Parolas – Comments with atproto

An app password lets an app use your account without your main password, and you can revoke it at any time. In Bluesky, go to Settings → Privacy and security → App passwords, add one (for example "WordPress") and copy it into Settings → Parolas. Other providers have a similar option. Don't give it access to direct messages: the plugin doesn't need it.

Publish the entry first and save any pending changes. Then, in the "AT Protocol comments" panel of the block editor, write the text of the post (up to 300 characters) and click "Publish to Bluesky". The post includes a card with the entry's link, title, excerpt and featured image, and the entry is linked to it automatically. Publishing or updating the entry never creates a post by itself. The classic editor can't publish; paste the link instead.

Only users who can edit other people's posts, that is, Editors and Administrators, because the post goes out in the site's account, not the author's. Authors and Contributors can still paste a link. To change it, return another capability from the atproto_comments_publish_capability filter, for example in a small plugin: add_filter( 'atproto_comments_publish_capability', function () { return 'publish_posts'; } ); With publish_posts, Authors can publish from their own entries; with manage_options, only Administrators can. The user also needs to be able to edit the entry.

Open the post in bsky.app, mu.social or another app and copy its URL, like https://bsky.app/profile/alice.bsky.social/post/3k…. You can also paste the at:// URI, like at://did:plc:abc…/app.bsky.feed.post/3k…. Links with a handle are converted to the account's DID when you save. If the handle can't be resolved, paste the URL or the at:// URI with the DID (did:…) instead.

The plugin uses the medium_large size of the featured image, or the original if there is no such size, and only if the file is 1 MB or less. It reads the file from your server, so there is no image if your media is stored elsewhere (for example, offloaded to S3 or a CDN). If the server is slow and there isn't enough time left, the post is published without image rather than failing.

When an entry is linked, the "AT Protocol comments" panel of the block editor shows the post and two actions:

• Unlink removes the link from the entry, right away. The post and its replies stay on Bluesky; you can then paste another link or publish a new post. Anyone who can edit the entry can unlink it.
• Delete from Bluesky deletes the post from the site account and then unlinks the entry. It asks for confirmation first and shows about how many replies the post has. It is only offered when the post belongs to the site account, to the same users who can publish (see "Who can publish?") and who can also delete the entry.

Replies are records in their authors' accounts, so they are not deleted. They are no longer shown in the post's thread or on your entry, but they stay on the profiles of the people who wrote them.

No. Trashing, restoring or permanently deleting an entry in WordPress never touches the post on Bluesky. Delete it from the panel first if you want it gone.

The site doesn't know the account's DID yet. It learns it the first time the account is resolved: when you test the connection in Settings → Parolas or publish a post. Test the connection once and the button is enabled. This can happen after updating the plugin or changing the account's handle.

The account's server didn't answer in time, or the request to your site timed out. The entry stays linked. Trying again is safe: if the post was already deleted, the entry is simply unlinked.

The connection with the account's server failed after the post was sent, or the request to your site timed out. The post may or may not exist. Open the account's profile in Bluesky or another app: if the post is there, copy its link and paste it in the thread link field; if it isn't, try again. Retrying without checking may create a duplicate.

For security, the WordPress server only connects to public addresses, so it can't reach a PDS, a handle domain or a did:web domain on a private or local network. A developer can allow a host with the WordPress http_request_host_is_external filter.

In "Replace the native comments" mode, the plugin takes the place of the theme's comments area. Some themes, especially block themes with custom templates, don't have one in their single post template. Switch to "After the content" in Settings → Parolas, which works with any theme.

In "Replace" mode the native comment list and form are hidden on linked posts, but WordPress still accepts comments sent directly (often spam). If you don't want native comments, close them on each post (Discussion panel) or for new posts in Settings → Discussion. The AT Protocol comments are still shown when native comments are closed.

Not directly. The "Comment" and "Reply" buttons open a panel where visitors choose their AT Protocol app (Bluesky, Blacksky, Deer and others, or any app by its domain). The conversation opens there, and they reply with their own account. The app they chose last time comes first.

Its settings and the AT Protocol account (handle and encrypted app password) are deleted. The links stored in your posts are kept, so they are back if you install it again. Posts published on AT Protocol are not deleted.