Why spam links on comment are harmful, and how to disable them using Blogger HTML editor
We have dealt with comment spam in detail earlier.
In this post, we'd discuss why links appearing on comments are not good for the blog, and specifically how to disable them on Blogger blogs.
As if that were not enough, spammers sometimes add links in comments. An even worse case is when the spammer puts a number of links and links to bad sites. Definitely these links are of low value and hurt your website's reputation in the eyes of search engines.
. One, not to accept comments on posts at all, and instead have a widget for contact form.
. Two, use captcha to avoid content spam.
. Three, do comment moderation.
. Four, accept comments from verified users only (through Discus, Facebook, WB/ Google authentication, OpenID, etc).
. Five, tweak settings to automatically control comments e.g. comments on old posts/ comments with many links/ comments on some posts only (available on Wordpress and Blogger).
. Six, have comments only from native users (only from Wordpress bloggers, G+ commenting).
In the case of free Wordpress blogs, there is limitation on changing code (and unless you are a coder, you would not like to change the code on Wordpress even if you had the premium account), but you can modify the code at will on Blogger blogs, and it is easy. So, I am giving a simple way to disable links on comments. On the web, coders have pasted many codes, and I find the following the easiest:
On the dashboard, select the blog and then 'Theme'. There is a link for 'Backup/Restore'. This allows you to back up the theme and restore it if during editing the theme, something wrong happens by mistake.
After backing up the theme, come back and click on 'Edit HTML'.
Put your cursor anywhere in the editing area and press Control+F keys. It will open a small search box inside the HTLM editor. Write </head> here and press Enter key to search for this expression in the HTML code.
In this post, we'd discuss why links appearing on comments are not good for the blog, and specifically how to disable them on Blogger blogs.
Why links on your blog's comment box may be bad
When commenters put a few links, it could be their eagerness and good intentions to bring to your notice some useful and relevant content. But when a comment has irrelevant content or content that has been made artificially look relevant to search engines, it sure is spam. The comment has been made to pull traffic to the commenter's site and to add 'link juice' (=value that a website gets when it is linked from a good website) to a sham website. These serve the spammer's purpose well while reducing the value of your website/ blog.As if that were not enough, spammers sometimes add links in comments. An even worse case is when the spammer puts a number of links and links to bad sites. Definitely these links are of low value and hurt your website's reputation in the eyes of search engines.
What do you do when you get spammy comments with links?
We have discussed these options on other posts; just to recall:. One, not to accept comments on posts at all, and instead have a widget for contact form.
. Two, use captcha to avoid content spam.
. Three, do comment moderation.
. Four, accept comments from verified users only (through Discus, Facebook, WB/ Google authentication, OpenID, etc).
. Five, tweak settings to automatically control comments e.g. comments on old posts/ comments with many links/ comments on some posts only (available on Wordpress and Blogger).
. Six, have comments only from native users (only from Wordpress bloggers, G+ commenting).
Disabling links from appearing on comments
It is a good idea to have comment box on the blog but disable links.In the case of free Wordpress blogs, there is limitation on changing code (and unless you are a coder, you would not like to change the code on Wordpress even if you had the premium account), but you can modify the code at will on Blogger blogs, and it is easy. So, I am giving a simple way to disable links on comments. On the web, coders have pasted many codes, and I find the following the easiest:
On the dashboard, select the blog and then 'Theme'. There is a link for 'Backup/Restore'. This allows you to back up the theme and restore it if during editing the theme, something wrong happens by mistake.
After backing up the theme, come back and click on 'Edit HTML'.
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HTML editor on Blogger |
Put your cursor anywhere in the editing area and press Control+F keys. It will open a small search box inside the HTLM editor. Write </head> here and press Enter key to search for this expression in the HTML code.
Just before </Head>, make a line by pressing Enter key and paste the code given below. Look at the image above for clarity.
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.10.2/jquery.min.js" />Now, bring back the search box with Control+F keys and type in it, </body>.
Just before that, make a blank line and post the code given below.
<script type="text/javascript">
$("#comments p a").each(function () {
$(this).replaceWith($(this).text());
});
</script> On the HTML editor, click on 'Save theme'. This will remove links from all the comments that you receive on the blog.
Here you can visit ITB's detailed post on comment spam.Any experiences of comment spam, guys? Any new solutions?
