Add WordPress 6.9+ Block Notes compatibility to disable comments feature

[fabiankaegy]

This pull request adds full compatibility with the new WordPress 6.9+ Block Notes feature while the "disable comments" option is enabled. It ensures that Block Notes (which use a different comment type) continue to function for editorial collaboration, even when traditional comments are disabled. Additionally, a new filter allows developers to specify which comment types should bypass the disable comments feature. Several code changes improve how comment queries and the frontend handle these exceptions.

WordPress 6.9+ Block Notes compatibility:

• Block Notes (comment type note) are now allowed and work as expected even when comments are disabled, both in the editor and on the frontend. [1] [2]
• Documentation updated to explain Block Notes compatibility and clarify that disabling comments does not affect Block Notes, which are only visible in the editor.

Extensibility for allowed comment types:

• Added a new filter, tenup_experience_disable_comments_allowed_types, allowing plugins to specify additional comment types that should remain functional when comments are disabled. [1] [2]

Bug fixes and improved filtering:

• The logic for hiding comments on the frontend and short-circuiting comment queries now properly checks comment types, ensuring only traditional comments are blocked while allowed types (like Block Notes) are preserved.

Documentation updates:

• Updated CHANGELOG.md and README.md to document the Block Notes compatibility, new filter, and related changes. [1] [2] [3]

Closes #189

[Copilot]

Pull request overview

This PR adds compatibility for WordPress 6.9+ Block Notes feature with the existing "disable comments" functionality. The implementation ensures that Block Notes (comment type note) continue to work for editorial collaboration even when traditional comments are disabled site-wide.

Key Changes:

• Introduced a new get_allowed_comment_types() method that returns comment types that should bypass the disable comments feature, with note included by default
• Modified comment filtering logic to preserve allowed comment types while blocking traditional comments
• Added a new filter tenup_experience_disable_comments_allowed_types for extensibility

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 3 out of 3 changed files in this pull request and generated 3 comments.

File	Description
includes/classes/Comments/Comments.php	Core implementation: adds allowed comment types logic and updates comment query/display filters to preserve Block Notes
README.md	Documents the Block Notes compatibility and the new extensibility filter with usage examples
CHANGELOG.md	Documents the new feature and bug fixes for the unreleased version

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[Copilot]

The version number mentioned here (1.17.0) is inconsistent with the @SInCE tags in the code which reference 1.12.0. Please ensure the version number is accurate and consistent across all documentation.

[darylldoyle]

@fabiankaegy this is a great first pass. I've left some comments, but not tested anything at this time.

[darylldoyle]

This version will actually be 1.18.0 following semver 🙂

Suggested change

	As of version 1.17.0, the disable comments feature is fully compatible with Block Notes introduced in WordPress 6.9. Block Notes are a collaborative feedback feature that allows teams to leave contextual comments on blocks within the editor.
	As of version 1.18.0, the disable comments feature is fully compatible with Block Notes introduced in WordPress 6.9. Block Notes are a collaborative feedback feature that allows teams to leave contextual comments on blocks within the editor.

[darylldoyle]

Copilot made a valid point here, the type param can be an array, so we should handle it in a way that allows that. This should update your code to handle it gracefully.

I guess one question I have is; if we have a query with the type of ['note', 'comment'] this will let it work as-is. Should we instead clobber any non-allowlisted comment types? So ['note', 'comment'] would become ['note']?

That would ensure that we don't accidentally leak other comment types in queries, but also since I'm not close to this feature, I don't know if it will break anything.

Suggested change

	if ( is_a( $query, '\WP_Comment_Query' ) ) {
	$comment_type = $query->query_vars['type'] ?? '';
	// Allow certain comment types (like Block Notes) to pass through.
	if ( in_array( $comment_type, $this->get_allowed_comment_types(), true ) ) {
	return $comment_data; // Return null to allow the query to proceed.
	}
	// Short-circuit count queries for traditional comments.
	if ( $query->query_vars['count'] ) {
	return 0;
	}
	}
	// Only handle WP_Comment_Query instances.
	if ( ! is_a( $query, '\WP_Comment_Query' ) ) {
	return array();
	}
	$allowed_types = $this->get_allowed_comment_types();
	$requested_types = $query->query_vars['type'] ?? '';
	// Normalise "type" to an array.
	if ( '' === $requested_types || null === $requested_types ) {
	$requested_types = array();
	} elseif ( ! is_array( $requested_types ) ) {
	$requested_types = array( $requested_types );
	}
	// Does this query include any allowed comment types?
	$has_allowed_type = ! empty( array_intersect( $requested_types, $allowed_types ) );
	// Allow queries that involve any of the allowed types to run as normal.
	if ( $has_allowed_type ) {
	return $comment_data;
	}
	// If this is a count query, return 0 instead of letting WP run the full query.
	if ( ! empty( $query->query_vars['count'] ) ) {
	return 0;
	}

[darylldoyle]

My preference here is to ensure an array is always returned for better type safety.

Suggested change

	return apply_filters( 'tenup_experience_disable_comments_allowed_types', $allowed_types );
	$allowed_types = apply_filters( 'tenup_experience_disable_comments_allowed_types', $allowed_types );
	return is_array( $allowed_types ) ? $allowed_types : array();