Comments Class

Comments Class

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The Comments class manages the reader feedback system in GeniXCMS. It handles comment submission, moderation, spam protection, and threaded rendering for posts and pages.

🚀 Quick Start (Frontend)

To display the comment system on a post or page template, use the following methods:

// 1. Display the count of comments
echo Db::$num_rows; // After showList() is called

// 2. Display the list of comments
echo Comments::showList(['max' => 10]);

// 3. Display the comment submission form
echo Comments::form();

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⚙️ Public API Reference

Comments::form()

Renders the complete HTML comment form (Bootstrap-based).

• Features:
  • Automatically pre-fills name/email for logged-in users.
  • Integrates Google reCAPTCHA if enabled.
  • Includes client-side validaton via Comments::validateJsComment().
  • Supports parent-child threading via a "Reply" button that sets a hidden parent ID.

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Comments::showList(array $vars)

Renders the threaded comment list and pagination for the current post.

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
$vars['max']	int	✅	The number of top-level comments to show per page.

Example: echo Comments::showList(['max' => 5]);

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Comments::recent(array $vars)

Fetches a list of recent comments across the site.

Key	Type	Default	Description
num	int	10	Number of comments to fetch.
type	string	'post'	The post type to filter (e.g., 'post', 'page').
post_id	int	null	Optional, filter by a specific post.

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Comments::addComment(array $vars)

Processes the submission of a new comment (typically from $_POST).

• Validation:
  • CSRF Protection (using Token).
  • Spam Word filtering.
  • Rate Limiting (default 60s delay between comments).
  • Captcha verification (if enabled).
• Default Status: Logged-in users' comments are published automatically (status=1), while guests' comments are set to pending (status=2).

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🛡️ Spam Protection & Security

The class includes three primary lines of defense:

1. Bad Words Filter: Scans content against a list of ~300+ spam phrases (see Comments::spamWord()).
2. Rate Limiting: Users are prevented from posting more than one comment every 60 seconds (configurable via Comments::checkLastComment($delay)).
3. Captchas: Supports Google v2 ReCaptcha via the Xaptcha class integration.

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📂 Administrative Methods

These methods are typically used in the backend (inc/lib/Control/Backend/comments.control.php):

Method	Description
Comments::publish($id)	Set status to 1 (Published).
Comments::unpublish($id)	Set status to 0 (Unpublished/Spam).
Comments::pending($id)	Set status to 2 (Pending Moderation).
Comments::delete($id)	Permanently removes a comment record.
Comments::isEnable()	Returns true if comments_enable is 'on' in site options.

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📐 Database Schema (comments table)

Field	Description
userid	Unique ID if the commenter is logged in.
name	Display name.
email	Contact email (gravatar compatible).
comment	Sanitized HTML content.
parent	The ID of the parent comment (0 for top-level).
status	0=Unpublished/Spam, 1=Published, 2=Pending.

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See Also

• Posts Class — How comments relate to content.
• Xaptcha Class — Anti-spam captcha engine.
• Options Class — Comment system configuration.