I’ve been doing some research and trying different things to make WordPress work for me as blogger software. I’m still having trouble trying to blog by email as it seems my server host may not have updated POP3 software. Buggers.
Dealing with the horrid spammers, I’ve set up the Discussion Options to include a filter to stop comments that include words commonly found in spams and in unwanted comments. There is a good list at http://www.macmanx.com/wordpress/bad.txt.
There is a good discussion about spammers on blogs and trying to stop the spammers on the WordPress forum at http://wordpress.org/support/3/14324.
There are also some plug-ins that are supposed to help stop the spammers. I’m still working with these but the ones I’ve found are:
- Kitten’s Spaminator – Combines Three Strikes and Spammer Tar Pit
- Kitten’s Comment Killer
- Comment Spam Words
- Three Strikes Anti-Spammer for WordPress Blogs
- Spammer Tar Pit Anti-Spammer for WordPress Blogs
- Blacklist for WordPress
From what I read, the amount of time wasted dealing with spammers on blogs is obscene. In one day I was hit by 155 spams in the comments. Ugh.
Part of the challenge of keeping up with the “behind the scenes” effort to prevent spam, I’m learning, is that spammers come up with new ideas and methods constantly, so as a blog host, I have to also research and come up with ways to stop them. This is something that really pisses me off.
So I keep looking for help and tips for dealing with WordPress, blogs, and online efforts and I’ll keep you informed as I find them.
Tel Aviv, Israel