Keyword Blocker is an addon for your Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla) 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.
- Instead, the content will be sent to the Moderation Queue for an Admin or Moderator to decide whether to approve or delete it. Check out this article to learn more about the Moderation Queue.
- If approved, the post will display normally in the chosen Category, with the forbidden word(s) visible (if not edited first).
✔️ TIP: If you would prefer forbidden words to simply be replaced with something inoffensive, such as ****, we recommend using the less "aggressive" Civil Tongue Addon.
Enable the addon
The Keyword Blocker addon can only be enabled by Vanilla staff; if you need it enabled, contact Vanilla Support.
Define your forbidden words
1. Access the Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Settings > Addons > Addons.
3. Locate the Keyword Blocker addon, and click the settings icon.
✔️ TIP: Alternatively, click the Keyword Blocker page in the left navigation (see below).
4. Enter a semi-colon (;) separated list of words, as shown below.
✔️ TIP: You can add phrases as well.
5. Click Save to implement these forbidden words across your Vanilla community.
Example of blocked words
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 Moderation Queue for an Admin or Moderator to decide whether to approve or delete it.
Discussion post example
For example, one of our forbidden words is "cats." If we use "cats" in a post, like this:
We'll be notified that our post will only appear in the community if approved:
Comment example
If the forbidden word is used in a comment, a notification popup displays briefly at the bottom of the page:
Manage your Moderation Queue
- Access the Dashboard.
- Navigate to Moderation > Content > Moderation Queue.
Check out this article to learn more about the Moderation Queue.
Keyword Blocker and URLs
The Keyword Blocker addon has a limited capacity to block posts (discussions and comments) with URLs containing forbidden words:
- In a discussion, if a forbidden word is the totality of the URL, the post will be blocked and sent to moderation.
- In a comment, if a forbidden word is the totality of the URL, the comment simply will not post.
- In a discussion or comment, if a forbidden word is only part of the URL text, the post will be allowed because the system can't identify it.
🛑 IMPORTANT: 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.
FAQ
Question - On-screen text displays when a user's discussion or comment is blocked. Can I update the language used for these notifications?
- Answer - Yes. Contact Vanilla Support with the language you'd like to use.
Question - Are users notified in any way after their post is blocked?
- Answer - Yes. If a blocked post is approved, the user will receive a notification email.
Additional resources
Click the link below to access a video expanding on what you learned in this article.
