I follow a lot of blogs. Enough, I think, then I find another bunch of really great ones to add to my list, and of course I like to comment on everything and when I'm following prolific bloggers (which is pretty much any writer who blogs), that makes for a lot of reading and commenting.
Word verification adds twice as much time to my blogging, and I hate it. That's time I could spend in doing way more productive things than typing randomly funky letters into a box. I hate it hate it hate it. There. I told you how I really feel.
I took it off my blog about 4 months ago and have had absolutely NO problem with spam. I've seen bloggers who have it who still complain about spam, so why bother? I think it's a big waste of all our time. I see absolutely no point to it. Not to mention, I got way more comments on my posts once I got rid of it.
What do you think? Has anyone noticed a difference between spam and non spam with word verification?
I haven't been blogging long enough to tell for myself, but I've never seen an increase in spam for non-verfied blogs.
ReplyDeleteKaren,
ReplyDeleteWell... in all the blogs I follow, you are the second person who has recently mentioned their hatred for the CAPTCHA style word verifications.
And it got me thinking: Since I moderate my comments anyway, why do I have word verification on my blog??? DOH!
I just disabled it. :)
Could I ask a favor? Would you mind checking my blog to be sure it has truly been disabled?
http://www.daronfraley.com/blog
Thank you!
I'm so glad you said this, Karen! I was just thinking today how much I detest it - especially the ones where you leave the comment, then have to wait for the window to refresh and fill in the word verification - those are the worst! Sometimes I've forgotten and have moved on, losing the whole comment!
ReplyDeleteARGH!
I haven't seen an up in spam since I got rid of it. But I have seen a rise in comments. I didn't think of attributing that to the captcha box. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteI tolerate those boxes by laughing at the crazy things the computer says.
I don't particularly like word verification either. I keep meaning to take it off mine actually! SOme of the words they come up with are interesting though....I got 'splurgle' the other day.
ReplyDeleteI'm another who has seen this complaint a lot in the last month or so. I guess it doesn't hurt to not use it and see how it goes.
ReplyDeleteCAPTCHA Sucks!
ReplyDeleteAs long as a person moderates their inbound comments, they don't really need it. We should start a movement.
There is one other thing that also bugs me, music that auto-plays when you go onto a blog. It slows down the page load a great deal.
I just took mine off about a week ago. Once it was pointed out to me how much time it takes to do that step, I really started to hate seeing it when I comment. I haven't had any spammers since I took it off.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good point. I can't even remember if I've got it on mine. I'll have to check and take it off if I do.
ReplyDeleteJai
I just turned mine off on my writing blog, though I'd at least taken the step to change the comment settings to display the verification by default (instead of after a comment was typed up). I then switched the moderated from 14 days old to 7.
ReplyDeleteNot that my blogs receive all that much traffic, but so far I've had very little spam on my blogger blogs. Years ago I had a Wordpress blog which got tons and tons of spam. I was receiving daily e-mail notifications of new comments awaiting moderation, all of which were spam. Even when that blog's latest post was more than a year old. (It was a Sims blog, which is now offline. I canceled my hosting plan awhile back for that domain).
Word verification is useful for creating accounts on message boards, but commenting on stuff it tends to be a bit much.
I must check to see if I have it on my blog. I don't mind the one that is embedded on other blogs, it is the separate one. I have commented and forgotten to scroll down, thinking I was finished.
ReplyDeleteI guess I had it. Now I don't! Will let you know how that goes.
ReplyDeleteI hate it, too. Can't tell you the times I've left a comment and forgotten the verification, losing the comment. Please blog later about how the disabling turned out for you, spam-wise, in the longer haul.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a spam comment on my own blog or anywhere, but I've only been doing this for about two months so there is that.
ReplyDeleteI've taken it off my blog in a desperate attempt to get more comments, but sometimes it can be fun to make up silly definitions for those stupid non-words.
Today's guest blogger is Michelle McLean!
that does it!! taking it off!
ReplyDeleteOh I'm so tired of it! Especially when a) I take so long to try and compose an intelligent comment that the server's changed the word to be verified by the time I type it in or b) when Open ID doesn't talk to Blogger properly so that I have to go through the whole palaver all over again. One blog I comment on (I don't think it belonged to anyone who's posted here) sometimes took me five or six clicks to get one comment posted!
