What is Akismet and Why You Should Start Using it Right Away

Every WordPress installation comes with two plugins pre-installed. One of them is Akismet, which is definitely in our list of must have WordPress plugins. Even though Akismet comes pre-installed, it is not activated by default. You will have to take some extra steps to activate it. In this article, we will explain what is Akismet and why you should start using it right away. We will also show you how to setup Akismet on your WordPress site.

What is Akismet?

Akismet is a comment spam filtering service. The name Akismet comes from Automattic and Kismet. Auttomatic is the company behind Akismet, and it was founded by the WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg. Akismet catches blog comment and pingback spam using their algorithms. This algorithm learns from its mistakes and from the actions taken by participating websites. For example, when a number of websites start reporting similar looking content as spam, then Akismet will learn to identify that kind of content as SPAM in the future. As of June 14, 2013, Akismet has caught more than 83 Billion spam comments.

Why you should use Akismet?

On popular websites, the amount of spam comments could get as high as 85%. This means out of every 100 comments only 15 are legitimate. Comment moderation is a time consuming task, and Akismet can save you hours. Akismet will catch spam comments before it lands in your moderation queue as pending. This allows you to focus your energy on moderating comments by real users.
Criticism by Users
In the past users have criticized Akismet for giving false positives. False positives are legitimate comments that gets marked as spam by Akismet. This can happen for variety of reasons. One of the most common reason is if a user’s comment is marked as spam by a number of blogs, then Akismet would learn to mark all comments by that user as spam. Like any other automated platform, Akismet is not perfect, but it is the best there is.
How to Know if your Comment was Detected as Spam
If your comment was marked as spam by Akismet, then you will not see the Awaiting Moderation notice like you normally would. If you submit a comment on a site, and you do not see your comment text along with a notice saying awaiting moderation, then you should immediately contact the site administrator. They can help pull your comment out of the spam box, and overtime Akismet will learn from its mistakes.

How to Set up Akismet in WordPress

First thing you need to do is go to Plugins and activate Akismet.

Upon activation, Akismet adds a new menu item at Plugins » Akismet Configuration. Clicking on Akismet Configuration will take you to Akismet Configuration screen. On this page, you will be asked to enter your Akismet API Key. Leave this page open and open a new browser window. We will come back to this page after creating an API key for Akismet.

How to Get API Key for Akismet

In order to set up Akismet on your website, you need an API Key. Go to Akismet website and click on Get a WordPress Key Button.

This will take you to Akismet plans and pricing page. Akismet is free for non-business and personal sites. For business websites, there are different plans and packages available. Choose an option that best suits you. The pricing is setup on honor system, so theoretically you can get away by using a personal plan on a low traffic site. No matter which plan you choose the remaining steps will be similar. Click on the Sign up button to proceed.

Clicking on the sign up will bring you to the next screen where you will be asked to sign up with WordPress.com. WordPress.com is a blog hosting service by Automattic, the same company that brings you Akismet. However, WordPress.com is not the same as your WordPress.org self hosted website. For more information, check out Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph] and How are WordPress.com and WordPress.org Related. You can create a WordPress.com account without creating a blog. Click on Sign up with WordPress.com button to continue. This will open a pop up window with a simple sign up form.

If you already have a WordPress.com account, then you can click on the link I already have a WordPress.com account. If you don’t have a WordPress.com account, then simply fill out the details and create one.
Once the authentication with WordPress.com is complete, you will be taken back to the Akismet website. There you will be asked to provide some user details along with the payment information. If you picked the free plan, then simply drag the price amount to $0.

Click the continue button and you’ll be taken to the screen that shows your API key. You will also receive an email from Akismet containing your API Key.

Remember, an API key is like a password. Do not share it with anyone. In case you lose or forget your API key, you can always visit Akismet.com and click on the sign in button to access your account page. After signing in you will see your Akismet API key hidden. Click on Reveal link to display your API key.

Using Akismet API Key in WordPress

Copy your Akismet API key and go back to your WordPress website’s admin area. Go to Plugins » Akismet Configuration and paste the API key. Rest of the options on this screen are optional. Once you click on Update Options button, Akismet will now verify your key and show you a success message:

Showing Akismet Stats on Back and Front-end of your Site

After logging in to your WordPress website, you will see an overview of Akismet Stats. It will show you the number of Spam comments caught by Akismet, and how many of them are in your spam queue right now. It is highly recommended that you take a look at your spam queue every once in a while so that you don’t miss a legitimate comment getting deleted by mistake.

There is a detailed view of Akismat stats available under Dashboard » Akismat Stats menu item. Clicking on it will show you detailed statistics of spam and ham comments on your website. You can also see the number of spam comments caught by Akismet since you activated it.

