Disable Comments RB

Overview

Disable Comments RB gives you real control over WordPress comments instead of a single on/off switch. Choose which content types lose comments, decide separately whether visitors can post new ones and whether the old ones stay visible, and clean up what is left with a bulk delete that counts before it removes anything.

The free plugin covers disabling, hiding, deleting, spam-channel blocking and statistics. The optional PRO add-on adds the AI Assistant for automatic replies, WooCommerce review tools, date and role rules, Multisite enforcement, export/import and WP-CLI.

Installation

In your WordPress admin, go to Plugins → Add New.
Search for Disable Comments RB, then click Install Now and Activate.
Open Settings → Disable Comments RB.

Or download the plugin from WordPress.org and upload the disable-comments-rb folder to /wp-content/plugins/.

Nothing changes on your site until you save the settings: a fresh install leaves comments exactly as they were and shows a notice that links to the settings screen.

Quick start

Open Settings → Disable Comments RB and stay on the Disable tab.
Choose Disable everywhere, or Disable for selected content types and tick the types — for example Pages and Media, while Posts stay open for discussion.
Leave Block visitors from posting new comments on.
Under Comments already on the site, choose Keep showing them or Hide all of them.
Click Save changes. Settings are saved without a page reload and apply at once.

Hover any option on the settings screen to read what it does in the panel on the right.

Free and PRO

Feature	Free	PRO
Disable comments everywhere or on selected content types	✓	✓
Block new comments and hide existing ones, independently	✓	✓
Bulk delete or trash by content type and status, with Count first	✓	✓
Block comments sent through XML-RPC and the REST API	✓	✓
Statistics tab and Dashboard widget	✓	✓
Comments page and toolbar shortcuts, top-level menu option	✓	✓
AI Assistant: automatic replies by keywords, with presets		✓
WooCommerce reviews: replies by star rating, delete and statistics apart from comments		✓
Hide existing comments by date		✓
Delete by date and by comment type		✓
Role-based exceptions for staff		✓
Multisite: enforce the settings network-wide		✓
Export and import settings		✓
WP-CLI commands		✓

See pricing for licenses.

Installing PRO

PRO is a small separate plugin, Disable Comments RB — PRO Key, that works on top of the free plugin. There is no license key to type in: having the PRO Key active is the unlock.

Keep Disable Comments RB installed and active (version 2.1 or later).
Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the PRO Key ZIP file you received after purchase, and click Install Now, then Activate.
Open Settings → Disable Comments RB. The PRO badges disappear and the PRO options are unlocked.

Your settings stay where they are if you deactivate the PRO Key; the PRO features simply stop working until it is active again.

Upgrading from 1.0.x

Version 2 keeps your old choices: the content types you disabled and the “everywhere” setting carry over, and existing comments stay hidden on those types, as they were in 1.0.x. The new Dashboard widget and toolbar item stay off on updated sites until you turn them on under General Settings.

In this guide

Disable settings — where comments are off, new comments, existing comments, exceptions and Multisite
Deleting comments — bulk delete or trash, with Count first
AI Assistant (PRO) — automatic replies to comments and WooCommerce reviews
General settings — menu, spam channels, shortcuts, export and import
Statistics and the Dashboard widget — comment counts at a glance
WP-CLI commands (PRO) — status, set, stats and delete from a terminal

Documentation