Setting up Cactus Comments (optional)

The playbook can install and configure Cactus Comments for you.

Cactus Comments is a federated comment system built on Matrix. The role allows you to self-host the system. It respects your privacy, and puts you in control.

See the project's documentation to learn what it does and why it might be useful to you.

Configuration

Add the following block to your vars.yaml and make sure to exchange the tokens to randomly generated values.

#################
## Cactus Chat ##
#################

# This enables the backend (appservice)
matrix_cactus_comments_enabled: true

# To allow guest comments without users needing to log in, you need to have guest registration enabled.
# To do this you need to uncomment one of the following lines (depending if you are using Synapse or Dendrite as a homeserver)
# If you don't know which one you use: The default is Synapse ;)
# matrix_synapse_allow_guest_access: true
# matrix_dendrite_allow_guest_access: true

Installing

After configuring the playbook, run the installation command again:

ansible-playbook -i inventory/hosts setup.yml --tags=setup-all,start

Usage

Upon starting Cactus Comments, a bot.cactusbot user account is created automatically.

To get started, send a help message to the @bot.cactusbot:your-homeserver.com bot to confirm it's working. Then, register a site by typing: register <sitename>. You will then be invited into a moderation room. Now you are good to go and can include the comment section on your website!

Careful: To really make use of self-hosting you need change a few things in comparison to the official docs!

Insert the following snippet into you page and make sure to replace example.com with your base domain!

<script type="text/javascript" src="https://matrix.example.com/cactus-comments/cactus.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://matrix.example.com/cactus-comments/style.css" type="text/css">
<div id="comment-section"></div>
<script>
initComments({
  node: document.getElementById("comment-section"),
  defaultHomeserverUrl: "https://matrix.example.com:8448",
  serverName: "example.com",
  siteName: "YourSiteName",
  commentSectionId: "1"
})
</script>

2.3 KiB Raw Blame History

Setting up Cactus Comments (optional)

Configuration

Installing

Usage

2.3 KiB

Raw Blame History