Documentation:WordPress Basics/Basics 2 Guide/Other Uses for Comments

There are other ways you can take advantage of comments & pingbacks:

• Add the Comments Widget to your blog's sidebar. It will help visitors see what is currently being discussed on your blog.
• Enable the Subscribe to Comments Plugin. This will place a check box at the bottom of your posts or pages enabling visitors to receive notifications when others have left a comment. It can help foster discussion between readers.
• Grab the RSS Feed of a page or post. Add "/feed" to the end of the post/page URL. This will produce an RSS feed that you can take into an RSS reader or the RSS widget. It can help you and your students keep track of a discussion that is happening in post.