Heckl Tools
Heckl Tools turns a fresh WordPress site into a place that feels like the social network you came from, without locking you back inside one.
- Follow people across the Fediverse (Mastodon, Pixelfed, PeerTube, …) via the optional ActivityPub plugin, via RSS / Atom feeds (with WebSub push when the publisher supports it), and via WordPress.com Reader subscriptions.
- A unified Following timeline that merges every source into one stream — with ActivityPub posts rendered as social-style cards (avatar, display name, handle, relative time, «Reposted by …») so they don’t look like blog entries dropped into a feed.
- A Favorites list so you can bookmark items permanently — they survive after the live feed rolls them off.
- A lightweight Custom Bar that replaces the WordPress admin bar on the front end with Home / Create / Profile shortcuts — the site feels like an app, not a CMS.
- Frontend post composer (a small inline editor) that publishes via the REST API.
- OPML import / export for moving in and out of other feed readers, plus a one-shot «import follows from a Mastodon account» tool.
- Block-theme-friendly: ships a Social Menu block, Following / Favorites link blocks for any Navigation block, and plugin-default block templates so the Following and Favorites archives have a working layout on any active theme.
- No extra database tables — everything lives as standard WordPress posts and meta, so it survives backups, exports, and WP-CLI.
External services
Heckl Tools does not include analytics or telemetry. It contacts external services only when you choose to connect, follow, import, or add something.
ActivityPub / Fediverse servers
If you install the optional ActivityPub plugin and follow a Fediverse account, your site contacts that account’s server so the follow can be created and public posts can appear in your timeline.
What is sent: the Fediverse account you choose to follow and your site’s public ActivityPub identity. Service: each Fediverse server you choose to interact with. Terms vary per instance.
WordPress.com / WP.com Reader
If you click «Connect WordPress.com», Heckl Tools connects to WordPress.com so your Reader subscriptions and recent Reader items can appear in your timeline.
To make this connection work without asking every site owner to register a WordPress.com app, the sign-in flow may pass through a Heckl Tools connection helper hosted on WordPress.com. The helper only completes the sign-in flow and returns the connection token to your site; it does not store the token.
What is sent: your WordPress.com authorization, the connection token after you approve access, and Reader requests needed to show your subscriptions and Reader items. Service: WordPress.com. Terms of service: https://wordpress.com/tos/. Privacy policy: https://automattic.com/privacy/.
Arbitrary RSS / Atom feed URLs
If you add an RSS or Atom feed, or import an OPML file, your site fetches the feed URLs you provide so new items can appear in your timeline.
What is sent: requests from your site to the feed URLs you add. Service: whichever publisher hosts the feed.
WebSub hubs
Some feeds advertise a WebSub hub, which can notify your site when new posts are published.
What is sent: a subscription request with your site’s notification address.
Service: whichever WebSub hub the publisher uses (commonly Google’s pubsubhubbub.appspot.com or superfeedr.com).
Mastodon «import follows from account»
If you use «Import follows from a Mastodon account», Heckl Tools fetches that account’s public following list from the Mastodon server you name.
What is sent: the Mastodon account you choose to import from. Service: the Mastodon instance you specify.
Privacy
Heckl Tools does not collect usage analytics or telemetry. Feed items, follows, favorites, settings, and connection tokens are stored on your WordPress site.
Source code
The unminified source for every script shipped in build/ lives alongside it in src/.