Spam Filters
Free plugins available from WordPress.org
Spam Free WordPress
Spam Free WordPress is a comment spam blocking plugin that blocks 100% of the automated spam with zero false positives. There is no other plugin, or service, available for WordPress that can claim 100% accuracy with zero false positives, not even Akismet. Manual spam is blocked with an IP address blocklist.
This plugin was born out of necessity in September of 2007 when HollywoodGrind was getting a lot a traffic, and with it a lot of spam that multiple plugins could not stop, but instead increased the load on the server fighting the spam. Since its birth, Spam Free WordPress has been tested successfully under real world heavy traffic, and heavy comment spam, conditions. Once Spam Free WordPress is installed, no other comment spam plugins are needed, and it is recommended that all other plugins be disabled since they will cause undesirable false positives.
It is my goal for Spam Free WordPress to help WordPress become the world’s first and only comment spam free blogging platform.
See the Spam Free WordPress homepage for updates, and to read comments related to the plugin.
Author: ToddLahman
Akismet
This spam filter is typically preloaded on new WordPress installs, but if it’s not found:
Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not and lets you review the spam it catches under your blog’s “Comments” admin screen.
Major new features in Akismet 2.5 include:
- A comment status history, so you can easily see which comments were caught or cleared by Akismet, and which were spammed or unspammed by a moderator
- Links are highlighted in the comment body, to reveal hidden or misleading links
- If your web host is unable to reach Akismet’s servers, the plugin will automatically retry when your connection is back up
- Moderators can see the number of approved comments for each user
- Spam and Unspam reports now include more information, to help improve accuracy
Note: You’ll need an Akismet.com API key to use it. Keys are free for personal blogs, with paid subscriptions available for businesses and commercial sites.