Comments are a great way to get feedback from your readers, but they can also be a haven for spammers. If you’re looking for ways to disable comments in WordPress, you’ve come to the right place.
In this tutorial, we will show you how to turn off WordPress comments using three different methods: by editing the code, by using a plugin, or by using a setting in the Dashboard. Let’s get started!
Why do you need to Disable Comments in WordPress?
There are a few reasons why you might want to disable comments in WordPress. For one, comments can be a haven for spammers. They can also slow down your website, and they can be a security risk.
There are so many tools out there to automate tasks on commenting spammy links to generate backlinks to their website e.g. Scrapebox. Although WordPress Comment links do not add any value to their Search Engine Optimization Strategy as its no-follow link by default still SEO practitioners or spammers love this space.
Another reason is a security risk, Websites with a large database are exposed to more security risk than regular blog and ultimately they end up hiring a top third-party security service provider which eats their budget, Therefore, the Comment section exposes a bigger security threat to hackers.
Why do Spammers Love WordPress So Much?
One of the reasons spammers love WordPress so much is because it’s so easy to leave comments. All they need is a valid email address, and they can start spamming your blog posts with links to their websites.
Another reason spammers love WordPress is because of the number of websites that use it. According to BuiltWith, as of January 2017, WordPress is used by 28.0% of all websites on the internet. So, if a spammer can get their links posted on just a few WordPress blogs, they can reach a large audience.
There are some other reasons which are listed below;
– WordPress is now the most popular Content Management System in the world.
– In total, there are more than 30 million websites running WordPress as of January 2022.
– The top 5 most used languages for these WordPress sites are English (60.0%), Spanish (11.0%), French (08.0%), Portuguese (07.0%), and Italian (06.0%).
How Spammer Finds your WordPress Blog Or Website?
The process of finding a WordPress website or blog is quite easy for spammers. All they need to do is run a search engine query for the following terms:
– “leave a Reply”
– “Powered By WordPress”
– “Submit Comment”
– “Leave a Comment”
Once they find a WordPress website or blog, they will start leaving comments on the posts with links to their websites using automated backlink builders or tools like scrapebox.
Method 1: Disable Comments in WordPress Without Plugin
The first way to disable comments in WordPress is by using the Discussion Panel. This is the easiest way to disable comments, and it’s perfect for beginners.
Disable Comments On New Posts
To disable comments on new posts, follow these steps:
Step 01: Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
Step 02: Click on the Discussion tab.
Step 03: Under the Default article settings section, uncheck the Allow people to post comments on new articles box.
This will disable comments on your future or new posts on your website or a blog.
Disable Comments on All Posts
To disable comments on all posts, follow these steps:
Step 01: Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
Step 02: Click on Posts > All Posts.
Step 03: Select all posts from Select all button and Click on First Sorting Drop Down option and select “Edit” And click “Apply” button;
Step 04: On right side of panel, Click on comments drop down option and select “Do Not Allow” to disallow all comments on selected posts;
This way you can disallow or disable comments on all posts in your blog.
Therefore, by following this method disallow existing posts and in the first to disallow on new posts which will completely disable the comment section on your blog posts.
Disable Comments in WordPress on Specific Post or Pages
If you want to disable comments on a specific post or page, follow these steps:
Step 01: Login to your WordPress Dashboard.
Step 02: Click on Posts > Select and open your post;
Step 03: On the right side of post’s settings panel, scroll down to “discussion” tab;
Step 04: Deselect “Allow Comments” as well as “Allow pingbacks and Trackbacks” to keep your spammers away from your website;
In the same way you can do it using pages while going to pages > select your pages and the process is very straight-forward as above.
Method 2: Disable Comments in WordPress Using a Plugin
If you want an easier way to disable comments in WordPress, then you can use a plugin like Disable Comments.
Disable Comments is a very popular plugin with more than 100,000 active installs. It’s a lightweight and easy to use plugin that lets you disable comments on your posts, pages, and media files.
Disable Comments On Everywhere
Step 01: Download,Install and Activate Disable Comments Plugin;
Step 02: After Activation, Go to Settings > Disable Comments option;
Note: This plugin will disable wordpress’s discussion section, therefore, don’t get panic if you don’t see it in your settings section.
