Word censorship filter

Note: The word censorship filter has been removed from new installations of Moodle 4.1.

The code for the Word censorship filter is currently available from the Plugins directory.

The word censorship filter enables certain user-selected words to be "blacked out" in the flow of any text submitted within a course. The primary use is for censoring obscene or other unwanted words entered by learners in activities like Forums and Wikis.

Custom list of censored Words

The word censorship settings page Administration > Site administration > Plugins > Word censorship allows a site administrator to edit a custom list of words (bad words) to be censored within your Moodle installation.

To avoid inadvertently causing offence, there is no default bad word list on the Word censorship settings page. If the custom list is empty, the default list from the language pack will be used.

Default censored Words

The default bad word list is contained within the filter_censor.php file within each language pack installed on your Moodle site. To change the default bad word list go to Administration > Site administration > Language > Language Customization and check out the required language pack. Select the filter_censor.php file under the filters subheading from the strings list and click Show strings. Warning: You may find the content of this file offensive.

Tips and Tricks

• If you would prefer not to display a custom list of censored words on the Word Censorship Settings page, customize the filter_censor.php file the language directly
• If you have multiple language packs installed and in use within your Moodle site, remember to edit each language pack and/or add custom censored words in all languages.

See also

• Using Moodle filtering profanity forum discussion