SpeakOut! vs ZenCommunity

SpeakOut! Email Petitions allows you to easily create petition forms on your site. When visitors to your site submit the petition form, a copy of your message will be sent to the email address you specified e.g. your mayor. They can also choose to have the email BCC’d to themselves (default). The petition message will be signed with the contact information provided by the form submitter. After signing the petition, visitors will have the option of sharing your petition page with their followers on Facebook or x. Signatures are stored in the WordPress database and can be easily exported to CSV format for further analysis (there is no import function). You may set a goal for the number of signatures you hope to collect and then watch as a progress bar tracks your petition’s advance toward it’s goal – the goal can even update automatically when a % of your goal is reached. Petitions may also be configured to stop accepting new signatures on a specified date. The free version includes the core features needed to run a successful petition. For those who need more, the Pro version unlocks the ability to run unlimited campaigns and provides additional tools, such as an email sharing option and expanded integration with third-party mailing services. More information about the plugin and how to upgrade to the fully featured Pro version can be found at the official SpeakOut! WordPress petition plugin website. 4.6.5.1 This is a critical security patch. Please update immediately to protect your user data. 4.6.5 Bugfix: address misc warnings. 4.6.4 Bugfix: fix anonmyous record keeping issue. Bugfix: fix nonce issue with some admin pages causing permision errors. 4.6.3 Fix bad cache. 4.6.2 Fix php warning regarding missing options. 4.6.1 Security: Added a secure AJAX endpoint with nonce and capability checks for dismissing admin notices. Improvement: Modernized admin script and style loading to improve performance and adhere to WordPress best practices. Improvement: Redesigned the the admin pages the petition settings page for a cleaner and more consistent user interface. Improvement: The GDPR (Privacy Policy) setting is now mandatory when enabled. Bug fix: Corrected an issue in an AJAX handler that could prevent petition emails from being sent correctly. Bug fix: Prevented a potential PHP warning by ensuring the petition message is always a string. Improvement: updated “tested up to” to WP version 6.8.3 4.6.0 Security: Hardened the plugin by adding comprehensive data sanitization and output escaping across all forms, AJAX handlers, and admin pages to prevent XSS and other vulnerabilities. Security: Replaced direct use of $_POST, $_GET, and $_REQUEST variables with sanitized and validated data. Security: Ensured all URLs generated by the plugin are properly escaped using esc_url. Refactor: Completely overhauled the [emailpetition] shortcode rendering. The form HTML is now loaded from a separate template file ( includes/email-petition-form-template.php), improving code organization and making customization easier. Refactor: Consolidated all mailing list integration logic (ActiveCampaign, MailChimp, etc.) into a single, cleaner function call. Refactor: Improved custom field rendering by creating a dedicated helper function to reduce code duplication. Refactor: Updated AJAX handlers to securely process and validate all incoming data. Refactor: Switched to using WordPress best practices, such as has_shortcode() for content checking and admin_url() for creating admin links. Tweak: Improved pagination logic to be more robust and prevent potential errors. 4.5.2 improvement: updated “tested up to” to WP version 6.8 4.5.1 bug fix: CSV export was throwing an error – thanks Vegard B. improvement: updates to Swedish translations – thanks Magnus improvement: updated “test to” to WordPress 6.8 4.5.0 improvement: further refined bug fixed in 4.4.0 – thanks Darius S. @ patchstack.com 4.4.3 improvement: updated old changelog link at end of current changelog 4.4.2 improvement: updated “Tested up to” to 6.7 4.4.1 bug fix: Export to CSV not working – thanks Vincent R & Shawn D 4.4.0 bug fix: fixed XSS vulnerability in specially crafted shortcode – thanks Darius S. @ patchstack.com 4.3.6 bug fix: wonky CSS setting in basic theme – thanks Jordan. 4.3.5.2 improvement: updated “tested to” to version 6.6 4.3.5.1 improvement: changed CSV max_execution_time from 180 to 300 seconds and moved it so it is only applied if script is actually run. Also reset it to system default at end of script – thanks @gideonlupine 4.3.4 improvement: updated compatibility to WordPress 6.5 4.3.3.1 bug fix: debug code removed bug fix: new social icons missing in free version bug fix: in some circumstances an error was thrown in settings page – thanks Heiko 4.3.3 bug fix: error being thrown by field that can’t be edited in free version – thanks Giuseppe bug fix: somehow above error wasn’t fixed in 4.3.2 – thanks Mayda 4.3.1 improvement: updated social icons in all style sheets 4.3.0 improvement: changed “twitter” to “X” – thanks Jos improvement: removed some superfluous code improvement: added Serbian language 4.2.6 bug fix: no error if privacy policy box not checked – thanks Mika improvement: SpeakOut! now has its own domain SpeakOutPetitions.com 4.2.3 bug fix: In certain languages if privacy was enabled to show only the first letter of the surname, it would display a ? instead – thanks Niklas bug fix: signature list wouldn’t display if petition ID was greater than one. This was implemented to limit free users, but it has unintended consequences for legacy users with multiple petitions. Thanks Jim for letting me poke around. 