What are comments and how do I manage them?

What are comments and how do I manage them?
Part of the logic of a blog is allowing people to comment on your work. Comments are often associated with posts (as opposed to pages -see an explanation of this distinction here) and over a way to have a discusion about a particular post.

Often times, initial comments are placed in a moderation queue until you approve them. Once you approve a comment from a user, he or she should be able to comment freely thereafter. You can view the comments on your blog as well as those awaiting moderation in the Comments tab in the backend of your blog. If you want to change the permissions for your comments -say allow anyone to comment without moderating, see the Options tab and look for the Discussion subtab -this is where you can control the comment settings.

Additionally, when writing a post, you can turn off the comments on a post-by-post basis by clicking on the Discussion section of the right0hand sidebar and unchecking comments.

Keep in mind that comments are extremely vulnerable to spammers, so be sure to activate the Spam Karma plugin to control those nasty vermin!