# Automatic Actions based on post content (Watched Words)

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/automatic-actions-based-on-post-content-watched-words/66878
**Category:** Announcements
**Tags:** new-feature, watched-words
**Created:** [July 26, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/automatic-actions-based-on-post-content-watched-words/66878 "2017-07-26T18:51:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![Discourse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/discourse/32/148734_2.png) [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/automatic-actions-based-on-post-content-watched-words/66878/1 "2017-07-26T18:51:47Z")

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New for 1.9 is the ability to take some actions based on watched words found in a post.

- **Block** the post at the time it is submitted. User sees a message saying they’ve used a word that’s not allowed.
- **Flag** the post as inappropriate, but allow it to be submitted.
- **Censor** the words, which replaces the `censored_words` site setting being removed by this feature.
- **Require Approval** of the post, hiding it until staff reviews it.
- add a **Link** to a word
- **Replace** words in posts with other words
- **Tag** the post automatically. 1 or more tags can be added.
- **Silence** a user who uses a specific word on the first post and send the post to the moderation queue

There’s a max of 2000 words per action. In practice, “bad word lists” I found rarely contain more than a few hundred.

`*` can be used as a wildcard.

Found in Admin, the navigation is similar to the settings.

 ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/3X/1/1/11f94331c4635b6413393805e7d12666a3f3d8a7.png)

By default, the words are hidden. Checking the “show words” checkbox will display them and allow you to delete them. Using the search field will also reveal any matching words.

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### Author: ![rizka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/rizka/32/79717_2.png) [@rizka](https://meta.discourse.org/u/rizka)
#### Post date: [September 28, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/automatic-actions-based-on-post-content-watched-words/66878/6 "2017-09-28T16:41:34Z")

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[https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/41c3941c4cf0caa13fe02c1d61cf7dd059b10d44#diff-74e2124f43157511de446b1deb7cb053](https://github.com/discourse/discourse/commit/41c3941c4cf0caa13fe02c1d61cf7dd059b10d44#diff-74e2124f43157511de446b1deb7cb053)

Thank you @eviltrout! Super useful for languages like Finnish. 👍

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### Author: ![JammyDodger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jammydodger/32/254611_2.png) [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [December 1, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/automatic-actions-based-on-post-content-watched-words/66878/30 "2023-12-01T13:06:44Z")

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For the latest information on this feature you can find the Watched Words guide here - [Watched Words Reference Guide](https://meta.discourse.org/t/watched-words-reference-guide/241735)