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SpamBam!

Comment spam plugin

I’ve wrote a wordpress plugin that hopefully eliminates comment spam on our site as well as slows down the stupid comment spammers. The plugin is called SpamBam and it is released as freeware under the GPL license. The only drawback is that javascript is required to post a comment.

Update

The new version of SpamBam is out 1.2, it now allows Wordpress comment spam protection to work alongside SpamBam.

Installation

To install the plugin simply create a folder called “spambam” in the “wp-content/plugins/” directory and place the spambam.php file in that folder. So your full path to the plugin should be “wp-content/plugins/spambam/spambam.php”. Once you have copied spambam to the folder, you need to enable it in the plugins section of the wordpress admin.

  1. Download the current release
  2. Unzip and copy the whole spambam folder to your plugins directory.
  3. Enable SpamBam in the WP Admin >> Plugins section.
  4. Done!

Optional configuration

SpamBam requires no configuration but if you wish to alter the delay option, by default SpamBam has a 30 second delay if it detects a comment spammer, you can change this in the spambam.php file to any value desired. The constant variable SPAMBAM_SPAMMER_DELAY is used to define the seconds delay. Change the following line (if required).


define('SPAMBAM_SPAMMER_DELAY', 30);

Comments 29

  1. MikeS wrote:

    Hi!

    Great plug in.

    However, there is one small problem.

    For some reason, this is overriding my comment moderation settings.

    For example, I have a setting that says if a comment has two more http links, to hold it in moderation.

    However, that is no longer working.

    Can you please let me know what you might think is occurring?

    My blog is http://www.writingwhitepapers.com/blog/

    Mike

    Posted 29 Mar 2007 at 4:32 pm
  2. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    Hi Mike,

    Glad you like the plugin :)

    I shall have a look into that, my code might be overwriting the link moderation. I’ll let you know when there is an update.

    Cheers

    Gareth

    Posted 29 Mar 2007 at 4:38 pm
  3. MikeS wrote:

    Thanks Gareth

    I must tell you, this is the only thing that seems to work with the new version of WordPress.

    Everything else does not.

    Hope you get that fixed.

    Mike

    Posted 29 Mar 2007 at 4:41 pm
  4. selad wrote:

    Hi,

    I have installed the plugin on a large Wordpress-mu site and we have some problems in a few cases. Can I contact you in via email?

    Thanks,

    Elad

    Posted 06 May 2007 at 11:40 am
  5. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    Hi Elad

    Yes no problem, please email any details of problems with Spambam.

    Thanks

    Gareth

    Posted 08 May 2007 at 8:15 am
  6. Mario wrote:

    When I enter a comment to test it, it treats it as spam. Is that what it supposed to do? I thought it would detect bots only. Thanks.

    Posted 16 Aug 2007 at 4:11 pm
  7. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    Hi Mario javascript and cookies are required to use the script, it does work because Spambam is installed on this site and you managed to enter a comment on here.

    Posted 16 Aug 2007 at 4:43 pm
  8. Martijn wrote:

    I have a problem on my website, there seems to be a conflict with another plugin ‘fgallery’. See the link for the error:

    http://www.popkoorenjoy.nl/wp-content/plugins/fgallery/fim_photos.php?album=kermis-2007

    What can i do?

    Posted 15 Sep 2007 at 9:46 am
  9. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    Hi Martijn

    Please try and upgrade to the latest version of Spambam.

    Posted 15 Sep 2007 at 10:28 am
  10. ardamis wrote:

    I’ve come up with a similar, JavaScript-dependent method of defeating spam bots.

    Basically, you start by renaming wp-comments-post.php, the script that processes the comment form. Then you hide the URL of the renamed script in an external JavaScript file. When a human user performs a specific task (such as filling out the answer to a challenge question), the URL is written back into the page and the form can be submitted.

    If you don’t like challenge questions, delaying the re-writing of the URL by a few seconds should work just as well.

    The post detailing this method is at
    http://www.ardamis.com/2007/09/12/defeating-wordpress-comment-spam/

    Good luck,
    -ardamis

    Posted 17 Sep 2007 at 5:25 am
  11. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    @ardamis

    That method is very flawed because as soon as the external js file is spidered your protection fails.

