WordPress offers some great built-in security features for combating comment spam, but are you using them?
We write blog posts in the hopes that we provide useful information to our readers and encourage them to leave a comment.
However, readers do not want to leave a comment on a blog filled with spammy comments. Search engines don't like them either. Heck, they might even blacklist your blog.
You need to configure your WordPress settings to control your comment spam!
I wrote a guest blog post on “Tips to Combat Comment Spam for WordPress” for my friend and colleague, Kurt Scholle.
Read it here:
http://website-roi-guy.com/419/tips-to-combat-comment-spam-for-wordpress/
I hope it helps you reduce your spam comments.
Leave Your Feedback
I'd love to hear your feedback on how you use the WordPress built-in features to help reduce comment spam. And ask your questions too. Click the link above and leave your comment.
Securely yours,
Regina Smola
WordPress Security Expert
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P.S. Looking for specific WordPress Security Tips? Let me know by leaving your comment below.
Great article !
I want to recommend 2 more plugins that will enhance WordPress security :
SweetCaptcha – Great new CAPTCHA web service- its FREE! (i have it on all 23 sites…)
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sweetcaptcha-revolutionary-free-captcha-service
Jumpple!- This one i cant live without, Its a monitor plugin – If something wrong with your site it will notify you in real-time! (Free for one site, i’ve upgraded after using it for 1 month to pro)
Cheers,
Josh
Hey Josh,
Thanks for leaving your comment. Excellent suggestions.
I use Sucuri for my website monitoring and don’t have CAPTCHA on my comments yet, but will look into it. I checked out Jumpple a little bit, but will have to look into it some more.
Regina, I depend on Akismet, the service CloudFlare.com, and now the latest version of Bad-Behavior that works with CloudFlare. My WordPress sites are also set to mediate all comments. A spam comment hasn’t made it through in over a year. I actively participate on ProjectHoneyPot.com to help those working to stop spam to identify the denizens involved in the practice.
As you indicate, it is more important than ever before. I’m seeing companies with vast IP resources send much of the spam, meaning it must be a money-making business for some. Foreign spammers are now using IP addresses and networks in the US to bypass country blocking.
In WordPress I also use WASSUP to see the hackers that CloudFlare misses. These are all entered into ProjectHoneyPot.org as IP comments so people are aware that bottom feeders are active.
What I wish WordPress users had available to them was a specific site to advise security experts of attempted or successful exploits. Doesn’t it make sense that such details be shared with responsible security people. You and your site are the closest thing to it out there. We really need a formal place to drop information into that WordPress experts and authors can use to make the product better. It doesn’t have to be public. I’d be happy with a place to drop a text file as long as I knew someone would at least review it. In the meantime I protect everything I can by staying aware.
I read every email you send Regina.
Hi Doug,
Yes, it’s amazing how much comment spam has increased! So glad that ProjectHoneyPot.org helps us keep that under control.
Thanks for the kudos and comments, I truly appreciate it. I just got back from speaking at a conference in Atlanta. Thanks for the great suggestions. I think that would help out our readers and I would love your input too!
Can you do me a favor and put your suggestions into a support ticket for me so my business manager can work on making it happen?
P.S. I use WASSUP as well 🙂