How to Prevent your Blog from Spam Comments
Everybody loves to get comments on his/her blog posts but spam comments often spoil the fun. Thus fighting comment spams on a regular basis becomes the most tedious and annoying thing. Deleting the spams manually or letting them stack up are the two viable options. The former option is preferred because in the latter case the database gets overloaded. A spam comment is full of irrelevant data and has nothing to do with the article where the spam is posted. There are a few methods to prevent your blog from spam comments.
1. Install Anti-Spam Plugins
The first step to avoid spamming is to install an effective anti-spam tool. You can find many plug-ins but you need to do detailed research while choosing the best one. Here, we are giving an idea on which you can make your testing parameter for picking plugins.
Akimset: Akimset filters out your comment and track-back spam. It is built into WordPress. On activating the plugin all you need is the API key. Just click on the link and follow the instructions. It’s very simple!
reCAPTCHA: The WordPresss reCAPTCHA plugins are very good at checking spam comments. The concept is very simple- anyone trying to post shall have to see a graphic and type words matching the graphic. This is what spam bots are unable to do as they ain’t human. Hence spams are kept at bay.
2. Close comments on Older Posts
Akimset blocks hundreds of comment over time hence you need to delete those spams from time to time which is a very boring job. To have even more control over spams, consider blocking comments on older posts as a vital option. Spammers often target posts which are very old. After logging into your blog’s administration area, go to Settings > Discussions. Next step entails marking the checkbox which says, “Automatically close comments on article older than” and hence enter the number of days in the text box (for example 60). This shall monitor spams and hence avoid them over time.
3. Require moderation
Make your blog unwelcome for fresh commenter’s without your strict approval. Doing this is easy-breezy. In your blog’s settings go to “comments” section and set it to require moderation for first-time commenter’s. Hence you approve of a commenter only if you trust him and the next time the same reader comments it gets approved automatically. Eventually saving a lot of time.
4. Know who you’re approving
It’s advised not to blindly approve any commenter that come through anti-spam plugins. Since on approving a commenter you open the doors wide open for him to comment on any blog post, be sure of whom you approve. In spite of having plugins you need to pay attention.
5. Ban spammers by IP
When a spammer comments, his IP address is visible on your dashboard. If you suspect it and want to block it, you may. It is simple. You can block a single IP or can block many in one go. Just add this code to your root .htaccess
# block ip
order allow,deny
deny from 182.175.55.204
deny from 242.93.144.14
allow from all
In this case you are blocking 2 IPs in one chance. You may do more or less, as you wish.
To be frank, not all spammers can be checked by employing these methods. By implementing the above methods spams shall reduce by a huge amount. However, bots can figure some way out to spam. So, stick to these methods and also keep track of newest advancement.
Claudia is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and technology. She recently read an article on girls room ideas that attracted her attention. These days she is busy in writing an article on white skinny jeans.
