Make it stop!
I don’t know how it is for any other bloggers out there but there are days (like today) when I feel like I’m drowning under the deluge of spam which is posted to this blog. I log on and am told by Wordpress that there are dozens of comments waiting to be moderated. Giddy with excitement I follow the link to the moderation queue only to find 24 posts containing links to some very, very unsavory sounding porn sites, ten posts offering me cheap Viagra and six more telling me how I can get my hands on some Vicodin. It has me driven to distraction. Does anyone know if I can stop the spam or is it something I’m going to have to live with?
I’m not sure of the backend used by the ireland.com blog, but I’ve found askimet highly effective at blocking this sort of comment spam
Comment by owen | February 28, 2008 at 9:16 pmAre you using the Akismet plugin for WordPress? That nukes a lot of the spam I get. Has caught almost 38,000 spam on my blog.
Comment by Anthony | February 28, 2008 at 10:12 pmI think it’s up to the blogging platform Ireland.com is using, unfortunately.
I’ve had great results with a simple question that requires comprehension of a little english text to answer; this cuts out the automation, which is the key thing that makes spam possible.
Comment by Justin Mason | February 28, 2008 at 11:09 pmHi, I’m using Wordress with Spam Karma 2 - http://unknowngenius.com/blog/wordpress/spam-karma/ and it seems to catch the vast bulk of spam that hits our blog.
I still get the odd one like this that I can’t even figure out if its spam - http://blog.aplpi.com/index.php/2008/02/28/avg-anti-virus-80/#comment-40383
Comment by smulcahy | February 29, 2008 at 7:02 amAnother vote for Askimet from here - stopped about 300,000 Spam comments on FirstPartners.net/blog in the last 12 months alone.
Unless, of course, you’re planning a feature on cheap Viagra and Vicodin in the paper anytime soon …
Comment by Paul Browne | February 29, 2008 at 8:06 amYou should use Akismet @ http://akismet.com/ - it works perfectly on WordPress MU which is what you’re running.
You’ll need a commercial license though but they’re priced in US Dollars and reasonably priced.
Email me if you have any other queries!
Comment by Donncha O Caoimh | February 29, 2008 at 9:59 amI think Akismet is the only way to go, conor. Maybe get the highly talented, good-looking and intelligent tech folks on the case.
Comment by Jim Carroll | February 29, 2008 at 12:36 pmDon’t listen to Jim. I have found many useful services and drugs through these.
Comment by Shane | February 29, 2008 at 4:14 pmThanks people. Akismet it is. I will get our smart, funny, good looking, charming techies on the case immediately. And Shane, the widow of a former leader of Sierra Leone has just been on to me about some trunk of diamonds that she has hidden under her bed. I’ll past your details on to her.
Comment by Conor | February 29, 2008 at 5:05 pmYou’ll need a little more than Akismet, Conor. It will catch the spam yes, but it will hold in a spam queue. There it will be kept for 15 days before it is deleted.
The problem is that Akismet can make errors and place genuine comments into the spam queue. Hence, you need to monitor it so you can “unspam” the genuine.
I’m testing Akismet coupled with a second “helper” tool (Wordpress Spam Blocker) to see if that will weed out the junk for Akismet. If it works, I’ll let ya know. If you don’t hear from me in 48 hours get the Guards.
Comment by Primal Sneeze | March 1, 2008 at 10:46 pmTell the Guards they can go back to Centra/Spar/Statoil etc. - this formulation works a treat. Spam Blocker junks all the spambots and Akismet allows me manually block unwanted visitors - not that I’ve ever barred anyone.
Comment by Primal Sneeze | March 5, 2008 at 7:45 am