Arsxy Theme now supports Giscus, a modern comments system powered by GitHub Discussions! This tutorial will walk you through setting up Giscus on your blog.

What is Giscus?

Giscus is a comments system that uses GitHub Discussions. It’s:

  • Completely free and open source
  • No tracking or ads
  • No need for a separate comment database
  • Powered by GitHub Discussions
  • Supports markdown and GitHub authentication
  • Automatically syncs comments between your site and GitHub

Setting Up Giscus

Step 1: Prerequisites

Before you set up Giscus, make sure:

  1. Your GitHub repository is public
  2. You’ve installed the Giscus app on your repository
  3. The Discussions feature is enabled in your repository settings

Step 2: Generate Configuration

  1. Go to giscus.app
  2. Enter your repository name in the format username/repo
  3. Choose your preferred settings:
    • Page ↔️ Discussion mapping (usually “pathname” works best)
    • Discussion category (create a category specifically for comments)
    • Features you want to enable (reactions, label, theme, etc.)

Step 3: Update Your Configuration

In your _config.yml file, add the Giscus configuration:

giscus:
  enabled: true
  repo: "username/repo-name"
  repo_id: "R_kgDOXXXXXX"
  category: "Announcements"
  category_id: "DIC_kwDOXXXXXX"
  mapping: "pathname"
  reactions_enabled: "1"
  theme: "preferred_color_scheme"
  emit_metadata: "0"
  input_position: "bottom"
  lang: "en"

Replace the values with those generated from the Giscus app.

Step 4: Test Your Comments

After updating your configuration and rebuilding your site, the comments section should appear at the bottom of your posts.

How It Works with Dark Mode

Arsxy theme automatically handles switching the Giscus theme when users toggle dark mode. This ensures the comments section always matches your site’s appearance.

Customizing the Comments Section

You can customize the appearance of the comments section by editing the _sass/components/_comments.scss file in your theme.

We hope you enjoy the new comments feature! Let us know what you think in the comments below (once you’ve set them up, of course).