Dealing with Spam
There are plug-ins and services available to help stop comment spammers and spam bots, and you can add scripting to help solve the problem. WordPress, however, is remarkably well-equipped to deal with spam on its own. All you need are the right settings, and a good list of Spam words to start. Plus it’s a good idea to know your readers and whether or not they will post replies. If not, the solution may be as simple as not allowing comments.
For the remote posting end, pings can be turned off. But in most cases we want the interaction and stopping the visitor from having a posting ability isn’t a great answer. In that case the spammers win. So, comments must stay on. I do recommend you don’t keep them open. I close comments after some time on my blog (this isn’t it, this is just a demo and theme support blog). They may be read, but usually 99% of any comments will be posted within two weeks. Even so, I keep my posts open to comments for a couple of months usually.
Over time, and after seeing my fair share of the stupidity out there, I realize that to be safe while still holding short of actually getting a third-party plug-in or turning stuff off, you have to moderate any post with a link, and you have to keep the spam words list up-to-date. I moderate all comments with links. If they are legit I free them. I do it quickly, but I don’t worry about it much. I worry mostly about comment Spam and trackbacks that make it under the wire. It is quite rare but occasionally I find a new term I failed to cover.
The key here is the words list. WordPress offers a decent spam words list, but I don’t think it’s been updated for a while. I have an account over there and do have an edit button and could update their list, but I haven’t, but I will share it here since I’m on this now. Here’s my spam words list:
Spam Words List
To use this list Select it, Copy it, then Paste it into the text area for such word in your admin. Go to Options > Discussion > Comment Moderation. Have fun and go get ‘em.
Last Updated: Oct. 17th, 2006!
-online
4u
acyclovir
acne
adipex
adultfreind
adultfriend
adultfreindfinder
adultfriendfinder
adult cruise
adult dvd
adult personal
advicer
albuterol
alprazolam
amateur
ambien
anal
anime
anonymous
aricept
autoparts
auto-parts
auto-loans
auto loans
ativan
asian
babe
babes
baccarrat
baclofen
best site
bdsm
beta-lover
betalover
bextra
biblogd
blackjack
bllogspot
blogspot
blogtopia
blog verification
blowjob
blow job
bmw
booker
butalbital
byob
car-rental-e-site
car-rentals-e-site
car navigation system
carparts
car-parts
car satelite navigation
carisoprodol
carisoprod
carisprodol
casino
casinos
celebrity
cell-phone
cellulite
chatroom
cheap
cheap-
cheap-phone
cheap laptops
cialis
clonazepam
closeups
cool site
credit-
credit-report
credit-report-4u
cum
cumshot
cwas
cyclen
cyclobenzaprine
dating
dating-e-site
day-trading
debt-consolidation-consultant
diazepam
diet
diethylpropion
diflucan
dildo
discreetordering
discount-
discounted-
discount-europe-travel
duty-free
dutyfree
ebony
ephedra
exercise
fat
fetish
fingering
fioricet
fisting
flowers-
flowers-leading-site
foradil
forumer
freenet-shopping
free-
free-phone
freenet
gambling
gay
good site
government-grants
grannies
great site
hardcore
health-
health-insurancedeals-4u
hepatitis
herpes
holdem
holdempoker
holdemsoftware
holdemtexasturbowilson
hoodia
hosting
hotel-dealse-site
hotele-site
hotelse-site
hydrocodone
ibuprofen
incest
inderal
insurance-
insurance-quotesdeals-4u
insurancedeals-4u
latina
latino
lamisil
lesbian
levitra
lipitor
loans
loan refinance
loving-u
looking good
macinstruct
mature
mazda
mercedes
mortgage-4-u
mobile
mp3
navigation satellite
nice site
nice work
nissan
nude
nudity
online-
online-gambling
online-shopping
onlinegambling-4u
ottawavalleyag
outdoor-shades
ownsthis
palm-texas-holdem-game
pant
panty
pantie
panties
paxil
penis
penis-enlargement
penis-enlargement-pills
personals
phen
phentermine
phetermine
pharmacy
phones
poker
poker-chip
porn
portable dvd player
poze
pregnant
prevacid
primecups
Professional
Professional-
progesterone
proxy
prozac
pussy
refinance
rental-car-e-site
retin
ringtones
rubbish
russian
rx
s&m
school girl
sat nav
satellite navigation
satellite shop
schizophrenia
semen
sex
sexual
shaved
shemale
shower curtains
shower-curtains
sinica
skelaxin
slot-machine
slot
swinger
swingers
soma
surf.ro
taboo
tadalafil
tamiflu
teen
teens
tenuate
texas-holdem
tit
titty
thorcarlson
top-log
toplog
top-site
top-e-site
toyota
tramadol
transsexual
transvestite
trim-spa
ultram
valium
valeofglamorganconservatives
valtrex
viagra
vibrator
vicodan
vicodin
vioxx
vitamin
voyeur
wallpaper
wapow
warez
web hosting
web design UK
web-design
weight loss
wellbutrin
xxx
xanax
xenadrine
xenical
yoga
zithromax
zolus
Note: The list of words above could be refined so that duplicate parts are removed, but I haven’t bothered (yet). I find it’s very effective with most legitimate posts coming through without issue as is.
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