Moving at the Speed of Creativity - Advice to curb wordpress spam?

Advice to curb wordpress spam?

Published by Wesley Fryer in blogs on May 5th, 2006

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Does anyone have a favorite, free plug-in for WordPress that you’re using to block automated spam comments? The quantity of spam comments to my blog has been skyrocketing. Spam Karma 2 is doing a great job filtering it out, but I’d like to stop it from being posted at all. To do this I need a plugin that will require people to type a random word unreadable by computer bots. There is a word for that and I don’t know what it is (that type of authentication.) The official WordPress site offers lots of different suggestions for fighting comment spam, but I want recommendations. I probably need to add this functionality soon, the comment spam is out of control.

On this day..

Inspired to Dream BIG @NorthwesternU - 2011
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links for 2008-05-05 - 2008
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A warning that came too late - 2008
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Cut to the Core - 2006

5 Comments »

http://howtoprimers.com Kevin Farnham

The random word displayed in graphics is called a “captcha”. It’s actually an acronym.

Are you running WordPress 2.0? It has some spam fighting support right out of the box. But, my sites haven’t put it through much of a test yet. But I don’t know if 2.0 has anything that would automatically delete spam comments.

I’ve seen a couple sites with alternatives to captcha’s. One site asks you to add two random numbers and enter the sum. Some others ask you to enter a specific word. Captcha’s are what’s used at all the large volume sites, though.
http://www.stevewhitaker.net/blog/ Steve

These are straight from the WordPress site and a Google search for “WordPress spam tools.”
http://www.wesfryer.com Wesley Fryer

Thanks Kevin, I knew there was a word for those that I had heard but I forgot it.

Thanks Steve, I did see that page of tools also, I am using Spam Karma 2 but am just wondering if anyone is using any tools that include “captcha” functionality that they recommend. That page from WordPress does look pretty comprehensive, but I wish it had a feature where users could rate which ones they like best.
http://borderland.northernattitude.org Doug Noon

Wesley, if you want a “hands-free” low-profile spam blocker, I enthusiastically recommend Bad Behavior. Before I upgraded to WordPress 2, I had it installed alongside Spam Karma, and Spam Karma essentially took a very long break. Since my WordPress upgrade I haven’t had any need to add any new protection. The way it seemed to me then was that Bad Behavior+Spam Karma was like putting an electric fence around a yard with a guard dog in it.
http://www.wesfryer.com Wesley Fryer

Excellent Doug, thanks! A recommendation like this is just what I was looking for. I didn’t want to install a WP plugin that would conflict with Spam Karma, and I would prefer something that doesn’t make commenting more of a pain for actual human visitors! I’ve installed Bad Behavior and activated it, now I’ll wait to see if Spam Karma gets a break. THANKS!