WordPress Plugin – Simple Spam Filter Hack (RETIRED)

6 Feb 2018: This plugin has now been retired and is no longer available. If you are using it, it is strongly recommended that you stop using it. Why? I have no time to maintain it. It has not been updated in 10 years and should have been retired long ago!

Original Version: 0.4 (Hack Date: 22nd November 2007)

This is a hacked version of the TanTanNoodles Simple Spam Filter plugin for WordPress, which adds the following features to the original plugin:

  1. Checks whether the author name appears at the start of the comment text, which is common with spam comments.
  2. Checks for the use of an ellipsis (ie: …), which is unlikely to be typed.
  3. Strips the following characters from the comments before checking for words (to catch vi-agra): -.*%_&$

For information on the plugin and how to use it, please refer to the original plugin’s home page. This version only differs in that some slight changes were made to achieve the extra functionality above.

Installation Instructions

If you don’t currently use Simple Spam Filter, I highly recommend it. To install:

  • Download the file and unzip it
  • Upload the tantan folder to your site’s wp-content/plugins folder
  • Activate the plugin within WordPress (it’s listed under TanTanNoodles Simple Spam Filter)

Upgrade Instructions

If you currently use Simple Spam Filter and want to use this hacked version:

  • Download the file and unzip it
  • Upload the tantan folder to the wp-content/plugins folder, overwriting the existing files

The Future

Joe Tan has indicated that he will add this functionality to the original plugin. This hacked version will only be available here until Joe releases the new version.

Acknowledgements

Firstly, full credit to Joe for creating a very valuable plugin in the first place. Great work!

Secondly, thanks to RT for challenging me to modify the plugin and for helping test and tweak the changes.