Tweaks

Tweaks collects small switches that usually come as one plugin each: comments, front-end search, emoji scripts, embedding of this site, <head> clean-up, Heartbeat, self-pingbacks and the number of revisions WordPress keeps. Each switch works on its own.

Turning on the module changes nothing by itself. Every switch is off and Revisions to keep is empty until you change them.

Module ID	tweaks
Default	Off
Available	Always
WP-CLI	None
Since	0.1.0

How it works

Tweaks does not check whether another plugin already does the same thing.

Disable comments

Help text: "Closes comments and pingbacks everywhere and hides existing ones. WooCommerce product reviews keep working when reviews are enabled in WooCommerce."

• Comments and pingbacks are closed on every post type. The comment form handler (wp-comments-post.php), the REST API and XML-RPC all check this, so they refuse comments too.
• Comment and trackback support is removed from every post type.
• Existing comments are hidden, not deleted. SafeHouse empties the list of comments that WordPress's comments_template() passes to the theme, which is how classic themes show comments. The comments stay in the database and show again when you turn the switch off.
• WordPress's Comments block, used by block themes, loads comments by itself without that list. On a block theme, existing comments can still show.
• The link to the comments feed is removed from <head>. The comments feed itself is not blocked.
• The Comments item is removed from the admin bar.
• The Comments menu in wp-admin is removed, unless product reviews stay on (below).

Exception: when WooCommerce is active and its product reviews are enabled (the woocommerce_enable_reviews option is yes), products keep their reviews. Comments on products then stay open or closed as WooCommerce and the product set them, and the Comments menu stays.

Disable front-end search

Help text: "Search URLs redirect to the home page (stops search-spam pages). Also disables WooCommerce product search."

• A front-end search (any address with ?s=) redirects to the home page with status 301, a permanent redirect. This includes WooCommerce product search.
• Search forms that come from get_search_form(), such as the classic Search widget, print nothing.
• WordPress's Search block does not use get_search_form(), so on a block theme the search box still shows. A search from it lands on the home page.
• Search in wp-admin keeps working.

Disable emoji scripts

This switch has no help text.

• Removes WordPress's emoji detection script and emoji styles from front-end pages, and blanks the emoji image address (emoji_svg_url).
• Stops WordPress from turning emoji into images in feeds and in outgoing e-mail.
• Removes the emoji plugin from the classic editor (TinyMCE).

Browsers then draw emoji with their own fonts.

Disable embedding of this site

Help text: "Removes oEmbed discovery and wp-embed.js. Embedding YouTube and others in your posts still works."

• Removes the oEmbed discovery links from <head>. These are the links other sites look for when someone pastes one of your addresses.
• Stops WordPress from loading wp-embed.js on your pages.

That is all it does. The oEmbed endpoint of the REST API and the /embed/ view of each post keep working, so a site that asks for them can still embed your content.

Clean up <head>

Help text: "Removes RSD, Windows Live Writer, shortlink and adjacent-post links."

• Removes the RSD link from <head>.
• Removes the shortlink: the <link rel="shortlink"> tag and the shortlink HTTP Link header.
• Removes the links to the previous and next post.
• WordPress itself stopped printing the Windows Live Writer link in version 6.3, so on the versions SafeHouse supports there is nothing left to remove there.

Slow down Heartbeat

Help text: "Every 60 seconds instead of 15–60, and not loaded on the front end for visitors."

• Sets the Heartbeat interval to 60 seconds everywhere, wp-admin and the editor included.
• Removes the Heartbeat script from front-end pages for visitors who are not logged in. For logged-in users it still loads on the front end wherever something uses it, at 60 seconds.

Disable self-pingbacks

This switch has no help text.

When a post links to another post on the same site, WordPress pings that post, which adds a pingback to your own site. With this switch on, SafeHouse leaves out every link that starts with the site address (home_url()). A link to your site written another way, for example with http:// on an https:// site, is still pinged.

Revisions to keep

Help text: "Empty keeps the WordPress default (unlimited)."

• A number from 0 to 100. A higher number is saved as 100.
• When set, SafeHouse uses this number for every post type. It overrides WP_POST_REVISIONS in wp-config.php.
• 0 turns revisions off. WordPress then saves no more revisions and leaves the existing ones in place.
• With a number above 0, WordPress deletes a post's oldest revisions beyond that number the next time it saves a revision of that post.
• Empty adds nothing, so WordPress's own setting applies: WP_POST_REVISIONS, or unlimited when it is not defined.

Settings

On SafeHouse → Modules → Tweaks, select Details.

Setting	Default	What it does
Disable comments	Off	Closes comments and pingbacks and hides existing comments. Product reviews stay when WooCommerce reviews are enabled.
Disable front-end search	Off	Redirects searches to the home page with a 301 and removes get_search_form() forms.
Disable emoji scripts	Off	Removes the emoji script and styles from front-end pages, and emoji images from feeds and e-mail.
Disable embedding of this site	Off	Removes oEmbed discovery links and wp-embed.js.
Clean up <head>	Off	Removes the RSD link, the shortlink and the previous and next post links.
Slow down Heartbeat	Off	Heartbeat every 60 seconds, and none on the front end for visitors.
Disable self-pingbacks	Off	Stops pings to the site's own posts.
Revisions to keep	Empty	From 0 to 100 revisions per post. Overrides WP_POST_REVISIONS.

What it stores

Only the settings, in the option shouse_settings. SafeHouse deletes nothing: hidden comments stay in the database, and turning a switch off brings WordPress's behavior back. Revisions are the exception: WordPress deletes those beyond the number you set, as described above.

Limitations

• Disable comments hides comments but does not delete them. On block themes that use the Comments block, existing comments can still show. The comments feed address is not blocked.
• Disable front-end search redirects with a 301. Browsers can remember a permanent redirect, so a search address someone already opened may keep redirecting for them after you turn the switch off.
• On block themes the Search block stays visible, though its searches redirect.
• Disable embedding of this site removes discovery and wp-embed.js only. The oEmbed endpoint and the /embed/ views still answer.
• Disable emoji scripts works on front-end pages only. WordPress hooks its wp-admin emoji script in after SafeHouse has run its removal, so wp-admin screens still load it.
• Slow down Heartbeat applies the 60-second interval in wp-admin too, not only on the front end.
• Revisions to keep overrides WP_POST_REVISIONS. 0 stops new revisions but keeps the existing ones.
• Tweaks does not detect other plugins that do the same, so two plugins can change the same thing.

Related pages

• Hardening
• Bot protection
• Replacing other plugins
• Modules