Last updated February 21st, 2019 at 06:46 am
Just installed Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin (G.A.S.P).
This blog has been plagued by spambot comments, and I wanted to try something other than Akismet. G.A.S.P. works by adding to the comment form a simple checkbox which must be checked before the comment is accepted. The default prompt for the checkbox is Confirm you are NOT a spammer.
The key is that the box is generated via client side JavaScript that bots cannot see. I’ll keep you posted.
UPDATE @ 3/21/2016: As you can see in the comments, I stopped using G.A.S.P. and started using Shield, formerly WordPress Simple Firewall, in October, 2013. It’s my standard, go-to plugin for blog sites. As of this writing, it has a 4.9 rating (out of 5) based on 356 reviews.
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I have not received a single spam comment in the 58 days since I installed Growmap Anti Spambot Plugin for WordPress (G.A.S.P.).
Prior to installing the plugin, I was getting 25-50 spambot comments a day. I did the math:
G.A.S.P. has prevented between 1,450 and 2,900 spam comments in just under 2 months.
Not bad.
PS: I don’t know how well G.A.S.P. does on a busier blog. Share your experiences here.
Hi Jeff,
I thought since you like GASP, you might be interested also to see this plugin which has the option to add the GASP protection to the WordPress Login form.
The blog article about the feature is here: http://www.icontrolwp.com/2013/07/how-to-growmap-anti-spam-protection-wordpress-login-form/
Cheers!
Paul.
To do what you’re recommending, do I just install the free WordPress Simple Firewall plugin? Or do I need the full iControlWP solution?
Hi Jeff
The WordPress Simple Firewall is a completely free plugin hosted on WordPress.org. You do not need iControlWP or any other 3rd party accounts… iControlWP is our main service and we just so happen to make the WordPress Firewall Plugin.
Let me know what ya think! 🙂
Cheers,
Paul.
3 1/2-month update: Not a single spambot comment in 105 days, since installing G.A.S.P.
Hi Jeff,
You might be be aware of the latest developments surrounding the GASP plugin and how spammers were getting through.
Perhaps you haven’t had this same problem, but we decided to integrate GASP into the WordPress Simple Firewall plugin and add our own extra enhancements to make it even better 😀
Let me know what ya think! Details of the enhancements are here: http://www.icontrolwp.com/2013/08/wordpress-simple-firewall-integrates-enhanced-gasp-comment-spam-protection/
Cheers,
Paul.
Update at 10/18/2013: Unfortunately, as Paul G. rightly mentioned above, spammers have learned how to circumvent the GASP plugin. I might very well be trying WP-Simple-Firewall some time soon.
Update at 10/31/2013, 10:30 am:
WP-Simple-Firewall has trapped 301 spam comments since I activated it 13 days ago. Alright! Well, done, Paul G and company.