Comment settings

This article will help you set comment access for your Patreon posts, including setting who can see and add comments and whether or not you want to filter out comments that may be harmful to your community.

Comment access

If you published your Patreon before October 4, 2023, comment access for your posts will default to “Allow comments” > “Public posts: Only paid members can comment.” This means that free members can see public posts, but only paid members will be able to add comments to those posts. If you published your Patreon after October 4, 2023, “Public posts: Only paid members can comment” will be unchecked by default, meaning that both free and paid members will be able to read and add comments on all posts they can access.

You can change comment access for your posts by following these instructions:

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. While logged in on the desktop app, click on the My page link from the left navigation
  2. Click the “…” Page controls button
  3. Click on the Edit page link to visit your page editor
  4. Click on the Page settings link from the menu
  5. Scroll down to the Comment access section and choose from the available options:
     • Allow comments: Allow comments for all of your posts
       • Public posts: Only paid members can comment: If you have this option checked, only paid members can comment on your public posts. If you have it unchecked, both free and paid members can comment on public posts
     • Turn off comments: Hide the comment section for all of your existing and new posts
  6. Click the Save changes button

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by tapping on the menu in the top left corner. From here, tap on your profile picture at the bottom of the menu and switch to your creator profile.

  1. While logged in on the mobile web app, click on the menu button in the top left corner
  2. Click on the My page link from the menu
  3. Click on the “…” Page controls button
  4. Click on the Edit page link
  5. Click on the Page settings link from the menu
  6. Scroll down to the Comment access section and choose from the available options:
     • Allow comments: Allow comments for all of your posts
       • Public posts: Only paid members can comment: If you have this option checked, only paid members can comment on your public posts. If you have it unchecked, both free and paid members can comment on public posts
     • Turn off comments: Hide the comment section for all of your existing and new posts
  7. Click the Save changes button

Who can see comments?

Comment visibility will depend on how you select Comment access on your Page Settings. Only members with comment access will be able to add a comment.

• Allow comments + Public posts (unchecked): Both free and paid members can view and comment on posts they have access to
  • Note that free members can only see posts designated for Free members only, while paid members can only access posts for Paid members only. Posts for All members are visible to both free and paid members. Public posts are visible to all members and fans.
• Allow comments + Public posts (checked): Both free and paid members can view comments on posts they have access to, but only paid members can comment on Public posts
• Turn off comments: Hides the comment section for all members in both existing and new posts

If you’ve given members comment access, you can disable comments on individual posts during post creation or editing.

Fans who have yet to join your Patreon will not see the comment section of public posts until they join.

What will free members see if I enable comment access for ‘“Public posts: Only paid members can comment”?

Free members will still be able to see comments on posts they have access to and will see a prompt to upgrade their membership to join the conversation.

Disabling comments

If you’ve already set your comment access to Turn off comments, then comments will be disabled for your existing and future posts. If you Allow comments, you can disable or enable comments for individual posts.

You can toggle comments on or off while you’re creating or editing a post on the Patreon desktop or mobile web app.

While in the post editor, toggle the Allow comments on this post setting. If the toggle is grayed out, you'll know that comments are disabled for that post.

What happens when I disable comments for a post?

Members will see a note letting them know that comments have been disabled for that particular post. If members have already added comments on a post and you later disable comments, they’ll see the same note; however, you’ll still be able to see past comments.

Comment filtering

You can automatically hide comments made by free members that don’t meet our Community Guidelines or are potentially harmful to your community. Comment filtering is enabled by default for creators who have Allow comments enabled, and you can adjust the level of filtering you’d like for your post comments.

Note that comment filtering only applies to free members.

Here's how to adjust the level of filtering:

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

  1. While logged in on the desktop app, click on the My page link from the left navigation
  2. Click the “…” Page controls button
  3. Click on the Edit page link to visit your page editor
  4. Click on the Page settings link from the menu
  5. Scroll down to the Comment filtering section and choose between:
     • Off: All comments made by members will be shown
     • Low: We will filter out harmful and spammy comments for you, but you may still see some on your posts
     • Default: We will filter out harmful and spammy comments for you, and there is a chance that some comments are mistakenly hidden or left up
  6. Click the Save changes button

• Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by tapping on the menu in the top left corner. From here, tap on your profile picture at the bottom of the menu and switch to your creator profile.

  1. While logged in on the mobile web app, click on the menu button in the top left corner
  2. Click on the My page link from the menu
  3. Click on the “…” Page controls button
  4. Click on the Edit page link
  5. Click on the Page settings link from the menu
  6. Scroll down to the Comment Comment filtering section and choose between:
     • Off: All comments made by members will be shown
     • Low: We will filter out harmful and spammy comments for you, but you may still see some on your posts
     • Default: We will filter out harmful and spammy comments for you, and there is a chance that some comments are mistakenly hidden or left up
  7. Click the Save changes button

To report a creator or member for a guidelines violation:

1. Log in to your Patreon account and go to their Patreon page
2. From there, find the more button (“...” 3 dots), which will present the option to report them
3. You can also find the reporting tool on any creator’s post or member’s comment or message by clicking on the “...” button and selecting Report this content

FAQ

• At the moment, comment access can be given to all members, paid members only (for public posts), or disabled for all members.

• Yes, filtered comments will count toward the comment total for posts.

• If you believe that some members’ comments are mistakenly being filtered, you can adjust your comment filtering to the Low setting, which may allow for comments that would have otherwise been hidden.

• If you’ve enabled comments for a post, and the member should have comment access, there are a couple of reasons why they are unable to add a comment:

  • Our team is checking their account to keep Patreon safe
  • They may have posted too many comments recently
  • They may be suspended

  You can tell the member to retry later and feel free to share our member commenting help article for members.

• If a member’s comment is filtered, the comment will still appear for the commenter; however, other members will not see the comment. You’ll see a note that the comment has been filtered, and you’ll be able to view the original comment.

• Yes. You’ll see a message that the comment has been filtered because it may be spammy or harmful to your community, and you’ll be able to expose the comment to see it yourself. Only you and the commenter will be able to see the content of the comment.