Scheduling Comments

Add engagement to your posts by scheduling comments from virtual members.

A comment is a response to a top-level post. Comments appear in the activity feed below the original post and make your community feel active and engaged. To schedule a comment, add a row with type set to comment.

Required Fields for a Comment

id — A unique identifier for this row.
type — Must be comment.
user_id — The WordPress User ID of the virtual member commenting.
scheduled_at — When to post the comment.
content — The text of the comment.
parent_id — The id value of the post row this comment belongs to.

Info: Leave group_id blank for comments — it is only required for posts.

How parent_id Works

The parent_id column links a comment to its parent post by referencing the id column of the parent row — not a WordPress activity ID.

BuddyActivity processes rows in scheduled order. When it processes a comment, it looks up the post that was created from the referenced parent_id row and attaches the comment to it automatically.

Warning: The parent post must be scheduled before the comment. If the comment's scheduled_at is earlier than or equal to the parent post's time, it will fail to attach.

Example: Post with Two Comments

csv

id,type,user_id,scheduled_at,content,group_id,parent_id,status
101,post,42,2024-03-20 08:30:00,"Good morning! What's everyone working on today?",7,,
102,comment,58,2024-03-20 09:10:00,"Finishing up a client proposal. Feels good to be in the zone!",,,101,
103,comment,91,2024-03-20 09:45:00,"Same here — deep work session all morning. Love days like this.",,,101,

Tips for Natural Engagement

Space comments at least 15–30 minutes apart to mimic organic activity patterns.
Use different virtual members for each comment to create a diverse conversation.
Vary comment lengths — short reactions mixed with longer responses feel more natural.
Schedule comments across different times of day to reflect a global or distributed community.

Alternative: Using the Create Post Form with Comments

When creating a post through the BuddyActivity spreadsheet menu, you can add comments directly within the same form interface.

Open the Create Post Form

1.Click "BuddyActivity" in the spreadsheet menu bar.
2.Select "Create Post" from the dropdown.
3.Fill in your post details as usual.

Add Comments to Your Post

1.Look for the "Add Comments" button within the form.
2.Click it to reveal comment input fields.
3.For each comment, specify the commenter (User ID), timing offset, and content.
4.Add multiple comments by clicking "Add Comments" again.
5.The system will automatically calculate scheduled times based on your engagement type settings.

Comment Timing Parameters

When using engagement types, the system applies timing configurations from the SIMULATION_CONFIG tab:

Min/Max Cmt Delay — Time range (minutes) before comments appear after the post.

Cluster Probability — Chance that comments appear in quick succession.

Late Joiner Chance — Probability of delayed comments appearing hours later.

Tip: Using the Create Post form with engagement types automates realistic comment timing. For full details on engagement configuration, see the Content Generation Spreadsheet guide.