Using WordPress ‘get_comment_text’ PHP filter

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The get_comment_text WordPress PHP filter allows you to modify the text of a comment before it’s displayed on the website.

Usage

add_filter('get_comment_text', 'your_custom_function', 10, 3);

function your_custom_function($comment_content, $comment, $args) {
    // Your custom code here

    return $comment_content;
}

Parameters

  • $comment_content (string): Text of the comment.
  • $comment (WP_Comment): The comment object.
  • $args (array): An array of arguments.

More information

See WordPress Developer Resources: get_comment_text

Examples

Replace bad words in a comment

This example replaces bad words with asterisks before displaying the comment.

add_filter('get_comment_text', 'replace_bad_words', 10, 3);

function replace_bad_words($comment_content, $comment, $args) {
    $bad_words = array('badword1', 'badword2', 'badword3');
    $replacement = '****';

    $comment_content = str_ireplace($bad_words, $replacement, $comment_content);

    return $comment_content;
}

Highlight author’s comment

This example adds a “highlight” class to the author’s comments.

add_filter('get_comment_text', 'highlight_authors_comment', 10, 3);

function highlight_authors_comment($comment_content, $comment, $args) {
    if ($comment->user_id == get_the_author_meta('ID')) {
        $comment_content = '<span class="highlight">' . $comment_content . '</span>';
    }

    return $comment_content;
}

Add comment number

This example adds a comment number before each comment text.

add_filter('get_comment_text', 'add_comment_number', 10, 3);

function add_comment_number($comment_content, $comment, $args) {
    static $comment_count = 1;

    $comment_content = "#{$comment_count} " . $comment_content;
    $comment_count++;

    return $comment_content;
}

Add emojis to the comment text

This example adds a smiley emoji at the end of each comment text.

add_filter('get_comment_text', 'add_emoji_to_comment', 10, 3);

function add_emoji_to_comment($comment_content, $comment, $args) {
    $comment_content .= ' 😃';

    return $comment_content;
}

Truncate long comments

This example truncates comments that exceed a specified character limit and adds an ellipsis.

add_filter('get_comment_text', 'truncate_long_comments', 10, 3);

function truncate_long_comments($comment_content, $comment, $args) {
    $max_length = 200;

    if (strlen($comment_content) > $max_length) {
        $comment_content = substr($comment_content, 0, $max_length) . '...';
    }

    return $comment_content;
}