Chapter 4: Dealing with Comments and Spam
In This Chapter
Making the decision to allow comments
Working with comments and trackbacks
Using Akismet to help combat spam
One of the most exciting aspects of blogging with WordPress is getting feedback from your readers on articles your publish to your blog. Feedback, also known as blog comments, is akin to having a guestbook on your blog.
People leave notes for you that are published to your site, and through these notes, you can respond and engage your readers in conversation about the topic. Having this function on your blog allows you to expand the thoughts and ideas you present in your blog posts by giving readers the opportunity to add their two cents’ worth.
In this chapter, you can decide whether to allow comments on your site, figure out how to manage those comments, use trackbacks, and discover the negative aspects of allowing comments (such as spam).
Deciding to Allow Comments on Your Site
Some blog users say that a blog without comments isn’t a blog at all because the point of having a blog, in some minds, is to foster communication and interaction between the site authors and the readers. This belief is common in the blogging ...
