Input Requested
I’ve been noticing an uptick in spam comments since I turned off word verification a few weeks ago, though few of them actually get posted; most are caught by the spam filter and only seen by those who are subscribing to any comment thread. I’ll confess, they make me nuts. They’re the blogging equivalent of robo-call telemarketers.
I’ve turned on moderation for posts older than a few days, though I am loathe to moderate all comments (as I love the “flow” of conversation that sometimes happens in comment threads) and am reluctant to turn the word verification back on, as some have complained about that. I tried dis-allowing anonymous comments, but some regular readers comment that way and I don’t want to exclude them.
I’m assuming that you’re all a pretty savvy bunch, and ignore any comments that seem mostly non-sensical, ending with something to the effect “look at my website CHEAP sunglasses”. Still, let me know whether you’d prefer that I a) leave things as they are, b) turn comment moderation on for all comments, or c) turn word verification back on.
Your feedback is appreciated! More than anything I want to create and maintain a good experience for readers of this blog.
~
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 United States License.
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They have become so prolifiic these days. It makes me crazy!!! Most, as you say do not show up on the page, just my inbox. That being said, word verification is a royal pain on the iPad, with its dreaded “spell check”. Argh. Comment moderation won’t stop the individual spammers because they’re machines aren’t they? It’ll just make your task more tedious. I hope one of your brilliant readers has a fantastic idea, for now I’m rolling with the crappola, but it is annoying.
I like the quick give and take of comments without verification and moderation.
Love your blog! Have a spam free day,
Jennifer
I’m in the same boat, having switched off verification — it frustrates me on other blogs. Like you, the comments that sneak through (and Blogger filters out many, many of them) are annoying. But as you say, legitimate readers likely recognize them for what they are, especially as some have such ludicrously obvious ploys and amusing-if-it-weren’t-so-irritating stories and strategies.
I’ll come back here later to see if anyone has a brilliant solution, but meanwhile, I appreciate the approach you’ve followed so far. No! Word! Verification! 😉
I second Mater on this one!!
I really dislike the word verification and often I have to type it several times because the numbers are so blurred. I do not regularly leave comments when word verification is required…I have been getting lots of spam but it goes into my filter and I manually delete it every couple of days. I hope this helps you decide your course of action!
Me too, 99 percent goes into the spam filter.
I have the most difficult time deciphering the Captcha letters/numbers–and believe me, I am not a robot! I understand the dilemma though, and the spam comments are ridiculous and annoying. I’ve kept word verification off my blog because I want people to be able to comment easily, so for right now, I’m just going to grin and bear re spam comments.
P.S. I’ll continue to read your blog whether you turn on word verification or not!
Turn it on. You are providing excellent writing for FREE. I can say “thank you” by performing that annoying but minor task. And, I don’t like to give those spam SOBs any quarter.
Until there is a perfect, nonintrusive solution, word verification is the best way to stem spam. (I’ve experimented on my blog; within less than 5 min. I’m hit and something always gets through.)
I don’t have a blog so I can’t speak from your perspective. But as a reader and occasional commenter, I have to say that I really dislike the word verification; it’s so hard to figure out what letters to type in, and usually takes multiple tries. But having said that, if you all feel it’s necessary, I will still read and comment. As long as it doesn’t take more than about three attempts to guess the correct letters!
—Jill Ann
I second this opinion. It´s no trouble for me to do that little bit of extra work, even if I have to do it twice sometimes. I´m in no hurry – I read only the best blogs ;-).
I don’t have a problem with word verification. For me, it is just a necessary evil and I certainly will continue to read my favorite blogs with or without it.
Word verification is hard on my hands. I wish everyone would turn it off but it doesn’t stop me from commenting on my favorite blogs.
Eeek! Technical stuff! I vote for whatever is easiest for you – I will continue to read and comment when I think I have something worth reading, regardless of whether I have a couple of extra steps to accomplish. And I share your attitude toward the flow of conversation. I value that.
I am not fond of CAPTCHA but I can understand why you might use it. I think you have way more traffic than I do.
As far as spam is concerned – I’m in Blogger, and I set my comments so that all comments made more than 21 days after the post went up go to moderation. I have succeeded in trapping spam there, especially for older posts where I wouldn’t have found it. Then, too, my spam filter catches a lot of spam. It’s easy to delete it all in one go.
I like using the moderation feature this way because I actually have found some legitimate comments in moderation – without moderation I would never have seen them. 21 days seems to work for me, although you could adjust it one way or another.
