Wordpress Comment Spam: How do you deal with it?

Hello Ky, this is an area that I am very familiar with and I am a huge fan of Wordpress.

If you are using Wordpress.com there isn't much more you can do outside of installing Akismet and adjusting your moderation setting in the WP.com dashboard.

However if you have a self-hosted Wordpress blog (which I highly recommend) there is a new plugin available is an alternative to Akismet and it's much more efficient. The GrowMap Anti-Spambot plugin (GASP for short) was developed by Andy Bailey. Andy is also the developer of the widely popular CommentLuv plugin.

The way GASP works is very simple, every time someone leaves a comment they check off a box that confirms they are not a spammer. That's it!

Just to be clear, this plugin works to combat automated spambots who ruin your day by leaving tons of links to unsavory and low quality sites that end up in your spam folder. This becomes a strain on your time because the problem faced with Akismet is that often legitimate commentators (very often your friends and regular customers) are being flagged by Akismet which produces false positives. Therefore we are faced with the task of moderating the spam folder just to pick out one or two that don't belong!

With the GASP plugin installed you never have to worry about false positives and all of the automated spam will virtually disappear!

I've been using this plugin on my personal blog and I went from 40 to 50 spam comments per day to zero!

As far as Intense Debate and CAPTCHA plugins are concerned, they are fine but no where near as effective because people are turned off by them. Intense Debate is a great alternative for someone that uses Blogger, but for Wordpress users, the default commenting system works just fine once you install GASP.

Another plugin I recommend is Subscribe to Comments, this will also help increase engagement with your readers and customers because they can choose to follow the conversations they are most interested in.

Please let me know if you have any more questions or concerns about Wordpress commenting and spam moderation. I would be more than happy to assist you.

Ky, If you have not installed Akismet from Wordpress, I recommend that as the first/most important step. I also experience waves of spam from time to time but Akismet catches it and does not allow it to be posted.

I go in every few days to run through the comments that Akismet caught and held for action, and within just a few seconds can decide to delete permanently. It is extremely rare that it classifies a legitimate message as spam, maybe one every six months or so.

I do not like to discourage comments from my readers so have decided against using the cryptic Captcha type systems.

As long as they do not show up live on the site, I can deal with the cleanup from time to time.

I am 100% in agreement with using Akismet. It is the rock star of WordPress plugins. I would caution you on using a CAPTCHA and so would many WordPress experts.

Why annoy visitors and the real people trying to connect with you via a contact form? Let Akismet filter out the spammers.

In the last six months Akismet caught over 10,000 spam comments with an accuracy rate of over 99.870%. That's pretty good and all without using a CAPTCHA field.

I'm another big fan of the Akismet Plug-in, there is a reason why it comes pre-packaged with a install of Wordpress!

You also should only allow comments by registered users, or users that first have an approved comment (so once they are approved once, they are then "trusted"). Keeping your plug-ins and themes up to date will also help cut down on spam and other (possibly bigger) security holes in your site.

As with any blogging or interactive site, some hands on moderation is required. Some stuff will sneak through any spam blocker, so in the end is up the the people running the site to maintain it and keep out the bad comments if/when they pop up.

Good luck!

Ryan
LDPWebSolutions.com

I'm not overly familiar with Wordpress but there should be a CAPTCHA plugin that adds a security code/message whenever someone publishes comments on your site. This drastically reduces spam comments that are often posted by bots using scripting programs to search the web for unprotected forms. CAPTCHA is also often used on registration forms to reduce false registers.
Good luck and feel free to contact me directly if you need further assistance.

Eric Schoep
Marketing Director
Conrad Companies
800-826-6723
eschoep@conradco.com
http://www.conradco.com

I'm with the others here that have recommended Akismet but it's important to keep it regularly updated.

Wordpress allows a few different moderation options. Go to SettingsDiscussion to edit yours.

Under "Other Comment Settings" I don't require commenters to register but they do have to provide name and email address.

Under "E-mail me whenever" I have both boxes checked to I get all new comments plus comments being held for moderation.

Under "Before a comment appears" I only check the box "Comment author must have a previously approved comment" That way, the first time a reader leaves a comment, it's held for moderation. After I've approved them once, their comment is posted right away.

Finally, under "Comment Moderation" I enter 2 in the line: Hold a comment in the queue if it contains ____ or more links. You also have the option of adding certain terms to hold posts for moderation.

I find this totally eliminates all comment spam without forcing people to jump through a lot of hoops to leave a comment.

I use a combination of Askimet and Intense Debate plugin on my wordpress and it has stopped pretty much any possible spam.

Josh Bauder

www.bauderextreme.com

I love disqus.com with Akismet. The reason being that people have to login using a social media account to post. It is quick and easy, but adds that extra layer keeping out the script-kiddies that are just spamming like crazy.

I use the system in Wordpress.com that allows me to monitor all comments so that I must accept the comment before it is posted.