Comments on: Checking WordPress for Comment Spam That Slips By You

By: Comment Spam Alert: I Read a Similar Article « Lorelle on WordPress

Comment Spam Alert: I Read a Similar Article « Lorelle on WordPress — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:49:29 +0000

[...] are some keyword phrases I use to occasionally search through my blog comments, just in case I got careless and let one slip by, or after I’ve gotten enough duplications to [...]

By: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 13:44:32 +0000

@Deb:

Hmmm, I get a lot of comments and trackbacks and I make time to check all that are suspicious. So should you. You can’t prevent all of them, but when in doubt, do.

If the comment is good, leave it. If any links are “questionable”, remove them and leave the comment. It’s that simple. Don’t stress over this. Christians are some of the most sexual folks I know, though many are some of the most uptight I know. They can take it, unless it is blatant. It’s a joke, but honestly, if one slips through, it’s not the end of the world. Be diligent and understand that comments are content and you have control over them totally.

And make sure you have a clear comments policy that says “play nice”.

By: Deb

Deb — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 12:51:28 +0000

My question is this - the comment I received is okay, not spam, adds value, etc, but the link to the person who commented takes me to a blog which has mildly adult content. My blog is Christian-based and any link to nude pics is not acceptable. Is it within my rights as blog owner to delete that comment? Also, I can’t possibly follow every url from comments and check every blog, how can this be prevented, if it’s possible?

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 23:15:45 +0000

And, as of late, the word “unknown” as the first word in a comment is often the start of a pingback or trackback spam, as in “Unknown wrote a great post on …. bla bla ba..”

Which leads to one of my favorite gripes. The search function does not, I assume, use regular expressions so that you can specify, for instance, the word “unknown” (any case) as the first letters in the field “comment” … you could surely do this with the database. But the search function on the dashboard, as is the case with most higher-level software functionality, is a re-invented wheel with fewer features than the original wheel.

Really, you should do everything in a terminal.

By: When Akismet Goes Bad: What to do when Akismet starts spamming your own comments « Lorelle on WordPress

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 17:20:29 +0000

[...] Checking WordPress for Comment Spam That Slips By You [...]

By: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 05:55:32 +0000

What you do or shouldn’t do is up to you. If it works for you, then go for it. If it doesn’t, and you don’t want to be “Waffles” when you are 65, then don’t do it.

If your Waffles Radio site becomes really popular, you will be stuck with that for a long time. Then be known as “Waffles” and be proud. It’s up to you.

It depends upon your needs, goals, purpose, and desires. Let it take you where it will.

However, you will have to work a little harder when you leave comments and blog to prove that your brain isn’t filled with waffles.

By: Chris Osborne

Chris Osborne — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 04:25:25 +0000

Here’s a question for you then.

Around campus I’m known as Waffles because there are a lot of people named Chris. Hence the name of my site, Waffles Radio. It might not be a real human sounding name, but it is a real name for me. Does that still fall under the category of things you wouldn’t do?

By: Lorelle VanFossen

Lorelle VanFossen — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 01:26:22 +0000

I covered this in What Do You Put in the Name of a Comment Form?, and the overwhelming majority said they thought the dumb names were dumb especially when cutesy or using keywords - however, many blog under an “assumed” name for anonymity. I don’t have a problem with that, but personally, I like it better if they would call themselves a made-up “human” sounding name like Yam I. Goodenov rather than Cutesy-Wootsey Girl.

The real point is that if you want to be “known” for who you are and what you do on the web, you should be a “real” sounding person. Given that, some of the most brilliant bloggers on the web are known under their pseudonyms - though not as many as once were.

By: Jacob Skir

Jacob Skir — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:51:54 +0000

Folks,
what about solving the problem from the opposite end? I am talking about solution not for a blogger himself, however, for a commenter. Could a commenter sign with his real name, not with a vague nick? Is he ashamed of his name?
Then a blogger would filter the comments according to the principle: a real name - a weird nick.

By: mandarine

mandarine — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 00:12:16 +0000

I have had quite uncommon comment spam once or twice with hardly any of the words listed above. The comment was customized with the post title, it went like ‘I am not sure what I think of [post title], but I sure liked [other post title]‘. When it is really not obvious whether it is spam or not, I do an internet search with the words in the comment. If the search results dig up other blog comments with the same phrasing, bingo. If not, I am left with searching the email address or the url. One thing I will never do is send an email or visit the url to make sure.

I once had such a vague comment and really could not find any proof that it was spam. I approved the comment (after carefully removing the url) and posted another comment requesting the commenter to be more specific lest I should mistake the comment for spam. And the commenter actually replied, with a very long and very specific comment. Phew! I had almost lost a reader.