Free and Pro guide
Filter selected words from public WordPress content.
Define the words, matching rules, replacement style, and public output areas that apply to your site—while leaving the original stored posts, Pages, and comments intact. This guide covers Content Censor Free and Pro 3.2.1.
Quick start
Create and test a filtering rule
- Install and activate Content Censor Free or Pro.
- Open Settings → Content Censor, then stay on the Filter Settings tab.
- Add the words to filter and choose the delimiter that separates them.
- Keep strict, case-insensitive matching for a conservative first test, then choose one public content area.
- Select the word-rendering style and replacement character, then save the settings.
- Open a representative public Page while signed out and confirm the intended match is filtered without changing unrelated words.
Content Censor changes selected front-end output at display time. It does not permanently replace the original text stored in the WordPress database.
Checkpoint: the public Page should show the chosen replacement, while the original text remains unchanged when an authorised editor opens the post or comment in WordPress.
In this guide
Define the words and matching rule
Enter the terms in Keywords to Remove and choose the same separator in the delimiter control. Pipe, comma, and hash separators are available. Keep the list focused: short fragments and broad terms can create unexpected matches, and keywords shorter than three characters are ignored by the filter.
Strict filtering on
Matches the configured term as a whole word. This is the recommended starting point because an entry such as “ass” will not alter “passable”.
Strict filtering off
Matches the term inside longer strings. Use only when embedded matches are intentional, then test a representative set of Pages and names.
Case-insensitive matching catches capitalisation variants and is the recommended default. Case-sensitive matching is useful only when upper- and lower-case forms must be treated differently.
Choose the public output areas
Enable only the areas where public filtering is needed. The settings can cover main content and excerpts, titles, comments and comment-author names, post tags, and tag clouds. When compatible bbPress or BuddyPress content is present, the plugin also exposes the supported community output to the same filtering layer.
- Main content/excerpt: applies to the primary public post body and excerpt output.
- Titles: filters public titles; test menus, widgets, and archive views that reuse them.
- Comments: covers comment text and comment-author names.
- Tags and tag clouds: covers public tag labels in the supported output.
- Exclude Pages: accepts comma-separated Page IDs that should remain outside the filter.
- Ignore HTML: avoids scanning terms inside HTML tags or attributes.
Follow the filtering workflow
The screenshots show the current Content Censor controls and a deliberately simple demonstration. The surrounding WordPress admin and theme styling may differ on your site.
Configure the public replacement
Word Rendering controls how much of a matched term remains visible: keep the first letter, remove every letter, or keep the first and last letters. Filter Character selects the character used for the hidden positions, including asterisk, dollar, question mark, exclamation mark, hyphen, hash, tilde, or blank.
Choose for comprehension: a complete mask is less revealing; retaining the first or first-and-last letters may give readers more context. The Blank option removes the matched word from view and can make a sentence harder to understand.
| Setting | What it changes | Safe first choice |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword delimiter | How multiple entries are separated in the word list. | Use pipe and avoid the same character inside a term. |
| Exclude Pages | Comma-separated Page IDs that bypass filtering. | Add only verified public Page IDs and retest after a slug or content change. |
| Strict Filtering | Whole-word matches or matches embedded in longer strings. | On. |
| Content to Filter | The supported public output areas that receive the rule. | Start with one area and expand after testing. |
| Ignore HTML | Whether terms inside tags and attributes are left alone. | Enable when filtering markup could alter valid HTML. |
| Word Rendering | How much of the matched term remains visible. | All letters removed. |
| Filter Character | The mask displayed in place of hidden letters. | Asterisk. |
| Case Matching | Whether capitalisation must match the configured entry. | Case insensitive. |
Scan existing content before widening the rule
Content Censor Pro: open the Scan Content tab and choose Scan Now. The scanner works through published posts and public post types in batches of 25, includes approved comments, and reports the matches it finds. Use the result as a review list: the scan does not replace source text and is not a substitute for human moderation.
Review false positives, names, navigation labels, shortcodes, and representative long-form content before enabling more output areas. If a Page needs to preserve a legitimate use, add its numeric ID to Exclude Pages rather than weakening the rule for the entire site.
Use Pro output controls carefully
Pro can filter the browser document title, supported BuddyPress output, and additional string-valued WordPress filter hooks. Custom hooks are an integration tool for output that the standard checkboxes do not cover; they do not make Content Censor a database-rewriting or input-validation system.
- Browser title: applies the rule to the title part WordPress uses to build the browser document title.
- BuddyPress: extends filtering to the supported community content, title, and comment outputs.
- Custom hooks: accepts up to 20 unique hook names, each no longer than 100 characters. Sensitive option and Content Censor internal hook prefixes are rejected.
Test one hook at a time: confirm that the hook passes display text, then check the affected front end and remove the hook if the filter receives structured data or changes unrelated output.
Understand what Content Censor does—and does not do
Content Censor is a front-end presentation filter. It helps control how configured terms appear in supported WordPress output while the stored record remains available to authorised editors. It does not approve submissions, block malicious users, secure forms, classify meaning, replace permissions, or provide a complete moderation and reporting workflow.
Use it alongside the human review, comment controls, account permissions, security tooling, and incident processes appropriate to the site. After a paid licence expires, the installed plugin continues filtering with its saved settings; updates and support require an active licence.
Troubleshooting
A configured word is still visible
Confirm the correct delimiter, a keyword length of at least three characters, the relevant Content to Filter checkbox, the Page exclusion list, strict matching, and case matching. Clear page caches, then test the public URL while signed out.
Part of an unrelated word is being filtered
Enable Strict Filtering so entries are matched as whole words. If embedded matching is genuinely required for another term, narrow the keyword list and test the affected content areas separately.
Markup or a shortcode output looks damaged
Enable Ignore HTML, remove overly broad fragments from the word list, and test whether the affected output comes from a supported WordPress area or a third-party rendering layer. Restore the previous setting if the change does not isolate the conflict.
The scan does not list a result I expected
Confirm the item is in a public post type and that the term appears in the title, stored content, or comments covered by the scan. Content assembled only at runtime by another plugin may not exist in the stored fields being scanned.
The saved change is not visible publicly
Save the Filter Settings again, purge page and server caches, and test in a signed-out browser. If the issue remains, temporarily limit filtering to one area and one unambiguous term to identify the boundary.
If you need support, include:
- Content Censor version and Free or Pro edition.
- WordPress, PHP, and active theme versions.
- The matching, output-area, rendering, and case settings involved.
- An anonymised example term and sentence that reproduce the result.
- Whether the issue appears in stored content, public output, the Pro scan, or all three.
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