Reviews Settings

The Reviews tab in Listora → Settings controls how new reviews are approved, the minimum length required, whether each user can submit more than one review per listing, and whether listing owners can publicly reply. This is the configuration surface for the core Reviews System feature.

Reviews Settings - Moderation + Owner Replies blocks with toggle controls

Where it lives

WP Admin → Listora → Settings → Reviews (?page=listora-settings&tab=reviews)

Requires the manage_listora_settings capability.

Setting reference

Moderation

Setting Default What it does
Auto-approve Off When on, new reviews skip the moderation queue and publish immediately. When off, reviews stay in Pending until an admin approves them from the Reviews admin page or the Moderation Queue.
Minimum length 20 characters The minimum number of characters required in a review body. Set to 0 to allow ratings with no written feedback (star-only reviews). Validation runs both client-side (inline error before submit) and server-side (the REST controller rejects short submissions).
One review per listing On When on, each logged-in user is limited to a single review per listing - prevents rating inflation from repeat submissions. When off, a user can submit multiple reviews on the same listing.

Note on "Guest reviews / Require login": this setting was removed in 1.0.5. Reviews always require a logged-in user - the REST permission callback at create_review_permissions() enforces it directly. The setting never actually changed behaviour, so it was misleading to show. Anonymous reviews would be a separate feature requiring schema, capture UI, dedupe, and spam handling.

Owner Replies

Setting Default What it does
Enable replies On When on, listing owners can publicly reply to reviews left on their listing. Replies appear beneath each review with a "Reply from owner" label. Owners are notified by email when a new review is left. When off, the reply UI disappears and the POST /reviews/{id}/reply REST endpoint returns 403.

How it interacts with the rest of the system

  • Moderation Queue. When Auto-approve is OFF, every new review lands in Pending and appears in the Moderation Queue. Admins approve / reject from there or from the standalone Reviews admin page.
  • Email Notifications. Toggle the review_received, review_reply, and review_helpful events on the Notifications tab to control which emails fire on each transition.
  • Capabilities. The moderate_listora_reviews cap gates the approve / reject / hide / spam actions. Editor and Administrator roles have it by default; grant to custom roles via the Capabilities reference.
  • REST. Settings changes take effect on the next REST request - no flush required. wb_listora_reviews_settings filter lets Pro / themes override any value at runtime.

Recommended configurations

Goal Settings
Hands-off public directory Auto-approve ON, Minimum length 0, One per listing ON, Replies ON
Hand-moderated reviews Auto-approve OFF, Minimum length 50, One per listing ON, Replies ON
Star-only (no written feedback) Auto-approve ON, Minimum length 0, One per listing ON, Replies OFF
Premium-vendor directory Auto-approve OFF, Minimum length 100, One per listing ON, Replies ON

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