check_comment is too rigid

Plugins should use pre_comment_approved, check_comment doesn't matter to plugins.

Telling me to use an undocumented function[1] does not resolve this bug. The check_comment() function is useless even in a pre_comment_approved() action/filter because manual moderation will cause check_comment() to always flag a comment as spam.

As it stands, plugins must duplicate this code in order to perform this check. That's rather wasteful.

1: I searched both the codex and the wiki for pre_comment_approved():

​http://codex.wordpress.org/Special:Search?search=pre_comment&go=Go
​http://wiki.wordpress.org/?pagename=FullTextSearch&s=pre_comment

Nothing. I grepped my 1.2.2 source for pre_comment and got no results.

Okay, I re-read what Matt said, and I realize now that he's discouraging check_comment() in plugins altogether. I think plugins should be able to use check_comment() so that a plugin can easily check moderation keys without duplicating code.

I was referring to 1.5 as well, which has significantly more hooks. Manual moderation doesn't matter because plugins get to everything after that, with the pre_comment_approved filter. A grep for do_action and apply_filters on the 1.5 source should be self-documenting for most plugin authors.

Why would you refer to 1.5 without clarifying that you're doing so, when I filed this bug against 1.2.2?

Manual moderation, when in effect, will cause check_comment() to always register a comment as spam, because the very first thing check_comment() does is to see if manual moderation is activated.

Maybe my intended use of check_comment() will help illustrate why I want this function available to plugins:
My 'comment authorization by email' plugin sends comment authors an email with a link that allows them to self-approve their comment. The theory is that a real human being will supply a valid email address which will receive the moderation email. Spammers and trolls will supply bogus emails, and thus never receive the moderation email.

At least one user has explained to me that a troll is abusing her site, by using a valid email and moderating his own comments. I would like for her to be able to simply drop the troll's email address into her moderation keys, and my plugin can execute check_comment() to determine whether WordPress would _normally_ allow or disallow the comment. This way no legitimate users are penalized, and the site admin can review the troll's comments to selectively moderate them as she see's fit.

But since check_comment() checks manual moderation, and since my plugin currently requires manual moderation, my plugin is told that every comment is spam if it calls check_comment(). For the short term, I've copied the logic of check_comment() into the body of my plugin, but that seems to me to be a waste of a function: check_comment() can easily be made available to all plugins with the removal of a single line.

Rather than discuss check_comment() itself, your comments have consistently been on how I'm calling it. That's missing the point of this bug report.