{"id":8376,"date":"2020-06-13T15:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=8376"},"modified":"2020-11-13T12:41:08","modified_gmt":"2020-11-13T11:41:08","slug":"gdpr-checkbox-in-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/gdpr-checkbox-in-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Add a GDPR Checkbox for Comments in WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It\u2019s been four years since the world was presented with the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. The EU\u2019s version of a sleek and contemporary set of data protection rules came into effect two years later, in 2018, and has since been the generator behind a live debate, many a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpres-gdpr-compliance\/\">GDPR compliance guide<\/a>, and millions of dollars in fines.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]But for all the panic that befell publishers increasingly as the time of enforcement drew nearer, it turns out that some of the hassles they were foreseeing ended up being easily dismissable. A simple GDPR checkbox in WordPress can solve lots of problems, including a possible compliance issue with common comments functionality.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]In this article, we\u2019ll show you:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#why-you-need-to-add-a-gdpr-checkbox\">Why You Need to Add a GDPR Checkbox for Comments<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#how-to-add-the-checkbox\">How to Add the Checkbox in WordPress<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#what-to-do-if-the-checkbox-is-not-showing\">What to Do if the Checkbox Isn\u2019t Showing<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"why-you-need-to-add-a-gdpr-checkbox\"><\/a>Why Would You Need a GDPR Checkbox for Comments?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Would-You-Need-a-GDPR-Checkbox-for-Comments.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Why Would You Need a GDPR Checkbox for Comments\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Would-You-Need-a-GDPR-Checkbox-for-Comments.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Would-You-Need-a-GDPR-Checkbox-for-Comments-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Would-You-Need-a-GDPR-Checkbox-for-Comments-620x350.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Let\u2019s imagine, for a moment, that building a community is a part of your overall marketing strategy, and that you\u2019re using your blog posts to attract prospective members of that community. It doesn\u2019t matter if you have a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/theme-category\/wellness-wordpress-themes\/\">lifestyle-themed WordPress website<\/a> or you\u2019ve gone with an <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/theme-category\/architecture-wordpress-themes\/\">architecture theme<\/a> because that\u2019s what you\u2019re interested in. <strong>What\u2019s important is your desire to have people interact with your content<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>The common ways to do that are to allow social sharing and comments<\/strong>. Because you want your visitors to have every convenience when they\u2019re interacting with your content, you will save some of their information into a cookie so that they don\u2019t have to type in their name and email address the next time they want to comment on your website. It seems pretty harmless, right?<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]It might be, but that doesn\u2019t matter to the GDPR. <strong>If the data you want to save belongs to an EU citizen, you\u2019re supposed to get their consent before you save anything<\/strong>. They have to opt in, and you have to give them a way to do so. And that\u2019s how the need for a comments cookies opt-in checkbox was born. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"how-to-add-the-checkbox\"><\/a>How to Add the Opt-In Checkbox in WordPress<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/How-to-Add-the-Opt-In-Checkbox-in-WordPress.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"How to Add the Opt-In Checkbox in WordPress\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/How-to-Add-the-Opt-In-Checkbox-in-WordPress.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/How-to-Add-the-Opt-In-Checkbox-in-WordPress-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/How-to-Add-the-Opt-In-Checkbox-in-WordPress-620x350.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>The good news is that you don\u2019t have to do much to add the comment opt-in checkbox to a WordPress website because WordPress already kind of did it for you<\/strong>. Back in the day when GDPR was about to go into enforcement, the good people of the WordPress community decided to make a number of changes that would help websites reach full GDPR compliance. <strong>One of those changes was to include the comments cookies opt-in checkbox in the next update<\/strong>. And ever since WordPress 4.9.6, you\u2019ve had the option to enable the checkbox. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>To do that, you first need to make sure you\u2019ve updated WordPress at least once in the past two years or so<\/strong>. To check in your current version of WordPress, you can head over to <strong>Dashboard &gt; Updates<\/strong>, and see which version of WordPress you have installed. <strong>Remember that it\u2019s always a good idea to keep WordPress and plugins up to date<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/WordPress-Update.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"WordPress Update\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/WordPress-Update.