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Topic: Comment moderation

(8 posts)
  • Started 1 month ago by Dutchie
  • Latest reply from Devin of ITKT
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  1. Dutchie
    Member

    I have written a few test post in my, yet to be published, blog, and had a friend post some comments to see how it worked.

    Apparently the setting on my site is such that the administrator can make the decision which comments appear and which not. A reader posting a comment gets the message 'this comment is awaiting moderation' and the comment isn't visible until I allow it.
    I understand that the advantage of this is that spam and rude comments will be filtered out before they appear, but it also seems to give of a certain amount of distrust towards the reader.

    Should I change the setting (not sure how to do that...) and delete any bad comments afterwards?

    How do other people deal with this on their sites?

    Maria

    Posted 1 month ago #
  2. Hi Maria

    It's my personal opinion that you'll encourage more comments if you let them appear, and then deal with removing the spam comments, which should be very few if you're using the Akismet spam filter that comes with WordPress - it's the only spam filter I use and it does a terrific job. It just requires an API key which you can get free by signing up for a login at Wordpress.com (you don't need to get a blog there, just a login will do to get you the API key).

    As for rude comments, again this is just my personal opinion, but I don't believe that you should censor legitimate comments, even if they disagree with your point of view. The idea is to stimulate conversation, and if people get a sense that you're censoring the comments, they won't bother with commenting and will lose interest in reading what you have to say. I do believe you should remove offensive words (the old "[expletive deleted]" will suffice, or replace some letters with asterisks, e.g f**k).....

    The only comments I've ever removed were those that were so far off-topic that they were, in my opinion, spammy (only submitted for the linkback)...which is just as bad as the usual spam....

    Lastly, to change the setting, go to Settings > Discussion......remove the check in the box that says "Before a comment appears...An administrator must always approve the comment"

    I do hold comments in queue for moderation if they contain 1 or more links - if someone is linking to something I want to know about it before it appears.....

    Posted 1 month ago #
  3. I do not moderate my comments. I don't have to approve a comment to make it go live.

    However, I am very agressive about killing spam.

    If I someone leave their name as "Cheap Hawaii Vacations" or put keyword filled links in the comment, I will spam it no matter how relevant the comment is.

    I'm pretty picky about leaving my site clean in the eyes of Google.

    Posted 1 month ago #
  4. WordPress does a great job at catching spam. I've removed comments because they had nothing to do with the post. I don't allow offensive (using expletive words) to appear on my post, but I do allow people to voice their opinion. The more diverse the comments the better. Everyone won't agree with you just roll with it

    Posted 1 month ago #
  5. Dutchie
    Member

    Thanks guys. I am glad that I am thinking the same way you guys do about the moderation of comments. I do want to stimulate a discussion, so I will change my settings. I will keep an eye on expletives, though.
    I have activated the Akismet plugin and will be diligent about removing any spam that still manages to get through.

    Now all I have to do is finishing off my site and start blogging, so that people actually have something to comment on...

    Posted 1 month ago #
  6. I definitely agree with Gary - he makes another very important point.

    I "edit" comments that use a spammy Keyword as their name (like his example) - if the comment adds nothing to the conversation, I remove it.....if it's a really good comment that adds value, I change the name to Anonymous, delink it from the URL, and email them directly to ask them to not spam my blog, but to feel free to comment using their own real name in the future.

    Posted 1 month ago #
  7. I don't bother contacting them I just hit the spam button.

    Posted 1 month ago #
  8. I agree. When in doubt delete the comment. Again, leaving the comment approval off, Wordpress's Akismet plugin is absolutely perfect.

    Posted 1 month ago #

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