Add delete, approve, spam Links to Comments

Per default wp_list_comments() calls the class Walker_Comment. Its method start_el() calls edit_comment_link() and here we find a filter for your question: It is called 'edit_comment_link' and it passes two variables, the link text and the comment ID, which we can use.

The URLs to mark a comment as spam or to delete it are:

• wp-admin/comment.php?c=1&action=cdc&dt=spam for spam, and
• wp-admin/comment.php?c=1&action=cdc for deletion.

We can add a parameter redirect_to= to send us back to the post after the comment was trashed.

Here is a sample plugin I just hacked together (GitHub address):

<?php # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
/**
 * Plugin Name: T5 Comment moderation links
 * Version:     2012.06.04
 * Author:      Thomas Scholz <[email protected]>
 * Author URI:  http://toscho.de
 * License:     MIT
 * License URI: http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
 */

if ( ! function_exists( 't5_comment_mod_links' ) )
{
    add_filter( 'edit_comment_link', 't5_comment_mod_links', 10, 2 );

    /**
     * Adds Spam and Delete links to the Sdit link.
     *
     * @wp-hook edit_comment_link
     * @param   string  $link Edit link markup
     * @param   int $id Comment ID
     * @return  string
     */
    function t5_comment_mod_links( $link, $id )
    {
        $template=" <a class="comment-edit-link" href="https://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions/54116/%1$s%2$s">%3$s</a>";
        $admin_url = admin_url( "comment.php?c=$id&action=" );

        // Mark as Spam.
        $link .= sprintf( $template, $admin_url, 'cdc&dt=spam', __( 'Spam' ) );
        // Delete.
        $link .= sprintf( $template, $admin_url, 'cdc', __( 'Delete' ) );

        // Approve or unapprove.
        $comment = get_comment( $id );

        if ( '0' === $comment->comment_approved )
        {
            $link .= sprintf( $template, $admin_url, 'approvecomment', __( 'Approve' ) );
        }
        else
        {
            $link .= sprintf( $template, $admin_url, 'unapprovecomment', __( 'Unapprove' ) );
        }

        return $link;
    }
}

Screenshot with TwentyEleven (order reversed by the stylesheet):