Description
ReplyPing lets commenters subscribe to replies to their comment, or to all new comments on a post, by email. It is a maintained, privacy-friendly option for sites that need comment reply notifications.
Visitors tick a box below the comment form to subscribe. Subscriptions are only activated once the comment is approved, so spam and pending comments never trigger an email.
Features
- Subscribe to replies to your own comment, or to all new comments on a post.
- Double opt-in for guest commenters: a confirmation email must be clicked before any notifications are sent.
- Subscriptions only start after the comment is approved. Spam and pending comments never trigger notifications.
- Confirm and unsubscribe pages use a button, so email link scanners cannot unsubscribe or confirm on a subscriber’s behalf.
- One-click unsubscribe, with List-Unsubscribe headers when the site sends mail via SMTP.
- Unsubscribe from a single post or from all posts.
- Notifications are sent in background batches via WP-Cron, so comment submission stays fast.
- Rate limits against abuse of the subscription and confirmation emails.
- Settings page (Settings > ReplyPing) for sender name and email address.
- Editable email subjects and bodies with placeholders.
- Editable consent text and default checkbox state.
- GDPR tools: consent text and timestamps are stored with each subscription, and personal data can be exported and erased through the WordPress Privacy tools.
- Suggested privacy policy text is provided.
- Unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted automatically after 7 days.
- Multisite compatible.
- Clean uninstall: removing the plugin deletes all of its data.
- No external services are called.
Developers can extend ReplyPing with the filters replyping_notification_recipients, replyping_email_subject, replyping_email_message, replyping_email_headers, replyping_pre_send_email and replyping_list_unsubscribe_header_enabled, and the actions replyping_subscribed, replyping_confirmed and replyping_unsubscribed.
Privacy
ReplyPing stores the subscriber email address, the consent text shown and subscription timestamps in a custom database table. Emails are sent through wp_mail(). A public REST endpoint, replyping/v1/unsubscribe, accepts token-authenticated unsubscribe requests. The plugin makes no external calls. Personal data export and erase tools are supported.
Screenshots
Installation
- In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Add New and search for “ReplyPing”, or upload the
replypingfolder to/wp-content/plugins/. - Activate ReplyPing through the Plugins screen.
- Go to Settings > ReplyPing to set the sender name and email address, the consent text and the email templates.
FAQ
-
Are emails sent while a comment is posted?
-
No. Notifications are queued with WP-Cron and sent in batches of 50, so posting a comment is not slowed down by email delivery.
-
Are one-click unsubscribe headers sent?
-
One-click unsubscribe headers (List-Unsubscribe) are sent when the site sends mail via SMTP (e.g. an SMTP plugin). The unsubscribe link in the email body is always included.
-
Where are the settings?
-
Settings > ReplyPing.
-
Does it work with my theme?
-
ReplyPing adds its subscription checkbox to the standard WordPress comment form, so it works with any theme that uses the standard comment form. If your theme builds a custom comment form without the standard hooks, the checkbox may not appear.
-
Why didn’t I get an email?
-
Check the following:
- Notifications are sent by WP-Cron. WP-Cron runs when the site receives visits, so on very low-traffic sites emails can be delayed. A real server cron job that calls wp-cron.php can fix this.
- Guest subscribers must click the confirmation link in their email first. Check the spam or junk folder for both the confirmation and the notification emails.
- Only approved comments trigger notifications. Pending or spam comments do not.
- Some hosts block or throttle PHP mail. Install an SMTP plugin to send mail through a reliable mail service.
-
Is it GDPR friendly?
-
ReplyPing is designed with GDPR in mind. Guest subscribers always confirm their address (double opt-in), and the consent text shown and the time of consent are stored with each subscription. Subscribers can unsubscribe at any time with one click. Personal data can be exported and erased with the WordPress Tools > Export Personal Data and Tools > Erase Personal Data tools, and unconfirmed sign-ups are deleted after 7 days. The plugin makes no external calls. This is not legal advice; please review the suggested privacy policy text and your own obligations.
-
Can I use ReplyPing instead of Subscribe to Comments Reloaded?
-
Yes. Subscribe to Comments Reloaded is no longer maintained and was closed on WordPress.org. ReplyPing provides comment reply subscriptions and notifications and can be used as a replacement.
-
How is subscriber data removed?
-
Use Tools > Erase Personal Data for an individual subscriber. Deleting the plugin removes all of its data, including its database table and settings.
Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
Contributors & Developers
“ReplyPing” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “ReplyPing” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0 – Initial release
- Initial release.