---
title: "Preparing your models — Comments for Laravel | Roundly"
description: "Add HasComments to models that receive comments and GivesComments to authors — or swap in your own Comment model."
url: https://roundly-consulting.com/open-source/docs/comments-for-laravel/preparing-models
language: en
---

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[Comments for Laravel](https://roundly-consulting.com/open-source/docs/comments-for-laravel.md)

# Preparing your models

Add HasComments to anything that can be commented on, and GivesComments to anything that can author a comment (typically your User):

```php
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use RoundlyConsulting\Comments\Traits\HasComments;
use RoundlyConsulting\Comments\Traits\GivesComments;

class Post extends Model
{
    use HasComments;
}

class User extends Model
{
    use GivesComments;
}
```

## What each trait adds

| Member | Trait | Purpose |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `comments()` | HasComments | Every comment on the model (MorphMany). |
| `approvedComments()` | HasComments | Visible + approved top-level comments, ordered per comments.order. |
| `threadedComments()` | HasComments | The public thread: visible + approved top-level comments with only visible + approved replies, up to max\_depth. |
| `loadCommentCount()` | HasComments | Loads comments\_count — every visible + approved comment, replies included. |
| `withCommentCounts()` | HasComments | Query scope adding the same public comments\_count without N+1. |
| `commentsLocked()` | HasComments | Whether the model’s comment section is locked. |
| `writtenComments()` | GivesComments | Every comment the model authored (MorphMany). |
| `writeComment()` | GivesComments | Write a comment on a subject as this author. |

```php
$post->comments;               // every comment on the post
$post->approvedComments;       // visible + approved top-level comments, ordered per config
$post->threadedComments;       // the public thread: visible + approved roots and replies
$post->commentsLocked();       // bool — is the post's comment section locked?

$user->writtenComments;        // every comment the user authored
$user->writeComment($post, 'Great article!');
```

## Using your own Comment model

Point comments.model at a subclass of the packaged Comment when you need extra columns, casts or behaviour. The package resolves the model through that key everywhere — writes, relations (a mention’s comment included), replies, the fluent query, the Comment factory and the AssertsComments helpers. Any value that isn’t the packaged Comment or a subclass of it — a missing class, a non-model, an unrelated model — throws an InvalidConfigurationException naming the key; it never silently falls back to the packaged model:

```php
namespace App\Models;

use RoundlyConsulting\Comments\Models\Comment as BaseComment;

class Comment extends BaseComment
{
    // extra columns, casts, relations and behaviour
}

// config/comments.php
'model' => App\Models\Comment::class,
```

The packaged Comment already implements HasMedia, Likeable and Reportable and uses soft deletes — so your subclass inherits likes, reports, attachments and everything else.

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