about 5 months ago - 7 comments
One could argue that Google’s Blogger has been behind the curve for some time with respect to the flexibility of the templates offered. One reason I use WordPress as my primary blogging platform (I do use Blogger for other projects), is the widespread availability of creative themes and ease of customization. True to its style, More >
about 8 months ago - No comments
Akismet does a fine job. In Amazing Akismet SPAM Fighting, I explained that with a simple WordPress plugin, I was saved from significant comment moderation from our fiends friends, the spammers. Since that post, I’ve avoided thousands of SPAM hits, thanks to Akismet.
But that still requires an occasional review of the SPAM folder to 1) More >
about 1 year ago - 9 comments
Each blog review I’ve performed has of course been unique, consistent with the unique qualities of the individual blogs and their authors. Lavender Greetings is no exception. What is particularly noteworthy in this case is the relationship between the Lavender Greetings blog, an ecommerce site selling custom, handmade greeting cards, and an Etsy site selling the More >
about 1 year ago - 2 comments
As a simple plug-in, it installed easily and only took a step to activate.
WordPress.com provides users with an API key that allows the Akismet activation. Since this is your control device for fighting spam, treat it as you would any other closely-guarded password.
As you can see, in the three days since I installed mine, Akismet has caught 75 More >
about 1 year ago - 12 comments
DoFollow Used Here!
A comment offered in a previous post, Entrecard Boosting Traffic, caused me to learn something new, and quite important: the DoFollow / NoFollow dilemma. A new concept for me, but one worth exploring.
First, some background. Blogs and web sites are of course ranked by search engines in a number of ways. One is More >
about 1 year ago - No comments
In a conversation with a colleague recently, it was suggested that while the information in the Ultimate Blogging Toolkit was valuable to him, he would enjoy seeing more of a step by step approach. He is even newer to blogging than I am and that approach made sense to him. And guess what? It makes sense to More >
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
Permalink Selection Improves SEO
There are many factors involved with getting more traffic to your blog. All the regular ones apply, of course like post often, use relevant terms in your post title, narrow your genre to a specific topic, and so on. In our fast-paced world, these alone can present considerable challenges, just taking the More >
about 1 year ago - 4 comments
As with any topic that will cross the bow of this boat, there is an enormous quantity of quality arguments on both sides of this issue. I will of course try to break this down in simple terms, but provide additional reading for those who need it.
First, some definitions.
Hosted (free) blogs: A free service provided, More >
about 1 year ago - 1 comment
Top 100 Blogging Platforms from Royal.Pingdom.com
First, an orientation. With the many, many blogging platforms that exist, how does one begin to choose the one that’s right for them? If we used The Pareto Principle (the “80/20 Rule”) to sum up platform usage, we could say that 80% of the people use 20% of the blogging platforms. More >
about 1 year ago
Wow, really? You can’t turn off no-follow in Wordpress? That’s so ridiculous. Makes me happy that I use b2evolution. Even if the learning curve is a bit steep at least I have a lot of control.
And Akismet is an awesome anti-spam tool. Great article – should help some people out. Maybe you can start a movement of users who get Wordpress to move on this.
about 1 year ago
I hope you are diligent with checking just what Akismet considers to be spam. For you may be deleting comments that you would welcome.
about 1 year ago
Whoa, I fully expected my previous comment to land in the trash. For I had been branded by Akismet as being spammer because of the actions of one who did not appreciate my theological point-of-view. Hopefully, that has been cleared-up now, and I can feel more free to submit comments to WordPress blogs.
about 1 year ago
@FishHawk
Thanks for your comment. Akismet’s success rate has been quite high. Since they are grouped together, all indicating SPAM, it’s easy to take a quick glance at a preview and kill it or keep it. Quite easy and quite accurate. The high 99+% success rate if very impressive.
You raise an interesting aspect of Akismet and those of us who use it. It didn’t occur to me that decisions (right or wrong) by users identifying comments as SPAM would be a factor in assessing future comments by the same user. It makes sense, though.
My hope is that by accepting your comments and engaging in this way, I’ve contributed to at least a small amount of positive “Akismet Love” for you.
Stop back any time.
Best regards,
Dave