    Posted 17 Sep 2007 at 8:15 am
  12. Petter wrote:

    Nice plugin for WP
    this is what i am looking for

    Posted 21 Sep 2007 at 4:41 am
  13. papajoneh wrote:

    I am testing this spambam plugin now by commenting.. i still don’t understand how this plugin works. clicking post now.

    Posted 02 Oct 2007 at 5:23 pm
  14. Gillis Winderickx wrote:

    I am going to check your plugin !

    Posted 04 Oct 2007 at 6:48 am
  15. selad wrote:

    Hi, was the problem reported in the first comment resolved?

    Posted 09 Oct 2007 at 8:41 am
  16. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    Hi selad

    Yes this problem has now been resolved

    Posted 09 Oct 2007 at 8:42 am
  17. Doctor wrote:

    Nice plugin! Tanks

    Posted 01 Nov 2007 at 7:38 am
  18. evden eve wrote:

    Thx for this nice Plugin…

    Posted 31 Dec 2007 at 12:04 am
  19. nakliyat wrote:

    can you give me sql queries

    Posted 07 Jan 2008 at 11:01 pm
  20. erer wrote:

    Thx for this nice Plugin…

    Posted 09 Jan 2008 at 5:00 pm
  21. luk wrote:

    hi Gareth
    thanx for your plugin
    but i have a small issue though
    actually, it is the same problem, reported on the comment #6?, but i have both JS and cookies turned on. thats 100%, because i’ve been comenting on my blog before, and now, after a few hours it turns that i can’t do it. i’ve tried to refresh the page, but still nothing. what should i do now?
    thanx

    Posted 04 Feb 2008 at 6:54 am
  22. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    @luk

    A new version is in the works, it should be released soon and it will fix your problems.

    Thanks

    Posted 04 Feb 2008 at 9:15 am
  23. luk wrote:

    thanx Gareth
    also i have a small question
    on my blog i have only registered users comemnting turned on. But somehow bots are sending comments also. So, i had to turn premoderation on. But i have so many premoderated messages everyday.
    There is one small difference between a bot and a real person - bots does not have email field filled.
    Is there any way to make a plugin, that rejects any comment without email field?
    thanx

    Posted 05 Feb 2008 at 1:27 am
  24. Gareth Heyes wrote:

    @luk

    You should be able to do that in your Wordpress settings admin menu. The new version of spambam should hopefully eliminate your spam problem.

    Thanks

    Posted 05 Feb 2008 at 9:29 am
  25. evden eve nakliyat wrote:

    Thx alot

    Posted 15 Feb 2008 at 9:51 pm
  26. Max Kima wrote:

    I used Akismet and this one! Like them both! Thanx for the site!

    Posted 24 Mar 2008 at 4:22 pm
  27. StrikeGod wrote:

    WordPress оченьхорошо защищает от спама, за что ему огромное спасибо

    Posted 26 Oct 2008 at 8:10 am
  28. nakliyat wrote:

    here was so much potential for good work there, if you could get through to the thick-skulled business types.

    Posted 16 Mar 2009 at 2:10 pm
  29. بلياردو wrote:

    WordPress оченьхорошо защищает от спама, за что ему огромное спасибо

    Posted 19 Feb 2010 at 11:24 pm

Trackbacks & Pingbacks 2

  1. From Weblog Tools Collection » Blog Archive » WordPress Plugin Releases for 2/12 on 12 Feb 2007 at 7:41 pm

    [...] SpamBam prevents comment spam and fights against comment spammers by delaying their attempts. [...]

  2. From Módulos para Wordpress para el 14 de febrero - Carrero Bitácora de los Hermanos Carrero, David Carrero Fernández-Baillo y Jaime Carrero Fernández-Baillo. Todo sobre Internet, Tecnología, Tendendias, Dominios, Bitácoras, Diseño y Programación, … on 14 Feb 2007 at 3:37 pm

    [...] SpamBan previene el spam y ataques a los comentarios, poniendo un delay a cada comentario. [...]

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