Simple Yet Elegant Comment Spam Plugin

Whenever we help someone get a blog started, the next question we get is almost always how do we manage comment spam? It is indeed sad that such a wonderful system is abused to the point it is no longer enjoyable. No point complaining it is what it is.

If you use WordPress there are so many choices available to you. I’ve tried a lot of them to name a few:

  • Akismet
  • Disqus
  • WP Spam Free
  • And probably a few others I don’t even remember

They each have their pros and cons really and I think you should always use what works for you. For the longest time I used Disqus as some of you may have noticed on this blog. I found the spam filtering works really well and I liked the ability to moderate comments for all my sites from one central location. The ability to reply from my email address definitely is a plus too.

However, I wanted to go back to something simpler. Something that would be less confusing for readers especially those who are new. I don’t mind ‘paying’ Disqus with a little bit of branding and all that. I also got tired of manually weeding out the spam from WP database itself. Disqus will not show the spam comments but they will still save all comments to your database.

I also wanted to come back to something that is native of WordPress so I could use other plugins with it.

My first instinct is to go back to WP Spam Free that worked well for me. But I also know sometimes it can be annoying. I finally settled on NoSpamNX. The idea behind it sounded brilliant to me. In short, it adds a hidden field into your comments form. Hidden fields are not viewable by humans but bots definitely see them and because bots are… well, bots, they cannot look at the form and intelligently decide to fill in the field or not. They would almost always choose to enter content in the field.

When a comment is submitted with data in the hidden field, the plugin marks it as spam.

So far it has worked nicely. I still get some spam, just a few more than WP Spam Free. I think this might be due to the fact that people do pay others peanuts to sit and do nothing but comment. But overall I’m quite happy. Especially considering the stats (see below). Out of the 100 or so a day I get between 0 – 3.

Do You Want A Hands-Free Business?

Then get this guide to help you systemize your business so you'll have more time working on your business.

!
!

Hey! I want to make sure you know what you're getting here. In addition to the guide, you will also receive our memo that includes special offers, announcements and of course actionable information.

Terms and Conditions checkbox is required.
Send My Guide
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.
Facebook Comments

12 Comments

  1. Staci Jansma on May 5, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    And to add a little regarding the “SPAM comments” subject – if someone is going to comment – at least make it worth while and make sense to the next reader!! Sometimes I look at my websites (or even what I see on my client’s website dashboard of recent comments) – I just have to laugh at the comments floating through from time to time.



    • Lynette on May 5, 2011 at 8:36 pm

      I know! Some days if you want a good laugh just read your comment spam. We had one not on this site but another one that said
      “My head is spinning at the speed of dark” LMAO! What’s that even mean?

      Then there are those that are completely off topic.



  2. Bob Marconi on May 5, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    Hi,

    Couldn’t read the NoSpamNX site because of the language barrier.



    • Lynette on May 5, 2011 at 8:37 pm

      Sorry about that Bob I fixed the link now thanks to Christopher and Kit



  3. Christopher Taranto on May 5, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    @Bob,

    The english version of the site is here:

    http://www.svenkubiak.de/nospamnx-en/



    • Lynette on May 5, 2011 at 8:35 pm

      Thanks Christopher!



  4. Kit Singleton on May 5, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    Yay! I get to try out another plugin. Thanks Lynette.

    If you’ve visited the site and couldn’t read it, there is a link in the top left that gives an English version. For the sake of time, here it is:

    http://www.svenkubiak.de/nospamnx-en/



  5. Kit Singleton on May 5, 2011 at 3:38 pm

    Hey Lynette,

    Did you see the dev note up there? Hint, hint.



    • Lynette on May 5, 2011 at 8:34 pm

      Oh yes I did. At this point I’m not too concerned yet because he just announced it not too long ago. Besides that I *might* have something up my sleeve 😉



  6. Monica Salazar on May 25, 2011 at 11:41 am

    I’ve tried this plugin for a few weeks and it’s working great for my sites. At least, I don’t have to delete hundreds of spam massages IN ENGLISH, while my site is in Spanish.



    • Lynette on May 25, 2011 at 12:38 pm

      That’s wonderful Monica! Isn’t that crazy? They don’t care how it looks as long as it is posted.



  7. Vera Raposo on May 27, 2011 at 11:35 pm

    Thanks so much Lynette! I have installed this now on my blog …. Phew! 🙂