Stopping SPAM on WordPress Websites

All website owners have to be alert for SPAM postings on their websites. Monitoring your site and policing comments to remove unwanted commercial solicitations is not only time consuming, but also prone to error. SPAM can clog up the comments on your site and create a bad impression of your professionalism. Moreover, it can also be a potential security issue, as SPAM can be used as a vector for malware. In this recipe, we look at implementing the Akismet system to help automatically monitor your site for SPAM comments and keep them from appearing to your site visitors.

Getting ready

To execute this recipe, you will be using the Akismet plugin. This plugin is included in the WordPress core. You should not need to install it – unless you have previously deleted it from your system. Check the Plugins page to see if it is there and if so, activate it. If it is not present, you will need to install this plugin before you can get started. Search for Akismet inside the Add New Plugins screen of your WordPress site. After you nd it, click on it to install, and then activate it.

You can learn more about the plugin by visiting the developer's website at http://akismet.com/

  How You can do it ...?

 

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Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
Click on the Plugins menu.
Click on the Plugins option.
If you have not done so already, click on the Activate link for the Akismet plugin.
The system will provide a noti cation that you need to enter an Akismet API key. Either click the link in the warning, or click the option Akismet Configuration on the Plugin menu.
On the Akismet Configuration page, shown in the next screenshot, you will need to enter your Akismet API key. If you do not have a key, you will need to visit http://akismet.com and obtain a key. Keys are free for personal sites.
Select any other options you desire.
Click on the Update options button.

how does it works 

Akismet was created by Automattic, the creators of WordPress. The plugin is designed to provide a system for reporting and then identifying SPAM and SPAMmers. When a comment is posted, Akismet will assess it on a variety of factors in an attempt to identify whether it is potential SPAM. If Akismet suspects it is SPAM, the comment will automatically be put into the SPAM queue and a noti cation will appear on your dashboard, as seen in the following screenshot :

  

You can then check the comment in the queue. If it is SPAM you can delete it permanently. If it is not SPAM, you can mark it as Not Spam and return it to the publication queue. Over time, the Akismet system will continue to re ne its SPAM detection abilities and learn from what you tell it about the content of the comments on the site.