Here’s an issue that I recently solved on my own blog. I’ve been a supporter of the Brian’s Threaded Comments plug-in ever since I first discovered it. This plug-in encourages more comments, because it helps streamline the discussion process, allowing readers to reply directly to a specific comment, rather than having to force their words to the bottom of the page. This makes it more like a discussion, rather than just a bunch of people talking out of turn.

A rather major problem with this plug-in, however, is that when tab users go through the different fields of the comment form — name, email address, URI, etc. — it does not tab to the “add comment” button correctly, instead sending them all the way to the top of the page. This can be very annoying and frustrating, and it can ultimately lead some readers away from your WordPress blog. And you don’t want to lose your audience over such a petty issue.

The solution is actually very simple. Bobs from Reformat This pointed me toward a post that he did a little while back. All you need to do to fix this “tab issue” is insert a little bit of text within one line of your comments.php file.

Search through that file — in WordPress, go to Presentation, then Theme Editor, then comments.php on the side — for this snippet of text:

<input onclick=”if(typeof(onAddComment) == ‘function’) { onAddComment(); } else { alert(‘ERROR:
It looks like the website administrator hasn\’t activated the Brians Threaded Comments plugin from the plugin page’); };” name=”addcommentbutton” type=”button” id=”addcommentbutton” value=”Add comment” tabindex=”5″ />

The only change that I need to make is to add tabindex=”5″ near the end, as shown above. That’s it. No new plug-in, no complex coding, no more worries. Enjoy!