4.2.2 improvement: updated “tested to” to 6.3 4.2.1 bug fix: multiple email addresses in Target Email or CC Email fields would be mashed together – thanks James and someone else who reported this 4.2.0 bug fix: custom field 6 location wasn’t being saved bug fix: in admin signature list, “anonymous” icon was showing HTML instead of being superscript improvement: added several webhooks – see https://speakoutpetitions.com/webhooks. Thanks for the idea Ben & Nick improvement: added email share icon to Pro version – thanks to whoever suggested it. improvement: displaying emails in the public signature list is now optional – with a warning that it might not be a wise idea improvement: translation updates 4.1.3.1 bug fix: Somehow a stray character found its way into the code which was breaking petitions. – thanks Meagan 4.1.2 bug fix: database creation error for new installs bug fix: if message was editable, formating was lost when sent to target (Pro only) – thanks Linda bug fix: language wasn’t bein passed via URL in confirmation emails improvement: eliminated php warning “ob_end_flush(): failed to send buffer of zlib output compression” improvement: added note to when “Do not send email (only collect signatures)” is checked 4.1.1 bug fix: if the petitionmessage shortcode was used, any Markdown in the message wasn’t being displayed. Thanks Michael. bug fix: if email confirmation was enabled, the numbering in the public signature list reflected the total number of signatures, not just the confirmed signtures. Thanks Rene & Martin bug fix: if email confirmation was enabled and public signatures spanned more than one page, scrolling didn’t work as expected – thanks Rene bug fix: on one layout of the public signature list, the word anonymous wasn’t translated – thanks Myriam-Zaa bug fix: increased size of honorifics field in database – thanks Glen C. bug fix: following some actions in the admin signature list it wasn’t showing the signature count improvement: new installs will now use the utf8mb4_general_ci character set for database text fields, instead of just utf8 – down the track I will change the character set for existing installs improvement: database creation now makes fields NULL instead of NOT NULL to allow for not collecting some data – down the track I will change all fields to NULL in existing installs 4.1.0 bug fix: Confirmation emails weren’t being sent if Email From field wasn’t set up properly, which was impossible. Thanks Thomas and Rene bug fix: non-existant parameter being passed to function improvement: updated the contextual help – first time ever :o) improvement: clarified wording of “display signature count” and where it refers to. improvement: database updates so free version is ready to upgrade to Pro 4.0.10 improvement: changed a page title – thanks Debbie P bug fix: some required fields were not showing red border – thanks Debbie P bug fix: redirect after signing not working – thanks Debbie P 4.0.9 bug fix: when clicking next in signature list it was displaying html – thanks Dan @tahninial 4.0.8 bug fix: slashes added to any apostrophes in email subject or greeting bug fix: missing default value in free version 4.0.7 bug fix: missing character would cause error in certain circumstances – thanks heiko 4.0.6.1 bug fix: if WordPress was installed in a subfolder, some administrator links may not have worked. Thanks Calvin 4.0.6 bug fix: petition message kept adding slashes in editor when saved. Thanks Calvin improvement: removed %%Your Signature%% from the petition message displayed on your site. It was causing confusion. Thanks Razvan improvement: minor typo fixed improvement: Dutch language imrovements – thanks Michiel 4.0.5 bug fix: petition message losing formatting – thanks @dcbuffalo improvement: better data sanitization in signature list 4.0.4.6 bug fix: html being displayed in admin signature list bug fix: file was being included twice bug fix: reconfirming selected signatures wasn’t working 4.0.4.5 bug fix: settings not saving due to incorrect input sanitize function improvement: German language update – thanks Mario 4.0.4.4 bug fix: in some circumstances an error was thrown in settings page – thanks Heiko 4.0.4.2 Policy compliance: Version 3 of SpeakOut! included a method of upgrading that turned out to be a WordPress plugin policy breach (4 months later!) and some potential security issues (after 10+ years!). This version remedies that and introduces a more cumbersome (for users), but compliant method of upgrading. bug fix: various fixes of