Choose public head metadata
Use HTML head cleanup to control native WordPress discovery links and generator metadata. This guide is for site administrators who know which publishing clients and integrations their site uses.
Configure the module
- Open Settings → POM Tweaks → Optimization → HTML head cleanup.
- Enable HTML head cleanup and save to initialize it when prompted.
- Select only the individual controls you need; all start off.
- If using a custom generator, enter a plain-text Generator name.
- Save, reopen the same tab, and inspect the page source and relevant feeds.
The module applies to the current site. Disabling it stops its runtime hooks on subsequent requests and retains its saved settings. Clear public caches when comparing metadata output.
Discovery controls
| Option | Effect and limits |
|---|---|
| Remove Windows Live Writer manifest link | Removes the core wlwmanifest_link output when provided by the installed WordPress version or an integration. It may already be absent. |
| Remove adjacent-post links from the HTML head | Removes native previous/next post metadata when registered. Visible post navigation and pagination remain unchanged. |
| Remove shortlink from the HTML head | Removes the native shortlink element. Short URLs and the HTTP shortlink header still work. |
| Remove RSD discovery link | Removes the remote-editing discovery link from the HTML head. |
| Disable authenticated XML-RPC methods | Separately disables XML-RPC methods requiring authentication. It does not disable the whole endpoint, unauthenticated methods, or pingbacks. Check remote publishing clients before enabling. |
| Remove REST API and oEmbed discovery links | Removes native REST and oEmbed discovery links from the HTML head and the REST discovery HTTP header. It does not disable REST endpoints, oEmbed endpoints, or the block editor. |
Removing a discovery link does not close an endpoint or enforce authentication. Other plugins can publish their own metadata; these controls target the native callbacks listed above.
Generator metadata
Remove generator from the HTML head hides the native HTML generator meta tag, including any custom replacement. It does not remove feed generator entries or version information elsewhere.
Use a custom generator replaces native generator text in HTML and public feeds with Generator name. The value is escaped for each output format, and no WordPress version is appended. RSS2 uses the name, Atom uses the name and site URL, and RDF uses the site URL because that format represents its generator as a resource URI. Enter text, not an HTML tag. An empty name produces empty text; disable the option to restore the native generator.
If both options are enabled, the HTML tag is absent and feeds still use the custom generator. Removing metadata is not a security control and does not replace WordPress updates.
Recent Comments styling
The classic Recent Comments widget is styled by the active theme. POM Theme supplies its scoped link layout and suppresses WordPress's redundant inline style automatically. There is no comments-style toggle in this module. Native comment blocks and threaded-reply functionality keep their own required assets.
Verify and troubleshoot
- View a public page's source and check each selected head element.
- Check response headers separately: REST discovery can be removed while shortlink headers remain.
- Open an RSS or Atom feed when changing the generator, including the combination that hides HTML output.
- Verify that ordinary post navigation, the block editor, and the REST integrations you use still work.
- If disabling authenticated XML-RPC methods, check the remote publishing workflows that should remain available.
- Turn off the relevant control, save, and compare again after refreshing caches.
If metadata is still present, identify whether another plugin supplies it. If a link was already absent, its control has no additional visible effect. Restore RSD discovery and XML-RPC authentication independently if a publishing integration requires them.