diff --git a/Zotlabs/Module/Item.php b/Zotlabs/Module/Item.php
index 459187329..cbbb49cdd 100644
--- a/Zotlabs/Module/Item.php
+++ b/Zotlabs/Module/Item.php
@@ -378,8 +378,12 @@ class Item extends Controller {
 			$nocomment = 1 - intval($_REQUEST['comments_enabled']);
 		}
 
+		// this is in days, convert to absolute time
 		$channel_comments_closed = get_pconfig($profile_uid,'system','close_comments');
-		if (! intval($channel_comments_closed)) {
+		if (intval($channel_comments_closed)) {
+			$channel_comments_closed = datetime_convert(date_Default_timezone_get(),'UTC', 'now + ' . intval($channel_comments_closed) . ' days');
+		}
+		else {
 			$channel_comments_closed = NULL_DATE;
 		}
 
@@ -1333,7 +1337,7 @@ class Item extends Controller {
 		$datarray['item_blocked']        = intval($item_blocked);	
 		$datarray['layout_mid']          = $layout_mid;
 		$datarray['public_policy']       = $public_policy;
-		$datarray['comment_policy']      = ((ctype_digit($comment_policy)) ? map_scope($comment_policy) : $comment_policy); // only map scope if it is numeric, otherwise use what we have
+		$datarray['comment_policy']      = ((is_numeric($comment_policy)) ? map_scope($comment_policy) : $comment_policy); // only map scope if it is numeric, otherwise use what we have
 		$datarray['term']                = $post_tags;
 		$datarray['plink']               = $plink;
 		$datarray['route']               = $route;
diff --git a/include/conversation.php b/include/conversation.php
index 3a4332d2a..e7feb1e5c 100644
--- a/include/conversation.php
+++ b/include/conversation.php
@@ -1372,6 +1372,16 @@ function z_status_editor($x, $popup = false) {
 	}
 
 
+	$defclosecomm = ((($z = get_pconfig($x['profile_uid'], 'system', 'close_comments',0)) && (! $webpage)) ? intval($z) : '');
+	if($defclosecomm) {
+		$closecommdays = intval($defclosecomm);
+	}
+	else {
+		$closecommdays = EMPTY_STR;
+	}
+
+	$defcommuntil = (($closecommdays) ? datetime_convert('UTC', date_default_timezone_get(), 'now + ' . $closecommdays . ' days') : EMPTY_STR);
+
 	$defpublish = ((($z = get_pconfig($x['profile_uid'], 'system', 'default_post_publish')) && (! $webpage)) ? $z : '');
 	if($defpublish)
 		$defpublish = datetime_convert('UTC',date_default_timezone_get(),$defpublish,'Y-m-d H:i');
@@ -1426,7 +1436,8 @@ function z_status_editor($x, $popup = false) {
 		}
 	}
 
-
+	$defcommpolicy = $limits['post_comments'];
+	
 	// avoid illegal offset errors
 	if(! array_key_exists('permissions',$x)) 
 		$x['permissions'] = [ 'allow_cid' => '', 'allow_gid' => '', 'deny_cid' => '', 'deny_gid' => '' ];
@@ -1493,6 +1504,8 @@ function z_status_editor($x, $popup = false) {
 		'$comments_closed' => ((isset($x['item']) && isset($x['item']['comments_closed']) && $x['item']['comments_closed']) ? $x['item']['comments_closed'] : ''),
 		'$commclosedate' => t('Disable comments after (date)'),
 		'$comment_perms' => $comment_perms,
+		'$defcommpolicy' => $defcommpolicy,
+		'$defcommuntil' => $defcommuntil,
 		'$clearloc' => $clearloc,
 		'$title' => ((x($x, 'title')) ? htmlspecialchars($x['title'], ENT_COMPAT,'UTF-8') : ''),
 		'$placeholdertitle' => ((x($x, 'placeholdertitle')) ? $x['placeholdertitle'] : t('Title (optional)')),
diff --git a/view/tpl/jot.tpl b/view/tpl/jot.tpl
index be0545dd0..3e2c8689a 100755
--- a/view/tpl/jot.tpl
+++ b/view/tpl/jot.tpl
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@
 		<input type="hidden" name="return" value="{{$return_path}}" />
 		<input type="hidden" name="location" id="jot-location" value="{{$defloc}}" />
 		<input type="hidden" name="expire" id="jot-expire" value="{{$defexpire}}" />
-		<input type="hidden" name="comments_closed" id="jot-commclosed" value="{{$defexpire}}" />
-		<input type="hidden" name="comments_from" id="jot-commfrom" value="{{$defexpire}}" />
+		<input type="hidden" name="comments_closed" id="jot-commclosed" value="{{$defcommuntil}}" />
+		<input type="hidden" name="comments_from" id="jot-commfrom" value="{{$defcommpolicy}}" />
 		<input type="hidden" name="created" id="jot-created" value="{{$defpublish}}" />
 		<input type="hidden" name="media_str" id="jot-media" value="" />
 		<input type="hidden" name="source" id="jot-source" value="{{$source}}" />