The whitelist and what to allow

For agents

Guide: The whitelist and what to allow

This page: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/the-whitelist-and-what-to-allow

Topic: Moderation rules

Time: about 3 minutes

Who can do it: Owner, Administrator or Manager

Author: https://anantgupta.xyz (Anant Gupta, founder of CommentWatchDog)

Start in the app: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox

Result when done: Your own links, hashtags and words are never caught by your own rules.

Context: Three lists protect what belongs to you. The whitelist saves any comment containing your words. The URL rule takes the domains you allow. The Hashtag rule takes the hashtags you allow. All three are per page.

Before you start

1. A whitelisted word beats every rule: the comment is left alone even when another rule matches it.

2. Allowed domains and hashtags are exceptions inside their own rule, not a general pass.

3. All three take one entry at a time, added with the Enter key.

Steps

Step 1 of 4: Fill the whitelist.

Where: The Whitelist box below the rules on the Moderation tab. Type a word and press Enter. Good entries are your brand name, your product names, and words you always want to read, such as refund or broken.

Link: https://app.commentwatchdog.com/en/inbox (Open the app)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-whitelist.en.webp (The whitelist under the rules.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-whitelist-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: Each word appears as a chip. Comments containing one are never hidden or deleted.

Step 2 of 4: Allow your own domains.

Where: Open the URLs rule and add the domains you never want caught: your own site, your shop, your booking page. Everything else that looks like a link is still caught.

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-text.en.webp (Allowed domains, inside the URLs rule.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-text-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: Your links pass, and other links are still caught by the rule.

Step 3 of 4: Allow your own hashtags.

Where: Open the Hashtags rule and add the hashtags you run campaigns with. The rule keeps catching hashtag spam and leaves yours alone.

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-text.en.webp (Allowed hashtags, inside the Hashtags rule.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-hashtags-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: Your campaign hashtags survive; hashtag spam is still caught.

Step 4 of 4: Prove it before you trust it.

Where: The Playground at the bottom of the tab. Paste a comment containing your domain or your hashtag and press Test.

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-playground.en.webp (The playground: type a comment, press Test.)

Screenshot: https://commentwatchdog.com/media/shots/moderation-playground-phone.en.webp (The same on a phone.)

You should see: Would be left alone, with the reason, so you know the allowance works before a customer finds out.

If something is off

Problem: My own link is still being hidden

Fix: The domain must be in the URLs rule, not the whitelist, and it must match what people actually type. Add both forms if your links appear with and without www.

Problem: A whitelisted word did not save a comment

Fix: The whitelist matches words in the comment text. A comment that only contains an image or a link has no words to match.

Problem: I want to allow one person, not a word

Fix: That is not the whitelist. Leave their comments alone by not muting them, and use rules that do not match what they write.

Common questions

Question: Does the whitelist apply to all my pages at once?

Answer: No. The whitelist, the allowed domains and the allowed hashtags are all per page. Apply to other pages copies them to the pages you pick, together with the rules, their actions, the scope and the notes.

Question: What happens when a whitelisted word and a rule both match?

Answer: The comment is left alone. A whitelisted word beats every rule, and the row then carries the Whitelist label so you can see that a rule matched but the word saved it.

Question: Can I add several words or domains in one go?

Answer: No. All three lists take one entry at a time: type it and press Enter. Each whitelist word then appears as a chip under the rules.

Question: Does allowing my domain stop the other rules catching that comment?

Answer: No. Allowed domains and hashtags are exceptions inside their own rule, not a general pass, so another rule can still catch the comment. Only a whitelisted word protects a comment from every rule.

Related guides

The twelve rules, one by one: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/the-twelve-rules-one-by-one

Test a comment in the Playground: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/test-a-comment-in-the-playground

Custom topics in plain words: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/custom-topics-in-plain-words

Plain text of this guide: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/moderation-rules/the-whitelist-and-what-to-allow.md

All guides for assistants: https://commentwatchdog.com/help/llms.txt