CAPTCHA, begone!

Hey, remember the plugin that I used to have running in the comments section of this site? The one that made you type a bunch of random letters and numbers just to prove that you were a human being whenever you wanted to post something? The one that basically sucked and didn’t even work half the time?

Well, it’s gone. I’d hate to do anything to discourage people from sharing their thoughts on anything I’ve posted, and that plugin was definitely an unnecessary and frustrating extra step. So I’ve replaced it with another plugin that filters comments according to keywords, separating the legitimate comments from the spam.

Now, it’s not a foolproof system, and it barely filters anything in its default setting. In fact, the only two words on its default filter list are “viagra” and “penis.” So don’t go using either of those words in your comments, or any of the other words I’m bound to add as future spam dictates, or your comment won’t get posted.

Although to be fair, I should probably take “penis” off the list. I mean, we’re all adults here, right? Frankly, my fear of being thought of as a prude because my blog rejected somebody’s comment solely on the basis of the word “penis” far outweighs any worries I have that I’m unwittingly starting a “let’s all go to Matty’s blog and see who can do the funniest job of working the word ‘penis’ into their comments” contest at this very moment, simply by virtue of saying these things.

Anyway, the plugin does come with a lot of flexibility. If you don’t like a certain aspect of it, then let me know and I can probably fine-tune it. Whatever works for the small but dedicated group of people who occasionally pay this site a visit – which includes my mother, by the way, so you’d really be doing me a solid if you didn’t just show up and shout “penis” in the comments. I really can’t stress that enough.

Big thanks to Ramanan over at Funkaoshi, who’s been encouraging me to take this sort of step for a while now. If you prefer the current system to the old one, then you’ve basically got him to thank.

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