Ghost Comment Manager vs Jumplinks Flow – Editorial Feedback, Review & Approval Workflow

Ghost Comment Manager is designed to reduce the time you spend moderating comments. Instead of re-approving the same people over and over, you mark a person as Trusted one time. From then on: Their new comments publish immediately. A subtle “ghost” indicator is shown to moderators only so you can spot and confirm at your convenience. Visitors see a normal comment; nothing changes on the public site. Alongside this workflow improvement, the plugin includes a lightweight Shield that blocks common spam patterns without external services. A simple dashboard gives you live counts and a clear picture of what is happening. This plugin focuses on workflow, clarity, and speed. It plays nicely with Akismet or Antispam Bee if you already use them. Why use this plugin Save time: stop re-approving loyal commenters. Stay safe: every trusted comment is highlighted to moderators until confirmed. Cut spam: built-in Shield blocks common abusive behavior before it reaches your queue. See everything: a simple dashboard with trusted totals and block reasons. Keep control: bulk trust/untrust, user-profile control, and comment-screen filters. Features Core workflow – Trust / Untrust a user from the Comments list. – Auto-trust after X approved comments (configurable). – Ghosted auto-publish for trusted users (mod-only highlight until confirmed). – One-click Confirm to remove the ghost indicator. – Role exclusions so specific roles (for example Editors) publish normally without ghosting. – Custom ghost indicator icon and background color. Shield Lite (no external API) – Honeypot field that bots tend to fill. – Minimum submit time to stop instant bot posts. – Rate limits per IP (per minute and per hour). – Maximum links per comment. – Keyword and regular expression blocklist. – Auto-close comments on old posts after X days. – Minimum and maximum comment length. – Duplicate comment protection within a time window. Moderation UX – Comment-screen filters: – Pending (New Users): only untrusted comments awaiting approval. – Ghost (Trusted): approved comments still awaiting moderator confirmation. – Bulk actions: Trust or Untrust the user associated with selected comments. – Trust from the User Profile screen (checkbox). UI and Dashboard – Colorful dashboard cards for trusted users, ghost-pending count, and totals. – Shield Lite “blocks by reason” table. – Clean and organized settings pages. – “Pro Features” preview tab (coming soon items). Integrations and compatibility – Respects Akismet / Antispam Bee: if a comment is flagged as spam, this plugin does not ghost-mark or auto-approve it. – Works with block themes and classic themes. – Multisite compatible on a per-site basis. How it works (non-technical) 🧠 Approve vs Trust Approve = you approve one comment only. Trust = you approve the person. Once a user is trusted, their future comments are published instantly (no moderation wait). Example: You approve Sarah’s first few comments. After that, she’s trusted — her next comments appear immediately. 👻 Ghost indicator (moderator-only) Trusted users’ comments publish instantly but can be optionally “ghosted” (hidden from public) depending on your settings. If ghosting applies: Public visitors do not see ghosted comments yet. Moderators see them with a ghost icon 👻 or colored background. When you click “Confirm (remove ghost)”, the comment becomes visible to everyone. Example: John is a trusted user. His comment posts immediately but shows a ghost icon only moderators see. You review and click Confirm → it’s now public and the ghost mark disappears. If the user’s role is excluded in settings (for example, “Subscriber”), their comments publish publicly right away with no ghost step. ⚙️ Auto-trust threshold In Settings → Ghost Comment Manager → General, set Auto-trust after X approvals. Example: set it to 3. When any commenter reaches 3 approved comments, the plugin automatically trusts them. Their future comments post instantly without waiting for moderation. Changing this number later affects new users only; existing trusted users stay trusted. 🔐 Role exclusions (no ghosting) Choose which roles should never be ghosted. Example: check Administrator and Editor. Comments by these roles will always publish normally — no ghosting, no confirmation step. This ensures your staff or editors aren’t delayed or hidden from public view. 🛡️ Shield Lite (Spam / Abuse Guard) Works quietly in the background to stop obvious spam before it reaches your moderation queue. Uses: Honeypot field to trap bots Minimum submit time (prevents instant spam posts) Rate limits, link limits, and keyword blocklist The default settings are safe and balanced. You can fine-tune them anytime to match your community’s needs. Step-by-step setup Install and activate the plugin. Open Ghost Comments → Settings → General: Set “Auto-trust after X approvals” (0 disables auto-trust). Choose any roles to exclude from ghosting. Pick an icon and background color for the moderator-only ghost indicator. Open Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite: Keep Honeypot on. Set Minimum submit time (3–5 seconds is typical). Set rate limits (for example 6 per minute and 60 per hour). Set the maximum number of links (for example 2). Add any keywords or regular expressions to block. Optionally auto-close comments on posts older than X days. Adjust minimum/maximum length and duplicate time window to taste. Start using it: In Comments → All Comments, click “Trust User” on a real commenter. Their next comments auto-publish with a moderator-only ghost indicator. Click Confirm to remove the indicator when you’re