So here it is, the first post on what is now the fourth incarnation of Basement in the Sky since I purchased the domain name way bake in 2011. Since this blog is mostly going to to deal with the ups, downs and side to sides of my working life as an IT Consultant it seems appropriate that the first few posts be about how I configured and optimised this WordPress site incase anyone out there wants to follow in my footsteps. What follows is three easy steps to secure your WordPress Blogs comments section against spam.
1. Use Akismet
No, seriously! It should be the first plugin you install. There’s a reason it comes bundled with the WordPress installer. It’s very easy to set up. All you need do is click on the ‘Sign up for an API key’ link and request a personal key on the Akismet website which you then input into the Akismet Settings menu and you’re secure from the majority of spam.
2. Use Cookies for Comments
This handy little plugin basically removes the need for a Captcha by forcing a cookie on any browser that views your webpage. a bot will lack this cookie and so will be denied commenting privileges and its comment will be sent to your spam folder.
3. Use Ultimate NoFollow
Finally, this plugin will allow you to set a NoFollow flag automatically on links embedded in comments thus improving your SEO performance and preserving your pagerank at the same time. Amazing huh?
Do you know any other good methods for preventing spam posts in your comments section? let me know in the comments section below.
