Tag: antispam

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General

Now, this blog is using DISQUS

I decided to switch the commenting system for this blog, from WordPress’ built-in commenting system feature to DISQUS. I was not sure which hosted service I wanted to use — DISQUS and Intense Debate came into consideration. Here are some reasons why I use external commenting system service right now:

  • DISQUS provides integration with other services like Twitter, Facebook and also OpenID. This features can be activated on WordPress-powered blogs using plugins. But, if DISQUS already has this feature, why not?
  • DISQUS also offers spam filter mechanism. I’m tired of spam. Akismet and TypePad Antispam plugin did a great job. Right now, I rely on DISQUS spam filter. And I have Akismet activated also.
  • I’m happy with how DISQUS display blog comments. Options can be managed directly from the dashboard.

The migration process was easy. It took less than 30 minutes to import all my comments (there were around 3,100 comments), and I got zero problem. It just worked.

Categories
General

Stop spammers and unwanted traffic

If you have your blog installed in your own webhosting account, there is another nice strategy to combat spammers and also unwanted traffic by Donncha O Caoimh (he is a WordPress developer). It’s because sometime antispam plugins like Akismet or TypePad AntiSpam are not enough. They can blocked comments, but do they also block unwanted traffic? I mean, they can filter comment spams, but that’s after the spammers’s comment being processed by the system (blog engine).
I think the approach offered by Donncha is very useful. Right now, I use another method to fight the spammers (and also unwanted traffic). For my WordPress, I have TypePad AntiSpam and Yawasp (Yet Another WordPress Anti Spam Plugin). I decided to remove WP-SpamFree for now. It’s a great plugin, anyway. But, sometime it caught real readers from sending comment, just because their browser settings are not cookie-enabled.
About dealing with unwanted traffic (it’s not directly related to spams), I use hotlink prevention using .htaccess. Another method is by having list of IP addresses in my .htaccess. I got the IP address from antispam plugins. If I got spammers, I just put their IP address into my ban list. I have some of them.
By this, I have less visitors (if I checked from my webhosting analysis tool). Probably, it’s because it checks all visitors (spammers and human). But, I’m fine with that. I think I will try the strategies mentioned by Donncha now.

Categories
General

TypePad AntiSpam Looks Great

After having TypePad AntiSpam installed in my blog, I noticed that it works very well. I had more than 240 spams filtered by this plugin. I’m satisfied with the result.
But, I decided to deactivate it, and go back to my previous spam protection tool: WP-SpamFree. It does not mean that TypePad AntiSpam is bad, it’s not about that. But, I just want to have those spammy comments get into my comment list (in my dashboard). I just want to have them blocked before they go into my comment post script. That’s all.