Make comments management easier by applying the simple hacks Joost has gathered over the years.

This plugin adds some small hacks around core WordPress comments to make them more bearable:

• Cleaner comment notification emails.
• The option to enforce a comment policy: just create a comment policy page, toggle the option on and select it, and commenters will have to accept your comment policy before being able to comment.
• The option to forward comments to an email address (for instance for your support team) and then trash them.
• The option to disallow comments below and above a certain length.
• The option to redirect first time commenters to a "thank you" page.
• An input field on the comment edit screen to change the comment parent ID.
• Links in the admin comments section to email individual commenters.
• A button in the WP toolbar to email all the commenters on a post.
• Adds a comment routing option. This adds a dropdown in a post's discussion settings, allowing the routing of comment emails to another user.

See the screenshots to get an even better idea of the plugins' functionality.

2.1.7

• Minor updates, name change mostly.

2.1.6

• Compatibility with Progress Planner v1.9

2.1.5

• Compatibility with Progress Planner v1.8

2.1.4

• Add compatibility with WordPress 6.8.
• Save proper values for Redirect page settings when no selection is made.
• Run upgrade routine only when plugin version is increased
• Migrate PHPUnit XML schema
• Compatibility with Progress Planner v1.4

2.1.3

• Add necessary compatibility to Progress Planner integration for the upcoming WordPress 6.8.

2.1.2

• Rename the plugin from "Comment Hacks" to "Comment Experience".
• Bring up to date with changes in Progress Planner

2.1.1

• Don't enqueue the remove URL script on the frontend for logged out users or users without the edit_posts capability.

2.1

• Added a link to remove the author's URL from the comment from the frontend.
• Fix comment policy function for admins and editors.

1.9.4

• Fix fatal due to wrong class import, props @andizer.

1.9.3

• Fix bug where comment reroute recipient would not save.
• Added an option to disable the "Email all commenters" admin bar button.

1.9.2

• Fix missing autoloader.

1.9

• Introduces a new option to the plugin: adding a comment policy was never easier than this: just create a comment policy page, toggle the option on and select it, and commenters will have to accept your comment policy before being able to comment.
• Fixes a bug where editing a comment on the quick edit screen would cause that comment to lose its parent.
• Enhances performance by preventing too frequent option updates.
• Remove all direct DB queries in favor of using WordPress core functions.

1.8.1

• Fixed a couple of PHP 7.4 related issues.

1.8

• Changed namespace to JoostBlog.
• Removed Yoast branding.
• Updated plugin to require PHP 7.4.

1.7

• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed: the "Email commenters" link would not be displayed in the WordPress admin bar and in the Comments list.
  • Fixed: the "Email commenters" link in the front end admin bar wouldn't work when jQuery wasn't enqueued.
  • Fixed: the notification emails for new comments would have incorrect content for the Author line and the text displayed before the comment.

1.6

• Fix language packs.

1.5

• Bugfixes:
  • Fixed: comment recipient dropdown would reset on reload of the page.
  • Fixed: admin bar CSS showing when no admin bar is showing.

1.4

• Enhancements:
  • Limit the roles shown in the comment notifications dropdown to roles that normally exist and can write. Introduces a new filter to allow expanding them.

1.3

• Enhancements:
  • Add option to restrict comments that are too long, next to too small.
  • Add reply-to header to comment notification and moderation emails, pointing to the post author.
  • Preserve the active tab when saving settings.
  • Remove [...] from pingback / trackback excerpt in cleaned emails as that's already included by core.
  • Replace link to ARIN with link to ip-lookup.net for details about the IP.
  • Refactored code for readability and code quality.
  • Refactor upgrade routine to do less DB queries.

1.2

Fixes several issues:

• Differentiate between AJAX request and normal POST for nonce checking, fixes #7.
• Make sure comment type isn't empty in cleaned email, fixes #8.
• Allow setting the comment parent to 0, fixes #10.
• Prevents defaults from being reinstated, fixes #14.

Also:

• Adds translator comments to all strings with sprintf / printf.
• Updates to new version of Yoast i18n, in the process switching from translate.yoast.com to translate.wordpress.org and removing packaged translations.
• Added yarn.lock and removed no longer needed i18n grunt tasks.

1.1.1

• Add text domain so the plugin can be translated.

1.1

• Add comment routing option, adds a dropdown in a post's discussion settings, allowing the routing of comment emails to another user.

1.0

• Initial version.

Install through your backend

1. Search for "comment hacks", click install.
2. You're done.

Install manually

1. Download and unzip the plugin.
2. Upload the comment-hacks directory to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
3. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress.
4. Configure your settings on the Settings → Comment Experience screen.

Screenshot of a clean comment notification email.



The comment parent edit box.



The plugins admin settings.



The button on the frontend to email all the commenters on a post.



The link in the backend to email an individual commenters on a post.