lesson page to ensure the widget appears and works. > **Info:** Comments will **not** automatically be embedded into **every** lesson of your course. You will need to create a dedicated _Content Block_ at the bottom of each lesson. 💬 Is there a specific commenting or community tool that you have your eye on or that’s worked well for you in the past? Let us know via the support chat!