How to Stop Spam Comments on WordPress (reCAPTCHA + blacklist)

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In order to eliminate comment spam from your WordPress website, there are two steps you must take:

  1. reCAPTCHA: Stop automated bots from posting spam in your comments
  2. Blacklist: Send comment spam from humans that contain certain words right to the trash

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to stop nearly 100% of the spam comments on your WordPress website.

1. Anti-Spam WordPress Plugin with reCAPTCHA

The best anti-spam plugin for comment spam is reCaptcha by BestWebSoft. You can install this plugin on your website by going to your WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Add New > and search for recaptcha by bestwebsoft.

Here is a tutorial how to install and configure reCAPTCHA for your WordPress website.

YouTube video

In my opinion, the best way to prevent comment spam on WordPress is with reCAPTCHA by Google, hands down. If you’re not familiar, reCAPTCHA is a free service from Google that helps protect websites from spam and abuse. By placing a small piece of code on your website, an automated algorithm is able to tell human and bots apart.

If reCAPTCHA detects a bot, it prevents the bot from posting a comment to your blog.

2. WordPress Comment Blacklist

Since a reCAPTCHA plugin won’t stop humans from posting comment spam to WordPress, you’ll need to implement a comment blacklist to prevent humans from doing the same.

A comment blacklist is simply a list of words, typically spammy or negative in nature, that you probably don’t want showing up in the comments section of your WordPress website.

If a comment contains a word from the blacklist, WordPress will immediately send it to the trash and it will never see the day of light (i.e. it won’t ever be public).

Here’s a tutorial on how to implement a blacklist in WordPress.

YouTube video

WordPress Blacklist Words

In your WordPress admin dashboard, go to Settings > Discussion > and paste the following blacklist words into the Disallowed Comment Keys box.

д
и
ж
Ч
Б
. ,
? ,
[url=
[/url]
thx
sex
byob
nude
loan
debt
poze
bdsm
soma
paxil
anime
naked
poker
coolhu
cialis
incest
casino
dating
payday
ambien
holdem
adipex
booker
myspace
advicer
flowers
finance
freenet
-online
shemale
meridia
cumshot
trading
adderall
gambling
roulette
top-site
mortgage
pharmacy
dutyfree
ownsthis
duty-free
ringtones
blackjack
hair-loss
bllogspot
baccarrat
thorcarlson
jrcreations
macinstruct
hydrocodone
leading-site
slot-machine
carisoprodol
ottawavalleyag
cyclobenzaprine
discreetordering
aceteminophen
augmentation
enhancement
phentermine
doxycycline
citalopram
cephalaxin
vicoprofen
lorazepam
oxycontin
oxycodone
percocet
propecia
tramadol
cymbalta
lunestra
fioricet
lesbian
lexapro
valtrex
titties
xenical
levitra
vicodin
ephedra
lipitor
breast
cyclen
viagra
valium
hqtube
ultram
clomid
vioxx
zolus
pussy
porno
xanax
bitch
penis
pills
male
porn
dick
cock
tits
fuck
shit
gay
ass
gdf
gds
xyz

Feel free to add any additional words to this list, or remove certain words that may pertain to your website.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions below.


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With a strong software engineering background, Tony is determined to demystify the web. Discover why Tony quit his job to pursue this mission. You can join the Tony Teaches Tech community here.

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