Trust once → comments auto-publish with a moderator-only “ghost” flag. Includes a light spam shield, filters, bulk actions, and a clear dashboard.

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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:
<ul>
<li>Their new comments publish immediately.</li>
<li>A subtle “ghost” indicator is shown to moderators only so you can spot and confirm at your convenience.</li>
<li>Visitors see a normal comment; nothing changes on the public site.</li>
</ul>
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.
<h3>Why use this plugin</h3>
<ol>
<li>Save time: stop re-approving loyal commenters.</li>
<li>Stay safe: every trusted comment is highlighted to moderators until confirmed.</li>
<li>Cut spam: built-in Shield blocks common abusive behavior before it reaches your queue.</li>
<li>See everything: a simple dashboard with trusted totals and block reasons.</li>
<li>Keep control: bulk trust/untrust, user-profile control, and comment-screen filters.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Features</h3>
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.
<h3>How it works (non-technical)</h3>
<h3>🧠 Approve vs Trust</h3>
<ul>
<li>Approve = you approve one comment only. </li>
<li>Trust = you approve the person. 
Once a user is trusted, their future comments are published instantly (no moderation wait).
<ul>
<li>Example: You approve Sarah’s first few comments. After that, she’s trusted — her next comments appear immediately.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>👻 Ghost indicator (moderator-only)</h3>
<ul>
<li>Trusted users’ comments publish instantly but can be optionally “ghosted” (hidden from public) depending on your settings. </li>
<li>If ghosting applies:
<ul>
<li>Public visitors do not see ghosted comments yet. </li>
<li>Moderators see them with a ghost icon 👻 or colored background. </li>
<li>When you click “Confirm (remove ghost)”, the comment becomes visible to everyone. </li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
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.
<h3>⚙️ Auto-trust threshold</h3>
<ul>
<li>In Settings → Ghost Comment Manager → General, set Auto-trust after X approvals. 
Example: set it to 3.
<ul>
<li>When any commenter reaches 3 approved comments, the plugin automatically trusts them. </li>
<li>Their future comments post instantly without waiting for moderation. </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Changing this number later affects new users only; existing trusted users stay trusted.</li>
</ul>
<h3>🔐 Role exclusions (no ghosting)</h3>
<ul>
<li>Choose which roles should never be ghosted. 
Example: check Administrator and Editor.
<ul>
<li>Comments by these roles will always publish normally — no ghosting, no confirmation step. </li>
<li>This ensures your staff or editors aren’t delayed or hidden from public view.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>🛡️ Shield Lite (Spam / Abuse Guard)</h3>
<ul>
<li>Works quietly in the background to stop obvious spam before it reaches your moderation queue. </li>
<li>Uses:
<ul>
<li>Honeypot field to trap bots </li>
<li>Minimum submit time (prevents instant spam posts) </li>
<li>Rate limits, link limits, and keyword blocklist </li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>The default settings are safe and balanced. 
You can fine-tune them anytime to match your community’s needs.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Step-by-step setup</h3>
<ol>
<li>Install and activate the plugin.</li>
<li>Open Ghost Comments → Settings → General:
<ul>
<li>Set “Auto-trust after X approvals” (0 disables auto-trust).</li>
<li>Choose any roles to exclude from ghosting.</li>
<li>Pick an icon and background color for the moderator-only ghost indicator.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Open Ghost Comments → Settings → Shield Lite:
<ul>
<li>Keep Honeypot on.</li>
<li>Set Minimum submit time (3–5 seconds is typical).</li>
<li>Set rate limits (for example 6 per minute and 60 per hour).</li>
<li>Set the maximum number of links (for example 2).</li>
<li>Add any keywords or regular expressions to block.</li>
<li>Optionally auto-close comments on posts older than X days.</li>
<li>Adjust minimum/maximum length and duplicate time window to taste.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Start using it:
<ul>
<li>In Comments → All Comments, click “Trust User” on a real commenter.</li>
<li>Their next comments auto-publish with a moderator-only ghost indicator.</li>
<li>Click Confirm to remove the indicator when you’re ready.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>Using each feature</h3>
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.
<h3>Compatibility, performance, privacy</h3>
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.
<h3>Troubleshooting</h3>
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.
<h3>Roadmap / Pro</h3>
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

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