Every website owner and bloggers face serious problems on their sites and one of the most annoying things that they can find on their pages are spams. Many solutions have been formulated to effectively get rid of spam comments but only a few really work. Akismet is a web service that can help you save time by automatically identifying trackback and comment spam. You have two options in using Akismet—first, through pre-built plugins such as the WordPress Akismet plugin and the second is through the API. API (Application programming Interface) provides you with direct access to the Akismet service. Whichever you select, you must first register an API key which is a string of numbers and letters which act like your password or username. The API key will allow you to login to the service. Just like any other passwords, you must keep it secured and private to keep hackers from meddling with your account.
Things You Need to Know about Comment Spam!
Spam are annoying enough to make your head hurt or spark your irritability. To know which ones are more threatening over the others, you must familiarize yourself with some points about these horrible things.
- Comment spam is different from e-mail spam- The former wants your readers to buy their products while the latter wants you to purchase theirs.
- Web spammers make advertisements on your site- They can attract buyers and keep all the profits to themselves.
- Web spammers escape your attention- They want you to believe that they are real people with real comments and they want you to publish their comments on your blog.
- Backlinks are used by web spammer to sell products- They do this on your blog by tricking your readers into visiting their own sites.
- They employ humans- Spambots generate spams but many spammers are real people who write and post comments on websites and blogs.
By learning about this, you will have a better understanding of the need to have Akismet.
How Akismet Works
This web service runs hundreds of tests whenever new comments, pingbacks or trackbacks are added to your website. It also returns thumbs up or thumbs down rating on these. You no longer have to waste your valuable time sorting and getting rid of spammy comments on your website or blog. Akismet also tracks millions of forums and blogs to watch the tricks and methods used by these sinister spammers in real-time. It will warn you when a spambot or human spammer is trying to sneak their filthy comments into your page.
Features of Akismet Web Service
Akismet 2.5 has the following features for your website:
- Comment status history to make you easily see the comments cleared by Akismet and which were unspammed or spammed by one of the moderators.
- Automatic retry option when your web host cannot reach Akismet servers,
- Highlighting links in the comment body to show misleading or hidden links.
- You can see the number of comments that have been approved for each visitor.
- Unspam and Spam reports have been improved for accuracy.
This is a must have if you own a WordPress blog. You can download akismet by clicking here.