If you want to display the number of spam comments Akismet has caught on your website, then you can use the Akismet Widget. Go to Appearance » Widgets, drag and drop Akismet Widget to your sidebar.

We hope this article helped you set up Akismet on your website, get an Akismet API Key and learn why Akismet is important. Spam comments is a big issue faced by many WordPress sites. As your site grow, you will find that you need other options to work along side with Akismet to reduce the amount of spam. For example, you can block spam comment bots in WordPress with honeypot. Since most spammers want to leave spam links on your website, you can remove website URL field from WordPress comment form like we do. We have also compiled a list of tips and tools to combat comment spam in WordPress. For questions and feedback please leave a comment below.

Guide Multiple WordPress Installation Using a Single Database

Sometimes there are more than one WordPress installation is necessary, but your host might have limited MySQL Database allowance. Well the solution to that problem is having multiple WordPress installation in one database.

You must install WordPress manually in order for this to work. Most one click programs like Fantastic would not let you choose the prefix.
During the installation in your config.php phase, you want to change the prefix “wp_” in order to allow multiple installation. So it can be wpchris_ and the next one can be wpben_ you can use different prefix and use them to create as many installation as you need.

That is all you really need to do. This is also a security measure that you can take even if you don’t have to install multiple installation. By having a prefix, you are making the hacker work more to find out what is the SQL Address before he can hack.

Guide Remove Visual Editor Mode in WordPress

WordPress has a robust feature known as the Visual Editor that makes your post writing area look just like a Microsoft Word. It makes writing post easy, but in many cases it ends up ruining the
formatting. When switching to HTML mode and switching back, a lot of formatting is lost and then it causes errors on your website. In this article, we will show you how you can get rid of the WordPress visual editor.

Your goal is that when you login and start a new post, you are automatically in the HTML mode rather than visual mode. First thing you need to do is login to your WordPress admin panel.
Then you would need to go to Users > Your Profile, there you will see something that looks like the image below:

Check this option and you will no longer have to deal with formatting errors caused by WordPress again. Now some people might be afraid that they would have to enter things in HTML, but no. There is still a bar there to help you edit posts, but it just won’t be as rich featured as the other one. This is for those users who have some knowledge of HTML.

The view without the visual editor would look something like the image above. We recommend this mode only if you have basic knowledge of HTML.

Guide Publishing Your Blog to the World

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Guide Choose the Best WordPress Hosting

Often overlooked, web hosting is one of the key component of every successful website. Choosing the best web hosting for your needs can improve your SEO and increase sales. There are various different types of WordPress hosting options available such as Free, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting. In this guide, we will help you choose the best WordPress hosting for your website.
WPBeginner is the largest unofficial WordPress resource site that receives millions of pageviews per month. Having helped 100,000+ users and years of experience with WordPress hosting companies, we know the importance of choosing the best web hosting company. Our goal with this article is to offer insights on things you need to consider when choosing a WordPress hosting company. We will also share our list of top WordPress hosting providers.

Best WordPress Web Hosting Providers

Bluehost

One of the oldest web hosts started in 1996, Bluehost has become the largest brand name when it comes to WordPress hosting. They are an official "WordPress" recommended hosting provider. With Bluehost, you never have to worry about your website being slow even when there is a lot of traffic. Their 24/7 expert support is always there to help when you need it by phone, email, or live chat. They are rated #1 in web hosting for small businesses. On top of that, they are offering WPBeginner users an exclusive 63% off discount, a Free Domain and a free Site Builder with templates.

HostGator

HostGator hosts over 8 million domains and is one of the most popular web hosts in the industry. With 1-click WordPress installation, 99.9% up time guarantee, and 24/7 support, it's a smart choice for every website owner. WPBeginner is a proud HostGator customer since 2007, and our website is hosted on HostGator dedicated servers.

DreamHost

DreamHost has been around for 18 years, and is known for making web hosting easy. You get custom dashboard, 1-click WordPress install, automatic WordPress updates, unlimited space, unlimited bandwidth and free SSDs which makes your site 200% faster. DreamHost powers over 600,000 WordPress blogs and websites. There are no setup fees, and you also get a free domain.

InMotion Hosting

InMotion hosting has been a well-known industry brand with reliable performance for business class hosting. With award winning technical support and 99.9% uptime, they are a user favorite. Their unmatched U.S. based support is always there to help. InMotion Hosting's WordPress Hosting is optimized for active bloggers, and offers great scalability for your blog's growth.