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/WordPress-Update-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/WordPress-Update-620x350.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you\u2019re using WordPress 4.9.6 or later, you can head over to<strong> Settings &gt; Discussion<\/strong>. That\u2019s where you have all the discussion settings that apply to posts and comments.<strong> In the \u201cOther comment settings\u201d section, you\u2019ll see the \u201cShow comments cookies opt-in checkbox, allowing comment author cookies to be set\u201d checkbox. Make sure it\u2019s checked<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder   qodef-has-border \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Show-comments-cookies.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Show comments cookies\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Show-comments-cookies.jpg 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Show-comments-cookies-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Show-comments-cookies-620x350.jpg 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]And that\u2019s it \u2014 the next time you view a post on your website as a visitor, you\u2019ll see the opt-in checkbox right under the field where people leave comments. At least, that\u2019s how it usually works. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;81px&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;custom&#8221; accent_color=&#8221;#f0f0f0&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;corporate-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_separator color=&#8221;custom&#8221; accent_color=&#8221;#f0f0f0&#8243;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"what-to-do-if-the-checkbox-is-not-showing\"><\/a>Why Isn\u2019t the Checkbox Showing (and What to Do About It)?<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"395\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Isn\u2019t-the-Checkbox-Showing.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Why Isn\u2019t the Checkbox Showing (and What to Do About It)?\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Isn\u2019t-the-Checkbox-Showing.png 700w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Isn\u2019t-the-Checkbox-Showing-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Why-Isn\u2019t-the-Checkbox-Showing-620x350.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Sometimes, the comments opt-in checkbox won\u2019t show even after you\u2019ve enabled it. <strong>If this happens to you, and you\u2019re sure you\u2019re not looking for it while logged on the website, there are a couple of reasons you could check out<\/strong>.<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]The WordPress theme you\u2019re using may be overriding WordPress\u2019 settings and stopping the checkbox from showing up. <strong>This is one of the more common reasons for the comment opt-in check box\u2019s disappearance<\/strong>. Simply switch to one of WordPress\u2019 default themes and see whether that fixes the issues. <strong>If it does, the theme\u2019s at fault<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You can approach dealing with the problem in several ways. <strong>You can try modifying the theme\u2019s <em>comments.php<\/em> or <em>functions.php<\/em> files to either add the checkbox to the theme or bring out WordPress\u2019 default checkbox<\/strong>. However, unless you know <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wordpress-child-theme\/\">how to use a child theme<\/a>, every change you make here will be overridden by future theme updates. <strong>Also, you might need advanced knowledge of CSS to make everything look good<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you want to continue using the theme but you need a checkbox for GDPR compliance, getting in touch with the theme\u2019s developers might be the best choice. <strong>Submit a ticket to their support team and see if they can come up with a solution that will work for that specific theme<\/strong>. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Using plugins that add custom comment forms might also mess with WordPress\u2019 or your theme\u2019s comment opt-in checkbox. <strong>Disabling the plugins that affect comment forms is likely to help you find the culprit, and contacting the plugin\u2019s support team might help resolve the issue<\/strong> to a point where you can continue using the plugin without experiencing any problem. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\">Let\u2019s Wrap It Up!<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]If Europe is where your website\u2019s visitors are from, you must make sure that your website complies with the rules that apply to them. GDPR isn\u2019t the easiest and most straightforward piece of regulation you could come across, but in some cases, it\u2019s not that complicated. That\u2019s why a simple GDPR checkbox in WordPress can be all you need to significantly improve your website\u2019s compliance with the regulation. So you better make sure it\u2019s there when people come to your website to leave comments. [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need a way to add a GDPR checkbox for the comment section on your WordPress website? You might already have it \u2014 we&#8217;ll show you where to find it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":8382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[14,4,13],"class_list":["post-8376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tutorials","tag-core","tag-tips","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}