What is Akismet?
Akismet is a WordPress plugin that helps prevent spam to both your contact form and your comment form.
Akismet is so powerful and popular that it filters out hundreds of millions of spam comments on WordPress site each and everyday.
Akismet got its start back in October 2005 by Automattic, the same company who is behind WordPress.
The name of plugin actually stands for Automatic kismet. Since its launch, Akismet has blocked over 100 billion spam and and pings!
To install Akismet, follow these steps:
- Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.
- In the left-hand pane, click Plugins.
- Under Akismet, click Activate.
- Click Activate your Akismet account, and then click Create a new Akismet key. Follow the instructions to create a key.
- After you receive the Akismet confirmation e-mail message, go to the WordPress plugins page again.
- Under Akismet, click Settings.
- Click I already have a key.
- In the Akismet API Key text box, paste the API key that you received in the e-mail message.
- Click .
- To configure Akismet, click Settings under Akismet.
Why should I use Akismet?
Once of the best ways to create a popular website is to interact with your audience.
Allowing comments on your site is the perfect way to communicate and get feedback from your audience.
The unfortunate reality is that according to current estimates, about 85% of all blog comments are spam.
Without Akismet, you would have to spend a ton of time sorting through all of your comments before you get to the actual legitimate ones.
Not only is that time consuming, but it takes time away from allowing you to actually respond to comments in a thoughtful way.
That was the point in allowing comments on your site in the first place! The bottom line is that Akismet is a powerful, time saving solution!
Other reasons you should use the Akismet plugin include:
- Publishing comment spam makes it look like you're not paying attention to your own site
- You don't want to risk your users clicking on a link that was posted within a spam comment
- Google may actually punish you for the links that spammers put in your comments
For more information about Akismet, please visit http://akismet.com.
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