Turn Off REST API vs WPControl – The Easiest Optimization Plugin for WordPress

Turn Off REST API is a lightweight WordPress security plugin that disables the WordPress REST API for visitors who are not logged in. Anonymous requests to your /wp-json endpoints receive an authentication error instead of your site data, while logged in users, your theme, and your plugins keep working normally. By default WordPress exposes a large amount of information through the REST API, including your list of user accounts and usernames, published content, and details about your site. For most sites that open, unauthenticated access is unnecessary and only widens the attack surface for user enumeration and content scraping. Turn Off REST API closes the WordPress REST API to the public in one click, then gives you a clear settings screen to reopen only the specific REST API routes you actually need. Why turn off the WordPress REST API? Stop anonymous user enumeration through /wp-json/wp/v2/users. Reduce your attack surface against REST API based exploits and bots. Keep your content and site data from being scraped through the public API. Stay in control with a per route allow list instead of an all or nothing switch. What it does Returns an authentication error for unauthenticated REST API requests. Optionally removes the REST API discovery links and headers from your page source. Lets you build an allow list of routes that should stay public (for example a contact form or a specific integration). Adds a Site Health check so the restriction is clearly explained and never mistaken for a fault. Keeps the admin area, the block editor, and logged in functionality fully working. Built for control, not breakage Some security plugins disable the REST API completely and break the block editor or third party integrations in the process. Turn Off REST API only blocks unauthenticated access, and the per route allow list means you can whitelist exactly the endpoints a service needs without opening the whole API back up. Developer friendly The access decision runs through the tora_grant_rest_api filter, so developers can extend or override the logic for custom roles, application passwords, or trusted requests.

WPControl is the ultimate way to clean up your WordPress site. With over 20 built-in optimizations, WPControl allows you to easily enable and disable WordPress Core features, letting you remove those features that you don’t use from the dashboard you and your users see. Simply put, WPControl is the ultimate plugin that you need to control your website. With our single plugin, you can remove the need to have plugins for things like: Disabling emails Disabling comments Disabling the WordPress REST API and so much more All in a single, easy to use plugin that helps boost both the performance and security of your WordPress install. WPControl is designed for simplicity first, made by the same WPBeginner team that makes your favorite WordPress tutorials. Our plugin is used by the plugin authors behind many of your favorite WordPress plugins including MonsterInsights , WPForms, AIOSEO and more. Simple, yet powerful. I love that I can easily disable all of the features of WordPress I’m not using in a single plugin. It makes new site setup a breeze! Chris Christoff At WPControl, we found that there are many unused features of WordPress that make it a hassle sometimes or we just don’t need. There are tons of plugins already out there that will disable a specific feature. But taking the time and energy to optimize all of them was too much. We made just one plugin that has the features of many so you can have a one stop shop for disabling unused features of WordPress. Unlike other methods of disabling features, WPControl allows you to disable many features with just a few clicks (no need to hire a developer). Settings Include 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 PrettyLinks plugin. Then there is no need for this unnecessary tag. 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 do not need it. Most of the time, it is just unnecessary code. 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 it tells browsers that the site contains links that use XFN Specification 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 code. 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 your WordPress theme. 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. Remove HTML comments – Removes HTML comments in source code to add a layer of defense from attackers trying to find the version of plugins. Remove Meta Generator – This meta tag allows attackers to see the version of WordPress, it serves no useful purpose. Disable Right Click – You can disable the ability to right click on your site, or just specific things like posts, pages, media, front page, and even have the ability to show an alert to the user that right click is disabled. Disable Admin Notices – You can disable all admin notices that appear in the admin settings page. Disable New User Emails – Stops WordPress from sending new user notification emails to admin. Disable Search – Disable the front-end search bar in WordPress. Disable Lazy Loading – Removes the lazy loading functionality that was added in WordPress 5.3. Hide Admin Toolbar – Hides the admin toolbar when the admin is on the front-end Disable Dashboard Widgets – Gives you the option to disable whichever default dashboard widgets you want. After reading this feature list, you can probably imagine why WPControl is the best disable plugin for WordPress. Give WPControl a try today! Credits This plugin is created by Zain Balkhi of the WPBeginner team. What’s Next If you like this plugin, then consider checking out our other projects: MonsterInsights – Best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress OptinMonster – Get More Email Subscribers WPForms – Best WordPress Contact Form Plugin AIOSEO – The original WordPress SEO plugin to help you rank higher in search results (trusted by over 2 million sites) SeedProd – Most popular coming soon & maintenance mode plugin for WordPress WP Mail SMTP – Improve email deliverability for your contact form with the most popular SMTP plugin for WordPress RafflePress – Best WordPress giveaway and contest plugin to grow traffic and social followers Smash Balloon – #1 social feeds plugin for WordPress – display social media content in WordPress without code PushEngage – Connect with visitors after they leave your website with the leading web push notification plugin TrustPulse – Add real-time social proof notifications to boost your store conversions by up to 15% This plugin would not be possible without the help and support of WPBeginner, the largest WordPress resource site. 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