WP Comments Chat UI

A modern, chat-style interface for WordPress comments. This plugin replaces the standard comment section with a real-time, interactive chat experience.

Features

• Real-time Updates: New comments appear instantly without refreshing the page (via polling).
• Chat-Style Interface: Familiar messaging UI with bubbles, timestamps, and avatars.
• Threaded Replies: Support for nested replies to keep conversations organized.
• Modern Tech Stack: Built with React and the WordPress REST API.
• Theme Compatibility: Works with both legacy (PHP) and modern block themes.

Installation

1. Upload the plugin files to the /wp-content/plugins/wp-comments-chat-ui directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen.
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress.
3. The standard comment form will be automatically replaced with the Chat UI on singular posts and pages.

Development

This plugin uses @wordpress/scripts for building the React frontend.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher recommended)
• NPM or Yarn

Setup

1. Clone the repository.
2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

Build Commands

• Start Development Server: Watches for changes and rebuilds automatically.

  npm start

• Build for Production: Minifies and optimizes the code for release.

  npm run build

Configuration

Supported Post Types

By default, the plugin does not enable the chat UI on any post types. You must explicitly allow it using the wp_comments_to_chat_allowed_post_types filter.

Add the following code to your theme's functions.php or a custom plugin:

add_filter( 'wp_comments_to_chat_allowed_post_types', function( $post_types ) {
    // Add 'post' and 'page' to the allowed list.
    $post_types[] = 'post';
    $post_types[] = 'page';
    return $post_types;
} );

Polling Interval

You can customize the polling interval (how often the plugin checks for new comments) using the wp_comments_chat_ui_poll_interval filter. The default is 5000ms (5 seconds).

add_filter( 'wp_comments_chat_ui_poll_interval', function( $interval ) {
    return 10000; // Set to 10 seconds.
} );

License

GPL-2.0-or-later