# Deploying ISSO Commenting System for Static Content using Docker
I was looking for a **simple and lightweight commenting system with moderation** for my static blog. There are dozens of solutions out there, but [ISSO](https://isso-comments.de/) seemed like a perfect fit for me. **I decided to host it on another server, using a subdomain and Podman or Docker**. However, there are different ways to [install](https://isso-comments.de/docs/reference/installation/) it - like same server, same domain, without Docker and so on.
**Illustration of our plan**:
You can add the JS snipped in **Hugo, Jekyll, documentation** or wherever you want.
---
**My assumptions before we begin**:
- Two Linux servers running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS *(Distro doesn't really matter)*
- 1 **Backend** to host ISSO, 1 **Frontend** where the comment feature is used.
- Backend server has **Docker/Podman and nginx** installed and ready to go *(or another reverse proxy)*.
- Both servers are **accessible to the visitor** (Internet, Intranet, etc. via HTTPS (TCP/443))**.
- **DNS entry about secondary pointing to backend server**
- In this article we will use `example.com` for the frontend / static blog and `comments.example.com` for the backend / ISSO server.
- **Certificate** for secondary domain
---
Feel free to test the comment section at the end of this article.
# Setting everything up
Let us start with the Backend server.
## Backend Server Configuration
**Create two directories** for the container for the configuration file and database:
`mkdir -p config/ db/`
---
#### ISSO Server Configuration
Download and save the [default configuration](https://github.com/isso-comments/isso/blob/master/isso/isso.cfg) `isso.cfg` into the `/config` directory:
Using `curl`:
`curl -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/isso-comments/isso/master/isso/isso.cfg -o config/isso.cfg`
---
Now we need to **modify this config file according to our setup and preferences**.
We'll **add the frontend domain and enable moderation** - I'll leave the rest as is for this article.
**Open** the configuration file `config/isso.cfg` in your favorite editor and change the following options:
```
[general]
[...]
# Frontend domain
host =
https://example.com
[...]
# Enabling moderation
[admin]
enabled = true
# Admin access password
password = reallylongandsecurepasswordforhteadminaccess
[...]
[moderation]
enabled = true
[...]
```
The **configuration file does a good job of showing and describing many features** - take your time and configure it to your liking. A more **detailed overview** can be found in [its official documentation](https://isso-comments.de/docs/reference/server-config/).
---
#### Docker Container
Next, we will **start the container**. As mentioned before, I use Podman, but we will use Docker for this example:
```
docker run -d --name isso-comments \
-p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080 \
-v /path/to/storage/config:/config \
-v /path/to/storage/db:/db \
ghcr.io/isso-comments/isso:0.13.0
```
Explained:
: `docker run -d` *# run detached container*
: `--name isso-comments` *# set container name*
: `-p 127.0.0.1:8080:8080` *# exposes port `8080` of the container to the `localhost:8080` of the host system*
: `-v /path/to/storage/config:/config` *# creates bind mount for persistant storage for the container*
: `ghcr.io/isso-comments/isso:0.13.0` *# get and use the on Github hosted [ISSO image](https://github.com/isso-comments/isso/pkgs/container/isso) with a certain tag*
**Important**: Make sure to **change the path** and that `127.0.0.1:8080` is available or change the host port.
**Check locally with curl if container is working**:
`curl -L 127.0.0.1:8080/admin`
```
Isso admin
Docker > nginx)*
- check **network and host firewalls**
---
Regarding the Backend server, this should be everything!
---
## Frontend Configuration
In the next step, we just have to **add some Javascript to all pages that should receive a comment section**. ISSO will do the rest automaticly.
```
```
Feel free to change those options! - A **full overview of all options** can be found in [their official documentation](https://isso-comments.de/docs/reference/client-config/).
#### Hidding a certain Fields
Currently, it is [not possible to hide certain fields with the ISSO options](https://github.com/isso-comments/isso/issues/916).
A simple but not perfect **workaround is to hide them with CSS**. If you want to hide the website field, you could use the following CSS snippet:
```
/* ISSO COMMENTS */
label[for=isso-postbox-website] {
display: none !important;
}
input#isso-postbox-website {
display: none;
```
That hides the website field. Replace website with email to hide the `email` field.
#### Using lazy-load
I won't cover it in this article, but if you have many comments, it makes sense to insert some kind of lazy-load, so the comments load only if they are being display to improve the user experience and decrease the page loading speed.
#### Moderation
As a reminder, with this setup you have to approve new comments via admin interface:
`https://comments.example.com/admin/`
# Conclusion
So, as you can see, it is really straightfoward. Feel free to test it in the comment section below.