How To Install Akismet Properly So That It Works?
August 2nd, 2014 | by Ravi Chahar || 33 Comments |
There are many spammers in the field of blogging. Many spam bots are there which can harm your website by dropping their spam comments. Akismet is the solution for that.
Akismet is an amazing plugin used to block spam comments. For beginners, the main problem occurs in installing Akismet WordPress. A few days ago one of my readers has asked me how to install Akismet properly?
After the installation of this plugin, bloggers face problem in activation. Newbies ask how to activate Akismet in WordPress? All these questions arise regarding the usage of this plugin so that bloggers can enjoy its proper working.
How to activate Akismet in WordPress?
As I have mentioned above these type of question are asked frequently because for beginners it’s hard to activate Akismet. Beginners need to follow this guide for installing Akismet in their WordPress blog. Newbies get confused when they check Akismet’s status where it is required an API key. You must know that without this key this plugin can’t work properly.
Many bloggers face this problem because when they start their website they fill any alternate API key which may be given by their friend. But it may not work properly and bloggers face difficulty in activation. There are some steps by which you can get an API key and your plugin will work superfine.
1) First, simply search for the Akismet in add new plugin and you will see many results in the list where Akismet will be at the top. You have to install it and activate it.
2) After installation, you will see a message shown at the top of all the installed plugins asking to activate your Akismet account. You have to click the blue box showing the message.
3) When you click at the blue box asking for the activation of your Akismet account you will see that you will be asked to fill the API key manually if you already have any or to get a new one. You have to click at “get your API key”.
4) With the click, a new window will appear in front of you and you must know this is an official website of Akismet. You can directly get an API key by visiting this website if you want it again. After visiting the website you will see a message shown in a blue box written with white color asking to get your API key. Click at this box so that you can get your key.
5) Now it’s time to sign up for WordPress.com. Don’t get confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org. One is self-hosted and one is fully-hosted. Here you have to sign up for WordPress.com with a new e-mail ID.
6) After the completion of signing up, you will be asked to choose your plan. You must know that Akismet is not free for any business use but free for personal use. So, you should use personal from three plans so that you can use it for free. After signing up for your plan you will get you API key.
Here you are at the last stage for installing Akismet WordPress
After getting this API key you can click on save your API key if you want to let the process finish smoothly but if you want to paste it manually then you can paste it in the place shown in the 3rd step.
If you remember there were two ways to fill an API key whether to get it or to fill it manually. You can copy this new API key for installing Akismet WordPress easily.
Now it’s up to you
The solution for the problem in installation and answer for the question asked by one of my readers as how to install Akismet properly is here. Now it’s up to you whether you want to use the spam blocking facility of Akismet or not. As I have mentioned about this plugin is trusted by millions of website owners.
It’s the king in its field to fight with spam comments. I have explained the activation but still if you have any doubt then you can ask me.
Akismet is a must have plugin. Many newbies missed to activate it properly by getting the API. Good post Ravi. I use Akismet and GASP both to fight with Spam. Keep writing such stuffs.
Hey Atish,
Using the combo of Akismet and GASP is amazing to fight with spam comments.
Thanks for being here.
Enjoy your day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
I like the way you cover fundamentals especially for people are just getting started. I have never seen anybody recently writing such a detailed post on Akismet. A great job here!
In fact I donate a few dollars every year to Akismet folks for a great job they do with their spam filtering mechanism. They deserve and applaud and some appreciation. I support them through some donations!
Regards,
Kumar
Hey Kumar,
I understand sometimes it happens as you did.;)
It’s so kind of you to donate some dollars. Akismet’s developers are doing great job and they should be applauded.
Thanks for your input like always.:)
Have a great day.:)
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
Thank you for writing this post. As you saw from my comment on your last post, I’m not good with plugins at all. When I first had my site up and running, I hired someone to do some work for me. They said I had to have Akismet and they set it up. I would not have had a clue what to do. This is so worth sharing because so many new bloggers don’t have any idea how helpful this is. Thanks again for another great post. Have an awesome week. Ciao, Lisa
Hi Lisa,
As you said most of bloggers don’t get engaged in techy things.