things found while creating V4 improvement: removed support for importing the original speakup plugin. After 10 years, it’s time. Earlier Changelog Localizations Albanian sq_AL Incomplete Arabic ar_AR Arabic ar (Faisal Kadri) Catalan ca (Alberto Canals) Czech cs_CZ (Petr Å tepán, Michal Hradecký) Danish da_DK (A. L.) Dutch nl_NL (Kris Zanders, Petronella van Leusden) Finnish fi_FI French fr_FR German de_DE (Hannes Heller, Armin Vasilico, Andreas Kumlehn, Frank Jermann) Hebrew he_IL (Oren L) Korean ko_KO (Paul Lawley-Jones) Icelandic is_IS (Hildur Sif Thorarensen) Italian it_IT (MacItaly, Davide Granti, Simone Apollo) Norwegian nb_NO (Howard Gittela) Polish pl_PL (Damian Dzieduch) Portuguese (Brazil) pt_BR (Tel Amiel) Romanian ro_RO (Web Hosting Geeks) Russian ru_RU (Teplitsa) Serbian sr_RS (Mikhailo Matovic) Slovak sk_SK (@Beata) Slovenian sl_SI (MA-SEO) Spanish es_ES Swedish sv_SE (Susanne Nyman FurugÃ¥rd @sunyfu) If you would like to request or contribute a specific translation not listed above, visit the SpeakOut! Email Petitions website and use the contact form. Emailpetition Shortcode Attributes The following attributes may be applied when using the ‘[emailpetition]’ shortcode id The ID number of your petition (required). To display a basic petition, use this format: ‘[emailpetition id=”1″]’ width This sets the width of the wrapper “ ” that surrounds the petition form. Format as you would a width rule for any standard CSS selector. Values can be denominated in px, pt, em, % etc. The units marker (px, %) must be included. To set the petition from to display at 100% of it’s container, use: ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ width=”100%”]’ A petition set to display at 500 pixels wide can be achieved using: ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ width=”500px”]’ height This sets the height of the petition message box (rather than the height of the entire form). Format as you would a height rule for any standard CSS selector. Values can be denominated in px, pt, em, % etc. The units marker (px, %) must be included. A few notes on using percentages: Using a % value only works when the “Allow messages to be edited” feature is turned off—because the petition message will be displayed in a ‘ ’. When “Allow messages to be edited” is turned on, the petition message is displayed in a ”, which cannot be styled with % heights. Use px to set the height on petitions that allow message customization. To set the message box to scale to 100% of the height of the message it contains, use any % value (setting this to 100%, 0%, 200% or any other % value has the same result). Use px if you want the box to scale to a specific height. Examples: ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ height=”500px”]’ ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ height=”100%”]’ progresswidth Sets the width of the outer progress bar. The filled area of the progress bar will automatically scale proportionally with the width of the outer prgress bar. Provide a numeric value in pixels only. Do not include the px unit marker. To display the progress bar at 300 pixels wide, use: ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ progresswidth=”300″]’ class Adds an arbitrary class name to the wrapper ‘ ’ that surrounds the petition form. Typically used to assign the alignright, alignleft or aligncenter classes to the petition in order to float the petition form to one side of its container. To assign multiple classes, separate the class names with spaces. Examples: ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ class=”alignright”]’ ‘[emailpetition id=”1″ class=”style1 style2″]’ Signaturelist Shortcode Attributes id The ID number of your petition (required). To display a basic signature list, use this format: ‘[signaturelist id=”1″]’ rows The number of signature rows to display in the table. This will override the default value provided on the Settings page. To display 10 rows, use: ‘[signaturelist id=”1″ rows=”10″]’ dateformat Format of values in the date column. Use any of the standard PHP date formating characters. Default is ‘M d, Y’. A date such as “Sunday October 14, 2012 @ 9:42 am” can be displayed using: ‘[signaturelist id=”1″ dateformat=”l F d, Y @ g:i a”]’ prevbuttontext The text that displays in the previous signatures pagination button. Default is . signaturecount Shortcode Display the number (as text) of signatures collected for a given petition: id The ID number of your petition (required). ‘[signaturecount id=”3″]’ signaturegoal Shortcode Display the number (as text) of goal for a given petition: id The ID number of your petition (required). ‘[signaturegoal id=”3″]’

