CommentBox

Integration

The Integration tab allows you to enable or disable CommentBox for specific Joomla components:

• Joomla! Articles: Enable comments on Joomla articles.
• Joomla! Articles Comment Counters: Display the number of comments on Joomla articles.
• FlexiContent Items: Integrate comments with FlexiContent.
• SP Page Builder Pages: Enable comments for pages created with SP Page Builder.
• EasyBlog Posts: Allow comments on EasyBlog posts.
• Virtuemart Products: Support commenting on Virtuemart products.
• eShop Products, HikaShop Products, PhocaCart Products: Enable comments on products for respective shopping extensions.

Use the Exclude Menu Items field to specify pages where comments should be disabled. Select the menu items from the dropdown list.

Spam Protection

The Spam Protection tab helps manage unwanted or automated comments. Options include:

CAPTCHA

CAPTCHA challenges help differentiate between human users and bots.

• Enable CAPTCHA: Choose to enable for guest users or all users.
• CAPTCHA Service: Select between ALTCHA and Google reCAPTCHA .

Anti-Spam

Anti-Spam services analyze comments for spammy patterns.

• Enable Anti-Spam: Activate for guests or all users.
• Anti-Spam Service: Select from OOPSpam, ALTCHA, Akismet, or CleanTalk.
• API Key: Provide the API key for the chosen service.

Refer to the CAPTCHA Services and Anti-Spam Services sections for detailed setup instructions.

AI Moderation

The AI Moderation tab provides settings for managing comment moderation using AI:

• AI Moderation: Enable AI-based comment moderation.
• AI Moderation Service: Select OpenAI or ModerationAPI.
• Auto-Publish Comments: Automatically publish comments that pass AI checks.
• Skip for Moderators: Allow moderators to bypass AI moderation.
• Skip for Spam: Skip AI moderation for comments flagged as spam.
• Flagged Comments Action: Choose an action (e.g., Unpublish, Trash) for flagged comments.

Refer to the AI Moderation Services section for setup details. Be aware of data privacy considerations, as comments are sent to third-party services for analysis.

Editor

The Editor tab controls features in the comment editor:

• Mentions: Enable mentioning users in comments.
• Emojis: Allow emojis in comments.
• GIFs: Enable the use of GIFs.
• Image Uploads: Allow users to upload images.

Note that features like mentions, emojis, GIFs, and image uploads require specific HTML permissions. Configure these in Global Configuration > Text Filters. Set the appropriate user groups to allow the necessary tags and attributes. The recommended "Filter Type" setting for user groups you wish to allow commenting is the "Default Forbidden List".

Visit the GIFs Setup section for GIF integration setup.

Notifications

The Notifications tab helps manage user notifications:

• New Comments: Notify administrators when a new comment is added.
• Approvals: Notify users when their comment is published.
• Replies: Notify users when someone replies to their comment.
• Flags: Notify users when their comment is flagged.
• Mentions: Notify users when they are mentioned.

Specify user groups to control who receives notifications for new comments.

Email templates for notifications can be customized via the Mail Templates section.

Style

The Style tab allows you to customize the appearance of CommentBox:

• Dark Mode: Enable dark mode support. Enable this only if your site supports dark mode.
• Brand Color: Set a custom brand color.
• Border Radius: Adjust border radius of comment elements.
• Font Family and Font Size: Customize font family and size.
• Form Size: Choose the size of the comment form (e.g., Small, Medium, Large).

Tip: Ensure CommentBox styles integrate well with your Joomla template. Preview changes to confirm compatibility.

Other

The Other tab includes additional settings:

• Frontend Moderation: Allow administrators to moderate comments from the frontend.
• Terms Checkbox: Enable a checkbox for users to accept terms before commenting.

For the Terms Checkbox, you can override the default language strings to fit your needs. You can do this in System > Language Overrides.

Permissions

The Permissions tab allows you to manage access control for different user groups. Joomla's Access Control List (ACL) system is used here. Actions include:

• Configure ACL & Options: Control access to configuration and options.
• Access Administration Interface: Restrict access to the admin interface.
• Create Comments: Allow users to submit comments.
• Edit Any Comment: Allow editing of all comments.
• Edit Own Comments: Allow users to edit their own comments.
• Edit Comment State: Control permissions to publish, unpublish, mark as spam or trash comments.
• Trash Own Comments: Allow users to trash their comments.
• Delete Any Comment: Allow deletion of any comment.
• Delete Own Comments: Allow users to delete their own comments.
• Upload Files: Permit users to upload images.

Note: By default, Joomla user permissions do not allow the "Registered" user group to create content. This applies to CommentBox too. This means that you have to change the permissions for the "Registered" user group (or any other group you wish to enable comments) after installing CommentBox.

