Version 5.0.2 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available

by Christopher Finke December 1, 2022

Version 5.0.2 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress is now available. This update contains the following improvements:

  • Fixed a bug causing incompatibility with themes that hide dropdown menus after a set amount of time.
  • Moved away from using [api_key].rest.akismet.com subdomains in favor of sending the key in the request body in order to increase the privacy of Akismet API keys.

To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in the WordPress plugins directory.

New API Endpoints to Keep Track of your Akismet Usage

by Stephane Daury October 7, 2022

We’ve recently deployed, and documented, two new API endpoints that can help you automate keeping track of your Akismet usage, as well as of which sites are querying our API using your Akismet key.

  • Usage Limit: an endpoint to keep track of your Akismet API usage for the current month.
  • Key/Sites Activity: an endpoint to keep track of the sites that are using your API key.

We’re Here to Help

If you need help integrating with these, or any other of our API endpoints, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Version 5.0.1 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available

by Christopher Finke September 28, 2022

Version 5.0.1 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress is now available. This update contains the following improvements:

  • An improved settings screen when there are not yet any statistics to display.
  • A fix for a bug that broke some admin page links when certain Jetpack plugins are active.
  • Improved performance in newer browsers on pages with forms.
  • A fix for a conflict between Akismet and forms that post to third party sites.

To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in the WordPress plugins directory.

Version 5.0 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available

by Christopher Finke July 26, 2022

Version 5.0 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress is now available. This update contains one main improvement: a new feature that helps stop spambots by observing how they interact with the page, not just what content they submit.

To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in the WordPress plugins directory.

Spambots: They’re (Not) Just Like Us. Introducing Akismet’s Newest Spam-fighting Feature.

by Christopher Finke July 26, 2022 1 comment

For years, Akismet has improved life on the Web by analyzing comment form and contact form submissions and comparing them against millions of pieces of real-time content to catch and stop spam. This has gone well (533,000,000,000 times and counting), but it could be going even better.

Starting with version 5.0 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress, Akismet will begin analyzing how the content was posted in addition to what content is posted. What does this mean?

A typical human commenter on the Web takes about 40 seconds to read a blog post and another 40 seconds to write and submit a comment. Their typing speed varies significantly throughout the creation of their comment, and they regularly use their mouse to click around the page. An automated spambot (even one programmed to act like a person) doesn’t act so human-like: its typing speed and mouseclick speed are superhumanly consistent. It doesn’t spend time “reading” blog posts. Its mouse usage is sparse.

The differences in these behaviors between people and people-impersonating bots can be used to stop spam — even if a spambot is posting a comment identical to that of a real person, the way it does it is uniquely machine-like. The Akismet plugin will begin observing these behaviors so that they can be used as part of the spam-checking process. (None of this data is personally identifiable, and it won’t be used for any purpose other than identifying spam.)

To ensure that this latest anti-spam technology is being used to protect your website, upgrade to Akismet 5.0 by visiting the Updates page of your WordPress admin dashboard or by downloading it directly from the WordPress plugins directory.

Version 4.2.5 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available

by Christopher Finke July 11, 2022 1 comment

Version 4.2.5 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress is now available. This update contains the following improvements:

  • A fixed for a bug that added unnecessary comment history entries after comment rechecks.
  • Akismet now displays a notice when WP-Cron is disabled and might be affecting comment rechecks.

To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in the WordPress plugins directory.

Version 4.2.4 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available

by Stephane Daury May 20, 2022 3 comments

Version 4.2.4 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress is now available. This update contains the following improvements:

  • Improved translator instructions for comment history.
  • Bumped the “Tested up to” tag to WP 6.0.

To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in the WordPress plugins directory.

Version 4.2.3 of the Akismet WordPress Plugin is Now Available

by Christopher Finke April 25, 2022

Version 4.2.3 of the Akismet plugin for WordPress is now available. This update contains the following improvements:

  • Improved compatibility with Fluent Forms
  • Fixed missing translation domains for better localization
  • Improved accessibility of the config page.

To upgrade, visit the Updates page of your WordPress dashboard and follow the instructions. If you need to download the plugin zip file directly, links to all versions are available in the WordPress plugins directory.