This past weekend, I just released the latest version of No Page Comment, an administration WordPress plugin, with the purpose to make life easier when developing websites using WordPress.
Why I Created No Page Comment
When I create a site, I like to have comments turned on for all posts, and off for all pages. For a lot of developers, the fix for that solution is to literally delete the comment form from all page templates, and be done with it. Unfortunately for me, there were actually times when I found that I needed a comment form for specific pages. Because this happened more than once, I wrote a small script and placed it in my theme functions file.
The function was simple. When a new page was created in WordPress, jQuery was used to check if comments and trackbacks were disabled and would automatically uncheck the box if they weren’t. This way I would no longer have to remember to do that on every page I created.
Then, if I needed to turn on comments, I would still have that ability by editing it in the discussion settings for that page.
Making No Page Comment a WordPress Plugin
After using the script for a few months, I had a coworker ask if he could use the script for a site he was working on, and I realized I should really share the feature with everyone.
After the plugin was available in the WordPress plugin repository for about a month, the plugin’s reception for those who understood what it could do was pretty positive. People began contacting me asking me to add the ability for custom post types and I modified the plugin accordingly.
The Latest Version of No Page Comment
There were some misconceptions about the plugins ability, but those misconceptions have actually built the plugin into what it is today. Just last week, I finally modified the script so it is now more than a preemptive strike when creating new pages.
People wanted it to automatically turn off all of the comments, but it didn’t do that, and at the time, my WordPress plugin development skill set wasn’t high enough to accomplish that goal. Now, I’ve modified the plugin so it can turn off all comments or trackbacks on post, pages, or any other custom post type with just the click of a button.
Because this feature directly modifies the database, I do recommend backing up the database beforehand, but everything should be secure and shouldn’t cause any problems. I just don’t want any liability if something does go wrong! :)
So with this latest update, the WordPress plugin finally passed 20,000 downloads. I’ve also finally moved the plugin’s development to GitHub, so feel free to post any issues there or feature requests there.
My goal is to generate enough feedback to move No Page Comment out of a beta version (currently it’s at 0.3) and move it forward to 1.0 by the end of the year, so here’s to making that happen.
