Tested Tips to Help You Stop Pingback and Trackback Spam

After setting up your website, you publish a couple of posts and before doing any promotions or even after, you log in to the dashboard and bump into comments that do not seem to connect with the blog posts in any way. These are certainly spam comments which are either pingback or trackback. In this post, we’ll look at how you can stop pingback and trackback spam from your website.

What is a trackback? A trackback is a comment outside WordPress. Here is what happens: a manual trackback is sent to you if another site using different blogging software links with your website. Pingbacks have the same quality as trackbacks but are more exclusive to WordPress. Unlike trackback, pingback sends notifications automatically if the site links are from a WordPress site. In order for the pingback to work, both sites need to be pingback enabled.

If your find it in the comment section it means the trackback or ping was approved. There are easy ways to stop pingback and trackback spam, although this feature does attract lots of spammers. Here are a few tested tips, highly effective with up to date free plugins to help you cut down spam. It’s important to note that you can easily turn off trackbacks on the admin dashboard without coding. Simply go to:

Settings -> discussion->default article setting->uncheck box for allow link notifications from other blogs->click save changes.

Let’s look at a list of the easy to install and use plugins that protect your site and stop pingback and trackback spam

• Hide Trackbacks

If you still want to receive notifications, without them appearing in the comment section, install hide trackback plugin. It is a great alternative to the turning off trackback option. It works well without configuration and it’s simple to install. Using the hide trackback plugin comments will appear in your admin dashboard and not visible to your visitors. The best part about this is that you still get a notification if you get a mention on popular websites which is a win.

• Topsy Blocker

Topsy blocker is the updated version of simple track validation plugin. It analyses trackbacks received and checks it for illegitimate sources through topsy.com. Set up of topsy blocker is a simple installation process found under Settings>Simple TB validation.

It has a high success rate and it’s also easy to install. Although the default setting works well, you have the freedom to choose how you would like the trackbacks filtered, be it through IP address or URL. You can choose between your main domain and a permalink of your post. Decide on whether you want the trackbacks to be marked as spam to be deleted or you want to moderate them.

• Antispam Bee

Needless to say, this is one of the most popular plugins with over 200,000 users having installed it. With Antispam Bee you it recognizes trackbacks and verifies comments. It’s easy to install like several other plugins. To access its complete settings, go to Settings>Antispam Bee.

It can be set with default setting which works well and this suffices for most WordPress sites; Antispam bee is so great it can block comments and trackbacks by region. It is a grand plug-in with a nonexistent price tag and has quite a few other awesome settings to stop pingback and trackback spam.

• WP-SpamShield Anti-Spam

WP SpamShield is responsible for the CAPTCHA or other verification features you find on most websites. WP SpamShield is a grand plug-in helps guard you expansively. This plugin works like a firewall; it recognizes and checks bots that crawl sites leading to spam and removes them from your site.

It’s an easy install and works great without any configuration. To customize your options go to Settings>WP-SpamShield on your dashboard and check what you need.

It’s one of the most recommended and most installed plugin, it contains general documentation to keep your site protected. Using WP-SpamShield means that spam is automatically blocked, no more sifting through notifications to find authentic trackbacks or comments. Most spam is sent to the control queue but with this plugin, a simple tick on a checkbox enables automatic blocking.

It’s easy to forget to protect your website from the many vices on the internet. This tried and tested plugins are the best in protecting you from spam. Protecting your website from spam takes a simple install on any of the above plugins. You can customize options under the settings in your dashboard to really enjoy it. Finally, you can now stop pingback and trackback spam easily with these tips.

What other way do you use to block comment spam?