The reason adding comments used to be hard is that most solutions were tied to a platform. A WordPress plugin only helped WordPress. A framework-specific package only helped that framework. If your site was built some other way, or you ran a few different sites, you were stuck. A comment system that installs with a single script tag sidesteps all of that, because a script tag is something every website can accept.
The one thing you paste
The entire installation is two lines: a container where the comments render, and a script that fills it.
<div id='gabden-conversations'></div>
<script async src='https://YOUR-SITE.gabden.com/conversations.js'
data-page='canonical'
data-theme='auto'></script>You copy your own Gabden subdomain (the YOUR-SITE part of the URL) from the dashboard and drop these two lines wherever you want the discussion to appear. The async attribute means the script loads without blocking the rest of the page, and the embed is small, around 10KB, so it does not weigh your pages down.
How the thread knows which page it is
Each discussion is keyed to the page's canonical URL. You do not assign IDs or configure anything per post. When the script loads on a page, it reads that page's canonical URL and shows the thread for it. Put the same two lines in a shared template and every page automatically gets its own separate discussion. Two different URLs get two different threads without any extra work.
This is also why the embed is portable. Move a page, rebuild your site on a new platform, or change your theme, and the thread follows the URL rather than the technology underneath it.
Where the two lines go on different platforms
The embed is the same everywhere. Only the place you paste it changes.
- WordPress, Ghost, and other CMSes: add it to the post or content template, or use an HTML block on individual pages.
- Static site generators like Hugo, Jekyll, Astro, and Docusaurus: put it in the post layout or a partial so every article inherits it.
- Next.js and other React sites: render the container and load the script in your post component, including with the App Router.
- Website builders like Webflow, Wix, Squarespace, Framer, and Shopify: use the platform's embed or custom-code element and paste the two lines in.
- Plain custom HTML: paste it directly into the page where you want comments.
If your platform is not on that list, the question is only whether it lets you insert an HTML embed or custom code. Almost all of them do. Our guide to adding comments to a custom HTML site walks through the barebones case.
Turning comments off where you do not want them
Because the embed is usually placed in a shared template, you will sometimes want it to stay quiet on specific pages: a landing page, a legal notice, a checkout. Per-page rules let you turn comments off on chosen URLs without editing your template or removing the script. The embed stays in place and simply does not show a thread where you have disabled it.
What readers get
Once the two lines are live, readers can post anonymously, as a guest with a name and email, or by signing in with Google or GitHub. They get threaded replies and reactions, and you get a moderation queue with modes ranging from pre-moderating everything to auto-approving returning verified people. There are no tracking cookies and no fingerprinting involved, so the widget does not change the privacy posture of your site.
The practical upshot: adding comments is no longer a platform decision. If you can paste two lines into a page, you can add discussion to it. Grab a Gabden subdomain and try it on one page first, then roll the same embed out across the rest.
Join the discussion