Default View

The comments list displays all submitted comments with details:

• Status: Published, Unpublished, Spam, or Trashed.
• Comment: Main content with a link to the associated page.
• Author: Name and email of the commenter.
• AI Moderation: Outcome labels like "Passed," "Harassment," etc.
• Date: Submission date and time.
• IP Address: IP of the commenter.
• User Agent: Browser and OS info.
• ID: Unique comment ID.

Filtering Options

Use the Filter Options to manage comments efficiently:

• Status: Filter by Published, Unpublished, Spam, or Trashed.
• Period: Set a date range for comments.
• AI Moderation: Filter based on AI results.
• Flags: View comments flagged for specific issues.
• Content Filter: Search comments containing links, mentions, or emojis.
• User Filter: Filter by specific users.
• Page Filter: Filter comments on specific pages.

Example: To find all comments marked as "Harassment" in the last month, set the AI Moderation filter to "Harassment" and the period to the last 30 days.

Actions Menu

The Actions Menu allows bulk management:

• Publish: Publish selected comments.
• Unpublish: Unpublish selected comments.
• Spam: Mark as spam.
• Trash: Move to trash.
• Delete: Permanently delete comments (available from the Trash view).

Caution: 'Trash' moves comments to the trash bin; 'Delete' permanently removes them.

Mail Templates

The Mail Templates button provides access to customizable email templates for notifications such as comment approvals, replies, and mentions. Modify these templates to match your site's tone and branding.

Pages List View

The Pages List displays:

• Status: Enabled, Disabled, or Closed.
• Title: Page title with a link to the page.
• Published: Count of published comments.
• Unpublished: Count of unpublished comments.
• Spam: Count of spam comments.
• Trashed: Count of trashed comments.
• ID: Unique page ID.

Actions Menu

Perform bulk actions on pages:

• Enable Comments: Enable comments.
• Disable Comments: Disable comments.
• Close Comments: Prevent new comments while keeping existing ones visible.
• Delete Comments: Permanently delete all comments on selected pages.
• Delete: Remove pages from CommentBox (also deletes all comments).

Adding/Editing a Page

To manually add a page:

1. Click New in the Pages view.
2. Enter the URL of the page.
3. Set the Status (Enable, Disable, Close).
4. Provide a Title.
5. Save the page.

This is useful for disabling comments on pages that haven't received comments yet.

Enabling CAPTCHA

Navigate to Components > CommentBox > Options > Spam Protection. Enable CAPTCHA for guests or all users.

Choosing a CAPTCHA Service

Available services:

• ALTCHA: Simple and accessible. No extensive configuration needed.
• reCAPTCHA: Google's service. Requires Site Key and Secret Key.

Accessibility Note: ALTCHA focuses on accessibility, suitable for users with disabilities.

Configuring ALTCHA

Select ALTCHA; no additional setup is required.

Configuring reCAPTCHA

Select reCAPTCHA and obtain keys:

1. Visit Google reCAPTCHA.
2. Register your site to get the Site Key and Secret Key.
3. Enter these keys in CommentBox settings.

Enabling Anti-Spam

Navigate to Components > CommentBox > Options > Spam Protection. Enable Anti-Spam for guests or all users.

Choosing an Anti-Spam Service

Available services:

• OOPSpam: Uses machine learning. Note: Free tier available.
• ALTCHA: Includes spam filtering.
• Akismet: Popular spam filter. Note: May require a paid plan for commercial sites.
• CleanTalk: Cloud-based service.

Configuring OOPSpam

Obtain an API Key from OOPSpam and enter it in settings.

Configuring ALTCHA

Get an API Key from ALTCHA and enter it in settings.

Configuring Akismet

Get an API Key from Akismet and enter it in settings.

Configuring CleanTalk

Get an API Key from CleanTalk and enter it in settings.

Cost Implications: Some services may require a subscription for full features.

Enabling AI Moderation

Navigate to Components > CommentBox > Options > AI Moderation and enable it.

Choosing an AI Moderation Service

Available services:

• OpenAI: Uses state-of-the-art models.
• ModerationAPI: Custom models for specific content types.

Configuring OpenAI

Obtain an API Key from OpenAI and enter it in settings.

Configuring ModerationAPI

Obtain an API Key from ModerationAPI and enter it in settings.

Cost and Rate Limits: Be aware of usage costs and rate limits.

Customizing AI Moderation Settings

You can customize:

• Auto-Publish Comments: Automatically publish approved comments.
• Flagged Comments Action: Choose to Unpublish, Trash, or Reject flagged comments.

Enabling GIFs

Navigate to Components > CommentBox > Options > Editor. Enable the GIFs option.

Getting an API Key from Tenor

1. Visit Tenor's Developer Page.
2. Register your application to generate an API Key.
3. Provide required information about your site.
4. Copy the API Key provided.

Usage Policies: Review Tenor's API usage policies to ensure compliance.

Configuring Tenor API in CommentBox

Enter your Tenor API Key in Components > CommentBox > Options > Editor > Tenor API Key. Save changes to complete the setup.

Note: Currently, only Tenor is supported. Future support for other providers may be considered.