Why am I getting spam???

Excuse me, but did this API number only show up in a version after 1.5?

I’ve just been inundated with this comment spam too over the last couple of days. Today I got 163! So I came looking for advice, and found the simple instructions here at the forum. Only I couldn’t find that API in my Profile. After checking realized that my version was only 1.5 so I went to my Fantastico, and upgraded. Still, no API.

I tried hitting register on my login, thinking maybe my WordPress wasn’t official, but I got a message that my user name was invalid.
Huh? It’s worked fine for about two years.

The newer version does allow me to activate the Akismet in the Plugin section, but then I get notices telling me that it still needs the API number. If only I could find it!

That’s why I’m wondering if perhaps my installation is from before that came to be.

Blessings & Thanks,
Bouquet

P.S. I should add that I have WordPress on two different sites. I checked in Dashboard=> Account=> Profile AND a number of other places, and no sign of the API at either one.

you need to signup for a wordpress.COM account. you’re at .ORG. the API key is at .COM. once you’re in your .COM account, you’ll find your API key.

why no one mentioned captcha? I enable all the comments/trackback/pingback features without using any of the plugins you guys mentioned, and got absolutely no spam at all, a blog about this (yes, I use another plugin, but in a total different approach of distinguishing between human and bots)
https://liucougar.scim-im.org/blog/archives/9

for one day, I disabled the plugin and I got 10 spams in less than 5 hours, I think.

I get around 2000 spams a week!Akismet solves most of my woes.

I don’t understand why this isn’t considered a problem with WordPress. Sure, there are workarounds that we can do to handle this strange scenario, but why should I have to use spam-handling software when, as far as I’m concerned, I’ve turned off comments entirely.

Why is it possible to receive comments on a blog where comments are not allowed at all?? I understand that the spammers are tricking WordPress, but why are they ABLE to?! How can this NOT be considered a problem with WordPress?

Even with comments off, I STILL must manage comment spam? Seems silly to me. How can this make sense to anyone (as it apparently does)?

what did you do to think that you turned off comments? do you have trackbacks enabled on posts?

if you truly turned off comments and trackbacks on your posts, you would not get any comments and trackbacks.

Its Not only a problem with WordPress, but all the blog software. Before I used Pivot, and there I realy had a problem. WordPress and the use of Akismet and Bad Behauvior is the best combination you can get.

untrue. look at the code in wp-comments-post.php.

My mistake. You are correct. This is a case of users disabling comments and then receiving trackbacks and not understanding the difference.

Thanks, Charle97!
I wasn’t aware of the WordPress.com site.

And Wow! this seems to do the trick! I had already deleted 98 today, before I found this answer, and followed the instructions. Between that and activating Akismet another 4 spam comments had come in, but they were already quarantined!

I think I can breathe again.

Blessings & Many Thanks, Charle97!
Bouquet

What I don’t understand is why comments can’t be completely disabled.

I can disable comments on new posts (doesn’t apply to the 2000 previous posts)

I can require comments by registered users only, but the spammers seem to be able to override that. I don’t allow any new users to register. The spamm still keeps coming

I can re-name my comments php file, but they can still comment.

Yes, I have Akismet, and it works great. But why doesn’t WordPress just give me the option to completely turn off ALL comments? Not all blogs need comments.

Spammers have gone nuts lately. I have over 7000 spam comments caught by Akismet. Over 6000 of them have been in the last week.

I just want to eliminate comments as a part of my website, but nothing seems to do that!!!

switch off comments plugin

jefuchs: These are coming in as trackbacks, not as comments. Rename your trackbacks file as well to disable those, if you want.

how do you know if you don’t examples?

charle97: I’m assuming that the recent mass amount of spam that everybody is complaining about (and which I’ve also been seeing on my own blog) is all coming from the same people. It’s a fair assumption given that it just started recently and all the spam looks pretty much the same.

lol. did you read my response in the other thread? strong tags is an indicator of a trackback.

you can’t just assume. what if there really is a problem not related to trackbacks?