Step 03: Select “Everywhere” Option to disable comments on your entire website;
Disable Comments on Specific Post Types
Step 01: Open Disable Comments Dashboard page.
Step 02: Check “On Specific Post Type” Option;
Step 03: Select your post type where you want to disable comments;
This will enable comments on unselected option and enable on selected option on your wordpress site.
Disable Comments With API
If your site uses Rest API or XML-RPC then this plugin offers you to disable comments on either of them using the steps below;
Step 01: Open Plugins Dashboard Page
Step 02: Scroll Down to the last option of “Disable Comments With API”;
Step 03: Select Either of the option which is available for you to disable, if you use REST-API, then disable it using the toggle button.
Delete Comments in Bulk
Disable Comments not only disable comments on your website but also delete the existing comments on your website in few clicks.
Step 01: Go to your Disable Comments plugins Page on WordPress Settings.
Step 02: Select the “Delete Comments” Tab;
Step 03: Now you can select and delete existing comments everywhere on your website at the click of your mouse;
You can also delete with other options;
- On Certain post types i.e. Posts, Pages or Media
- Delete Certain Comment Types
- Delete Only Spam
Therefore, Disable Comments Plugin is the most convenient method to either disable or delete comments on your WordPress Project.
Method 3: Disable Comments in WordPress By Editing Code
If you are comfortable editing code, then you can disable comments in WordPress by following these simple steps:
Disable Comments On Functions PHP File
Step 01: Login to your WordPress Dashboard and open your functions.php file in a text editor;
Step 02: Add the following code to disable comments in WordPress:
add_filter(‘allow_comments’, ‘__return_false’);
This code will disable comments on your website.
Step 03: Save and close the file.
Remove URL Field on Comment Section
There are many ways to lift those website fields in WordPress comment form. By Using Simple PHP code make it more reliable than adding plugins.
Step 01: Go To > Appearance > Editor
Step 02: Now on extreme right options, Select Functions.php and add following code after the last line;
add_filter(‘comment_form_default_fields’, ‘website_remove’);
function website_remove($fields)
{
if(isset($fields[‘url’]))
unset($fields[‘url’]);
return $fields; }
It will remove the website field in WordPress comment form.
Remove Comment Footprints in WordPress
As we discussed above spammers uses Scrapers to scrape your website on google using specific keywords which is called footprints. To eliminate all of these you need to delete it from language files or comments.php file.
Step 01: Go to Appearance > Theme File Editor
Step 02: Select your theme and open Comments.php file;
Note: Please Keep Backup before saving new code.
Now Press CTRL + F and search for the footprints we have listed above like “Leave a Comment” and edit it with your own custom title or remove it completely;
This way you can also edit and remove such footprints like “Powered by WordPress” from your footer.php file.
Conclusion
Therefore, by disabling comments in WordPress you can protect your blog from spam and keep it running smoothly. In this tutorial, we have discussed three different methods to disable comments in WordPress. You can choose the one that best suits your needs. Happy Blogging!
Frequently Asked Questions
We Hope we have answered your queries regarding disable comments in wordpress but still if you are looking for some questions then we have listed some FAQs below to answer it.
Can We Disable Comments Without Plugin?
Yes, we can disable comments without plugin but it requires some coding knowledge to disable comment in wordpress.
Is It Safe To Disable Comments?
Yes, disable comments is completely safe and will not harm your wordpress blog or website. In fact it will help you to keep your blog clean from spammy comments.
What if I don’t want to disable comments, Is There any Alternative Solution?
Yes, You can install third-party discussion plugins for wordpress like Disqus, Postmatic, wpDiscuz etc as it keeps spammers or scrapers away from getting your website.
Also, you can install Cloudflare also to let all proxy IPs have to pass through captcha to access the source page. It will act as a barrier for most of the scrapers.
I disable comments but still, I am getting spammy comments. How to get rid of it?
If you are using default wordpress comment system then there are high chances that you will get spammy comments because bots can easily bypass the captcha. In this case, you can install any third-party discussion plugin or Cloudflare to get rid of it.
We hope this article helped you disable comments in WordPress. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to share this post with your friends on social media! Thanks for reading! :)
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