SiteGround

SiteGround is one of the most popular and highest rated hosting provider in the WordPress community. They provide unique in-house WordPress speed and security solutions to make your site as fast and secure as possible. They are known for the best 24/7 support in the industry which is why they're an official "WordPress" recommended hosting provider. Siteground features include automatic upgrades, built-in WP caching, CDN, one-click staging and GIT version control. They are also one of the few companies offering location specific hosting with 3 data centers in USA, Europe, and Singapore. On top of all this, they have а special 60% discount for WPBeginner readers and a free domain name.

Tips and Tools to Pick the Best Domain for Your Blog

Picking the right domain name for a blog is an essential step to success. Think of a domain name as a brand to your website, and like any other product, a blog will be really hard to rebrand if you decide to choose another name. Some people underestimate the process of picking the domain, and we urge you to take it seriously and make the right choice. With that in mind, pick what you think is the best using the tips and tools we provide in this article.

What to Consider While Picking a Domain Name?

Picking a domain might sound hard at first, but it is not when you use the simple metric that we created for you which assist you in the evaluating process and make the decision much easier. Below are things you need to consider when registering a domain name.

Keywords

Keywords play an important role in a domain. Good keywords in the domain also assist in ranking higher in the search engine. But to get a good keyword name like webhosting.com is very hard to get these days without spending a hefty sum. But as new niche markets are coming out, the possibilities of keywords are increasing as well, so use your creativity and get a keyword in the domain.

Branding

In the quest for keywords sometimes we forget about our users and audience. Make sure your domain is catchy and easy to memorize so the user can come back to your website and not forget about it. Sometimes the most unrelated and catchy domains do best. Take Google for example. The word has nothing to do with a search engine, but now it dominates the web. So keep in mind about branding while registering the domain name.

Length, Hyphens, and More

The shorter the domain, the better it is because it is easy to memorize, but don’t just buy because of length. It wouldn’t be any use if you qvwmt.com because that does not relate to your niche. You may use hyphens in your domain, but try to stay away from those as much as possible because as the domain gets bigger, the value of it goes down. You need to avoid double letters domain because you it increases your chances of losing traffic to typos. So domains such as WordPresssetup.com you may want to avoid because it confuses the user.

Domain Extension

While we know that .com is the most popular extension for domains, don’t limit yourself to just that. Get the extension that suits your site the most. So if your blog is about an organization then get .org. If it is an informational site, getting a .info won’t hurt you either. But .com is a plus and mostly preferred because most of the users type .com without thinking about it.

Domain Registrars

There are hundreds of domain registrars on the web that are offering you domain registration and more. But like many other scams on the web, there are scam domain registrars that disappear every three months, and you get left hanging. Therefore we suggest you get a domain from one of these popular registrars that has been around and have earned a good reputation in the industry.
Dotster – One of the most reputable domain registrar in the industry. (Buy One Domain and Get one Free – Coupon: GetOneFree)
GoDaddy – One of the domain giants on the web. You can register your domains with them with full trust because we know they are not going anywhere.
Network Solutions – Another industry giant that offers reliable domain registration service.
Domainsite – One of the younger domain registrars but has a good support and the same options.

Tools to Register the Domain

With so many tools online it gets hard to choose between them. Some of them are completely useless, and some are actually very good. We have compiled a list of some of the most useful tools for domain registration.

1. Domai.nr

Domai.nr is an innovative web tool that helps you explore other TLD’s that have made popular websites like last.fm and del.icio.us stand out from the crowd. Of course, searches will also include popular top-level domains that are available but it is a very creative tool that you can use to come up with ideas.

2. Nameboy

Nameboy is a popular domain name generator. It is very straightforward web tool. This asks for a “Primary Word” and “Secondary Word” that describe the topic of your website, and based on your input, it suggests possible domain names.

3. Domains Bot

DomainsBot is a domain search engine that has an “Advanced” search feature so that you can conduct a more customized and refined search. For example, you can set the maximum domain character length to eliminate lengthy domain names from the results or exclude domain results that have a hyphen (-).

4. Dot-o-Mator

Dot-o-mator is a web tool that suggests site names based on prefixes and suffixes that you’ve entered (keywords). Alternatively, you can use a category of prefixes (like “Tech” or “Games”) and suffixes (like “Hardware” or “Web 2.0 words”) to generate suggested site names for you. It’s a helpful tool for, at the very least, obtaining inspiration for a site name.

5. Dyyo.com

It’s common practice to keep domain names as short as possible so that it can be quickly typed and also so that they’re easier to remember. dyyo.com specializes in helping you find 4-letter domain names to keep your URLs terse.

Some Other Tools to Consider

Expired Domains Search – Database for Expired Domains.
Domize – Domain Search Portal
Bust A Name – Domain Search