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Comment section survey template

Find out who reads your comments, and what would get them talking

Four questions below articles with active discussions: how often readers read the comments, whether they have posted, how they rate the tone and what would make them join in. Use it as it is or change any question, and Usertick reads every written answer for you.

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What this comment section survey tells you

A comment section survey asks readers how they use the discussion under your articles. This template takes under a minute: how often they read the comments, whether they have ever posted, a 1 to 10 rating of the tone from very hostile to very constructive, and an open question on what would make them join the conversation.

It is written to sit inside the page below the comments on articles with active discussions, where readers who scrolled that far have just seen the tone for themselves. Use page rules to limit it to the sections where threads are busy, or use the same template as a popup that opens when a reader scrolls down to the comments.

Every written answer is read as it arrives and filed under a category from your list, such as content quality or account and access, with a type and a sentiment. Results shows how often readers read the comments, the share who have posted and the average tone, and selecting an answer filters the page, so you can set the people who post beside those who only read.

On your websiteAs a linkIn an emailAs a conversation
Questions
4
Time to answer
About a minute
Written for
Inside the page, below the comments on articles with active threads
Plans
Every plan, the free plan included

See it on every channel

The same template on your website, behind a link, in an email and as a conversation.

On your website

Show it as a popup, a side button or inside the page, and choose the pages and the moment it opens: on page load, after a delay, on scroll or as someone is about to leave, on every plan. Event and behavior triggers work on 1 survey on Free and on every survey from Starter.

The 4 questions, one by one

What each question asks, why it is there, what it shows you and what to change.

Question 1 of 4 · Multiple choice

How often do you read the comments?

Why ask it
Comment counts show only the readers who post. This question brings in the ones who read without posting, who see every thread and never show up in the numbers.
What you learn
A donut with the share and count for Always, Sometimes and Never. Select Never to see what would bring those readers in.
Make it yours
Add a skip, If Never, goes to question 4, so readers who never read the comments aren't asked to rate their tone.
Question 2 of 4 · Yes / No

Have you ever posted a comment?

Why ask it
Posting is the step from reading to taking part, and a yes or no splits the commenters from the readers in one tap.
What you learn
The share that said yes, compared with the period before. Choose No to read the tone ratings and answers from people who have never posted.
Make it yours
Set the tone ratings of posters beside those of readers: a gap between them shows who the current tone keeps out.
Question 3 of 4 · Big scale

How would you rate the tone of the discussion?

Why ask it
Tone decides whether a thread draws readers in or pushes them away. A 1 to 10 scale from very hostile to very constructive gives your moderators a number to follow.
What you learn
The average on the 1 to 10 scale and a column per step, compared with the period before, so a change to your moderation rules shows in the score.
Make it yours
Change the ends to the words your community guidelines use, such as respectful or civil.
Question 4 of 4 · Text · Optional

What would make you join the conversation?

Why ask it
Readers who stay out of the comments have a reason: the tone, the sign-in step, or threads where nobody from the newsroom replies. The open question collects it in their words.
What you learn
Usertick reads each answer as it arrives, gives it a category, a theme and a sentiment, and marks it as an idea or a complaint, so requests for replies from reporters stand apart from complaints about trolls.
Make it yours
Keep it optional, and read the ideas first when you plan changes to moderation or sign-in.

What the answers show

Results turns each question into numbers you can follow week by week.

How often do you read the comments?

The share of each answer with its count. Select an answer to narrow the whole page to those people and read what else they said.

Every written answer, read for you

Each answer arrives with its category, theme, type and urgency, so the urgent ones reach your team first.

Use this template in four steps

From the template to the first answers.

  1. 1

    Open the template

    Sign up free and pick Comment section in the template gallery. It opens in a matching style, ready to change.

  2. 2

    Make the questions yours

    Reword any question, change the options, and add logic or more questions.

  3. 3

    Choose where it runs

    Show it on your website, send it by email, share its link and QR code, or switch it to a conversation.

  4. 4

    Publish and read the answers

    Answers arrive in Results and the inbox as people send them, each written one read and filed by Usertick.

Tips for this survey

Small choices that keep people answering and the answers useful.

  1. 01

    Place it below the thread

    Embed the survey after the comments element with a CSS selector, so readers meet it after they have seen the discussion.

  2. 02

    Pick the busy sections

    Use page rules to include the sections where threads are active, such as opinion or sports, and leave out pages where comments are closed.

  3. 03

    Measure before and after a change

    Run the survey for a few weeks before you change moderation or sign-in, then compare the tone score with the period before.

  4. 04

    Share the answers with moderators

    On every plan, post complaints about the tone to your moderators' Slack or Microsoft Teams channel with a workflow.

Market research surveysReader surveysWebsite surveysComments and community questions

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Questions from the library

Browse the question library
  1. Why do you comment?Multiple choice · Comments and community
  2. Do you feel safe commenting here?Yes / No · Comments and community
  3. How good is the quality of discussion?Big scale · Comments and community
  4. Was this article useful?Yes / No · Articles and reading
  5. How would you rate this article?Stars · Articles and reading
  6. What brought you here?Multiple choice · Articles and reading

Frequently asked questions

Below the comments on articles where discussion is active, inside the page. A popup that opens when readers scroll down to the comments works too, with the scroll depth trigger on every plan.

Their answer to the first question is useful, since it shows how many readers skip the comments. Add a skip so they go straight to the last question, and they won't rate a tone they haven't seen.

A score closer to very constructive than very hostile, steady or rising from one period to the next. Follow your own score over time instead of looking for an outside number.

Keep it running on busy sections and read it each month, or run it for a few weeks before and after you change your moderation rules.

Yes. The Pages card in the Audience tab shows the pages answers came from, and selecting a page filters Results to it, so you can read the tone scores for one article.

Yes. Every template comes with every plan, the free plan included, and the free plan covers 150 responses a month across your surveys.

Yes. The template becomes your own survey, so reword any question, add or remove questions, and change the options and the logic. The gallery stays as it is.

Yes, from Starter. The template is written in US English. Add languages by hand or with AI translation, and each person sees the survey in their browser's language.

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