SEO Toronto

It’s all about the conversation, and much of that exchange comes from letting visitors comment on your site’s articles. Some of your visitors may have menacing motives.

Commenting scripts allow website visitors to post feedback/comments on HTML and PHP web pages. This is a trend that almost everyone with a web or a blog is using. The web is full of commenting components or scripts that can easily be implemented. No one seems to be talking about the inherit dangers to your security, SEO and your online reputation.

It only takes one spam from a banned site to drop your SEO rank 10 or more positions.

In this Article were going to focus on securing WordPress and simple machine forums.

Word Press

In WordPress your visitors have the option to leave comments on your site. This feature creates a dynamic interchange between you and your readers.

Site-wide discussion moderation via the WordPress Admin

Simply login to your WP Admin, go to “Options > Discussion”, and toggle the option to “Allow people to post comments on the article”. This setting applies only to future posts and may be overridden on a per-post basis via the “Discussion” options in the “Edit Posts” screen. This method is great for permanently or temporarily disabling future discussion on a site wide basis.

Discussion moderation via plug-in or other script

Discussion management plug-in

1. Akismet – checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API keyto use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.”
2. Block-lists anti-spam measures check if a comment poster is on an open proxy list, and check if the content contains known spammer domains
3. WP-Spam Free An extremely powerful anti-spam plug-in that virtually eliminates comment spam. Finally, you can enjoy a spam-free WordPress blog! Includes spam-free contact form feature as well. A remarkably powerful anti-spam plug-in for WordPress that eliminates comment spam, including trackback and pingback spam. It works invisibly without CAPTCHA’s or other bother to site visitors. The plug-in consist of spam-free contact form feature as well. Finally, you can enjoy a spam-free WordPress blog!

After installing the above plug-ins for WordPress SEO Toronto has not had any spam get through.

If your Mysql skills are good you can accomplish this at the db instead of using plug-in.

Simple Machine Forums

1. Bot Buster – Bot Buster is a set of CGI programs developed to help you control and protect your Multimedia rich and/or Members web site from hackers and abuse. Up until now most webmasters had to find out they were hacked or leached from the hard way, the day after the attack. Not anymore! Bot Buster is the tool for prevention. Bot Buster takes immediate action before the Bots and Hackers take over your web site

Stop Spammer – With this MOD you can Block the Registry of Spammer in your Forum.

“When registering a user, will compare their data (nickname, IP and mail) with the DB “Stop Forum Spam”. If match any data, then the user is inactive ‘Waiting for Approval’.
Admin > Members > Awaiting Approval

You can use the ‘Immediate Registration’ enabled to all users (for not cause discomfort), but to Spammer detect it apply ‘Register Approval’ automatically.

Also you can check all data of many members (already registered) automatically with a simple click, selecting in the list…
Admin > Members > View All Members

And report new Spammers and increase the DB, with a simple click.

It keeps a record number of all Spammers Blocked to date, enable and disable these MODs

1. Akismet Spam Blocking – checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API keyto use it.

Stop forum spam – They catch a lot of spammers trying to register on forums. And they post their details here.

They currently have information on 639845 spammers since about December 2006. Here is the last 12 hours worth of spammers caught in our traps. Or enter an IP address, email address, or username below to search.

http://www.stopforumspam.com/

SEO Toronto uses the above methods to protect against comment spam on WordPress and Forums