ActivityPub for WordPress

Tag: Delete

  • 7.4.0 – More Control, Less Waiting

    Fediverse life just got a little easier! This release is all about giving you more confidence in how you manage your users โ€” and making your follower, following, and block lists feel lightning fast. Letโ€™s dive in.

    Wapuu, the yellow WordPress mascot, floats in space wearing a gray astronaut suit. In front of Wapuu is a spaceship control panel with the WordPress logo and the Fediverse logo, each with checkboxes. Below them is a large glowing orange โ€˜CONFIRMโ€™ button. Wapuu points toward the panel, symbolizing making a choice.

    Clean Breaks, Done Right

    Until now, removing someoneโ€™s ActivityPub capability in WordPress only affected their local account. Their presence in the Fediverse lingered on. With this release, youโ€™re in charge of what happens next.

    When you remove ActivityPub capabilities from users on your site, youโ€™ll now see a confirmation step:

    A screenshot of the confirmation step that shows after removing the ActivityPub capability from users.

    With this change, you can decide whether youโ€™re simply adjusting roles inside WordPress, or making a complete exit across the network.

    Weโ€™ve also expanded delete handling to cover more scenarios:

    • Comment removal: Permanently deleted federated comments now send a Delete activity across the Fediverse.
    • Virtual deletes & restores: You can now remove objects from the Fediverse without deleting them locally โ€” and bring them back if needed.
    • WP-CLI command for Actors: A new command makes it easier to manage and clean up Actors directly from the command line.

    Together, these tools make sure your Fediverse presence stays consistent with the choices you make in WordPress.

    Lists That Load in a Snap

    Managing your Fediverse connections shouldnโ€™t feel slow โ€” and now it doesnโ€™t. The follower, following, and block lists are noticeably faster and more reliable in this release.

    Behind the scenes, we cleaned up and centralized how account information is resolved. Instead of each list handling things in its own way, they now all share a single, streamlined method with built-in caching. That means less duplication, less waiting, and a smoother experience every time you browse your lists โ€” even on larger sites.

    Full Changelog

    Added

    • Add activitypub_json REST field for ap_actor posts to access raw JSON data.
    • Add Delete activity support for permanently deleted federated comments.
    • Added a new WP-CLI command to manage Actors.
    • Added confirmation step for bulk removal of ActivityPub capability, asking whether to also delete users from the Fediverse.
    • Adds support for virtual deletes and restores, allowing objects to be removed from the fediverse without being deleted locally.
    • Add Yoast SEO integration for media pages site health check.
    • Optimized WebFinger lookups by centralizing and caching account resolution for faster, more consistent handling across lists.

    Changed

    • Clarified the ‘attachment’ post type description to explain it refers to media library uploads and recommend disabling federation in most cases.
    • Hide site-wide checkbox in block confirmations when accessed from ActivityPub settings page.
    • Improved ActivityPub compatibility by aligning with Mastodonโ€™s Application Actor.
    • Itโ€™s now possible to reply to multiple posts using multiple reply blocks.
    • Refactored Reply block to use WordPress core embed functionality for better compatibility and performance.
    • Use wp_interactivity_config() for static values instead of wp_interactivity_state() to improve performance and code clarity.

    Deprecated

    • ActivityPub now defaults to automated object type selection, with the old manual option moved to Advanced settings for compatibility.

    Fixed

    • Fix content visibility override issue preventing authors from changing visibility on older posts.
    • Fix PHP warning when saving ActivityPub settings.
    • Fix query args preservation in collection pagination links.
    • Fix release script to catch more ‘unreleased’ deprecation patterns that were previously missed during version updates.
    • Fix reply block rendering inconsistency where blocks were always converted to @-mentions in ActivityPub content. Now only first reply blocks become @-mentions, others remain as regular links.
    • Stop sending follow notifications to the Application user, since system-level accounts cannot be followed.

    Downloads

    Thanks

    High-fives to everyone who helped chart the course, whether you coded, tested, spotted bugs, or just cheered from the sidelines. You keep this ship flying! ๐Ÿš€

    Version 7.4.0 has just landedโ€”jump in and tell us how it feels out there in the Fediverse.

  • 7.3.0 โ€“ Ctrl+Fed+Delete

    A cute Wapuu astronaut inside a futuristic space station, sitting at a glowing control desk with holographic message icons floating in front of them. Some messages have a green checkmark for approval, others a red X or trash bin icon for deletion. The Wapuu looks focused, managing which messages can enter from the Fediverse and which should be removed. The background shows the curved windows of the space station with stars and a planet outside, blending sci-fi tech with Wapuuโ€™s cartoon charm.

    Ready for a smoother ride on the Fediverse? ActivityPub for WordPress 7.3.0 is here to make your experience friendlier and more flexible than ever. Whether youโ€™re keeping out unwanted guests, bringing stray conversations home, or just tidying up your digital footprint, this release puts powerful new tools right at your fingertips. Letโ€™s take a look at whatโ€™s new!

    Personalized & Site-Wide Moderation

    With this release, Moderation tools are easier to discover and manage, thanks to a revamped two-tiered system that empowers both site admins and individual users with greater control over their Fediverse experience.

    WordPress admin screen showing the Blocked Actors page with a list of blocked ActivityPub accounts and a form to add new blocks.

    Now, site administrators can set up site-wide blocksโ€”covering domains, keywords, and even specific actorsโ€”right from the Settings screen or the new Blocked Actors table. These tools work together to keep out unwanted content and spammy actors for everyone on your site.

