JaypeeOnline

In the past I used several plugins like Cookies for Comments and Simple Trackback Validation along side Akismet to fight comment and tracback/pingback spam. Nowadays I only use Akismet because it does an excellent job of fighting spam all by itself and having less plugins lessens the load on the server.

The WordPress team just released an updated version of Akismet – version 2.5.6 which is a maintenance release and contains several bugfixes and improvements.

Akismet 2.5.6 Bugfixes and improvements:

• Prevent retry scheduling problems on sites where wp_cron is misbehaving
• Preload mshot previews
• Modernize the widget code
• Fix a bug where comments were not held for moderation during an error condition
• Improve the UX and display when comments are temporarily held due to an error
• Make the Check For Spam button force a retry when comments are held due to an error
• Handle errors caused by an invalid key
• Don’t retry comments that are too old
• Improve error messages when verifying an API key

To upgrade Akismet to the latest version, you can do it automatically via the admin dashboard or download the zip file from the official WordPress plugin repository and install the update manually via FTP. Take note that Akismet 2.5.6 requires WordPress 3.0+. If you still don’t have Akismet and would like to use/try it out, you can get your Akismet API key from this link. Akismet is FREE for personal blogs and websites.

I just updated Akismet to the latest version and it works fine. The upgrade process went smoothly and no issues or conflicts with other plugins.

Anyone else use Akismet? If not, what other plugin/s do you use to fight off spam on your blog or website? Please share your thoughts.