Spam comments and user registrations are always a problem for WordPress websites, especially when you have more traffic to your website. It’s harmful to your site’s credibility, performance, and user experience. The genuine engagement traffic is the real value of your website, not spam traffic. Therefore, you need to minimize or eliminate the spam comment and user registration.
Below is an example of spam user registration. The email address is something like ‘uwp.dummp.user’ etc. You will get tons of such spam users when you are ready to scale your business if you do nothing to stop them.
In this article, we will introduce how to protect your WordPress website from spam comments and user registration.
1. Set up Comment Moderation Manually
Manually moderating comments can filter out spam, especially if you have an engaged user base:
Settings: In your WordPress dashboard, go to Settings > Discussion and enable options like “Comment author must fill out name and email” or “Users must be registered and logged in to comment” These settings require all comments to be approved before going live or at least require one approved comment from a user to skip future moderation.
Limit Links in Comments: Many spam comments include multiple links. Under Settings > Discussion, set “Hold a comment in the queue if it contains 1 or more links.” This will flag any comments containing links, allowing you to review them before approval.
2.Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks
Trackbacks and pingbacks are older mechanisms that spammers often exploit to get links on your site. Disabling them can help reduce spam:
Go to Settings > Discussion and uncheck “Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articles.”
3. Restrict User Registration
Spam user registrations are particularly common on membership or eCommerce sites. You can use the method below to minimize such spam users.
Enable CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA in registration: Plugins like WP User Manager and ProfilePress let you create custom registration forms that include CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA fields. You can also use Cloudflare Turnstile to enable CAPTCHA when users registering on your website.
If open registration isn’t essential for your site, consider disabling it to reduce spam registrations:
Go to Settings > General and uncheck the box that says “Anyone can register.”
If you still need user registration but want control over it, try the New User Approve plugin, which requires admin approval for each registration.
5.Use Security Plugins for Extra Protection
Security plugins provide an additional layer of defense by offering a firewall, malware scanning, and anti-spam features:
Wordfence and Sucuri are excellent choices for WordPress security. They offer firewall protection, IP blocking, login protection, and other spam-blocking tools that work in conjunction with your other anti-spam measures.
6.Use Anti-Spam Plugins
Anti-spam plugins are highly effective for blocking unwanted comments and registrations. Here are some popular options:
Google reCAPTCHA Plugins: Adding a CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA to your forms is a great way to block bots. Plugins like Google reCAPTCHA by BestWebSoft integrate easily, adding reCAPTCHA to your registration and comment forms to prevent automated spam submissions.
Akismet Anti-Spam: Pre-installed with WordPress, Akismet is one of the most popular spam-prevention plugins. It filters out spammy comments and flag potential spam registrations. Although free for personal use, it has a subscription fee for commercial sites.
Antispam Bee: A free alternative to Akismet, Antispam Bee provides strong spam protection without requiring registration or API keys. It’s GDPR-compliant and offers customizable options to detect and filter out spam.
Conclusion
Spam comments and user registration will always be there unless you take action to fight against them. With the methods above, you can minimize or eliminate most spam comments and user registration. However, spam can’t be wiped out completely. we need to keep WordPress and Plugins updated regularly. By these methods, you and your true users will have a better experience while using WordPress.
How to protect your WordPress website from spam comments and spam user registration
Spam comments and user registrations are always a problem for WordPress websites, especially when you have more traffic to your website. It’s harmful to your site’s credibility, performance, and user experience. The genuine engagement traffic is the real value of your website, not spam traffic. Therefore, you need to minimize or eliminate the spam comment and user registration.
Below is an example of spam user registration. The email address is something like ‘uwp.dummp.user’ etc. You will get tons of such spam users when you are ready to scale your business if you do nothing to stop them.
In this article, we will introduce how to protect your WordPress website from spam comments and user registration.
1. Set up Comment Moderation Manually
Manually moderating comments can filter out spam, especially if you have an engaged user base:
2.Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks
Trackbacks and pingbacks are older mechanisms that spammers often exploit to get links on your site. Disabling them can help reduce spam:
Go to Settings > Discussion and uncheck “Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articles.”
3. Restrict User Registration
Spam user registrations are particularly common on membership or eCommerce sites. You can use the method below to minimize such spam users.
Enable CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA in registration: Plugins like WP User Manager and ProfilePress let you create custom registration forms that include CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA fields. You can also use Cloudflare Turnstile to enable CAPTCHA when users registering on your website.
Check how to set up reCAPTCHA or CAPTCHA on your WordPress website.
4. Limit Registration Access
If open registration isn’t essential for your site, consider disabling it to reduce spam registrations:
Go to Settings > General and uncheck the box that says “Anyone can register.”
If you still need user registration but want control over it, try the New User Approve plugin, which requires admin approval for each registration.
5.Use Security Plugins for Extra Protection
Security plugins provide an additional layer of defense by offering a firewall, malware scanning, and anti-spam features:
Wordfence and Sucuri are excellent choices for WordPress security. They offer firewall protection, IP blocking, login protection, and other spam-blocking tools that work in conjunction with your other anti-spam measures.
6.Use Anti-Spam Plugins
Anti-spam plugins are highly effective for blocking unwanted comments and registrations. Here are some popular options:
Google reCAPTCHA Plugins: Adding a CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA to your forms is a great way to block bots. Plugins like Google reCAPTCHA by BestWebSoft integrate easily, adding reCAPTCHA to your registration and comment forms to prevent automated spam submissions.
Akismet Anti-Spam: Pre-installed with WordPress, Akismet is one of the most popular spam-prevention plugins. It filters out spammy comments and flag potential spam registrations. Although free for personal use, it has a subscription fee for commercial sites.
Antispam Bee: A free alternative to Akismet, Antispam Bee provides strong spam protection without requiring registration or API keys. It’s GDPR-compliant and offers customizable options to detect and filter out spam.
Conclusion
Spam comments and user registration will always be there unless you take action to fight against them. With the methods above, you can minimize or eliminate most spam comments and user registration. However, spam can’t be wiped out completely. we need to keep WordPress and Plugins updated regularly. By these methods, you and your true users will have a better experience while using WordPress.