I’ve recently been attacked by comment spammers. This is where they post comments in your blog that advertise a product. The goal isn’t to get you to buy said product, it’s to increase their pagerank on Google (although a few might not be smart enough to realize this). It’s very annoying, and removing comments with Movable Type (MT), the software that runs this blog, is like a 5-click process (per comment!).
     This is why I am weeping with joy over MT-Blacklist. Since the evil, scum-sucking spammers want to increase their pagerank, they must use the same site name, which becomes the chink in their armor. You can now add that to your Blacklist and have it automatically blocked. Furthermore, a centralized collection agent processes MT comment notification emails, so users can forward spam to the list and have it automatically added to the master blacklist. Unfortunately, that part is down for reasons explained on the site (Perl hacker needed to optimize the collector; I’d consider it if I had the time). So for now, you have to update your own list, but some nifty catch-alls help out a lot. Like if you wanted to comment about any drugs that enhance your bait and tackle, you’d have to email me directly… and immediately.
     It gets even better! The plugin is really easy to install. And if it doesn’t block something, you can add it after the fact, and it will back-check your comments! It shows you what it’s about to delete, and even automatically rebuilds the site for you (although you can uncheck that box if you want).
     Thank you MT-Blacklist. Thank you.