    But we didnโ€™t stop there! Every user can fine-tune their own experience. Head to your Profile to add personal domain and keyword blocks, or visit the new Blocked Actors submenu under Users to manage who can interact with you. Blocking someone is easier than everโ€”just paste their profile ID or webfinger, or use the handy new โ€œBlockโ€ link right from your Followers list.

    • Followers table in WordPress with options to delete, block, or follow back ActivityPub followers.
      Followers List With Block Option
    • Confirmation screen in WordPress for blocking an ActivityPub account, including options for site-wide blocking.
      Block Account Confirmation
    • Followers page in WordPress showing an empty list and a notification that an account has been blocked.
      Followers After Blocking

    Whenever new ActivityPub content comes in, the plugin checks it against both global and personal blocks. Domains are matched not just to the sender, but also to the activity and object IDs. Keywords are scanned throughout the content, summaries, and even actor names. Site-wide rules always run first, followed by your personal settingsโ€”so youโ€™re protected at every level. (For the blog actor, only site-wide blocks apply.)

    For backwards compatibility, the classic comment disallow list is still supported, ensuring your existing moderation rules continue to work seamlessly.

    Saying Goodbye, the Right Way

    Sometimes, a clean break is necessary. Whether youโ€™re retiring a blog, removing a user, or handling old content, this release makes sure your presence in the Fediverse can be removed gracefully and consistently.

    Weโ€™ve added a self-destruct feature for sites that want to step away entirely. With a single CLI command (wp activitypub self_destruct), WordPress will send out Delete activities to all followers. Built-in progress tracking and admin notifications let you know when the process has finished, so you can be sure your Fediverse footprint is fully cleared.

    User deletion is now handled with the same care. When a user is removed from WordPress, a corresponding Delete activity is sent to their followers, ensuring that connections across the network are properly closed.

    Bring the Conversation to You

    Sometimes a reply you care about doesnโ€™t make it all the way to your Inbox. Maybe it was posted on a remote server with finicky delivery, or slipped past the usual flow of ActivityPub. With this release, you donโ€™t have to miss out.

    Now you can search for any remote URL directly. If the comment is already in your database, youโ€™ll be taken straight to the matching comment thread on your blog post. If not, the plugin will fetch and import the remote reply to that post, so you can fold scattered conversations back into your site seamlessly.

    This means youโ€™re no longer limited to what arrives automatically. If youโ€™ve got a link to a discussion happening elsewhere in the Fediverse, you can pull it right into your own comment threads and keep the context intact.

    A Persistent Inbox for Better Debugging

    Fediverse interactions can get complex, and sometimes you need deeper insight into whatโ€™s really happening under the hood. Thatโ€™s where the new persistent inbox comes in.

    When enabled in Advanced Settings, the plugin now logs all incoming Create or Update activities. Instead of vanishing once processed, these entries are collected in a dedicated Inbox Collectionโ€”giving you a complete trail to reference when debugging.

    Full Changelog

    Added

    • Add actor blocking functionality with list table interface for managing blocked users and site-wide blocks.
    • Add code coverage reporting to GitHub Actions PHPUnit workflow with dedicated coverage job using Xdebug.
    • Add comprehensive blocking and moderation system for ActivityPub with user-specific and site-wide controls for actors, domains, and keywords.
    • Add comprehensive unit tests for Followers and Following table classes with proper ActivityPub icon object handling.
    • Added link and explanation for the existing Starter Kit importer on the help tab of the Following pages.
    • Adds a self-destruct feature to remove a blog from the Fediverse by sending Delete activities to followers.
    • Adds a User Interface to select accounts during Starter Kit import.
    • Adds support for importing Starter Kits from a link (URL).
    • Adds support for searching (remote) URLs similar to Mastodon, redirecting to existing replies or importing them if missing.
    • Adds support for sending Delete activities when a user is removed.
    • Adds support for Starter Kit collections in the ActivityPub API.
    • A global Inbox handler and persistence layer to log incoming Create and Update requests for debugging and verifying Activity handling.
    • Follower lists now include the option to block individual accounts.
    • Improved handling of deleted content with a new unified system for better tracking and compatibility.
    • Moderation now checks blocked keywords across all language variants of the content, summary and name fields.
    • When activated or deactivated network-wide, the plugin now refreshes rewrite rules across all sites.

    Changed

    • Add default avatars for actors without icons in admin tables.
    • Added support for list of Actor IDs in Starter Kits.
    • Improve Following class documentation and optimize count methods for better performance.
    • Refactor actor blocking with unified API for better maintainability.

    Fixed

    • Blocks relying on user selectors no longer error due to a race condition when fetching users.
    • Fix duplicate HTML IDs and missing form labels in modal blocks.
    • Fix malformed ActivityPub handles for users with email-based logins (e.g., from Site Kit Google authentication).
    • Fix PHP 8.4 deprecation warnings by preventing null values from being passed to WordPress core functions.
    • Improves handling of author URLs by converting them to a proper format.
    • Improves REST responses by skipping invalid actors in Followers and Following controllers.
    • More reliable Actor checks during the follow process.
    • Prevents Application users from being followed.
    • Proper implementation of FEP 844e.
    • Switches ActivityPub summaries to plain text for better compatibility.

    Downloads

    Thank you!

    Big thanks to everyone who contributed code, shared feedback, tested, or encouraged us along the way! Together, weโ€™re making the fediverse more connectedโ€”one release at a time. โค๏ธ

    Weโ€™ve just rolled out version 7.3.0โ€”try it out and let us know what you think!