CommentLuv ReplyMe

UPDATE: CommentLuv is no longer being supported due the health of the developer. I recommend you stop using it and switch to a spam blocker like WP SpamShield.

I’ve written about how and why I love CommentLuv Premium plugin in the past. The main reason I got it was to eliminate the tons of comment and trackback spam I was getting on my various websites.

I am also really liking the ability to select from several posts and pages to link to when I comment on other blogs that use either the free or the premium version of CommentLuv. Having the flexibility to choose content that is relevant to the other blog post is helping get more traffic to my site.

Now Andy Bailey, the developer of CommentLuv has just issued a new module called ReplyMe. Here’s a rundown on how this new module works.

Reply Notifications to the Commenter — When someone comments on your blog, chances are they won’t continually come back to your blog to see if you have responded or if someone else has replied to their comment so they can continue the conversation. ReplyMe adds that capability. There are other plugins that will do the same thing, but ReplyMe has some cool options. As you see in the screenshot below, you can choose whose comments trigger the notification even allowing individual user email addresses to identify the triggering responder.

CommentLuv ReplyMe Notification Settings

You can create the email that will go out to the commenter and customize it using merge tags for such things as the post title and the actual comment itself. In addition you can select the From name and the From email address if you want something different than your WordPress site title and email address.

CommentLuv ReplyMe Optin BoxYou can choose to give the commenter the ability to opt in to this email using a checkbox and you can have it checked by default or not. There is an unsubscribe link in the notification emails so they can stop receiving them if necessary. You can also unsubscribe them as well in the admin area.

First Comment Redirect — Another cool feature is the ability to redirect someone who is commenting for the first time to another page on your site. I decided to create a thank you page with a message from me along with links to my social media profiles and a back button to return to the blog.

CommentLuv ReplyMe Redirect

First Comment Email — Besides redirecting the brand new commenter to a page on your site, you can also send them an email thanking them for commenting. Just like the notification email, this one is fully customizable as well. This email may be a good place to include a thank you gift link for a free report or a discount on one of your products.

Guest Blogger Notifications — Finally you can set up a notification to guest authors on your blog that a reply has been posted and again with the merge tags you can include the actual reply and the time of the reply right in the email. This takes the burden off your guest bloggers to check back in to see if there are replies that need to be answered.

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