You heard it! And this is not a singular incident. Even Growmap published Akismet Deletes Comments Bloggers NEVER SEE!
While a lot of people do know, others do not know that Askimet will block IP addresses that have been reported to be used by spammers. This is a problem, especially if those addresses are dynamic IP, most commonly found with broadband users. So, if you happen to get the “lucky” IP, you might have your comment eaten by the spam elves at Askimet.
Your WordPress installation allows you to blacklist a lot of things from keywords to websites, and even IP addresses. I would say to eliminate less of a chance of being spam or accidentally blocking your regular comment buddies (example: if they were to change providers in the future), do not include IP addresses to blacklist.
If your comments are being caught as spam, you could use the Askimet contact form, but as to how they will respond, I cannot guarantee that you will get a positive response.
For myself, I have not had a problem with my comments. However, I see people complaining daily about their comments being eaten. It could be Askimet. It might even be the server itself going through a brief glitch. However, there are enough people that are pointing this out and losing confidence in Askimet.
While I am not bashing on Askimet (because I am going to keep using it for my own websites), I have to put the question out there if some algorithms and settings needs to be looked at before spammers get worse in the years to come. Perhaps leaving the IP banning should be up to the individual site owner? Most web hosts do allow site owners to implement IP banning… some make it easier. For example, web hosts that offer clients cPanel have a special section in the administrator panel for IP banning.
What are your thoughts?
I didn't realize this was an issue. I'm going to have to check my spam queue . Thanks for the heads up. How did you start guest blogging here or do you have something to do with the development of this site?
My recent post 10 More Droid Apps You Must Have
I started WPAddict in November 2009. I do accept guest posts here.
Nate, the problem here is that your spam que will tell you nothing. Once akismet has added an ip ban to a dns (ip) address, the visitor is able to visit and submit a comment fine – but it VANISHES before going to the spam que. Poof – gone – just like that! This is not the usual "false positives going to the spam box" problem that all of these plugins have (and isnt really that big of an issue).
For example if you visited my blog and had been ip banned by akismet – I would never ever see your comment and get to chose to approve it. It would just vanish. This is the complaint. It would make it look to you like I was a nitwit that was deleting your comments as trash.
Not a fun situation 🙁
My recent post WordPress Plugin Review- Defensio Anti-Spam and TypePad Anti-Spam
Hi Niles,
Dynamic IPs are used by dial-up ISPs as well as broadband. They are actually more common than static IPs. Anyone can find out what kind they have by going to WhatIsMyIP.com.
Record that IP and then check again after you disconnect and reconnect or after you have had your PC powered down. Most will probably find that their IP address is similar but different each time because most ISPs have large blocks of IP addresses and you get the next available each time you connect.
I just re-read my article today and realized the same thing you pointed out.
Also, you can call your ISP and they can give you the range of your connection IP.
I use to check my info at SamSpade.org because it would give the IP range as well. However, they seem to be currently (as of July 2010) up with a “Be Back Soon” note…lol.
Yeah I'm on broadband, but a small provider, and while my address does not change daily/weekly, there are enough diruptions that it probably changes every month or two. I keep up with these things since I use them for analytics filtering anyways.
Thanks for the headsup on all this information Gail, appreciate it.
My recent post WordPress Plugin Review- Defensio Anti-Spam and TypePad Anti-Spam
I was not aware about this, that we can contact Askimet for releasing the email address from there spam list. Great sharing.
My recent post Top 3 Ways to Measure Network Reliability
I also experience this incident but I still use akismet since there is nothing far better that it (for me).