How To Disable Comment Form Website URL in WordPress

WordPress provides a built-in comment system for your website, fostering engagement and interaction with your audience. However, you may encounter situations where it’s necessary to refine this experience by disabling the option for commenters to include their website URLs. This can be a valuable step to mitigate spam and cultivate a more focused and meaningful discussion environment.

Before proceeding with any customizations in WordPress, it’s essential to set up a child theme. A child theme acts as a safe and efficient way to make modifications without affecting the parent theme. If you haven’t set up a child theme yet, follow this tutorial on How to Create a Child Theme for Customization. It will guide you through the process and ensure that your customizations remain intact even after theme updates.

Add Code to functions.php

Navigate to your WordPress child theme directory via FTP or through the WordPress Dashboard. Inside your child theme directory, locate the functions.php file, which contains custom functions for your WordPress theme. Open it with a text editor. Add the following code snippet to the end of the functions.php file:

function disable_comment_url($fields) {
    unset($fields['url']);
    return $fields;
}

add_filter('comment_form_default_fields', 'disable_comment_url');
Code language: PHP (php)

Code Explanation:

• This code defines a function named disable_comment_url which takes the comment form fields as an argument.
• Inside the function, it uses the unset function to remove the ‘url’ field from the comment form.
• Finally, it returns the modified comment form fields, effectively excluding the website URL field.

Save, Upload and Test

After adding the code snippet to disable the Comment Form Website URL field, it’s time to both save your changes and verify the modification on your website.

Next, visit one of your published posts on your WordPress website and navigate to the comment section, typically found at the end of the post. You should observe that the Website URL field is no longer displayed in the comment form.

That’s it! You’ve successfully learned how to disable the Comment Form Website URL field in WordPress without relying on plugins. This customization empowers you to tailor your comment section to your specific needs, whether it’s reducing spam, fostering more focused discussions, or enhancing user engagement. Remember to use this method judiciously to create a comment environment that aligns with your website’s goals and objectives.