On the last round, the spam comments were making a come back to this blog. So I decided to install a new plug-in called Defensio (a similar but claimed to be more powerful than Akismet). I’ve also taken out my captcha commenting system completely afterwards.
The result: the spams were as tough as ever, even when Defensio was turned on. However, by the end of the round, I’ve decided to re-install my captcha system (+Defensio) and the spam comments are now practically ZERO!
Why you should use Defensio instead of Akismet (Defensio vs Akismet)
Defensio works the same like Akismet: comments coming in, “spam-look-a-like comments” are put into the quarantine, and you then need to approve or reject the comment (manually check whether they really are spam comments).
However, Defensio sorts the order of the comments in the quarantine based on the “spamminess” of the comments. Therefore, if’s quite practical to go through the comments from top to bottom (Very Spammy, Quite Spammy, Somewhat Spammy, etc). The less spammy ones are actually put on top, so it’s easier for you to moderate them.
As for the accuracy, I don’t think any spam protection plug-in can identify spam comments 100% perfectly. After 2-3 weeks, here is my statistic on Defensio’s performance:
Still not perfect but there is no perfect solution who can identify spam comments completely (except for the ones that check cookies and javascripts).
Why you shouldn’t depend on Defensio and Akismet
Whichever plug-in you decide to use, it doesn’t matter. You still have to get down and dirty: checking your quarantine, reading the comments identified as spam to make sure they are not legitimate comments, approving/rejecting them, and so on. Depending on the popularity of your blog, you can receive hundreds of these every day!
Imagine me checking 5401 spam comments one by one for several weeks and you better stop being a blogger and find a newer job as a spam investigator or something. The bottom line is, you have to reduce the number of spam comments to your anti spam quarantine area! This way, you don’t need to spend much time in dealing with the spam ones.
Conclusion of Round III
At the end, I installed my captcha plug-in back and make it as simple as possible so not to annoy my readers too much (If you can’t even answer what 1+1 is, then you shouldn’t even be here reading my post!). I still keep my Defensio active, though.
The result is very satisfying. Instead of getting hundreds of comments everyday, I only get legitimate comments and 1-2 spam comments a day! If you want to know why I’ve never mentioned Trackback spams, they are long gone thanks to the Anti Trackback spam plug-in that I installed last year.
Having a captcha may annoy your reader a bit. However, if you have to spend long minutes to check your quarantine every single day, then you really have to sacrifice something!
My question is: how annoying is it to you to comment on my blog with the captcha system?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Mike, I will definitely check this. But, i have one query. I tried peter anti spam. but, i got email from one visitor that he/she is unable to validate even after inputting correct spam text.
The current one you are using gives me a problem, if i open my blog from IE. Do you face the same prob.
Why i am asking this is, after i removed anti-spam question. I am getting 100’s to 1000’s spam per day
and i am tired of deleting them.
Do advice.
Nihar´s last blog post..How to get Windows 7 Beta Activation Keys
Hi Nihar, I’m totally with you with getting hundreds of spam once the anti-spam question is taken out and it’s so annoying
What’s sort of problem do you get with IE? I never browse with IE, so I can’t tell
Can you see the problem on your end?
I’m using the wp-comment-spam-stopper plug-in, by the way. I tried Peter’s anti spam but it didn’t work quite well with SuperCache
Nope, i’m not annoy with it, but i’m guessing that there’s no problem with the majority of the reader, because the reader of your site is IT aware and understand the spam issue. maybe for the first time commenting they back off a little, but seeing your site content i’m sure they wont hesitate to comment more.
The problem maybe lies if the question is 329 times 167 minus 12 divide by 34
That’s good to hear, Dian. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me
“The problem maybe lies if the question is 329 times 167 minus 12 divide by 34″
Well I was at Nihar’s blog long time ago and I remember it was a question like 12 * 5 / 3 or something like that. Not as complicated as your example, but it certainly is harder than 1 + 1 lol
The way you use a captcha is fine with me. It is those graphics with the obscure characters hidden away in them, that get me annoyed.
Lyndi´s last blog post..Displaying Code in Content
Yeah, I hate to see this last time on RapidShare. I had to try several times before I can guess the right one
As i’ve said before I hate spam! though one thing I didn’t/ don’t want to do is add an extra ‘hoop’ for visitors.
My latest case-study based on the setup I identified last week when measures it effectiveness.
With almost 48 hours gone since the post went live the setup is holding;
My previous figures had 7-8 askimet comments a week(pre BB installation); with bad behaviour catching the odd one(in the one week pre test);
Since I laid the ‘Bait’ was laid I have had BB stop almost 800! (over 400 per day)and It still has another 5 days left.
So for me the setup seems very effective with minimum interaction / hurdles to jump though.
Donace´s last blog post..Oh Spammer Spam ME!!!
Yeah I read about your latest post. Pretty interesting thing with the htaccess. I always wanted to block IP addresses but I think it might accidentally block some legitimate users.
Mike, I have just now installed WP-Spam Free plugin. It doesn’t have captcha or any kind of question. It uses javascript and cookies. when you have time leave a comment on my blog. I would like to see if you face any prob or not.
Have you used it before. In wordpress.org under comments it is on top page.
Nihar´s last blog post..How to Add categories to Nav Bar
Hey Nihar. Yeah I’ve used WP-SpamFree before. It’s great but sometimes my readers would email me saying that they were having a hard time commenting, even when their Javascript was turned on (they got an error message from Spam Free). So I left that plug-in out of my blog since then..
Mike, Thanks for your comment. I don’t know what to do next? the plugin right now you are using gives my blog the prob when open in IE. it is random. Some of my readers left a message saying they can’t enter the comment. Do you know what message they get? They get invalid email id entered. I tried once and i also faced that prob from IE 6.0
I read Donace posts. Interesting posts. but, i am reluctant to use BB. some times BB blocks author and even authentic visitors
What to do next?
Nihar´s last blog post..Download Free Windows 7 Themes, Wallpapers, Gadgets
Hey Nihar;
It shouldn’t block you…you commented on my blog so evidently it doesnt :p
It only blocks ‘known’ bad IP adds…set by projectjoney pot. Also certain useragents used by bots and not humans, and looks out for certain ‘malformed’ headers that is a give away.
If the user is genuine there are as I understand; onscreen prompts they can follow to ‘unblock’ themselves
Donace´s last blog post..Oh Spammer Spam ME!!!
Hm funny, because someone just emailed me today that he couldn’t comment. The error asked him to use a valid email.. I think it’s the same problem that you are having at the moment..