Keyword Blocker - HL Vanilla Community
<main> <article class="userContent"> <p><strong>Keyword Blocker </strong>is an addon for your <strong>Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla)</strong> community that allows you to define a list of forbidden words that, when used, will block the content (discussion, comment, poll, etc.) from being posted. </p><ul><li>Instead, the content will be sent to the <strong>Moderation Queue</strong> for an Admin or Moderator to decide whether to approve or delete it.</li><li>If approved, the post will display normally in the chosen Category, with the forbidden word(s) visible (if not edited first).</li></ul><p><strong>✔️ TIP</strong>: If you would prefer forbidden words to simply be replaced with something inoffensive, such as ****, we recommend using the less "aggressive" <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/268-civil-tongue" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Civil Tongue Addon</a>.</p><h2 data-id="enable-the-addon"><strong>Enable the addon</strong></h2><p>The Keyword Blocker addon can only be enabled by Vanilla staff; if you need it enabled, contact Vanilla Support.</p><h2 data-id="define-your-forbidden-words">Define your forbidden words</h2><p>1. Access the Dashboard.</p><p>2. Navigate to <strong>Settings > Addons > Addons</strong>. </p><p>3. Locate the Keyword Blocker addon, and click the <strong>settings icon</strong>.</p><p><strong>✔️ TIP</strong>: Alternatively, click the <strong>Keyword Blocker</strong> page in the left navigation (see below).</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/XVKBLPZ8F7KB/access-forbidden-words.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/XVKBLPZ8F7KB/access-forbidden-words.png" alt="access_forbidden_words.png" height="468" width="1196" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>4. Enter a semi-colon (;) separated list of words, as shown below.</p><p><strong>✔️ TIP</strong>: You can add phrases as well.</p><p>5. Click <strong>Save </strong>to implement these forbidden words across your Vanilla community.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/747/N3RB5XRK7RU3.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/747/N3RB5XRK7RU3.png" alt="image.png" height="532" width="1824" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="example-of-blocked-words">Example of blocked words</h2><p>With the Keyword Blocker addon enabled and your forbidden words defined, any time a user attempts to publish a post that contains one of them, the content will be sent to the <em>Moderation Queue</em> for an Admin or Moderator to decide whether to approve or delete it.</p><h3 data-id="discussion-post-example">Discussion post example</h3><p>For example, one of our forbidden words is "cats." If we use "cats" in a post, like this:</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/103/M0BWYBR7MRUM.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/103/M0BWYBR7MRUM.png" alt="image.png" height="367" width="810" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>We'll be notified that our post will only appear in the community if approved:</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/093/7HS32O36IXP2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/093/7HS32O36IXP2.png" alt="image.png" height="132" width="793" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h3 data-id="comment-example">Comment example</h3><p>If the forbidden word is used in a <strong>comment</strong>, a notification popup displays briefly at the bottom of the page:</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/HX8J30PQT4FQ/blocked-comment-example.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/HX8J30PQT4FQ/blocked-comment-example.png" alt="blocked_comment_example.png" height="539" width="809" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="manage-your-moderation-queue">Manage your Moderation Queue</h2><ol><li>Access the Dashboard.</li><li>Navigate to <strong>Moderation > Content > Moderation Queue</strong>. </li></ol><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/HOXI8WZIM5C1/access-moderation-queue.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/HOXI8WZIM5C1/access-moderation-queue.png" alt="access_moderation_queue.png" height="765" width="1154" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <ul><li>All moderated posts and comments are listed on this page.</li><li>The content in question is included, along with the author.</li><li>Select one or more pieces of content and click <strong>Approve </strong>or <strong>Delete Forever </strong>to perform the associated action.</li><li>You can filter the listed content by Category.</li><li>If there's more than one page of content, click the <strong>next/previous page </strong>buttons to view it.</li></ul><h2 data-id="keyword-blocker-and-urls">Keyword Blocker and URLs</h2><p><strong></strong>The Keyword Blocker addon has a limited capacity to block posts (discussions and comments) with URLs containing forbidden words:</p><ul><li>In a <strong>discussion</strong>, if a forbidden word is the totality of the URL, the post will be blocked and sent to moderation.</li><li>In a <strong>comment</strong>, if a forbidden word is the totality of the URL, the comment simply will not post.</li><li>In a <strong>discussion or comment</strong>, if a forbidden word is only part of the URL text, the post will be allowed because the system can't identify it.</li></ul><p><strong>🛑 IMPORTANT</strong>: While the above-mentioned limitation is something to keep in mind, Keyword Blocker is a helpful tool to prevent harmful URLs from being made available in your Vanilla community, as long as your forbidden words list is comprehensive.</p><h2 data-id="faq">FAQ</h2><p><strong>Question</strong> - On-screen text displays when a user's discussion or comment is blocked. Can I update the language used for these notifications?</p><ul><li><strong>Answer</strong> - Yes. Contact Vanilla Support with the language you'd like to use.</li></ul><p><strong>Question </strong>- Are users notified in any way after their post is blocked?</p><ul><li><strong>Answer </strong>- Yes. If a blocked post is approved, the user will receive a notification email.</li></ul><h2 data-id="additional-resources">Additional resources</h2><p>Click the link below to access a video expanding on what you learned in this article.</p><div class="js-embed embedResponsive" data-embedjson="{"body":"For more information, please see:","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6030677\/uploads\/GXW21TRYG1JP\/share-imagevanilla-community.jpg","url":"https:\/\/success.vanillaforums.com\/kb\/articles\/467","embedType":"link","name":"Civil Tongue & Keyword Blocker [video] - HL Vanilla Community"}"> <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/467" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc"> https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/467 </a> </div><p><br></p> </article> </main>