Disable Trackbacks
When it comes to spam and pingbacks/trackbacks, the vast majority by far is via trackbacks rather than pingbacks. Very, very few people use trackbacks for legitimate uses anymore (I’ve gotten less than 5 in the last 8 months) as WordPress, etc. all use pingbacks now as their primary ping method. I had already installed Cookies For Comments which successfully stops most spam comments but I still had to deal with the tons of trackback spam. So, I wrote this plugin. It will disable new trackbacks across your site, both legitimate and spam. However since very few people use trackbacks legitimately, this combined with Cookies For Comments should cut your spam down to next to zero. Why should I use this plugin over one of those trackback validator plugins? Most non-Akismet style anti-trackback spam plugins work by connecting to the URL that sent the trackback and looking for a link to your blog. The problem with this is that many spammers actually post links to your blog in their spam posts rendering those types of plugins useless. Even those that check the IP address to make sure it matches are beaten by spam blogs (aka splogs). In the end it’s up to you what to use for anti-spam, but I personally use Cookies For Comments, this plugin, and then Akismet to catch anything that makes it through.
Friendly Captcha for WordPress
Friendly Captcha is a privacy-first anti-bot solution that protects WordPress website forms from spam and abuse. Do you use a captcha like reCAPTCHA to keep out bots? Friendly Captcha is a powerful anti-spam service that blocks spam-bots without annoying captcha images and protects user privacy. How Friendly Captcha Works Friendly Captcha is a tool for preventing spam on your website. Other CAPTCHAs are a burden on your users, Friendly Captcha respects your users. Friendly Captcha is a proof-of-work based anti-bot solution in which the user’s device does all the work. We generate a unique crypto puzzle for each visitor. Solving it will usually take only a few seconds. As soon as the user starts filling the form it starts getting solved. By the time the user is ready to submit, the puzzle is probably already solved. Friendly Captcha prevents spam and doesn’t punish real users in doing so. Privacy Notices No personal information Our anti-bot service does not store personal data from your end users. See our Privacy Policy for End Users to learn more. No cookies Our end user solution does not use cookies. This protects your end users from being tracked and followed from site to site. No discrimination Normal CAPTCHA tasks are not easy for all humans. Our solution works without labeling tasks and is thus accessible to everyone. Decentralized data processing By default, requests are processed in the point-of-presence closest to where it is accessed by the end user. See our Privacy Policy for End Users to learn more. Join thousands of organizations in switching to a privacy-first anti-bot solution. Forms and Plugins Supported WordPress Login Form WordPress Register Form WordPress Reset Password Form WordPress Comments CoBlocks Contact Form 7 Divi Contact Forms Elementor Pro Forms FluentForm Gravity Forms Ultimate Member Login Form Ultimate Member Register Form Ultimate Member Reset Password Form WooCommerce Login Form WooCommerce Register Form WooCommerce Checkout Form WooCommerce Lost Password Form WPForms Profile Builder Login Form Profile Builder Register Form Profile Builder Reset Password Form Forminator Formidable Avada Form Builder If you see an integration that’s missing, please open a pull request However, you may wish to email the authors of plugins you’d like to support Friendly Captcha: it will usually take them only an hour or two to add native support if they choose to do so. This will simplify your use of Friendly Captcha, and is the best solution in the long run.
