# Add ratings and comments to articles

_Category: Design and templates_

Find out which articles help and which don't. Add a "Was this helpful?" rating so readers can tell you in one click, and comments so they can ask questions right under the article. You add each one once, to the Article page, and every article gets it.

**Who can do this:** Owners and Admins (Editors through **Customize** on your help center) · **Plans:** All plans

## Add a rating and comments to your articles

1. In the left menu, click **Template editor**. Open **Pages**, pick **Article** in the page menu, then pick the **Main** region.
2. Under **After the article**, click **Add to "After the article"**.
3. Pick **Was this helpful?** from the list (search for it, or look under **Article page**). Its settings open.
4. Click **Main** at the top of the settings to go back, then add **Comments** the same way.
5. Click **Publish**.

![Screen recording. Open the Article page and its Main region. Click Add to "After the article" and pick Was this helpful?. Add Comments the same way.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/oQd66KqxOVZuFOSfb4i9tfAhWfk9ZwYNTo2ekE5S.gif)
Both components go below the article, in the After the article zone.

Prefer them somewhere else? Drag a component by its handle into **Before the title** or **After the title**, or change the order within a zone.

## Set up "Was this helpful?"

Click the component in the Main region to change its settings:

| Setting | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Prompt** | The question above the buttons. The default is "Was this article helpful?". |
| **Scale** | **Helpful / Love it / Not helpful (3 buttons)**, shown as a thumbs up, a heart and a thumbs down. Or **Thumbs up / down (2 buttons)** for the quickest answer. |
| **Ask for feedback** | After a thumbs down, a box opens so the reader can say what was missing. |
| **Feedback prompt** | The question above that box. Make it specific, so the answers are useful. |
| **Width** | **Full width**, or **Half width** to share a row with another component. |

![Screen recording of a published article. On this page jumps to any section. The arrow beside Copy page opens print and AI options. At the end of the article, the reader rates it with Loved it.](https://helpcenter-io.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/self/2RNdd3KlNx970l6xbFZ5c7RiLe0uVEqDMUUTiqoY.gif)
On your help center, readers rate an article with one click.

Ratings show up in your statistics and in each article's details. See [Article ratings and reader feedback](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-ratings).

## Set up comments

- **Heading**: the title above the comments. The default is "Comments".
- **Show comments below the article**: on by default. Turn it off and readers can still send comments, but only your team reads them, in the dashboard.

Readers leave their name, email and comment, then click **Leave a comment**. They see their own comment straight away. When **Require approval** is on, the form notes that it needs approval, and everyone else sees it once you approve it. When it's off, the comment is published for everyone straight away. The article's author gets an email about each new comment, not counting replies.

Readers can also click **Reply** under a published comment. Replies show under the comment they answer and follow the same **Require approval** setting. A reply to a reply shows in the same thread, with an **In reply to** link to the comment it answers.

The component also has these settings:

- **Require approval:** on by default. New comments wait for your approval before other readers see them. Turn it off to publish comments straight away.
- **Notify on comment** and **Notification email:** turn on **Notify on comment** and enter an address, and that address gets an email about each new comment. Replies to comment emails also go to that address.

These settings take effect when you publish. If your help center was moved from the old template, **Require approval** is on, whatever you used before: if comments should publish straight away, turn it off and publish.

## Approve and answer comments

Owners, Admins and Editors can moderate comments. Click **Comments** in the left menu: the badge counts comments waiting for you. Approve a comment to publish it under the article, or reply to answer the reader. See [Approve and answer reader comments](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/moderate-comments).

**Comments** appears in the left menu once you publish a design that has the Comments component.

## Troubleshooting

**The rating or the comment form doesn't show on your articles.** Check that the component is on **Pages** → **Article** → **Main**, then publish. Saved changes stay in your draft until you do.

**The comment form shows, but no comments.** If **Require approval** is on, new comments wait for your approval. Also check that **Show comments below the article** is on.

**Comments you see in the article editor never appear on your help center.** Those are team notes, and readers never see them. Reader comments are separate: they come from the Comments component on your live articles.

## Related articles

- [Article ratings and reader feedback](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-ratings)
- [Approve and answer reader comments](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/moderate-comments)
- [How do I turn on reader comments?](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/turn-on-comments)
- [Customize the article page](https://self.helpcenter.io/content/article-page)