WP: Turn Off Comments / Ping Backs by Default from Pages

Turn Off Comments / Ping Backs by Default from Pages

Themes functions.php or yourplugin.php:

// This is valid hack as long as "wp-admin/includes/post.php"
// `get_default_post_to_edit()` keeps calling `apply_filter()` for 
// `default_content` *after* `comment_status` and `ping_status` setting.

function my_disable_pages_default_commenting($content, $post) {
    if ($post->post_type == 'page') {
        $post->comment_status = "closed";
        $post->ping_status = "closed";
    }

    return $content;
}
add_filter('default_content', 'my_disable_pages_default_commenting', 1, 2);

Snippet above turns off the check boxes only from New Pages, any existing pages must be unchecked manually.