manifest / email / happy-comments

Happy Comments

WordPress plugin to let readers follow a discussion by email, with double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe, and a consent record.

by Simon Kraft · github.com/krafit/happy-comments

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Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/krafit/happy-comments/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Readme github.com/krafit/happy-comments ↗

Let readers follow a discussion by email, with double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe, and a consent record.

Description

A checkbox next to the comment form lets readers ask to be notified about new comments. Nothing is sent until they confirm by email.

Double opt-in. The confirmation only goes out once the comment is approved, so the form cannot be used to mail strangers.
One-click unsubscribe (RFC 8058), plus a link in every notification.
A consent record per subscription: when they signed up and confirmed, from which network, and the exact wording they agreed to. Truncated IP addresses; full ones are never stored.
Notifications are queued, so imports and bulk approvals do not cause a flood.
Readers can also subscribe without commenting, via block, shortcode [happy_comments_subscribe] or template tag.
Unconfirmed subscriptions are deleted automatically.
German translation included, informal and formal.

Ships no CSS and no JavaScript on the front end. Email subjects and bodies are filterable.

Installation

Install and activate the plugin.
Set the subscription options under Settings → Happy Comments.

Email goes out through wp_mail(). On most hosting that means it lands in spam unless an SMTP or transactional mail plugin is configured — set that up before going live.

Subscriptions are managed under Comments → Subscriptions.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can somebody subscribe another person's address?

They can enter it, but only one confirmation email is ever sent to it, and no subscription exists until the link in that email is used.

Why has a subscription had no confirmation email?

For a subscription made with a comment, nothing is sent until the comment itself is approved. The subscriptions list says which subscriptions are still waiting, and offers a "Send confirmation now" action.

What is stored about a subscriber?

Their email address, the post, the scope, both timestamps, a truncated IP address for each, where the subscription came from, and which version of the consent wording they saw. All of it is covered by the WordPress privacy export and erase tools.