Spam (Now In A Blog Near You!)
Ahem. So I've kind of been absent from my blog for about a week, thanks to my life assaulting me with various things that I have to do, such as taking my dog for a spin in Mordor, cutting the grass of the Hogwarts lawn, and practicing my archery with Halt. These things and some others have kept me busy, and I apologize profusely for my lack of originality for posts.
Today I'll be touching on a topic that I also must apologize for.
Spam.
Some of you may have eaten it (though I haven't the slightest idea why), but post of us know it as the junk we receive via emails and, for bloggers, comments.
For my comments, I have it set so that you can just type your comment, and it'll pop up immediately, and you don't have to do those "Please prove you're not a robot" letter things. Yay. There's also no need to wait for me to check it over and approve it, because it posts right away. The only problem with this is that spam comments get through the filters way easier. Most of them just don't make sense, but some of them are really inappropriate. I'm sorry for those of you who have had to deal with scrolling past and subconsciously reading those comments, because they don't go away until I have the chance to delete them.
This brings me to what I want your opinions on.
To try and cut down on spam, should I bring back the "Please prove you're not a robot" letter thing, and keep the setting to have comments to post right away? Or should I bring back moderating comments? I don't like the latter option as well, because that takes away much of your freedom as a commenter. Or I can keep everything the same as I have been, doing my best to delete comments that are spam as soon as I can.
What do you think?
That is all.
Today I'll be touching on a topic that I also must apologize for.
Spam.
Some of you may have eaten it (though I haven't the slightest idea why), but post of us know it as the junk we receive via emails and, for bloggers, comments.
For my comments, I have it set so that you can just type your comment, and it'll pop up immediately, and you don't have to do those "Please prove you're not a robot" letter things. Yay. There's also no need to wait for me to check it over and approve it, because it posts right away. The only problem with this is that spam comments get through the filters way easier. Most of them just don't make sense, but some of them are really inappropriate. I'm sorry for those of you who have had to deal with scrolling past and subconsciously reading those comments, because they don't go away until I have the chance to delete them.
This brings me to what I want your opinions on.
To try and cut down on spam, should I bring back the "Please prove you're not a robot" letter thing, and keep the setting to have comments to post right away? Or should I bring back moderating comments? I don't like the latter option as well, because that takes away much of your freedom as a commenter. Or I can keep everything the same as I have been, doing my best to delete comments that are spam as soon as I can.
What do you think?
That is all.
The "please prove you are not a robot" things are annoying, but it really does help with the spam. Maybe you should go with that? :)
ReplyDeleteI agree on their annoying...ness. Thanks for letting me know what you think! (:
DeleteThe "please prove you aren't a robot" things are what I'd go with if you don't like the idea of moderation. You could always put it up for a while and then take it down later. It's like keeping a mouse trap set until the mice are gone. :)
ReplyDelete~Robyn Hoode
The unfortunate third option is remove the Name/URL and Anonymous options from the profile list. But if you do that, I can't comment here anymore. But I've heard that it will get rid of the spammers.
Delete...You know... you could also get someone who has an aura that makes anything self-combust... I heard that gets rid of a spammer. ;)
~Robyn Hoode
I don't think I'll get rid of the Name/URL option or the Anonymous option, because then new commenters probably won't get to say anything, which is sad.
DeleteBahaha, yes, I'm sure I could get Liam to sit around my blog all day self-combusting spammers.
I'm actually pretty sure you couldn't... unless you offered him a phenomenal amount of money.
Delete~Robyn
Or perhaps I could hold one of his characters hostage. No, never mind, then the rest of the Phils would come after me.
DeleteGet the right one and they'd probably let you keep him.
Delete~The Unstoppable Child
That's true. But I have no idea where I'd put him....
DeleteIf you want to torture him, put him in a room filled with My Little Pony figurines. If you don't want to torture him, put him somewhere with a TV and a remote conrol.
DeleteOh the possibilities!
DeleteAlthough I hate the "not a robot" option, it will cut down on the spam. I prefer to moderate the comments, and it's been beneficial when I've gotten comments that aren't exactly spam but they're mean or inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI used to moderate comments, but I found that I don't always have time to moderate them, and it's harder for people to have a discussion through a comment chain. (:
Deletethe CAPTCHA is annoying but it is a good idea ro set your blogcomments to moderate. We would have to wait to see on comments approved but it's the best so no one sees those inapropriate spam.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, spam tastes gross. I had to eat it when I was a kid but thank goodness we don't anymore. Nasty stuff! blech!
I see what you mean, but still I'm hesitant to moderate again, especially because I'll be going on vacation during the summer, and that'll mean a long time before I can moderate the comments.
Deleteoh, I see your point. Hmm... Maybe if we wait. or you can have a friend take care of your blog? i don't know.
DeleteYikes, that is a very scary idea. (:
DeleteWhat I did when my blog was bombarded with those spam comments was put on the robot thing (that's what I'm gonna call it) for like three days and then took it down again and it seemed to help for reasons I can't explain......
ReplyDeleteHmm, perhaps I ought to try that.
DeleteI had to put the verification code back on my blog :(. I got a lot of spam about dental supplies...
ReplyDeleteSorry, internet crashed before I could continue :P. Anyway, I have my blog set to moderation, and I still got spam comments. The only way I found to stop it was that dreadful word verification. If the spam comments continue to be a problem, I would suggest the word verification code, and maybe taking it down again after a while, like July suggested.
DeleteHey, that's a good idea! :)
DeleteThanks for your help, Hermione!
Delete