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Control Comments

PropertyValue
descriptionControl comment behavior and related admin UI.
tagslib, wp, php, oop
rating

Overview​

Control comment support and related WordPress admin UI from one snippet.

By default, comments are disabled globally, disabled for posts and pages, and removed from public post types unless comments are explicitly allowed. The snippet also removes comment output, the Comments admin menu, the recent comments dashboard widget, the admin bar comments node, and direct access to the comments screen when comments are disabled.

Change the top-level constants in the procedural snippet, or the class constants in the OOP variant, when a site needs comments enabled for posts or pages.

Variants​

<?php
/**
 * Control comment behavior and related admin UI.
 */

const MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED      = false;
const MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_POSTS = false;
const MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_PAGES = false;

/**
 * Check whether comments are allowed for a post.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_comments_allowed_for_post' ) ) {

    function mac_comments_allowed_for_post( int $post_id ): bool {

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED ) {
            return false;
        }

        $post_type = (string) get_post_type( $post_id );

        return match ( $post_type ) {
            'post' => MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_POSTS,
            'page' => MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_PAGES,
            default => post_type_supports( $post_type, 'comments' ),
        };
    }
}

/**
 * Check whether comments are supported anywhere.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_any_comments_supported' ) ) {

    function mac_any_comments_supported(): bool {

        if ( MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED && ( MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_POSTS || MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_PAGES ) ) {
            return true;
        }

        foreach ( get_post_types( ['public' => true], 'names' ) as $post_type ) {
            if ( ! in_array( $post_type, ['post', 'page'], true )
                && post_type_supports( $post_type, 'comments' )
            ) {
                return true;
            }
        }

        return false;
    }
}

/**
 * Filter comment and ping open state.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_filter_comments_open' ) ) {

    function mac_filter_comments_open( bool $open, int|WP_Post|null $post ): bool {

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED ) {
            return false;
        }

        $post_id = is_object( $post ) ? (int) $post->ID : (int) $post;
        if ( $post_id <= 0 ) {
            return false;
        }

        return mac_comments_allowed_for_post( $post_id );
    }
}

add_filter( 'comments_open', 'mac_filter_comments_open', 10, 2 );
add_filter( 'pings_open', 'mac_filter_comments_open', 10, 2 );

/**
 * Hide existing comments when disallowed.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_filter_comments_array' ) ) {

    function mac_filter_comments_array( array $comments, int $post_id ): array {

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED || ! mac_comments_allowed_for_post( $post_id ) ) {
            return [];
        }

        return $comments;
    }
}

add_filter( 'comments_array', 'mac_filter_comments_array', 10, 2 );

/**
 * Remove comment support from post types.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_enforce_comment_post_type_support' ) ) {

    function mac_enforce_comment_post_type_support(): void {

        foreach ( get_post_types( ['public' => true], 'names' ) as $post_type ) {
            $allow = match ( $post_type ) {
                'post' => MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED && MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_POSTS,
                'page' => MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED && MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLE_PAGES,
                default => MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED && post_type_supports( $post_type, 'comments' ),
            };

            if ( ! $allow ) {
                remove_post_type_support( $post_type, 'comments' );
                remove_post_type_support( $post_type, 'trackbacks' );
            }
        }
    }
}

add_action( 'init', 'mac_enforce_comment_post_type_support', 20 );

/**
 * Remove Comments admin menu entry.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_remove_comments_admin_menu' ) ) {

    function mac_remove_comments_admin_menu(): void {

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED || ! mac_any_comments_supported() ) {
            remove_menu_page( 'edit-comments.php' );
        }
    }
}

add_action( 'admin_menu', 'mac_remove_comments_admin_menu', 99 );
add_action( 'network_admin_menu', 'mac_remove_comments_admin_menu', 99 );

/**
 * Remove Comments dashboard widget.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_remove_comments_dashboard_widget' ) ) {

    function mac_remove_comments_dashboard_widget(): void {

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED || ! mac_any_comments_supported() ) {
            remove_meta_box( 'dashboard_recent_comments', 'dashboard', 'normal' );
        }
    }
}

add_action( 'wp_dashboard_setup', 'mac_remove_comments_dashboard_widget', 20 );

/**
 * Remove Comments admin bar node.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_remove_comments_admin_bar_node' ) ) {

    function mac_remove_comments_admin_bar_node( WP_Admin_Bar $bar ): void {

        if ( ! is_admin_bar_showing() ) {
            return;
        }

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED || ! mac_any_comments_supported() ) {
            $bar->remove_node( 'comments' );
        }
    }
}

add_action( 'admin_bar_menu', 'mac_remove_comments_admin_bar_node', 100 );

/**
 * Block direct access to comments screens.
 */
if ( ! function_exists( 'mac_block_comments_screen' ) ) {

    function mac_block_comments_screen(): void {

        if ( ! MAC_COMMENTS_ENABLED || ! mac_any_comments_supported() ) {
            wp_safe_redirect( admin_url( 'index.php' ) );
            exit;
        }
    }
}

add_action( 'load-edit-comments.php', 'mac_block_comments_screen' );