Actually, I'm not expecting the spam volume to change noticeably. WordPress comes with a built-in Bayesian spam filter called Akismet, which checks all comments regardless of how they're submitted. When I set up this blog, I added SecureImage as an extra layer of protection. However, I found out recently that spambots can ignore the normal comment posting procedure and directly invoke the PHP script that posts comments, bypassing SecureImage entirely. Really, the only thing it was doing was inconveniencing legitimate users; Akismet was doing all the hard work from the beginning, and it's generally quite accurate. If it starts making more mistakes, I'll consider alternative ways to block spam.

I did make an under-the-hood change that will also deter spammers, by renaming the comment-posting script. This will cause automated attacks aimed at standard WordPress blogs to fail, and I doubt most spammers will want to put in the effort of manually parsing my site to figure out the new name.

Comment #2 by: Ebonmuse | May 13, 2006, 7:24 pm

Now we just have to work on this whole liberalism thing. ;)

Don't hold your breath there. ;)

Comment #5 by: Ebonmuse | May 14, 2006, 5:19 pm