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Happy Comments lets readers follow a discussion by email. They tick a box next to the comment form, confirm by email, and get a message whenever somebody else comments. Every notification carries a link to stop them.

It exists because there was an opening for a no-nonsense plugin that not only takes care of the emails but also does double opt-in properly and takes privacy seriously.

This is currently in beta and your feedback can help shape the next steps.

Requires WordPress 7.1 and PHP 8.1.

Pages

• Getting started — installing, and the one thing you must sort out first
• Settings — what each of the seven fields does
• Subscribing without commenting — the block, the shortcode and the template tag
• How email works — sending, the approval gate, and why a mail might not have gone out
• Consent and privacy — what is stored, for how long, and the WordPress privacy tools
• Hooks — every filter and action
• Troubleshooting — start here when something looks wrong

What it does not do

Worth knowing before you install it:

• Currently in early beta. I'm pretty confident this plugin will not burn your site down, but it might still have some quirks.
• No mail template editor. Subjects and bodies can be changed with filters if you absolutely have to. File-based templates are planned; a settings screen for mail text is not.
• No digest. One comment, one email. If a post gets busy, subscribers get a lot of mail.
• No per-reader preferences. Whether the box subscribes to replies or to every comment is a site-wide setting, not a choice each reader makes.
• No front-end styling. The plugin ships no CSS at all. The form inherits whatever the theme gives it.