Category: WordPress

A few weeks back I noticed that the RSS FeedBurner feed wasn’t updating for Technically Easy. Each time a post was published, the WordPress RSS feed would be updated, but the FeedBurner feed wasn’t updated to show the new post.

I went through the troubleshooting page on the FeedBurner website, but the steps outlined didn’t correct the problem. I then started to look at the caching plugin that I was using: W3 Total Cache. The plugin cached the RSS feed on my blog, but for some reason it started to cause problems with FeedBurner.

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I have been using the GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin (GASP) plugin for a few weeks now, so I decided to write a review about the plugin. Most blog owners have issues with spam comments on their posts. It is a fact of life when owning a blog – you will eventually start receiving spam comments. While it is annoying to receive the spam, there are many plugins available that can help rid your blog of this nuisance.

I have tried many plugins to reduce, and eliminate the spam I get on Technically Easy, and a few weeks ago I switched to GASP. The process GASP uses to stop spam seems like such a simple concept, but then again, sometimes the simple concepts tend to work the best.

The GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin

I had recently wrote a post where I outlined the 3 plugins I use to stop spam, where I first learned about the GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin from Ileane at Basic Blog Tips. I am always curious to test out some plugins that people have used and liked, so I decided to try out GASP.

I installed the plugin and then disabled both Akismet and the Conditional Captcha plugin. The fact that I am able to disable two plugins is great, since having too many plugins loaded can slow down a blog.

After testing out the GASP plugin for a few weeks, I can honestly say that it works, and I do mean works. I have had zero, zilch, nada, nothing, not a single spam comment within those few weeks. The best part is that without Akismet running, I haven’t had valid comments moved to my spam folder automatically.

How does GASP work? Let’s take a look.

GrowMap Anti-Spambot Plugin – The Simple Way to Stop Spam

Andy Bailey from CommentLuv fame is the one who wrote the GrowMap Anti-Spambot plugin. GASP works by requiring those that wish to leave a comment, to check a checkbox before submitting the comment. Just a simple checkbox and no hard-to-read captcha required. If the checkbox isn’t checked, the comment isn’t saved.

There is also another trick to help stop spam. Since many of the spam comments are created by bots, the bots are usually programmed to fill in all the fields on a form with specific information. The GASP plugin creates a hidden field that can’t be seen by normal visitors. A bot, however can see the hidden field. The bot will then fill in the hidden field, which indicates that a bot is writing the comment. Since the field is filled in, the comment is flagged as spam and discarded.

The only downside is that the visitor needs to have Javascript enabled in their browser. Since many websites use Javascript, most visitors tend to have Javascript enabled by default.

I highly recommend you install this plugin. While the GrowMap Anti-Spambot plugin uses such simple ideas to stop spam, it has been very effective at completely preventing spam comments from my blog.

You can manually add AdSense in a WordPress post above or below the content without any issue. You can simply place the necessary code above, or below, the the_content(); function call. Now if you want to place it within the content, it is a bit more complex.

Most people would install a plugin that will automatically insert your AdSense code into the content of any post. I have used them in the past, but found that it would break the post readability if the code was inserted into the wrong location. Also, some people wish to reduce the number of plugins that are activated in the blog, so a manual method may be better. Once the code is added manually, you can easily monitor your AdSense coverage.

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If you manage a WordPress blog, there are many WordPress plugins to stop spam. Spam is an annoying part of blogging, and if it isn’t managed properly, can turn a good, respectable blog into a trashy-looking blog. People have used many approaches to controlling spam, from captcha images to requiring registration on their blog.

I have also been bombarded with spam at times. While I have thought about measures to combat spam, I wanted to find methods that wouldn’t impact my visitors. About a week and a half ago I believe I have completed my spam-fighting arsenal, and have reduced the number of spam comments I see to zero. I list the three WordPress plugins to stop spam that I use on this blog.

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I recently was thinking about how to prevent some scripts from loading, and executing, each time I logged into WordPress. The scripts were traffic statistics scripts and I didn’t want them from counting the visits from myself. If the option was available from the statistics script owner, I would simply have told it to exclude my IP address. If I decided to view my blog from a different location that I normally don’t use; however, then the script would count my visit.

The solution, as it turns out, was a rather simple one, and can be used to prevent pretty much anything from loading for a logged in user – any logged in user.

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You can stop the Contact Form 7 plugin’s script and stylesheet from loading on every page of your WordPress blog. While the plugin is a great one to install, since it makes creating contact forms easy, you probably don’t want to load the script and stylesheet on every page. For those that one to get every ounce of performance out of their blog, you definitely don’t want those two resources to load each time.

The good news is that it is easy to only load the plugin’s resources on a specific page of your WordPress blog. By simply creating a few lines of code in the functions.php file of your current theme, you can control when scripts and stylesheets are loaded for many plugins that you have installed. Let’s look at how to do this for the Contact Form 7 plugin.

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