I love comments and have developed comment-related WordPress plugins since 2007. Chances are, if you’re here, you love comments too.

With comments enabled, upkeep and maintenance can be a chore. But it doesn’t have to be.

I’d like to introduce to you a few features from Comment Edit Pro that can help make the commenting experience productive and joyful.

You Can Edit Comments Right From the Frontend

Frontend editing allows you as an admin to make edits from the post itself. Simply click on the contextual menu or click the Edit button and you’ll be able to edit a comment without visiting the admin. It’s a super useful feature.

Here’s an example of the edit modal, which allows you to edit all aspects of a comment right from the frontend.

Add Some Powerful Anti-Spam Features

Nobody likes spam, so I always recommend Akismet for controlling the amount of spam you receive. With Comment Edit Pro, an integration with Akismet is built in. You can configure Akismet further than what the base plugin provides. For example, you can exclude logged-in users from having their comments checked for spam.

There are also two CAPTCHA-like anti-spam/anti-bot integrations to choose from: reCAPTCHA 3 and Cloudflare Turnstile. Both are great solutions for preventing bot traffic, but Turnstile is a little easier to set up. And if you need any help with the setup, I’m here to help.

There Are Great Community Features to Add to Your Comment Section

Here are a few ways to add community features to your comment section with Comment Edit Pro.

Enable Comment Editing

Let’s start with Comment Editing, which is a must-have feature for your commenters. Everyone makes the occasional typo, and with Comment Edit Lite, you can allow readers to fix their typing mistakes. Comment Edit Lite is free and is available on WordPress.org.

Comment Edit Lite

Comment Edit Pro can work standalone, but Comment Edit Pro extends Comment Edit Lite and allows for a much more custom comment editing experience. One way Comment Edit Pro extends the free vesion is unlimited editing for site users, a highly requested feature. For more ways the plugin enhances comment editing, I’ve compiled a list of all of the comment editing features.

Enable Custom Avatars

Another boost to the comments section are custom avatars. Let your commenters choose between several diverse and colorful avatars to show a little personality behind the comment section. There’s also built-in Gravatar protection for those who don’t want their avatars public.

Enable @ Mentions and Strike Conversations

Mentions allow other commenters to tag people in the comment section. If a commenter has opted-in, they will be emailed a reply notification. This is a great way to encourage conversation and community in your comment section.

Enable Comment Character Control to Limit Comment Length

With Comment Character Control, you can set a minimum and maximum length for your comments. This can encourage your commenters to leave more meaningful comments, and limits the ones who want to write a manifesto.

You Can Use Your Comment Section to Encourage Newsletter Sign-ups

Add an opt-in checkbox to your comment form to encourage newsletter sign-ups. Newsletter services ConvertKit and Mailchimp are available.

You Can Improve Your Comment Workflow With Webhooks and Slack Integration

The Slack integration is a great way to be notified of any comments. Here are a few screenshots of what the notifications look like. If you have multiple sites and you manage their comments, the Slack integration allows you to view incoming comments in just one place.

Webhooks can transform the way you view comments. Each time a comment is added, you can set up a webhook to capture that comment and send it to a myriad of available services, including the very popular Zapier, which allows a near endless amount of automation possibilities.

With no limit on how many webhooks you can create, your automation possibilities are endless.