Have you ever wondered about how to disable comment in WordPress? When you have a blog (or blogs), you know that comment section can increase engagement with the visitors. Comment section has its own strength and flaw. Aside from increasing engagement with your visitors (you are able to communicate and interact with them), you can also learn more about them – what they are interested about, how they feel about your contents, and such thing alike.
However, the comment section can have some downsides too. It may contain spam contents from ‘shady’ visitors. Don’t be discouraged, though! You can always ‘turn off’ the section so no one can make a mess at your site. Not everyone likes activating their comment section, after all. In most common cases, the blog owners may disable that particular section because they want the visitors to use other channels, such as chat lines, emails, and others for engagement. It’s also a good thing that there are several plugins that you can use to disable the section. No need to worry; you don’t have to be a rocket scientist just to do it!
How to Disable Comment in WordPress with the Built-in Feature
Basically, you don’t need to worry about this matter because WordPress has provided all the needed features for users. Naturally, they also provide the features where users can disable or enable comments. This method has its own limitation, but it is the fastest option if you want to do it right away.
If you are using this built-in feature, you have several options. You can disable the comment section for only a certain page or post, OR you can disable it for the whole site of yours.
Disable Comments for Certain Page or Post
Keep in mind that comments are arranged in default (based on pages), so if you want to turn off a specific post, you will have to do it on your own – page per page. You only need to go to the post’s page and pick the option ‘Discussion’. Click on it and there would be two options. Just uncheck the section ‘Allow Comments’ and you have disabled it! However, if there have been several comments on the post (before you disable it), the comments will remain. This action won’t delete them. Want to remove the comments as well? Do it manually, one by one.
Disable Comments Globally
If you don’t want any comment in any of your posts, then go to ‘Settings’, and choose ‘Discussion.’ Just like the previous way, just uncheck the option ‘Allow people to comment on new posts or articles’. People won’t be able to make comments on your posts. However, just like the previous method, you won’t be able to delete the already existing comments.
Use (Free) Plugins
There are several plugins that can be used to manage this. Some of them are free, while some are quite premium. It’s a good thing that there are several candidates of the plugins that you can use to turn off the comment section. We’re doing to review some of the free options.
rbPlugins
One of them is rbPlugins with the Disable Comments feature. This is a handy tool that will disable and remove all attachments, pages, and posts globally. Anything that you have set would be deleted from Admin menu, widgets, and Dashboard. The plugin is simple and yet it is powerful.
Some of its key features are:
- It can disable Atom/RSS feeds
- It can hide all comments links within admin menu
- It can hide Discussion/Dashboard section
- It can hide Recent Comments/Dashboard section
- It is able to disable all comment widgets
- It would turn off the pingback function within the header and disable pingbacks altogether
- It will disable Discussion page settings
The greatest thing about this plugin is the easy set-up. You only need to install the plugin within the site and access the settings to manage the activity. It’s as easy as that!
WPDeveloper
This is another plugin that can used to disable (or enable) comments while regaining control over your own post. Not only it can prevent spammers, but the overall operation itself is super effective and easy. With this plugin, there are so many benefits to enjoy, such as:
- You can control your site and manage it the way you like it
- Not only you can disable post comments, but you can also turn off the comments for media and pages. Simply access the Disable Comments section and configuration without a sweat, and you can have the ideal website that you always want
- This is a handy tool if you have more than one website. You can actually disable comments (and manage them) with this single plugin.
- You can enjoy features like hiding comments link, hiding Discussion page, turning off the comment-associated widgets, and so much more.
Perfmatters – the Paid Service
If you don’t mind spending extra, there are some premium plugins that can be super handy in managing your site’s comment section. Naturally, the paid service offers more features and abilities. After all, you get worthy services from your investment. This plugin not only comes with handy set of features, but the operation itself is smooth and simple.
Streamline dashboard is one of its biggest fortes. Feel free to enjoy greater freedom in making adjustments, tweaks, and changes that can maximize the operation of the site. There are tons of likable features of this plugin, such as:
- You can enjoy simple option and method for comment disable, but you can also enjoy the advanced method, if you prefer.
- The dashboard is a breeze. It is straightforward and minimal without compromising functionality or performance
- Not only it can deal with your comment section, but it can also speed up the processing time, thanks to its feature that can reduce http request
- The plugin is always updated, so there won’t be any outdated issue
- The plugin is lightweight. It won’t add any extra burden to the system and yet it is extremely powerful
Conclusion
Managing your website shouldn’t be difficult or complicated. There are helpful features, plugins, and tools that can assist you along the way. Knowing how to disable comment in WordPress can be really helpful for more effective site’s management – now you only need to choose which method you like the most.