It’s somehow hard to understand about plugins. I didn’t even know about activation of Akismet when I started my blog.
You too have a great week.:)
May I know the meaning of Ciao? I couldn’t understand that.
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
I’m with you, I had no idea how to install it with my first WP site. Ciao is an Italian word meaning either hello or goodbye. I usually use it as goodbye – see you soon. ? Lisa
Ravi, as far as spam is concerned Akismet is the best thing one can install. but the best part is you always tell everything from scratch with a good brief description. And making other new users to learn properly and implement these steps well.
Hey Aditya,
For beginners it’s really important to know about this amazing plugin.
To fight with spam comments is necessary.
Have a good day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Yes, Akismet is an important plugin for every blog and it should be installed properly. Got to know about GASP from you and Atish Bro. I must install it today to fight against spam comment. Thanks Ravi for sharing such an useful article.
Hi Moumita,
Welcome to my blog.:)
Yes, off course Akismet is an effective plugin and for sure GASP is the plugin which puts an extra level of security.
Only humans will be able to comment. It would not be possible for spam bots.
Thanks for your input.
Enjoy your weekend.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Informational post indeed ?
Yes, Akismet is a wonderful to fight spam and so is GASP, and just like Atish mentioned, I also use a combination of both and the work well.
Moreover, with the little experiment I am presently conducting, having removed Commentluv for sometime, I am hardly seeing any spam comments, so these do work. Nice tutorial ?
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead ?
Hi Harleena,
CommentLuv is an amazing plugin and if we have combo with the anti-backlinker plugin then it is really worthy to use.
Thanks for your comment.:)
You too have an awesome week.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Irrespective of what is being speculated around about Askimet, it is one of the most annoying plugins I have ever come across.
It sometimes mark real comments as spam and this becomes a lot of headache for bloggers.
Hi Emmanuel,
Somehow you are right.
Akismet add some real comments to spam list which is sometime frustrating but we can’t deny it’s quality to fight with spam comments.
Have a good day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
Great job explaining the installation of the Akismet plugin!! This tutorial will help lots of newbies as I remember when I started my blog I had that difficulty of getting the API Key.
It is indeed a must have plugin, it limits lots of spam.
Thanks Ravi for sharing a great tutorial step-by-step. Have a great week ahead.
Be Blessed,
Neamat
Hi Neamat,
Akismet is an amazing plugin to fight with spam comments.
Many bloggers face some difficulty like you in getting it’s API key.
You too enjoy your weekend.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
What a great tutorial you have done about how to install Akismet properly!
I do have this plugin installed and I love it! But I didn’t do it myself!
I am not good at these things, and know so many people who are plug in crazy and break their blog!
It is so important to know how to install things properly and you have given a great tutorial that I will pass on to all my friends.
Thanks!
-Donna
Hi Donna,
Off course people need to know about the installation because beginners can harm their blog if they don’t have proper knowledge.
Thanks Donna.
I appreciate you.:)
Have a great weekend/:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
This is a good tutorial, I’ll definitely agree with everyone else here. I know that it’s changed a lot since I first started using it about six years ago.
Before GASP came along I think it really was all we had to help fight spam but I would have literally hundreds of spam comments every single day with some genuine mixed in there so having to go through them all was never fun.
Once I got GASP I deleted Akismet and have never used it since. Now that I have Anti Backlinker plugin with CommentLuv Premium I have no spam at all. It’s wonderful and what a relief. Spam is just one big headache none of us really need to deal with.
Really helpful post Ravi and you have a great week.
~Adrienne
Hey Adrienne,
I agree with you in the point to have CommentLuv premium with ant-backlink plugin to fight with spam. But you know as I always mention, for beginners Akismet is the better choice which fits with their blog because they don’t have much traffic so it’s easy to go through every single comment and off course GASP helps a lot.