I am very reluctant to make commenting on my blog difficult for people – I allow anyone to comment, even anonymously, and the moderation tool doesn’t kick in until 21 days later.
I am a little curious about the spam – how on earth do the spammers imagine it works? Are there really potential customers dumb enough to click on a link inside a jumble of nonsense, foreign language, and p0rn0graphic language?
I’m one of the Annonymous posters who tries to make certain I complete my comment with my first name.
I’ll accept any filter you choose – your space and I view myself as a casual passerby who appreciates your garden!
Brenda
I love your blog so whatever you decide, it won’t change anything for me. 🙂
Happy weekend!
I’m not keen on word verification. It’s OK if I enter it correctly, but sometimes the figures aren’t clear and I get frustrated if I have to enter it several times. I like the idea of comment moderation after 14 or 21 days, as I have found like several others here that most spam is for my older posts.
I’ll still read your blog though whatever you decide, and comment when I really want to do so.
word verification is a bit of a pain, but if it makes it easier for you I don’t mind it. You’re the one going to all the effort of writing it for us to enjoy, so go with whatever works best for you.
Northmoon (using a friend’s computer so I have to be anonymous this time)
I dislike word verification – I often fail. I had a problem with Anonymous comments and had to shut them off. And I had a problem with Chrome letting in nastiness. But this is your world and posting should be as stress-free as possible. You certainly wouldn’t lose viewers with verification turned on.
I’m glad I am not the only one who sometimes fails at word verification! However, I really don’t mind it, so I would say use it if you have to.
I don’t see a problem with requiring that commenters not be anonymous. A screen name could be used. I don’t know here if I know what I am talking about, but perhaps something like that would work? or help?
Maybe there is something I don’t understand 😉 about commenting…..I used to comment on this blog using the Name/URL option. But then that quit working for some reason. I am using an iPad, and the only option under which I can comment now is “Anonymous”. None of the other choices allow me to post a comment. So I hope you all continue to allow anonymous comments ( otherwise you will miss out on my wise and pithy comments!)
—Jill Ann
I don’t have word verification on but keep all comments moderated and don’t allow anonymous commenters to try and keep out the spammers – and even then some still persistently get through the filter. So not sure what to suggest – there will always be a compromise either for you having to deal with spam or your readers having some restriction on how they can comment. I personally prefer not to give the spammers either time or space than they have already polluted on the net.
I’ve noticed an increase of spam comments on my blog too. The filter catches most of them, the rest I delete manually.
I’m not a fan of moderated comments, because like you said, it makes it impossible to have a free flowing debate on the blog. The word verification is annoying, but it never stopos me from commenting on any of the blogs I follow.
As for the occasional spam comments I notice when reading other blogs, I belive we can all spot it miles away and so far it hasn’t been distracting for me.
I HATE word verification – I can’t read the words/numbers very well and if I don’t get it right the first time, I just say “screw it” and don’t comment. I only have so much time to peruse all my favourite blogs!
I put on “Anonymous” only commenters on my blog, and I approve all comments. No more spam (I was getting the same thing). It only takes a second to do a Google profile (bare bones).
I’m with Sheila, I try once nd if I don’t get it, I give up.
Spam comments was a big reason why I put Disqus on my blog. It filters the heck out of spam, you can blacklist specific email or even IP addresses, and has a backend where you can see all the comments you got from one IP address etc. Moderation is via email, so you don’t have to log into any site to approve or delete or even reply to a comment. It works well with Blogger too! 🙂
Spam is so frustrating because whether or not you have comment moderation, you still have to deal with sifting through the junk for the real comments. I like not having word verification or comment moderation, but am willing to do anything if it’s going to make your life easier!
I also struggle with this decision…spam has increased for me as well. I am not a fan of Disqus and I am one of those who have trouble reading Word Verification…so I think I am going to continue leaving it alone and see if it gets worse. I hate to go back to Word Verification. I will read your blog no matter what you do!!
I’ve noticed the same thing as well on my blog. I’m going to try comment moderation after 14 days. I think that gives regular readers ample time to respond without the hassle. I get my spam mostly on posts over a year old, so hopefully this will help.
Looks like I am in the same boat as everybody else. I do comment moderation but it is becoming more and more annoying. Disqus does not seem to work on my iPad when I try to comment. I might try Sheila’s recommendation.
My opinion: CAPTCHA is a barrier to legitimate commenters. I would not use it. I’m not familiar with the tools available to Blogger sites to improve spam filtering, but if I were running a Blogger site I’d either put up with weeding out what gets past the spam filter or get a better spam filter.
