Comments by visitors on a post are not published directly unless the admin provides it. It is called moderation. To change comment moderation setting, select Settings option from the dashboard and check the option “Comment must be manually approved.”
In WordPress, when a comment is submitted on a post, it goes through a moderation process before being displayed publicly on the website. The “moderate comment” function refers to the action taken by a site administrator or moderator to review and approve comments before they are published.
Here’s how the moderation process typically works in WordPress:
- Comment Submission: A visitor submits a comment on a post or page of a WordPress website.
- Pending Status: By default, the comment is held in a pending status, meaning it’s not immediately visible to the public. Instead, it’s held for review.
- Moderation: The site administrator or moderator receives a notification about the pending comment and can access it through the WordPress admin dashboard under the “Comments” section.
- Review: The administrator reviews the comment to ensure it complies with the website’s comment policy. This might involve checking for spam, inappropriate content, or any other criteria set by the site owner.
- Action: Based on the review, the administrator can take several actions:
- Approve: If the comment meets the criteria, the administrator can approve it, allowing it to be publicly visible on the website.
- Trash: If the comment is spam or violates the website’s policies, the administrator can delete it permanently.
- Spam: If the comment is clearly spam, the administrator can mark it as spam. WordPress has built-in spam filters that learn from administrator actions to better detect spam in the future.
- Reply: The administrator can also reply to the comment if necessary.
- Publication: Once the administrator approves the comment, it becomes publicly visible on the website.
So, when asked about “moderate comment” in WordPress during an interview, you could explain that it refers to the process of reviewing and taking appropriate actions on comments submitted by users before they are displayed publicly on the website.