ready. Using each feature Trust / Untrust from Comments – Where: Comments → All Comments (hover a row). – Action: click “Trust User” or “Untrust User”. – Result: future comments from that user auto-publish (if trusted) and are ghost-flagged for moderators. Auto-trust after X approvals – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → General. – Action: set a number of approved comments required (0 disables). – Result: users become trusted automatically when they reach the threshold. Confirm (remove ghost) – Where: Comments → All Comments on the trusted comment row. – Action: click “Confirm (remove ghost)”. – Result: the moderator-only highlight disappears; the comment remains published. Role exclusions – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → General. – Action: check roles that should not be ghosted. – Result: users with those roles publish normally without a ghost indicator. Ghost indicator style – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → General. – Action: set icon and color. – Result: the moderator-only highlight uses your chosen style. Shield Lite: Honeypot – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: keep “Honeypot” enabled. – Result: bots that fill the hidden field are blocked immediately. Shield Lite: Minimum submit time – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: set a minimum number of seconds (0 disables). – Result: submissions that happen too quickly are blocked. Shield Lite: Rate limits – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: set per-minute and per-hour limits (0 disables). – Result: repeated posting from the same IP is throttled. Shield Lite: Maximum links – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: set the link limit (0 means no limit). – Result: comments with too many links are blocked. Shield Lite: Keyword / regex blocklist – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: enter one rule per line; plain words match case-insensitive; regular expressions in /pattern/ or /pattern/i form are supported. – Result: comments matching a rule are blocked. Shield Lite: Auto-close old posts – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: set days after which comments are closed (0 disables). – Result: new comments are blocked on very old posts. Shield Lite: Min / Max length and Duplicate window – Where: Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite. – Action: set minimum and maximum characters, and a duplicate-detection window in seconds (0 disables). – Result: very short, very long, or repeated comments are blocked. Filters on the Comments screen – Where: Comments → All Comments. – Action: use the “GCM View” dropdown or the additional status links. – Result: see either Pending (New Users) or Ghost (Trusted) items instantly. Bulk actions: Trust / Untrust – Where: Comments → All Comments. – Action: select multiple comments → choose “Trust user of selected comments” or “Untrust user of selected comments” → Apply. – Result: users associated with those comments are updated in bulk. Trust from the User Profile – Where: Users → All Users → Edit user. – Action: check “Trusted Commenter” and update the profile. – Result: that user is trusted without needing to find a specific comment. Dashboard – Where: Ghost Comments → Dashboard. – Shows: trusted user total, ghost-pending count, totals for auto-trusted, ghosts marked, ghosts confirmed, and a table of Shield Lite blocks by reason. Compatibility, performance, privacy Compatibility – Works with WordPress 6.0 and newer, classic and block themes. – Plays well with Akismet and Antispam Bee; if a comment is flagged as spam, it will not be ghost-marked or auto-approved by this plugin. – Multisite: activate per site or network-wide; settings are per site. Performance – Lightweight by design. No front-end JavaScript for visitors. Shield Lite uses simple server checks and transients. Privacy – Stores minimal user meta to remember trusted status and counters for the dashboard. – No data is sent to external services by this plugin. Troubleshooting I trusted a user but their comment did not auto-publish – Confirm the user is logged in with the same account you trusted. – Check if another plugin is forcing all comments to be held for moderation. – If Akismet flagged the comment as spam, it will not auto-publish. Ghost highlight is not visible to moderators – Ensure you are logged in with a role that can moderate comments. – Confirm the comment belongs to a trusted user and has not already been confirmed. – Check the indicator color in settings; choose a more visible color if needed. Auto-trust threshold is set but users are not becoming trusted – The threshold only counts approved comments after you enabled it. – Set the threshold to a smaller number to test quickly. Too many legitimate comments are blocked – Lower the minimum submit time. – Increase rate limits or set them to 0 to disable. – Raise the maximum links or remove specific keywords/regexes from the blocklist. – Reduce duplicate window time. Roadmap / Pro Coming soon in Pro: – Trust levels with scoring and optional expiry – Keyword rules with scoring and spam-gate thresholds – Team assignments and internal notes – Analytics with CSV export – Advanced role and post-type overrides

