WP-SpamFree WordPress Comment Spam Plugin Released
by Scott AllenEliminate Blog Comment Spam with WP-SpamFree Plugin!
[ UPDATED 05/04/08: Version 1.8 Released! ]
I’ve developed a powerful new WordPress plugin that is extremely effective in combating blog comment spam. WP-SpamFree virtually eliminates automated comment spam from bots, WITHOUT using CAPTCHA’s or challenge questions. It poses no inconvenience to the site visitor — it just works!
The Problem: Blog Comment Spam
Comment spam has been a problem for bloggers since the inception of blogs, and it just doesn’t seem to go away. The worst kind, and most prolific, is automated spam that comes from bots. Spammers use these automated programs to place comments containing links to a site they want to quickly rise to the top of Google. These sites typically sell all the seedy products you receive unwanted spam ads for in your email. Over the years, a lot of brilliant minds have been working hard on the spam problem, and have devised some ingenious ways of fighting spam, resulting in some great plugins and filters. However, even with all of these, blogs still get spammed. Sometimes the most effective solutions are simple, and right under your nose. I came up with a simple but effective method to defeat blog comment spam.
Before I developed this plugin, our team and clients experienced the same frustration you do with comment spam on your blog. Every blog we manage had comment moderation enabled, Akismet and various other anti-spam plugins installed, but we still had a ton of comments tagged as spam by Akismet that we had to sort through. This wasted a lot of valuable time, and we all know, time is money. We needed a solution.
The Solution: WP-SpamFree
Comment spam stems from an older problem — automated spamming of email contact forms on web sites. I developed a successful fix for this a while ago, and later applied it to our WordPress blogs. It was so effective, that I decided to add a few modifications and turn it into a WordPress plugin to be freely distributed. Having an anti-spam solution implemented on one site or group of sites is an entirely different animal than having it implemented on thousands of sites, so that did present some challenges and I had to make the plugin more robust, because spammers would surely target it. After a few versions of the plugin, that was accomplished, and it’s stopping spam by the thousands for bloggers across the world. Blogs we manage used to get an excessive number of spam comments show up on the Akismet Spam page each day — now the daily average is zero spam comments. This plugin will allow you to have a virtually spam-free WordPress blog.
Download Plugin / Documentation
Latest Version — 1.8: Download Now
Plugin Homepage / Documentation: WP-SpamFree
WordPress.org Page: WP-SpamFree
Leave Comments: WP-SpamFree Release Announcement Blog Post
Tech Support/Questions: WP-SpamFree Support Page
End Blog Spam: Let Others Know About WP-SpamFree!
If you like WP-SpamFree, please let others know by rating it on WordPress.org!
Key Features
- Virtually eliminates automated comment spam from bots. It works like a firewall to ensure that your commenters are in fact, human.
- A counter on your dashboard to keep track of all the spam it’s blocking. The numbers will show how effective this plugin is.
- No CAPTCHA’s, challenge questions or other inconvenience to site visitors - it works silently in the background.
- Includes drop-in spam-free contact form. Easy to use - no configuration necessary.
- No false positives, which leads to fewer frustrated readers, and less work for you.
- You won’t have to waste valuable time sifting through a spam queue anymore, because there won’t be much there, if anything.
- Powerful trackback and pingback spam protection.
- Easy to install - truly plug and play. Just upload and activate. (Installation Status on the plugin admin page to let you know if plugin is installed correctly.)
- The beauty of this plugin is the methods of blocking spam. It takes a different approach than most and stops spam at the door.
- The code is has an extremely low bandwidth overhead and won’t slow down your blog (very light database access), unlike some other anti-spam plugins.
- Completely compatible with all cache plugins, including WP Cache and WP Super Cache. Not all anti-spam plugins can say that.
- Display your blocked spam stats on your blog.
For more information and documentation, visit the WP-SpamFree Plugin page.
Version History
For a complete list of changes to the plugin, view the Version History.
Support
First, check the troubleshooting tips. Then submit any support requests through the Support Page.
Tags:
WordPress plugins | spam | antispam | blogs | WebGeek
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About This Entry
You’re currently reading “WP-SpamFree WordPress Comment Spam Plugin Released,” an entry on WebGeek
- Published:
- 11.12.07 / 7am
- Category:
- Bad Bots, Blogging, Spam, WordPress Plugins
- Related Posts:
- WP-SpamFree Updated to Work with WordPress 2.5 - Version 1.5.8 Released
- WP-SpamFree Major Update - Version 1.3 Released
- WP-SpamFree Updated - Version 1.03 Released
- WP-SpamFree Updated - Version 1.1 Released
- WP-SpamFree Update - Version 1.5.4 Released
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