Post & Comment Authors

Comment Visibility Logic

The Private Comments plugin creates a secure, 1-to-1 communication channel between the person leaving a comment and the person who wrote the post. This logic ensures that sensitive discussions remain confidential and are not exposed to the general public or other site visitors.

Post Authors

Post authors act as the primary moderators and recipients of the private comments left on their content.

• Visibility: Post authors can see every comment submitted on their own posts, regardless of who authored the comment.
• Interaction: When a post author replies to a comment, that reply is visible only to the original commenter and site administrators.
• Management: Post authors can manage these comments via the standard WordPress dashboard or directly on the post's front-end (depending on your theme's capabilities).

Comment Authors

Users who leave comments (Comment Authors) are restricted to seeing only their own contributions and the responses directed at them.

• Visibility: A comment author can see their own comments and any replies made by the post author or an administrator. They cannot see comments left by other users on the same post.
• Logged-in Status: To ensure persistent access to their private comments, it is recommended that users are logged in. For guest commenters, visibility is typically restricted to the session in which the comment was placed (based on standard WordPress cookie behavior).

Access Summary Table

The following table describes which roles can see a specific comment:

| Role | Can see own comments? | Can see others' comments? | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Administrator | Yes | Yes (All comments site-wide) | | Post Author | Yes | Yes (Only on their own posts) | | Comment Author | Yes | No | | Guest/Other User | No | No |

Usage Example: Private Feedback Loop

The plugin automatically filters the comment loop. There is no additional configuration required for the visibility logic to take effect.

1. User A (Commenter) leaves a question on a post.
2. User B (Post Author) receives the comment and replies with a solution.
3. User A can see their question and User B's answer.
4. User C (A random visitor) views the post and sees "No comments yet" or only their own previous comments, ensuring User A's inquiry remains private.