I have not continued to write in this blog with the planned enthusiasm I had in the beginning. (Hopefully there will be a problem/solution blog for this in the future). I also, admittedly, have not been moderating the spam comments like I should.
So, I decided to add the built in the web spam filter that comes with WordPress: Akismet. To activate it in your own WordPress website, you need to go to your Dashboard and then select Plugins. It should already be listed on the page, but if not, select “Add New” and do a search for Akismet. Surprisingly, it is not the first option that appears in the search, but a few entries down you will see it. Select install now.
After it is installed, in order to activate it, you need to get the API key. This is simple. You just click on the link and fill out the information. If your blog is like mine, i.e. personal, you can sign up for free. They have other pricing dependent on what type of web product you have and what the intention is for it. I’m not sure what extra services is provided with the extra cost, and that would be something you would have to weigh out for yourself (and maybe just try the free version unless you are told otherwise). Oh, freemium, it’s hard to know when you’re not a trap! I hope to look into some other helpful plugins soon and write up my reviews.
So, here’s to hoping the spammers stay away. Interesting side note, the Q3 2010 Kaspersky Lab report the region Asia as the main source of spam. Here’s the source and some other interesting analysis:
Do you have any particularly bad, annoying, or funny experiences with spam? Spam Amusement is an ”internet old” (so, 2005) web comic where the artist draws cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines.
