Fully Disable Comments & Trackbacks (The “Nuclear” Option)

/**

 * Fully Disable Comments & Trackbacks (The "Nuclear" Option)

 * Optimized for performance and UI clarity.

 */

add_action('admin_init', function () {

    global $pagenow;

    if ($pagenow === 'edit-comments.php') {

        wp_safe_redirect(admin_url());

        exit;

    }

    remove_meta_box('dashboard_recent_comments', 'dashboard', 'normal');

    foreach (get_post_types() as $post_type) {

        if (post_type_supports($post_type, 'comments')) {

            remove_post_type_support($post_type, 'comments');

            remove_post_type_support($post_type, 'trackbacks');

        }

    }

});

// Front-end lockdowns

add_filter('comments_open', '__return_false', 20, 2);

add_filter('pings_open', '__return_false', 20, 2);

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

// UI removal

add_action('admin_menu', fn() => remove_menu_page('edit-comments.php'));

add_action('wp_before_admin_bar_render', function() {

    global $wp_admin_bar;

    $wp_admin_bar->remove_menu('comments');

});

// NEW: Disable REST API comments endpoint for security/performance

add_filter('rest_endpoints', function ($endpoints) {

    if (isset($endpoints['/wp/v2/comments'])) {

        unset($endpoints['/wp/v2/comments']);

    }

    if (isset($endpoints['/wp/v2/comments/(?P<id>[\d]+)'])) {

        unset($endpoints['/wp/v2/comments/(?P<id>[\d]+)']);

    }

    return $endpoints;

});

// NEW: Remove X-Pingback Header

add_filter('wp_headers', function($headers) {

    unset($headers['X-Pingback']);

    return $headers;

});