Top commentators list removed from Blogging Tips
I posted in June about how the Blogging Tips top commentator list was being abused by a small number of people leaving pointless messages in order to break into the top commentator list
In the last day or so I got over 50 comments from two people who left dozens of one line comments in dozens of posts. These posts added nothing to the discussion and some were completely unrelated to the post in question. Granted they did this at the end of the month and the list will be cleared for August but I still think that removing the top list is good for the blog. I hate to admit defeat but I have seen this happening every month for the past 3 months and I don’t see it stopping, top lists are susceptible to this kind of problem. I use Akismet for spam but beyond that I don’t want to spend a lot of time moderating. Infact, unless someone is spamming the blog or being abusive I will never remove a comment.
The july top commentator list was about to be cleared in a few hours anyways so no one is being directly affected. Of course from now on, those who comment here often will not have the chance of getting their blog listed on the sidebar.
I hope everyone can understand my decision with this. As you know, I want to reward regular readers and commentators. From now on I will just have to do it in another way. Remember, if you ever need help with something just drop me an email and I’ll do my best to help.
Celebrienne | July 31st, 2007 at 6:37 pm #
Kevin, you could do a weekly post and pick some valuable comments which have been made throughout the week and thank the people who added to the discussion by linking to their blogs.
By doing this, the comment posts would also fuel the discussion of the original posts and give them additional exposure.
The same could be applied to forum threads/postings worth reading resulting in some good promotion for the forums.
Kevin | July 31st, 2007 at 6:46 pm #
The August competition will publish tomorrow morning and is something along the lines of what you suggest (eg reward those who make good comments)
Mani Karthik | July 31st, 2007 at 10:41 pm #
I understand Kev - It’s totally disgusting to see such comments - just for appearing in the box - i call it spam!
If at all you’re thinking of putting it back - isn’t there a plugin that will ensure minimum X lines in a comment box?
Good decision Captain!
Dave | July 31st, 2007 at 11:54 pm #
You might consider just running a SQL query to delete any comment containing the abusing commenter(s)’ domain in website or email fields.
Shouldn’t take more than a minute or two of your time, but would instantly erase hours of spamming work for each of the spammers. I doubt they’d keep it up after that.
I’d be happy to give you a hand with doing that, if you aren’t familiar with running sql queries. There’s a good WordPress plugin to facilitate running queries pretty easily.
Wallace | July 31st, 2007 at 11:57 pm #
actually, for BT, this plugin is useless.
and you do the the right decision as i don’t want to see any more spam comment just like johnchow dot com do.
Nirmal | August 1st, 2007 at 4:44 am #
This happens when the blog is popular like yours, I think rewarding regular readers with a link back is the best option.
Davin Warner | August 1st, 2007 at 5:09 am #
Link backs are cool
( yeah yeah that comment was kinda pointless)
Keep up the good work
Davin Warner
http://lovedirectory.blogspot.com
Kevin | August 1st, 2007 at 5:13 am #
Im not too bad with SQL (did it at uni 6 years ago) however this would again involve me spending time moderating. I would prefer to spend working on other areas of the site.
Thanks for your suuport guys
TextAdSearch | August 1st, 2007 at 5:59 am #
There is a fine line between encouraging discussion and attracting spam comments.
Some bloggers have gone as far as disabling altogether which is extreme but I can understand the need to balance time taken to moderate comments and time spent on actual blogging.
Ryan | August 1st, 2007 at 6:03 am #
You could always do it manually.
Just create your own table and then each time someone post a comment that is more there just a “yes” or “cool idea” you can give them a point.
Seen as you read all your comments anyway it shouldn’t be too much extra work.
Ryan
cmanlong | August 1st, 2007 at 9:23 am #
i actually agree with your decision. I have seen the same 2 or 3 folks commenting up the wazoo on quite a few sites that have the top commentator list. i enjoy commenting and even include a link every once in a while, only when relevant and with past precedent on the blog, but I do try and contribute to the discussion and not simply “spam” the conversation.
I never really noticed this problem on my blog until recently. As my traffic has started picking up I have received more spam comments.
Alex | August 1st, 2007 at 10:26 am #
Hey Kevin,
You should try out the My Top Commentators Widget which can filter usernames and URL’s. Maybe that will filter some of these bastards. I’m running this on my new design of my website http://afrison.com, which is not finished by now but pretty soon. It works on WP 2.2.1 . Enjoy
http://webgrrrl.net/archives/my-top-commentators-widget-quick-dirty.htm
Alex
More Merchant | August 1st, 2007 at 2:50 pm #
I like and dislike top commentors. I love when I put a lot into a community such as BT I like to see my name and a return link since I have helped build a community.
But I see blogging as a community type tool, you may not. Basically you help me, I help you.
On the other hand I hate spam. So in the end spammers are like terrorists… they ruin a good thing.
cooliojones | August 3rd, 2007 at 10:35 am #
I don’t see why they would wait until the end of the month. If there is no contest associated, what’s the point?
More Merchant | August 3rd, 2007 at 11:02 am #
I know I post on your site from time to time and often find myself coming once a week and posting to 5 or 10 posts that interest me at a time.
I suppose that could be what you are talking about. I add to the conversation as I can though.
Keep up the good work.