How to Implement Comment Moderation in WordPress Plugin
Posted on 18th June 2023
As a WordPress plugin developer, you may be asked to add comment moderation to a plugin. This can be a daunting task, but it is actually not that difficult. In this article, we will show you how to implement comment moderation in WordPress plugin.
What is Comment Moderation?
Comment moderation is the process of approving or disapproving comments before they are published on your website. This is usually done by a moderator or administrator.
Why Use Comment Moderation?
There are many reasons why you would want to use comment moderation. The most common reason is to prevent spam comments from being published on your website.
Another reason is to ensure that all comments are relevant and add to the discussion. Moderating comments also allows you to keep the conversation on your website civil.
How to Implement Comment Moderation in WordPress Plugin
There are two ways you can add comment moderation to a WordPress plugin. The first way is to use the built-in comment moderation features in WordPress. The second way is to use a third-party plugin.
Method 1: Using the Built-in Comment Moderation Features in WordPress
WordPress has built-in comment moderation features that you can use. To access these features, go to your WordPress admin panel and click on Settings » Discussion.
On the Discussion Settings page, scroll down to the comment moderation section. Here you will see three options:
- Comment must be manually approved
- Comment author must have a previously approved comment
- Hold a comment in the queue if it contains 2 or more links
You can select any or all of these options. If you select all three options, then all comments will be held in the moderation queue.
Method 2: Using a Third-Party Plugin
There are many plugins that you can use to add comment moderation to a WordPress plugin. One of the most popular plugins is Akismet.
Akismet is a plugin that checks comments and contact form submissions against a global database of spam. It helps you to protect your website from spam comments and contact form submissions.
To use Akismet, you will need to sign up for a free Akismet API key. Once you have an API key, you can activate the Akismet plugin and enter your API key.
That’s it! You have now successfully implemented comment moderation in your WordPress plugin.
There are a few things you need to do to implement comment moderation in your WordPress plugin.
First, you need to add a custom field to your comment form. This field will be used to store the user’s email address.
Next, you need to add a filter to your plugin that will check the value of this field against a list of banned email addresses. If the user’s email address is on the list, their comment will be automatically deleted.
Finally, you need to add a notification to your plugin’s settings page that will let you know when a comment has been deleted due to comment moderation.
Here’s how to do all of this:
First, open your plugin’s main PHP file and add the following code:
Next, open your plugin’s settings page and add the following code:
Now, when a user tries to leave a comment with a banned email address, their comment will be automatically deleted and you will be notified via the plugin’s settings page.
When it comes to moderating comments on your WordPress site, there are a few different approaches you can take. You can moderate comments manually, which means that you or someone else will need to manually approve or disapprove comments before they are published. This can be time-consuming, but it does give you complete control over what gets published on your site.
Another option is to use a WordPress plugin to help automate the comment moderation process. There are a number of plugins available that can help with this, and they can all be found in the WordPress plugin repository.
One plugin that can help with comment moderation is Akismet. Akismet is a spam-filtering service that is used by millions of websites. It will automatically filter out spam comments and allow you to review the remaining comments.
Another plugin that can help with comment moderation is Disqus. Disqus is a commenting system that allows you to moderate comments on your site. It also includes features such as comment threading and comment voting.
Finally, you can also use a WordPress plugin called CommentLuv. CommentLuv allows you to reward your commenters with a link back to their own site. This can encourage more comments on your site, and it can also help to build up a community of commenters.
Which comment moderation approach you take is up to you. If you want complete control over what gets published on your site, then manual moderation is the way to go. If you want to automate the process and save yourself some time, then using a WordPress plugin is the way to go.
3. Add a New User Role
In order to moderate comments, you’ll need to create a new user role with the necessary capabilities. To do this, you can use a plugin like User Role Editor.
Once installed, head to Users > User Role Editor and click on the Add New Role button. Give your new role a name, such as “Comment Moderator”, and then check the following capabilities:
- edit_posts
- edit_published_posts
- edit_comments
- moderate_comments
- delete_comments
Don’t forget to click on the Update button to save your changes.
4. Assign Users to the New Role
Now that you’ve created the new user role, you need to assign users to it. Head to Users > All Users and then select the users you want to add as moderators.
From the Change role to… drop-down, select the Comment Moderator role and then click on the Change button.
5. Configure Comment Moderation Settings
With the new user role in place, it’s time to configure the actual comment moderation settings. Head to Settings > Discussion and scroll down to the Comments must be manually approved setting.
Check the box to enable comment moderation and then click on the Save Changes button.
That’s it! Now, all comments will be held for moderation and only users with the Comment Moderator role will be able to approve or delete them.
