How to Turn Off Comments on a WordPress Site?

When you build a website with WordPress, you need to think about many things. One key thing is how your content interacts with people who visit your site. WordPress lets visitors leave comments on pages and posts. This can keep your site lively. But like most things, it has its ups and downs. By default, any visitor can comment on new posts of a WordPress website. While comments have an impact on page search engine optimization (SEO), not all comments are good. If spammers flood a post or page with random irrelevant comments and spam links, it can hurt your website’s ranking. So, it’s helpful to know how to turn off the comment function on a WordPress website.

Here are two common ways to disable WordPress comments:

1. Adjust the default post settings in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Add a plugin that gives you more control over WordPress comments.

If you buy a managed WordPress website-building solution, you might not have to do these things yourself. You can tell your web hosting provider what you need before they build your website, and they’ll set up your WordPress website’s comment function ahead of time.

How to Turn Off Comments on a WordPress Website Using the Dashboard?

Turning off WordPress comments is pretty straightforward:

1. Log into the WordPress dashboard and head to “Settings” → “Discussion”.
2. Uncheck the box next to “Allow people to post comments on new articles”.
3. Click save, and new posts won’t have a comment option anymore.

But this won’t turn off comments on posts that already exist. To disable those, you need to:

1. Navigate to “Posts” → “All Posts”, choose all your current posts, and edit them together.
2. Pick “Do not allow” from the “Comments” dropdown menu.
3. Hit save, and people can’t add new comments to your old posts anymore.

Keep in mind that approved comments will still show up on the live website. If you want to get rid of them , you can do this:

1. Head to the “Comments” area in the WordPress dashboard.
2. Pick the comments you want to remove then select either “Unapprove” or “Move to Trash”.

That’s all there is to it! Now you’re up to speed on how to turn off and delete WordPress comments on both new and existing pages.

How to Turn Off Comments on a WordPress Website Using a Plugin?

Adding WordPress plugins lets users boost their websites’ capabilities and manage them more . If the methods we talked about earlier for turning off WordPress comments seem tricky, you can use plugins to make it simpler. Here are three popular plugins and what they do.

Disable Comments

• Main functions: Turn off WordPress comments across the whole site; shut down WordPress comments in specific areas, like posts, pages, or media.

Disable Comments For Any Post Types

• Main functions: Turn off comments on the entire site; shut down comments in specific areas, like pages, posts, or media; get rid of external links from existing comments, and it also has some tools to boost SEO.

No Page Comment

• Main functions: Turn off comments on posts, pages, or media; change comments in existing site elements.

Pros and Cons of Turning Off WordPress Comments

Now that we understand how to turn off comments on a WordPress site, let’s look at some pros and cons.

Advantages

1. Saves time: You’ll have more opportunity to concentrate on other tasks instead of managing comments.
2. Prevents spam: Some comments aim to flood the site with advertisements or junk content.
3. Maintains cleanliness: Depending on the page’s purpose lengthy and heated discussions might not look good.
4. Speeds up pages: Fewer elements allow your content to load more .

Disadvantages

1. Less user interaction: Turning off comments cuts down on how users can engage with your content and share their thoughts. This reduces overall interaction.
2. Potential effect on page SEO: While it’s not a major factor, comments about your business might boost your search rankings a bit.
3. Fewer insights and chances: Think about how popular social media posts attract tons of comments. You never know – you might stumble upon great opportunities or clever ideas in there.

To wrap up

This guide showed you how to turn off comments on a WordPress site using built-in dashboard tools and plugins. This gives you more control over your website’s content and helps you avoid spam comments.