You set up WP Customer Reviews with moderation enabled. Reviews should require admin approval. But when customers submit reviews, they appear instantly. No approval needed. That is frustrating because you cannot control fake or spam reviews.
A common issue is that WP Customer Reviews has a caching setting that bypasses moderation. Or the moderation flag is not saved correctly. The plugin is not broken. A setting conflict is preventing moderation.
Why Unapproved Reviews Appear Immediately
WP Customer Reviews stores each review with a status field: “pending” or “approved.” When moderation is enabled, new reviews get “pending” status. They should not display. If they display anyway, either the moderation setting is off, or the plugin is showing all reviews regardless of status.
This is not WP Customer Reviews being bad. A setting or code conflict is overriding moderation.
The Most Common Causes of Moderation Failure
- “Auto approve reviews” setting enabled (check this first)
- Cache plugin serving cached page with reviews before moderation check
- Theme or plugin conflict overriding review query
- Database issue (status field not saving as “pending”)
- Old version of plugin with moderation bug
Check settings first. Cache second.
How to Fix WP Customer Reviews Moderation
- Go to WP Customer Reviews → Settings
- Find “Review Approval” or “Moderation” section
- Disable “Auto approve reviews” if enabled
- Enable “Require admin approval”
- Save settings
- Submit a test review as guest
- Check if review appears on frontend (it should not)
- Check admin panel → Reviews → Pending (review should be there)
If test review appears on frontend, cache is the problem.
How to Fix Cache-Related Moderation Issues
Exclude review pages from cache. Go to your caching plugin settings. Add pages with review forms to exclusion list. Clear all cache. Submit test review again. Review should not appear until approved.
For WP Rocket: Settings → WP Rocket → Advanced → Never Cache URLs. Add /reviews/ and /product/reviews/ paths.
For LiteSpeed: LiteSpeed Cache → Cache → Excludes → Do Not Cache URIs. Add same paths.
People Also Ask About WP Customer Reviews Moderation
Why do reviews show up immediately even with moderation on?
Either “Auto approve” is enabled or cache is serving stale pages. Check settings first, then clear cache.
Should I delete WP Customer Reviews and use something else?
Try WooCommerce Reviews or Site Reviews. Both have better moderation.
Is WP Customer Reviews worse than Google Reviews Plugin?
Google Reviews Plugin fetches from Google. No moderation needed. But less customizable.
Final Thoughts
If WP Customer Reviews shows unapproved reviews, disable “Auto approve.” Exclude review pages from cache. Clear cache. Submit test review. Reviews will require approval before appearing.