Who doesn’t appreciate a nice compliment or pat on the back or the occasional stroke of our ego. Even for a girl that likes to be behind the scenes, I still enjoy when others express sincere appreciation for the things I do. But no one likes the kiss up who is only interested in their own gain.
Here recently I almost got sucked in by a seemingly genuine comment that was really just discreetly guised spam. Here’s what it said,
Hey! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There’s a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content.Please let me know. Thanks
Looks innocent enough right (never mind that I don’t really know what a zynga group is) but the comment appeals to my desire to provide useful and thoughtful content. As luck would have it my spam fighting plugin is smarter than I am and was holding this comment in a little holding cell along with a few others. You see Arthur Keneyd was quite busy finding all sorts of goodness on the blog and leaving pleasant sounding comments in the hopes of littering my site with his spammy links. So what gave him away? These three things below.
3 Ways to Spot Spam Comments
- Off Topic: Comments do not relate to the topic of your blog post. I’m not sure why my Friday Five post would be something his room-mate would be chatting on and on about.
- Same Name but Multiple Email Addresses: there’s a different email address for each one of the comments although it links back to the same website.
- Type of Site: One of things I like about WordPress is that I can hover over the website address of the commenters to see a snapshot of the webpage they are linking to in their comments. If the site looks questionable or shows a 404 error as it does in this case, I send the comment to spam or trash.
Fighting Spam
For a blogger, spam is just part of the territory. Since making the switch from Blogger to WordPress, I noticed that I do have an increase in spam but here are my tactics for fighting back.
1. Plug-ins: Currently I’m using Akismet and Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin to combat spam. I just started using Growmap recently and I’m not really sure I like the addition of the check box. Does that little check box annoy you? Previously I was using FV Anti-spam but it I found I had few false positives with that one. Lately I’m getting the most spam showing up in my feedback folder from my contact form and I don’t like that extra step of having to send things to spam folder and then to the trash. Anyone know a workaround for that?
2. Discussions Settings: I have checked that before a comment appears public on my site the comment author must have a previously approved comment and I also hold any comment that has more than 2 links in it so that I can manually approve it. Additionally, I have entered certain words in the comment black list box.
Here’s my recommendations for my Blogger users. I’m not a fan of captcha or word verification besides it can be very hard to complete when commenting on blogs from tablets and other mobile devices.
Change your comments settings to the following:
Who can comment: registered users only (this will prevent anonymous users from commenting)
Comment moderation: unless you get lots of comments I would only turn comment moderation on sometimes for posts older than 14 days (or some other number that makes sense for you)
How do you moderate your comments? What plugins do you use to fight spam?
Photo credit:Mzacha
Very helpful information, Wanda. Seems God must have been leading when I set up my “Who can comment” section because I really had no idea what “embedded” and “registered” even meant! Thank you!
He’s good like that isn’t he Pam? Embedded just means your contact form be directly below your post instead of in a separate popup window.
Blessings…..
I look at spam like creaming after each shower, a necessary evil to moderate for. I simply go to my spam box and delete, a quick and easy one step process.
Rhapsody recently posted..Up & Down In A Breath–He Just Fell
Yes it’s definitely necessary. I wouldn’t want to be caught without lotioning up this time year 🙂
Thanks for the info, Wanda. While reading this I could not help but see some spiritual lessons on deception.
LaVonne recently posted..The Advance Of The Assistant
You know I did too and I almost headed in that direction but decided to keep it simple.
I’m using Akismet and Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin too, Wanda. They work very well. I also check the spam page to see what’s been trying to get through.
Alison Hector recently posted..Blessed by association
They definitely seem to catch the spam. What plugin do you use for your contact form Alison?
You know, I really don’t know, Wanda. I don’t think I have a contact form.
Alison Hector recently posted..Blessed by association
Oh ok.
Since I updated to the latest on wordpress I haven’t had anymore I’ve had to delete. Before I had anything set up I had as many deleted comments from spammers as I did legitimate commenters. That’s a little discouraging! I know you’d agree though, it takes only one heart to be touched that we might not even know about that makes it worth the effort. Keep up the good work, sister.
floyd recently posted..CONSEQUENCE
Yes, I certainly do agree with that Floyd! Interesting that you’re not having to delete any since the latest update. What plugins are you using?
I had someone else set it up for me, I’m actually completely lame when it comes to all things computer! I think they’re Antispam Bee, Growmap Anti Spambot, and Wordfence. I think?
Well all have certain things we are better at that others. I tend to like tinker behind the scenes of blogs. I’ll check into those plugins. Thanks!
Spam is so annoying!!! Thanks for these tips. 🙂
Susannah recently posted..Work My Closet: 50 Shades of Grey
I laugh at some of my spam comments. I am using plugins but I have noticed an increase in spam so I need to go and check them out.
Barbie recently posted..Just Three Words…
They can be quite creative and more and more they are beginning to look like legitimate comments.
Yes, I often get those comments too. Thanks for the tips. It is like sorting out the right people we want influence us.
Have a nice day:)
Hi Joy, that’s a great way of looking at it.
I use the WP plug-in Anti-spam by CleanTalk. I have seen a huge increase in spam since I switched from Blogger to WordPress but it all gets moved to the spam folder. Every now and then a few get by or sit in “pending for moderation”. I am looking into using Akismet too. Thanks for sharing, Wanda!
Kimberly H. Smith recently posted..Traffic Jam Weekend Linky Party #4
Hi Kim I just came across anti-spam and I was thinking about giving it a try. For the most part my plugins are working well. Hope you’re enjoying a great weekend.
I use Akismet on mine, and all comments go to my email so I can check them out. It works pretty well. They rarely get past the filter.
Sounds like a good set-up you have Elizabeth.
Was recently introduced to the plugin called PlayThru from Are You a Human (AYAH). I liked the concept personally, but wanted to find out if anyone has experience of installing and using it – things like customer service would also be nice to know.
Aseem I haven’t heard of that one before.