Disable comments on all posts/pages

Question

Is there a quick way to disable all comments on all posts and pages. I know that you can go into the dashboard under posts, click edit, and Do Not Allow, under comments. Is that the only way?

Answer 1

The check if comments are enabled is performed by comments_open() function.

You can make it always return false via a filter with something like this:

add_filter('comments_open', '__return_false');   

Other way would be to make comments available to only registered users (that is if you don't have open registration) in Settings > Discussion.

Answer 2

I have write an plugin for this job. https://github.com/bueltge/Remove-Comments-Absolutely

WordPress has on many different points jobs and views for comments, if you will not use all this, use the plugin or customize the source for your requirements.

Answer 3

Bulk edit the existing pages in the dashboard Posts or Pages view as noted here:

1. Go to your All Posts page.
2. Click on the checkbox in the header.
3. Choose "Edit" under the bulk actions drop-down and then click Apply. The bulk edit area will appear.
4. In the middle of the bulk edit area will be four drop-down menus. The second one is for comments. Change it to "Do not allow".
5. Turn off pings with a similar drop-down to the right side of the bulk edit area.
6. Click the update button on the far right.

Answer 4

I thought I'd add an answer to the above as it may not be immediately obvious to others searching for this issue.

In Settings >> Discussion you can uncheck "Allow people to post comments on new articles" in the Default article settings. However, note that this will only affect new posts/pages.

You can bulk edit the existing pages in the dashboard Posts or Pages view.

This may be a preferred method for some people not wanting to touch the template files, etc.

Answer 5

Not including the comment-form in your theme also works (that's what I usually do).