The All-in-One WordPress Community Plugin for Groups, Social Feeds, Real-Time Chat, and Support ZenCommunity is the first WordPress community plugin that unifies groups, posts, support ticketing, and live chat into one native powerhouse. Build social, Facebook-style communities with real-time chat and posts, convert community posts into tracked support tickets, and offer instant live help — all inside your WordPress site. 👉 ZenCommunity Site 👉 Unlock Premium Features 👉 Join Our Official Community Core Features at a Glance Community Tool User-friendly UX Unlimited groups/spaces User profiles Activity feeds Member controls Feeds Comments & reactions Real-time chat Notifications Privacy controls Mentions Hashtags Polls and surveys (Coming soon) Leaderboard (Coming soon) Bookmarks Branding options Welcome message Custom slugs Search Member directory File uploads GIF Emoji Media storage Role manager User approval Email summaries Dark & light mode Support Ticketing [PRO] Convert feed to tickets Ticket status tracking Ticket assignment Ticket stages (ongoing, solved, etc.) Ticket notifications Auto replies (Coming soon) Live Chat [PRO] Customizable website live chat widget (Cross domain also supported) Multi-session handling Instant visitor support Real-time notifications File sharing 24/7 support system ZenCommunity isn’t just another community plugin. It’s the first WordPress solution that combines the three strongest engagement systems — Community, Real-Time Chat, and Support Tickets — together in one place. Most WordPress websites use 3–5 different tools to achieve what ZenCommunity does alone. That creates scattered conversations, missed messages, and poor user experience. ZenCommunity removes that problem completely. By keeping community posts, chats, and support inside one system, your users stay connected, engaged, and supported without ever leaving your site. Below are the core sections that show how ZenCommunity stands out. Community Features — Your Full Social System Inside WordPress ZenCommunity gives you everything needed to build a full, social-style community inside WordPress — no third-party platforms, no separate plugins. Advanced Community Groups Build public or private groups with full admin control. Groups can be used for LMS classes, client spaces, internal teams, membership circles, or interest-based communities. Each group has its own feed, members, and settings. Facebook-Style Posting & Engagement Your members can publish posts, attach media, use @mentions, comment, reply, react, and follow discussions. The interface feels familiar, simple, and fast — encouraging users to talk and stay active. Real-Time Community Chat ZenCommunity includes built-in chat inside groups. Members can start private one-to-one chats or chat as a group with typing indicators, read status, file sharing, and notifications. Conversations stay active without page reloads. User Profiles & Activity Tracking Each user gets a profile with activity, groups, posts, and engagement. This makes your community feel more personal and interactive. Community Growth Features Hashtags, polls, surveys, leaderboards, bookmarks, and email summaries help keep engagement high. Members always have a reason to come back. Admin Control & Community Safety Moderators can manage posts, approve members, customize branding, set privacy rules, and control roles. You decide how open or private each group should be. Support Ticketing — Full Helpdesk Inside Your Community ZenCommunity includes a complete support ticketing system connected directly to your community and chats. Convert Posts Into Support Tickets If a user posts a question that needs deeper help, convert it into a ticket with one click — no platform switching. Clear Ticket Assignments Assign each ticket to a responsible team member so the right person handles the issue. This reduces confusion and improves response time. Status Tracking Each ticket has clear stages (new, ongoing, solved, etc.) so both sides can follow progress. Your support team stays organized, and users always know what’s happening. Personal Support Chat on Each Ticket Tickets include an instant one-to-one chat. Users don’t need email or external help desks — everything is live and inside your site. Smart Notifications Both users and team members get notifications when ticket updates happen. Nothing gets lost. Auto Replies Helpful for off-hours, acknowledgment messages, or routing requests. Live Chat — Instant Help That Converts Visitors ZenCommunity includes a built-in real-time live chat widget for your entire site. Customizable Widget Add your supporter’s name, photo, availability status, and greeting message. This makes your support feel personal and trustworthy. Instant Visitor Support Visitors can start chatting immediately. Control visitor login or anonymous chat. Multi-Session Handling Support agents can handle multiple conversations at once without losing track. Real-Time Notifications & File Sharing Send and receive files instantly, get notified when new messages arrive, and keep the conversation going smoothly. 