Filters to allow comments on draft & trash post_status posts

[cyberhobo]

I'd like to use comments on draft posts as part of an editorial workflow. Will this be as easy as adding a filter to fire before the current comment_on_draft action that can be checked before exiting? I'll try that and add a patch if it looks good.

Related #13276. Not relevant to #18630, I think.

[cyberhobo]

Added a post id parameter and similar filter for comments on trashed posts.

[cyberhobo]

My simple solution seems to work for my use case.

[johnbillion]

Seems sane. A negative hook name isn't a good idea though because you end up with a double negative to enable the functionality:

add_filter( 'deny_comment_on_trash', '__return_false' );

Better hook names would be allow_comment_on_trash and allow_comment_on_draft.

Needs some hook docs too.

[chriscct7]

Second patch

[chriscct7]

@johnbillion Does that work?

[chriscct7]

Move action inside per slack chat

[chriscct7]

4th patch version

[chriscct7]

@johnbillion Ready to go

[johnbillion]

#30091 was marked as a duplicate.

[johnbillion]

Needs testing:

• When commenting on trashed or draft posts, is the browser redirect and the permalink in the comment notification emails correct? How does the browser redirect for a trashed post work?
• Do draft posts actually list comments on the front end (in the default themes at least)?

[iamfriendly]

Refreshed the patch and docs for 4.4.0

[iamfriendly]

Refreshed the patch and docs for 4.4.0 consideration.

[johnbillion]

Expanding on my comment above:

• What's the use case for commenting on a trashed post?
• When commenting on trashed or draft posts, is the browser redirect and the permalink in the comment notification emails correct? How does the browser redirect for a trashed post work?
• Do draft posts actually list comments on the front end (in the default themes at least)?

I like the idea of allowing commenting on draft post, but I'm not convinced that allowing the same on trashed posts has any benefit.

[iamfriendly]

Replying to johnbillion:

Expanding on my comment above:

• What's the use case for commenting on a trashed post?

I am unsure here, too. However, if we're allowing commenting on drafts, I suspect disallowing it on trash posts could be considered strange.

• When commenting on trashed or draft posts, is the browser redirect and the permalink in the comment notification emails correct? How does the browser redirect for a trashed post work?

Works the same way as normal for drafts. Trashed posts can't be 'seen' from the front-end (you get a 404) but I suspect it could be possible to comment on them if a user has the post open before it is trashed. Interestingly, if you try to submit a comment on a post that is moved into the trash as you're writing your comment, on comment submission, you get a wsod. This suggests to me that we shouldn't allow comments on trashed posts.

• Do draft posts actually list comments on the front end (in the default themes at least)?

Yes.

I like the idea of allowing commenting on draft post, but I'm not convinced that allowing the same on trashed posts has any benefit.

Happy to adjust the patch to only allow for drafts, not trashed posts. Thoughts?

[cyberhobo]

My original motivation was to allow a draft to be discussed by authors and editors before publication. My plans didn't include discussion on a trashed post. It's a bit of a stretch, but I suppose a review system could potentially include discussion of whether a trashed post should be permanently deleted or restored. If adding that option introduces complexity though, I would consider just the ability to comment on drafts an enhancement.

[ethanfsmith]

What's the status of this ticket? I'm working on a project that would benefit from comment capabilities on draft CPTs.

[milindmore22]

@ethanfsmith same here BTW lets "trash" the comments on trash post idea,

We can introduce a new supports for CPT named internal comments with WC order notes like interface, just an idea.

this will be helpful to sites with multiple editors and want to leave a note to each other about current editing post.

[johnbillion]

Needs test coverage.

Related: #39650.

[johnbillion]

19739.6.diff​ is a refresh since [40128], and also removes the final if statement containing the pre_comment_on_post hook so it always fires.

Still needs tests.

This PR introduces an allow_comment_on_draft filter to wp_handle_comment_submission().

Currently, comments on draft posts are hard-blocked. This filter allows developers to override this behavior by returning true, enabling use cases like internal editorial workflows and pre-publication discussions. The existing comment_on_draft action is preserved inside the conditional logic so it continues to fire when comments are blocked.

Additionally, the pre_comment_on_post action has been moved outside the final else block so that it fires unconditionally when no error is returned, aligning with the intent of the original patch.

Note: Based on recent Slack discussions, the allow_comment_on_trash filter originally proposed in this ticket has been omitted due to unresolved architectural questions around how comments on trashed posts should interact with wp_trash_post() and wp_untrash_post().

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/19739

## Use of AI Tools

AI assistance: Yes
Tool(s): GitHub Copilot
Model(s): Claude 4.6 Sonnet
Used for: Edge-case checks, test generation, and assistance with the PR description; implementation and testing were reviewed and verified by me.

[sainathpoojary]

I investigated this issue in light of the Slack discussion. Since there are still unresolved questions and a lack of consensus regarding how comments on trashed posts should behave (especially regarding wp_trash_post() and wp_untrash_post()), I have limited this PR to focus only on drafts.

This PR introduces an allow_comment_on_draft filter to wp_handle_comment_submission() to allow plugins to override the default block for editorial workflows. The pre_comment_on_post action was also moved outside the conditional block so it fires whenever a comment is successfully allowed through.

Feedback would be appreciated.