Spam seems to be a necessary evil when it comes to running your own website. Whether the comments are disguised as seemingly useful comments, with several useless ‘spammy’ links, or automatic generic text words, randomly put together by a software program, spam is the scourge of most websites… so how can you reduce spam on your WordPress site?
#1: Akismet
Akismet is a hosted anti-spam service that efficiently and quickly analyses and process the comments on your site. Akismet has been tackling the spammers since 2005, so is pretty popular AND effective. You can download the free option for non-commercial and personal sites or opt for a paid version, if you’re a business. You’ll find the price plans here.
#2: Change your comment settings
Another way to reduce spam is to change your comment settings. You have the option to turn off ALL comments on posts and pages, via the ‘Discussion’ settings (on the left hand toolbar) and unticking ‘allow people to post comments on new articles’.
You can also automatically close comments after a set number of days. Click on ‘other comments settings’ and select ‘automatically close comments on articles older than’. You can then select how many days you’d like them to be open for.
Alternatively, you can change comments on individual pages and/or posts. Simply go to ‘all posts or ‘all pages’ on your dashboard and select ‘quick edit’ on any of the posts or pages you’d like to change. You can then untick the ‘Allow comments’ box.
#3: change approval settings
Changing your approval settings is another option. You can set them up so you have to approve new comments and new subscribers. To do this you have to go to ‘discussion settings’ and tick ‘content must be manually approved’.
#4: edit spam comments
Some comments marked as spam can be saved and approved – you just need to remove the spam-like links they have included. You can do this via the ‘comments’ section of your dashboard. Simply select ‘edit’ under the comment and take out any suspicious looking URL’s.
#5: Update your comment black list
Finally, you can upload a list of words you consider as spam. If you go to ‘comments’ you’ll see a ‘comment blacklist’ section near the bottom of the page. You can then type in words you consider as spam. Alternatively, Grant Hutchinson has created a great readymade list of spam words – you can just copy and paste it into your own blacklist box.
Following any one of these tips will help you eliminate the unwanted spam comments from your site, making your WordPress site a spam-free zone.
How do you tackle spam on your site? Do you use one or more of the above options? Why not share your spam-busting advice in the comments box below!
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net