ReplyDeleteWordPress doesn't have word verification at all (at least, I've never encountered it), but then again it also has a built in spam filter that catches almost everything...
hampshireflyer, one huge positive for Wordpress!
ReplyDeleteKelly, Yay!! Can't wait to visit your blog and NOT have to type in word verif!
Matthew, Welcome! I'll pop over and visit your blog and appreciate the lack of word verif.
Kittie, yes you have to be sure and go back to check. What a pain. For me-- 3 months, no verif, no spam.
Ann, Ha! Another convert!
I hear ya!
ReplyDeleteI've only got one spam every and that was with Word Verification, so it had been manually done. The ones on Writer's Digest are the worst. I have to put the code in like five times before it takes it.
It makes me sad when I have to wait for blog owner approval too.
I just took mine off last week and I've had no problem with spam :)
ReplyDeleteI took mine off last week too, and I haven't had a single spam comment.
ReplyDeleteAlright already! No need to nag. Just kidding! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'll turn off my captcha word verification. To be honest, I'd clean forgotten it was on my blog :)
Whoop! I took it off my blog a few days ago too. It does suck up more time than needed! Join the wagon peeps! Take if off yours too. I've had no spam since.
ReplyDeleteI took mine off a while ago.
ReplyDeleteI've had one spam since and it was on an old post.
25 seconds to remove, a lot less hassle for me than word verification is for commenters on my blog.
Yes, I've been thinking about this too. Lots of people are talking about it. I guess it can always be put back on if there's any bother.
ReplyDeleteSame here! I HATE that feature so I removed it from my blog. I have had only one spammer since and all I did was erase their comment. Easy peasy!
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI quite like word verification - because some of it is pretty whacky! They tend to be silly words too and they're always a surprise.
But then I'm weird anyway!
Ok I'm going to go now as I think I'm in the minority of 1 here! LOL!
Take care
x
To be quite honest I have not noticed. Good point though.
ReplyDeleteOk, I guess I'll give it a go and get rid of the verification. Wait, I should probably figure out if I have verification. And then fix it. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL! We're on the same rants lately, I guess. I try not to get annoyed with it, but I hate when I leave a comment and then before I know they have that function, I've closed the window and the comment's gone without being posted.
ReplyDeleteKaren, you have inspired me. I just took the verification off of my blogs. I'll see if this inspires more comments.
ReplyDeleteKaren, you also inspired to do one more thing. I also changed my comments from embedded to full page. I just realized that on the embedded comments you need to separately click the 'subscribe' button if you want the ongoing conversation e-mailed to you, while on the full page comments you just check the box as you add your post.
ReplyDeleteThis is great people, because it means that tomorrow when I spend my hour commenting on all the new blog posts it will only take me 30 minutes!! Which means more time to follow new blogs!!
ReplyDeleteI've GOT to throw in my 20 cents here! I hate it too! If people MUST have moderation, then do the comment moderation with NO captcha.
ReplyDeleteI can just see myself w/ a baby in one arm, skipping all blogs that require me to type that stupid thing...and I have a bad habit of hitting "post comment" and then closing the window. Sometimes the comment never posts b/c a captcha appeared after that.
Geez. I just wrote a nice, big comment and pressed the wrong button and lost it.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to say that I'm glad you wrote about this. I also hate the captcha, but I do have it on my blog. I've gotten rid of captcha in the past and then had some issues with spam comments--and I'm talking at least a couple a day. So then I bring the captcha back.
But I think I'll ditch it for now and see how things go. It's not so bad when I know I'm online frequently enough to monitor it.
Thanks for this post! (And for everyone's comments...very helpful.)
I don't like it either.
ReplyDeleteBut I've managed to catch almost every spam post by requiring approval on comments on posts four days or older.
Oh yes yes yes! I don't particularly mind it when it's a separate pop-up comment box where I can just type a few letters after my comment. However, when the comment box's at the end of the post and word verification is required, everything takes twice as long. Not a good thing when I'm in a hurry.
ReplyDeleteI hate it too, and I took mine off a while ago, to no ill effect.
ReplyDeleteYay for this post!!
