Akismet – Plugin of the Week

Akismet

Happen-chance!!! One of my favorite plugins, Akismet was introduced to me in error. I was asked by a faith-based organization to help will all of their spam issues. I was given a few hundred bucks to clean out the spam. I was like sure, how many comments could there be? …well my new client had over 10,000 comments. Most were for male enhancement, dating services, or search engine optimization. It took me over three [3] hours to delete all of the spam. I knew a solution had to be present, so after about a 10-minute search on Google. I found Akismet. Interesting Akismet is a standard plugin on most WordPress installations.

The following week, I was greeted with another 10,000 comments. This was a bummer. I cleaned out the spam and installed Akismet . I must have read close to fifteen [15] articles on how Akismet. It had solved many WordPress site’s spamming issues. I used to delete the plugin on all my new WordPress Installation. Not a smart practice!!!

How to set up Akismet?

You will need to secure an Akismet Key. You can select from three options. Option #1 is Basic. You can select the price on this one. Option #2 is Back up, which runs $9.00 a month. It will back up your content and run daily spam on all comments. Great option and well worth the $108.00 annually charge. Lastly, Option #3 is Plus +, which runs $5.00 a month. It is very similar to back up, except it does not have any back up features. You can not go wrong with any of these options.

After you have secured your Akismet Key, you will need to activate your plugin. You can go to the setting section of the plugin and plug in the Akismet key. You will be up and running.

Once I set up my client with Akismet, the faith based organization site might have had ten spam comments a month. Most of the comments, were from folks discussing events, services, and homily/sermons. I spent less than an hour a month to approve comments and less than five [5] minutes deleting spam.

After a few months, I turned the site back over to the client.

Image Courtesy of Greg Rakozy

JDS WebDesign is a Web Design and Brand Marketing Agency located in Marietta, Georgia. We create AWESOME on line presence for Start-ups and Influential People/Organizations. To learn more about us or how we can help you and your organization, you can contact us or schedule a meeting.

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