Yes, know what you mean – so very annoying having spam comments pop up.. but I would say leave things as they are.. I just swiftly delete the spam comments asap. I know people (and me included) find it a bit of a pain to do word verification which was why I took it off my blog too. LOVE your blog. Always… S X
Seems, that I don´t have the problems mentioned. I dislike the word verification and to leave a comment on my blog, you have to be signed in as a blogger.
I have definitely missed something – or been saved from a lot!
I’m getting lots of spam too. Word verification always puts me off commenting, as does having to register, so I moderate all my comments.
As I read all the comments anyway, it’s no more difficult to moderate them.
Please don’t turn the word verification back on. I will use it to comment, but I really don’t like to.
And you’re right, we do all know which ridiculous comments to ignore until you can put them in their right place in the spam folder. I think it’s okay as is.
Word verification is not my favourite… I will go through the motions if I really have something to say but truthfully it generally requires several attempts to get the codes right… and that interrupts the train of thought.
My biggest problem is finding the time to comment as much as I would like.. so I really appreciate blogs who don’t put me through those steps… I want to comment as much as I can.. so ease and speed of delivery is important to me. One of the reasons I moved to WordPress was to sort all this ‘spam’ out… 🙂 As big of a move as it was it has been worthwhile for this reason alone…
Whatever you decide Susan, I will always be a visitor as I enjoy your blog so much… Have a great weekend… xv
I am relieved I’m not the only one who finds the word verification really hard! Because it’s time-consuming, it does make me less likely to comment. Being new and small, the combination of not allowing Anonymous comments plus moderating works fine for me. All best with finding the most workable solution for you!
I don’t comment on your blog as often as I read it, but I do not mind word verification at all. Yes, I often have to do it over (and I blame it on my aging prescription…), but I read a few amusing and interesting blogs free of charge and if that is the price of admission, so be it.
Nice of you to ask. I prefer blogs without the word verification, and also without waiting for “approval”, which I do think ends a nice flow. It wouldn’t stop me from reading you though, if you felt you needed to use it.
Yes, the ” approval ” thing sure disturbs the flow ( cleverly said ).
I´d be happy to know why bloggers use it –
Having the same problem. I removed word veri over a year ago and all was well until the last 3 mos or so. I don’t like it at all so won’t reinstate. I also tried Disqus which I like but it’s not compatible with my Kindle Fire, I.e. I’m unable to comment on Disqus with this tablet.
Thank you everyone for the feedback and support. I’ve decided to leave comment settings alone at this point. If the spam becomes a bigger issue, I’ll revisit. And just a reminder, *please* remember not to click on any links from unknown sources (or even known sources that seem out of character). There are all kinds of viruses, Trojan horses, and other cyber nasties out there!
Being a new blogger, this is a really helpful discussion for me, too. I haven’t had spam yet, but now I will have a better idea how to cope with it.
I can USUALLY figure out word verification, but they are getting more abstract all the time! If you want to moderate comments, I’m quite used to that on other blogs. I will still read your blog whatever you decide!
I loathe word verification because I suck at it. I also don’t comment unless i can do so anonymously. I rarely have something insightful or newsworthy to say, but I do enjoy giving Attagirls when appropriate. And yes, I believe your intelligent readers can figure out which are the spam comments. They are annoying but must be even more so to you. You have my sympathy about those!
Please don’t bring back word verification or eliminate anonymous commenting!
Word Verification is lame! It takes up time and I’m one of those people (robots) who struggles with it- so if it takes more than a couple of tries, I give up and move on.
Sometimes moderate, sometimes, let it fly! Spammers are getting worse, but I feel like we can still function by deleting the few that make it thru the filters.
I think letting any spam through is a terrible idea. That’s what spammers count on and why they keep spamming. Letting them publish on your property is showing them their effort is worthwhile. Get a custom word verification like mine so it’s legible. There are a lot to choose from. I see all kinds that don’t use distorted letters.
All the people who complain about word verification would change their minds fast if they dealt with the amount of spam a jewelry blog gets….it’s horrendous.
Letting spam through is bad, just bad. I tend not to like word verification, but on the whole it’s better that the burden of authentification fall on the ones moved to comment, one at a time, than be dealt with wholesale by you, in large quantities. I guess :-). I’d second the suggestion to look for better word verification, some are a lot more difficult than others.
Well, you know how I feel about spam….I have found that moderating is the best way forward thus far. The robo-word bot seems to annoy more people than it pleases.