Is Akismet Worth It’s Weight in Gold?

A couple of weeks ago I was heard singing the praises of your favourite anti-spam provider. I have no idea how it does it’s stuff but it has to be acknowledged that Akismet is very effective. However, after a passing comment from Ryan Hanzel about how he’d written a couple of comments on the site which hadn’t shown up, I decided to investigate the murky depths of the Give A Brick spam folder. (Thanks have to go to Matthew Needham for sliding this one in my direction. If it hadn’t been for the issues poor old Ralph has been having over at Big Red Tomato Company, I wouldn’t have even thought to check there )

When I had a look, not only did I find several comments from Ryan, but the lovely Rose DesRochers had taken the time to visit and leave a comment. Why Akismet felt either of these two treasures deserved to be called nasty names is beyond me however, having learned from the mistake (and read an awful lot of spam too) I’m please to unveil our official comment policy. Feel free to make use of if on your own website or let us know if there’s anything we can do to make it better.

1. Please add your real name (or alias, yes, we know these exist ) when leaving a comment. Any comment which contains a company name or random string of letters will not be deemed appropriate.

2. As much as we love the encouragement, four word posts of ‘great post, good job’ (or similar) will be treated as spam. We want to build this space into a caring, listening community. We take it as read that you enjoyed the post and like what we do. Please use the space in the comment box to add value to the experience of other readers.

3. One link only in the URL box. Please remember that this website is intended for visitors of all ages and cultures. Please be sure to include your website URL, only if it is appropriate for everyone to view.

4. Where you would like to point us in the direction of another website, if it will add value, by all means do so. However, this will be closely monitored. Any posts containing more than two links will automatically be treated as spam. Likewise, if you’re linking to something not relevant to the discussion, this too will be be treated as spam.

5. Treat others as you would like them to treat you. Sometimes people do not agree. That’s healthy and natural in a community such as this. Open dialogue and conversation is of enormous value. If everyone ensures that they treat other people with respect, these exchanges can take place in a mutually beneficial way.

And finally, if you write a comment and it does not appear on the site, please get in touch and let us know. The spam folder will be checked regularly but we’re only human The easiest way to ensure you don’t get treated as spam is to register and then login before commenting.

Over to you. What measures do you take to protect against spam on your site?

Please add a comment and retweet.
It’s just another one of the ways you can Give A Brick and then tell your friends

photo credit: Marco Raaphorst

Give A Brick works to support children, young people, the elderly and those experiencing financial hardship. If you enjoyed this post, please Give A Brick (just £1 ) then ask your friends to do the same.

Give A Brick is a UK registered charity #1121744

Have you seen our 1 Minute Motivators yet? They’re a great way to start your day