SPAM, SPAM, SPAM…who doesn’t hate it? What a time waster!
If you are running a WordPress blog, such as this one, then you need to activate the Akismet plugin. Akismet will catch most — if not all — of the SPAM that tries to invade your comment zone.
In order to run the Akismet plugin you will need to get a WordPress.com API key. All you have to do is sign up for a WordPress account. Part of that process is to check your email for details.
In your WordPress admin area, click on Plugins at the top of the screen. A few default plugins will be listed, among them Akismet. If for some reason Akismet is not listed, here’s directions for downloading and installing Akismet WordPress Plugin.
From your plugin admin panel, typically http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin/plugins.php, click on ‘Activate’ in the Action column on the right. A new page states that the Akismet plugin must have your API in order to run.
Enter your API key in the box provided and click OK.
Now, when comments that look like spam are left at your blog they will be pushed into the Akismet black box.
Go to Manage/Comments and you will see a new tab called “Akismet Spam (0)” – the number in parentheses indicates the spam count. Click this tab to review the comments identified as SPAM. Delete everything, unless there is a misidentified comment. So far, I have not found one! If you do, just click on ‘Not Spam’ to help train Akismet.
Run Akismet on your WordPress blog and the World Wide Web will thank you! You’ll thank yourself, too, because you’ll not waste time moderating comment SPAM.