29 Nov 2023
What is comment spam?
Comment spam is the term used for unwanted comments on your blog. These comments are usually unrelated to the topic and often contain links to products on other websites.
Delete all comment spam at once
All comments are stored in a database, and this plugin clears your entire comment table in the database with just one click.
Note: You will lose ALL comments at once.
Selectively remove spam comments without plugins
You can adjust the display of the number of comments in your admin panel. Click on “Screen Options” when you are in the comments section of your WordPress admin and set the number displayed to 50 or 100.
Then you can select all messages (at once) and deselect the comments you want to keep. This depends on the ratio of spam to the number of messages you want to keep.
Prevent comment spam via WordPress settings
WordPress has a settings page for comments where you can set a higher threshold for posting comments. For example, you can set to mark any comment with more than 1 link as spam or require users to register before commenting.
Plugins to stop comment spam
There are several plugins that can help prevent comment spam, such as Akismet, which is already included with every WordPress installation.
iThemes Security PRO NL also has a good feature to effectively stop comment spam. The PRO version has a reCAPTCHA option, allowing you to add a captcha requirement to the comment form.
Additionally, you can use reCAPTCHA for new registrations and the login panel.
Important!
Never click on a link in a comment when you are logged in!
As an administrator, you have certain rights to make changes in WordPress, and hackers know that. There are JavaScript codes/links that execute certain actions in the background when clicked!
Solving comment spam, contact spam via phpMyAdmin
There is another way to remove spam using phpMyAdmin, which is very effective, and you can be selective for comments with different statuses.
First, make a backup of your database!!
Delete all approved comments: DELETE from wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = '1'
Delete all pending comments: DELETE from wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = '0'
Delete all marked as spam comments: DELETE from wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = 'spam'
Delete all comments in the trash: DELETE from wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = 'trash'
If you need assistance in solving spam problems, whether preventive or if your own website is sending spam, contact us.