Word verification never really bothered me- I'm with Old Kitty, I like the quirkiness of the creations. And... right after I had been dealing with some, I wandered over to a few blogs that had been spammed with links to some really disgusting sites.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't visit as many blogs as you do, Karen, so perhaps I haven't had a chance to be as inconvenienced. : )
I hate it too. I disabled mine a long time ago, but recently I started getting spam all the time, on a daily basis. It drove me nuts so I enabled it again, I think. I can't remember. Guess I'll check it.
ReplyDeleteThe bad part about being on wordpress is I don't get to do the google friend connect. The good part is NO SPAM. None. They use askimet, which is a very effective spam fighting tool & it doesn't inconvenience visitors at all.
ReplyDeleteI don't care for word verification because it takes sooo long on some sites. Some sites are quick, but definitely not all. However, I can understand why people don't want spam filling up their comments sections - policing comments can take forever if the blog is popular.
Everytime I removed the word verification, I'd get spam several hours later. I finally found a way around it. Now you have to get my approval on comments made on posts more than three days old. That solved the problem. :D
ReplyDeleteI don't have word verification, and I don't have spam, either. Hopefully it will stay that way. The word verification is annoying, especially when you can't possibly read the letters.
ReplyDeleteok just for you I will disable mine :o)
ReplyDeleteI had one spam post when I started my blog - and that was with verification on, so I don't think it makes much difference. The only bots that ever visit me are google bots.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I've seen there have been no spamming issues. So I have disabled my verfication :)
ReplyDeleteI've also had some spam with the word verification on--I still have verif, but you raised an interesting question, because I do loathe the box myself. I might have to lift it and just do a moderate comments after a few days instead.
ReplyDeleteKaren, I didnt even realise it had it, thanks for your prompt, it is now gone from my blog.
ReplyDeleteHi Karen!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog!
Thanks!
Lisa
Hi Karen,
ReplyDeleteLove your blog. And with me you're reaching your audience. About spam. I've been afraid to take off the word verification because of horror stories. I might try it and see what happens. Thanks for always visiting my blog.
I never noticed I had it, but I would love for you to continue to visit so I'm taking it off right now!!! Don't yell at me anymore! (just teasing!!!)
ReplyDeleteSending sparkles your way - 400 here we come! Hehe!
I've only been blogging a few months, but I don't have the word verification on mine and I've not had even one piece of spam. (Now I'm in trouble. Might as well have just laid out the welcome mat!).
ReplyDeleteI'm not fond of the captcha thing either. On blogger, I can usually at least make out the word, but on some boards, it's almost impossible.
I didn't have word verification until a few months ago. When I put it up, I'd started to receive spam, usually 2-3 a day I'd have to remove. I spent more time checking my blog so they wouldn't stay up too long. Since I put it up, I haven't had any more spam. Nor have I noticed a decrease in commenters. I may try taking it off in a few more months and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteI think you may be very very right, and I'm just going to investigate turning the verification off. It's a huge and constant bother.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the verification either and don't use it. I haven't had any trouble with spam.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you - I switched it off on my blog ages ago; it's just a barrier to commenters and it surprises me when people leave it switched on. I haven't been flooded with spam - just a couple I think. And I was kind of pleased to get them - it meant I'd been noticed!
ReplyDeleteHi! Just discovered your blog. Congratulations on your book! Very exciting. I still have word verification on my own blog, but perhaps it's time to rethink that... Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteWell, I put the spam filter back on in my blog. I was at a writers conference yesterday and heard some horror stories about spam. In general the recommendation was that if you're not moderating comments (I don't because I think it's ridiculous to not be able to see your comment right away) at least use the spam filter. But I have changed so that comments aren't just below the post anymore. I think it's a nicer interface, you don't get a separate screen, and you can easily check the 'follow comments' button.
ReplyDeleteWow, I didn't know you could take that word-verification thing off! I'm going to do it right now. I hate word verification, too. (I have it and I still get spammed, so off it comes!)
ReplyDeleteI put up word verification after I got four spam comments, then took it off when someone told me it made it too difficult to comment.
ReplyDeleteI've had it off for several months now, and no spam at all.
Maybe I am lucky, but long may the luck last.
~Rayna
A.L. & Rayna, So many bloggers have said this that I'm thinking spam is a random thing and what you do or don't do doesn't really make a difference. Although if I had a serious problem with it, or with nasty anonymous commenters, I would probably moderate comments for a time, then stop and hope the spammers gave up.
ReplyDelete