Frustrated with client feedback chaos, multiple staging environments, endless meetings that could have been an email, hundreds of Jira tickets and lost Slack discussions? Jumplinks Flow was inspired by the GitHub pull request review experience with inline comments and approval or change requests workflow that developers love, brought natively into WordPress for content and site reviews. No SaaS subscription, no external tools, just a familiar, focused review experience your team will pick up from day one. If your current process depends on long comment threads, scattered docs and email, or third-party review tools, Flow gives you a cleaner path without complex setup or heavyweight workflow tools. ⚙️ How it works You assign a reviewer to the content. The reviewer opens the review page and sends feedback via inline comments anchored to the content. The reviewer requests changes or approves. If changes are requested, repeat 2–3 until approval is received. You publish with confidence once the content is approved. 🎯 Best for Agencies and developers who present in-progress work to clients for feedback and signoff Editorial teams that need a clear draft-to-publish workflow Website owners that want structure without heavy workflow configuration 💡 Why teams choose Flow GitHub-style workflow: Leave feedback exactly where it matters via inline comments so edits are clearer and faster. Review directly on rendered page: Reviewers don’t need access to the content editor; they review the rendered output. Works with any editor: Dedicated integration with Gutenberg, Classic Editor, Elementor, Bricks Builder, Beaver Builder, Divi, Avada, and Breakdance, but all editors are supported. Simple review and approval: Move content through practical statuses such as in review, changes requested, and approved. Familiar Gutenberg-style review page: Dedicated review UI that feels native to WordPress. Fast team onboarding: Minimal setup and intuitive UI for writers, editors, and reviewers. Status-change notifications: Keep everyone aligned with timely workflow updates. Lightweight by design: Built with native WordPress APIs and UI libraries. 🧩 Built for your content stack Editor support: Dedicated integration with Gutenberg, Classic Editor, Elementor, Bricks Builder, Beaver Builder, Divi, Avada, and Breakdance workflows. Content type flexibility: Use Flow for posts, pages, products, and custom post types. WooCommerce friendly: Works smoothly with WooCommerce-based editorial setups. ✨ What makes Flow different Most feedback tools are paid-only SaaS subscriptions that charge per reviewer and require clients to sign up for separate accounts. Flow runs entirely inside your WordPress site, and lets you invite reviewers with a single link — no signup, no monthly fee, no third-party service collecting your content. Editorial workflow plugins optimize for maximum configuration. Flow optimizes for feedback momentum. You get a clear approval process and contextual collaboration without overwhelming your team or clients with complexity. If you want an editorial workflow that is modern, focused, and easy to use from day one, Flow is built for you. 🚀 Pro features Flow Pro extends the free workflow with the following additions: 👥 Multiple reviewers Assign any number of reviewers per post and set a minimum approval count. Each vote (approved / changes requested / pending) is tracked independently. 🔗 Open to public Add external email addresses to a post review or site review. Each recipient gets a signed magic link that drops them straight into the review with their identity bound to that link. 🌐 Site-wide review Request a site review with one or many reviewers — logged-in users, external email invitees, or both. Reviewers land in a review mode overlaying your site, can navigate freely, and leave anchored comments on any page. 💬 Improved comments A TipTap-powered editor brings bold, italics, headings, lists, links, quotes, and code blocks to every review comment. Type @ to mention any reviewer, the author, or external invitees. 🔔 Slack integration Connect a Slack bot once and Flow DMs reviewers when they’re assigned, mentioned, approved, asked for changes, or invited to a site review. Member IDs auto-resolve by email; users can override per-event opt-ins from their profile. 📱 Device selector A device switcher in the review bar lets reviewers toggle between desktop, tablet, and mobile widths without leaving the page. 📊 Activity tracking An activity bar on the review page tracks every status change — pending review, in review, changes requested — along with the user who triggered each event. Development Where is the JavaScript and CSS source? Human-editable source for the compiled assets in build/ lives in the src/ directory. Files under build/ are generated by webpack; edit src/ instead of hand-editing build/. How do I rebuild the compiled assets? From the plugin directory, with a supported Node.js release: Run npm install or npm ci to install dependencies. Run npm run build to regenerate webpack output. Third-party JavaScript Packages such as @wordpress/scripts and @wordpress/icons are declared in package.json. After npm install, see each package under node_modules/ for license text, or refer to the upstream WordPress repositories. External services This plugin loads avatar images from Gravatar (operated by Automattic), which is a third-party service. What is sent: an MD5 hash of the user’s email address, generated by WordPress core via get_avatar_url(). No raw email address leaves the site. When: whenever the plugin renders a comment author avatar (review page comment cards, inline comment threads) or a reviewer/requester avatar (REST responses for the review sidebar and the Elementor, Bricks, Beaver Builder, Divi, Avada, and Breakdance drawers). Why: to display each commenter’s avatar next to their comment, matching the rest of the WordPress avatar experience. Service URL: https://gravatar.com/ Terms: https://automattic.com/terms/ Privacy: https://automattic.com/privacy/ This is the same Gravatar integration that ships with WordPress core; the plugin does not contact any other external services.