24/7 Support System The widget stays active at all times, so users always have access to help. Who ZenCommunity Helps ZenCommunity fits a wide range of websites and business types: LMS websites (students + instructors) Membership sites Local groups & communities Agencies SaaS companies E-commerce stores Service providers Creators & educators Internal teams & organizations 🔥 Deep Academy LMS Integration ZenCommunity connects directly with Academy LMS to automate all your course activities inside your community — without any extra work from the admin. When this integration is enabled, key Academy LMS events automatically create posts in your ZenCommunity groups. This means your learners stay updated, active, and informed without any manual posting. What Automatically Gets Shared ZenCommunity can post updates in your community when any of the following events happen inside Academy LMS: Course Enrolled Course Complete Course Announcements User Question Question Answer Lesson Update Quiz Start Quiz End This makes ZenCommunity the perfect LMS community plugin. Extended LMS Integrations ZenCommunity now supports multiple popular WordPress LMS plugins, making it easy to add community, discussion, chat, and support features to your learning website. Tutor LMS Integration with ZenCommunity ZenCommunity integrates with Tutor LMS to bring key course activities directly into your community groups, helping learners stay informed and engaged inside WordPress. This integration turns Tutor LMS course progress into visible community updates, encouraging discussion around learning milestones. Tutor LMS Events Shared in ZenCommunity When Tutor LMS integration is enabled, the following course activities are automatically posted in ZenCommunity group feeds: Course Enrollment Topic Complete Course Complete Quiz Start Quiz End Each event appears inside the selected community group, allowing students and instructors to interact around real course progress in real time. LearnPress Integration with ZenCommunity ZenCommunity integrates with LearnPress to connect course activity, learner questions, and progress updates directly with your community groups. This integration helps LearnPress users turn learning actions into shared discussions, keeping students active and connected inside WordPress. LearnPress Events Shared in ZenCommunity When LearnPress integration is enabled, the following course activities are automatically posted in ZenCommunity group feeds: Course Enrollment Course Complete Lesson Completion User Question Question Answer Quiz Start Quiz End These updates appear inside the selected community groups, allowing learners and instructors to interact around real learning progress in one place. MasterStudy LMS Integration with ZenCommunity ZenCommunity integrates with MasterStudy LMS to connect course progress, learner questions, and completion updates directly with your community groups. This integration helps MasterStudy-based learning sites turn course activity into shared discussions, keeping learners engaged inside WordPress. MasterStudy LMS Events Shared in ZenCommunity When MasterStudy LMS integration is enabled, the following course activities are automatically posted in ZenCommunity group feeds: Course Enrollment Course Complete Lesson Completion User Question Question Answer Quiz End These updates appear inside the selected community groups, allowing students and instructors to interact around real learning progress in one place. Lifter LMS Integration with ZenCommunity ZenCommunity integrates with Lifter LMS to bring course activity, learner questions, and progress updates directly into your community groups. This integration helps Lifter LMS websites keep students engaged through shared discussions and real-time updates inside WordPress. Lifter LMS Events Shared in ZenCommunity When Lifter LMS integration is enabled, the following course activities are automatically posted in ZenCommunity group feeds: Course Enrollment Course Complete Lesson Completion User Question Question Answer Quiz End These updates appear inside the selected community groups, allowing learners and instructors to interact around real course progress in one central place. LearnDash Integration with ZenCommunity LearnDash integrates with ZenCommunity to connect course activity directly with your community groups, helping learners stay active and engaged inside WordPress. This integration turns LearnDash progress into shared community updates, encouraging discussion, motivation, and peer interaction around learning milestones. LearnDash Events Shared in ZenCommunity When LearnDash integration is enabled, the following course activities are automatically posted in ZenCommunity group feeds: Course Enrollment Course Complete Topic Complete Quiz End Each event appears inside the selected community group, allowing students and instructors to interact around real course progress in real time. This makes ZenCommunity a strong companion for LearnDash-based learning sites that want to combine structured courses with active community engagement. ⚡ Performance & Reliability ZenCommunity is built for speed: No external tools No outside servers No extra apps Everything loads inside WordPress Real-time updates with lightweight scripts The plugin is optimized for both small sites and enterprise-level communities. 🛠 Admin Tools Site admins get: A single dashboard for groups, posts, tickets, and chats Role-based permissions Community moderation controls Branding settings Full visibility into engagement and support activity