How to install the Akismet WordPress plugin

This article describes how to install the Akismet plugin for WordPress. Akismet helps protect WordPress sites from comment and trackback spam.

Installing Akismet

Akismet is compatible with all A2 Hosting accounts. However, you must install it manually.

To install Akismet, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your WordPress site as the administrator.
2. In the left-hand pane, click Plugins.
3. Under Akismet, click Activate.
4. Click Activate your Akismet account, and then click Create a new Akismet key. Follow the instructions to create a key.
5. After you receive the Akismet confirmation e-mail message, go to the WordPress plugins page again.
6. Under Akismet, click Settings.
7. Click I already have a key.
8. In the Akismet API Key text box, paste the API key that you received in the e-mail message.
9. Click Save Changes.
10. To configure Akismet, click Settings under Akismet.

More Information

What is Akismet?

Akismet is a WordPress plugin that helps prevent spam to both your contact form and your comment form. Akismet is so powerful and popular that it filters out hundreds of millions of spam comments on WordPress site each and everyday. Akismet got its start back in October 2005 by Automattic, the same company who is behind WordPress. The name of plugin actually stands for Automatic kismet. Since its launch, Akismet has blocked over 100 billion spam and and pings! It's safe to say that Akismet hates spam just as much as both you and A2 Hosting does! Take back control of your site. Choose Akismet Hosting from A2 Hosting!

History of Akismet

Not only was Akismet founded by the company behind WordPress, it was actually created by the founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg. He created Akismet as a means to allow his mother to blog in safety. Back in 2005 when the idea for Akismet was originally first conceived, there was a huge need for such a solution because there weren't many options available for dealing with blog spam. Unfortunately the first attempt at Akismet didn't go so well. That first version was downloaded by spammers and scammers, who reversed engineered it so they could learn how it worked. Needless to say that first attempt did not block spam as it intended to.

Shortly after the failed first attempt, Mullenweg released another version that acted as crowd source spam protection. Each time a comment is posted to a WordPress site, the comment is checked against all of the other comments found within its database. The comment is deleted if it is determined to be spam. However, if the comment was in fact spam and gets through this initial filter, the site owner can still mark the comment as spam. Once this happens, the spam comment is added to the database so that it is blocked in the future. This team based approach to spam protection has made Akismet extremely successful in its attempt to rid sites of these malicious actions.

Why should I use Akismet?

Once of the best ways to create a popular website is to interact with your audience. Allowing comments on your site is the perfect way to communicate and get feedback from your audience. The unfortunate reality is that according to current estimates, about 85% of all blog comments are spam. Without Akismet, you would have to spend a ton of time sorting through all of your comments before you get to the actual legitimate ones. Not only is that time consuming, but it takes time away from allowing you to actually respond to comments in a thoughtful way. That was the point in allowing comments on your site in the first place! The bottom line is that Akismet is a powerful, time saving solution!

Other reasons you should use the Akismet plugin include:

• Publishing comment spam makes it look like you're not paying attention to your own site
• You don't want to risk your users clicking on a link that was posted within a spam comment
• Google may actually punish you for the links that spammers put in your comments

For more information about Akismet, please visit http://akismet.com.