Integrate comment system in the sidebar?

Question

I would like the comments of a post and the comment box to appear in the sidebar.

How can I do that?

Answer 1

Yes, this is possible and actually a nice idea.

Basically create a simple widget, and remove the calls to comments_template() from other parts of your theme.

Example:

add_action( 'widgets_init', array ( 'T5_Current_Comments_Widget', 'register' ) );

class T5_Current_Comments_Widget extends WP_Widget
{
    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct( 't5_current_comments', 'Current Comments' );
    }

    public function widget( $args, $instance )
    {

        if ( ! is_singular() or post_password_required() )
            return;

        print '<style scoped>#commentform,#commentform *{max-width:100% !important}</style>';
        comments_template();

        if ( get_option( 'thread_comments' ) and comments_open( get_the_ID() ) )
            wp_enqueue_script( 'comment-reply' );

    }

    public static function register()
    {
        register_widget( __CLASS__ );
    }
}

Then drag this simple widget into a sidebar …

… and that’s all. You can read and write comments here now:

You should of course move the CSS to your real stylesheet.