Delving Deep into Removing Recent Posts and Comments From WordPress

For many WordPress users, keeping everything tidy is of the utmost importance. And by everything, we mean everything—including recent posts and comments. Here, we will take a deep dive into removing these elements from your WordPress site.

Before proceeding with any deletion, keep in mind that once you delete posts or comments, they are gone forever without a backup. So, make sure you have backups or an archive in place before proceeding with any deletion!

Removing Recent Posts

Deleting recent posts from your WordPress site can be accomplished easily through the dashboard. Here are the steps to take:

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Posts > All Posts.
2. Once you’re in the All Posts screen, you’ll see a list of all your recent posts. Select the ones you wish to delete.
3. You can choose multiple posts by clicking on the checkbox next to each post.
4. After selecting the posts, click on the Bulk Actions dropdown and choose Move to Trash.
5. Click Apply.

And voilà! All selected posts have been sent to the trash. To permanently delete them, go to the Trash folder, select the posts you want to delete, and click the Trash dropdown, selecting Delete Permanently.

Removing Recent Comments

Removing recent comments is similarly easy to accomplish:

1. Log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Comments > All Comments.
2. In the All Comments screen, you’ll see a list of all the comments on your site. Select the comments you wish to delete.
3. You can choose multiple comments by clicking on the checkbox next to each comment.
4. After selecting the comments, click on the Bulk Actions dropdown and choose Move to Trash.
5. Click Apply.

And just like that, all selected comments have been sent to the trash. To permanently delete them, go to the Trash folder, select the comments you want to delete, and click the Trash dropdown, selecting Delete Permanently.

Preventing Recent Posts and Comments

If you want to prevent recent posts and comments altogether, there are a few ways to accomplish that.

Method 1: Disable Comments

To disable comments on your site:

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Settings > Discussion.
2. In the Discussion settings, uncheck the box that says Allow people to submit comments on new posts.

This will disable comments on all future posts.

Method 2: Use Code

If you want to prevent recent posts from appearing on your site, you can use code to do that. Add the following code to your functions.php file:

function exclude_recent_posts($query) {
if ($query->is_home ) {
$query->set('post__not_in', array(12,14,74)); // replace these numbers with the IDs of the posts you want to exclude
}
}
add_action('pre_get_posts', 'exclude_recent_posts');

This code will exclude the posts you specify from the homepage of your site.

Conclusion

In conclusion, removing recent posts and comments from your WordPress site is feasible through the dashboard. To prevent recent posts and comments altogether, you can disable comments or use code to exclude certain posts from appearing on your site.