Thanks for your wonderful input.
You too have a peaceful weekend.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
The only problem about akismet I ever feel is that it mark real comment as spam. This makes me to check spams just to make sure. Hope it going better in future.
Thanks for the post. Wish you have a great week
Hey Okto,
Ya this is the fault.
But for beginners it’s the best plugin which can fight with spam.
People face problem in it’s installation.
Thanks for visiting.
You too have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Hey Ravi,
A Great Post Indeed Here! I really Love this Plugin. It helps me a lot Actually after my blog migration from Blogger to WP i got 2k Spam comments in 2 Days. So after the installing this Comment I feel relaxed.
SO, i can say this is Must Have Plugin.
Thanks for Share Complete tutorial to setup it. ?
Hey Siddharth,
Welcome to my blog.:)
Akismet is an amazing plugin which helps a lot to fight with spam comments.
The main problem occurs in it’s installation for beginners.
They need to know the procedure.:)
Have a great weekend.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi
If I had not gone through the whole process of installing Akismet at my blog after lot of failed attempts I would not have stopped by here. But the problems I faced while installing it forced me to read it and appreciate your efforts to guide newbie bloggers avoid a great irritation while saving their comments from spam bots.
Now after successfully installing it I know what are its benefits. In early days of my blogging I used to spend several hours to clean the spam comments from my blog. But now I just have to click the button of Clear Spam and all of them go to trash can.
Thanks a lot for sharing this wonderful post on installing Akismet the right way.
Hi Muba,
I agree with you.
In my early days too I was fed up of spam comments but not Akismet is there.
Newbies need to use it to save their blog from spam comments.
Thanks for your input.
Enjoy the day.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
I have been using akismet since two month. I can say that it is very a effective plug-ins that I have ever used. But you get help only when you install it properly. The way that you have explained is really commendable and specially when it comes for newbies.
Thanks for you effort.
Regards,
Swapnadip
Hi Swapnadip,
Nice to see you here again.:)
You are right. For beginners it’s hard to use it properly.
Thanks for your comment.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi
Hi
That’s a useful post because as we grow in experience it’s easy to forget how hard some of these things seemed originally.
When I was getting good posts falsely marked as spam I found that some of the words that had been added to “Settings | Discussion | Comment Blacklist” were words that might be used in genuine posts. (I think some “super de-spam” plugin had done this.)
When I tidied that list up a bit I had fewer false spam comments.
Joy
Hey Joy,
It’s obvious that after having experience people feel easy to do these type of basic things but originally once upon a time basics were so hard to do.
Yea Joy, sometimes we may find some real comment in the spam list of Akismet. This is the only disadvantage of this plugin otherwise it’s best with it’s work.
Nice to see you around.:)
~Ravi
Hi Ravi,
This is indeed a very interesting topic. It caught my attention right away when I came to your blog. But first off, before I go on, I want you to know that I have “whitelisted” you on my blog and so now you can see all your links on CommentLuv Premium on “dofollow”.
Anyway, recently, I have been constructing a website for a client. And since her website is not really meant for blogging, I didn’t install the CommentLuv Premium on hers. But I did install the Akismet plugin, for spammers. Anyway, this API thingy is a pain in the butt. I didn’t bother registering a new API for my client, but instead I used my own. Will this make a difference? Do you think it will still work protecting my client even if I used my own API for my blog?
Angela
Hey Angela,
Thanks for whitelisted me.:)
You know it feels really amazing when someone famous person like you appreciate. I always say this line when I feel so.
Using our own key doesn’t create any problem in cost of cases as I have also used one key at two places and it’s working fine till now.
But having a new API key is better because sometimes Akismet creates problem with this.
After all unique thing always has some quality. It takes two minutes to have a new API key.
Thanks for your remarkable input.
Have a nice day.:)
~Ravi