PluginScout

WPControl — WordPress Security Plugin

WPControl – The Easiest Optimization Plugin for WordPress

by Syed Balkhi · WordPress.org page · Website

v1.0.1 Tested up to WP 5.9.16 PHP 5.6+

WPControl has 200+ active installs on WordPress.org and 4,791 downloads all time. We have tracked it since September 4, 2026; download trends appear after 30 days of data. The last update was on April 18, 2022, tested up to WordPress 5.9.16.

WPControl at a glance

Active installs
200+
Total downloads
4,791
Downloads, last 30 days
–
available after 30 days of tracking
30-day growth
–
tracking since September 4, 2026

Is WPControl well maintained?

Support threads resolved
No open threads
nothing waiting on the WordPress.org forum
WordPress compatibility
Behind
tested up to WordPress 5.9.16, not yet with the current 7.1

Features

The feature list from the plugin's own readme on WordPress.org, trimmed to the essentials.

  • Disable Comments – You can disable comments site wide or on specific post types such as posts, pages, and media
  • Disable Gutenberg – Disables the Gutenberg block editor and reverts it the Classic Editor
  • Disable “Try Gutenberg” Nag – Removes the annoying admin notice that keeps nagging you to try Gutenberg
  • Disable Shortlinks – The tag is auto generated by WordPress and is used to create shortlinks. If you are already using pretty permalinks, such as the…
  • Disable RSD Link – RSD Links are used by blog clients and some 3rd parties that utilize XML-RPC requests. If you edit your site through your browser, then you…
  • Remove XFN Profile Link – The XFN Profile Link is used to add semantic data to links to be used by browsers to assign relationships between profiles. Basically…
  • Disable wlwmanifest Link – The wlwmanifest link is used by Windows Live Writer. If you don’t use Windows Live Writer then disable the link as it is unnecessary…
  • Disable Links to Previous and Next Post – If your site is not a blog and is used as a CMS, then this feature will remove the previous and next post links in…
  • Disable XML-RPC Pingback – Removes XML-RPC method to prevent abuse of site’s pingback while you can use the rest of the XML-RPC Pingback method
  • Disable Gravatar – Blocks users WordPress from getting user Gravatar from their email to add privacy for the users or prevent inappropriate avatars
  • Disable Rest API – Disables the REST-API to prevent abuse of Rest/JSON API
  • Hide Login Errors – An attacker can find the authors login using a similar request as mysite.com/?author=1

WPControl reviews and ratings

2 reviews on WordPress.org, with the most recent ones as their authors posted them.

All reviews
4.5 out of 5

2 reviews

5★
1
4★
1
3★
0
2★
0
1★
0

  • Problem with WP 6

    After updating WordPress to 6 version the WP control pluging crashed the site! Indeed I tested all the plugings one by one removing them all from the backoffice and adding them again one by one and this one failed!

    pat121

  • Makes a very good first impression

    Keep it up! UPDATE[2022-04-08]: - There seems to be a conflict using WPControl alongside with the Elementor Plugin. The main menu of Elementor isn't reachable due to a blocking overlay. UPDATE[2022-04-20]: somehow solved / obsolete WISHLIST: - Removing the category base ‘/category’ from permalinks as a new feature of WPControl.

    Christoqh

Details

The easiest way to improve your website's security, performance, and user experience.

The full description, screenshots and every review live on the WordPress.org page.

Rankings WPControl competes in

Tags

  • disable comments
  • disable gutenberg
  • disable REST API
  • performance
  • security

More from Syed Balkhi

Version
1.0.1
Last updated
Apr 18, 2022
First published
Apr 1, 2022
Requires WordPress
3.8.0
Tested up to
5.9.16
Requires PHP
5.6
Pricing
Free on WordPress.org

WPControl FAQ

What does WPControl do?

According to its WordPress.org readme, WPControl offers Disable Comments – You can disable comments site wide or on specific post types such as posts, pages, and media, Disable Gutenberg – Disables the Gutenberg block editor and reverts it the Classic Editor, Disable “Try Gutenberg” Nag – Removes the annoying admin notice that keeps nagging you to try Gutenberg, Disable Shortlinks – The tag is auto generated by WordPress and is used to create shortlinks. If you are already using pretty permalinks, such as the and Disable RSD Link – RSD Links are used by blog clients and some 3rd parties that utilize XML-RPC requests. If you edit your site through your browser, then you.

How many active installs does WPControl have?

WordPress.org reports 200+ active installs for WPControl as of September 7, 2026.

Is WPControl still maintained?

The last release was on April 18, 2022, more than a year ago. WordPress.org shows a warning on plugins that go this long without an update.

Is WPControl free?

WPControl is free to install from WordPress.org. Many plugins also sell a paid version or add-ons.