So I have upgraded to Movable Type 3 finally. A bit late perhaps, but I hadn't justified the expense of the license. Ravi has kindly offered his assistance in that department in exchange for development on the new Huge website (as of yet no re-launched).

One of my main issues, a common one, is with spam. Spammers seeking out blog software to exploit the commenting and trackback features are a constant headache for all of us. While I have taken some steps to lockdown the commenting spam, I hadn't yet locked down this security, stupidly, and woke up this morning to 200+ trackback spams. Lovely.

So this morning was spent doing some spam cleanup, and securing orangehat from further spamming nonsense.

The main part of this involves installing MT-Blacklist, an absolute masterpiece from Jay Allen. Of course it will always be a work in progress and isn't perfect, but it casts a pretty wide net around comment spam preventing a majority of it, and managing the removal of the rest. Thank you Jay.

I have implemented the requirement for users to register for a freeTypeKey account in order to leave comments. What is TypeKey?
TypeKey is a free, open system providing a central identity that anyone can use to log in and post comments on blogs and other web sites.

Your info is secure, you will be sent no spam or anything for that matter. And it allows me to lockout the idiots who think they can boost their website ranking by spamming. Plus, once you create an account, you can reuse the same login on other blogs that require it.

So while going through this process, I ran across the Six Apart Guide to Comment Spam which is a very well written description of how to prevent spam from overtaking your blog. Siz Apart is the company that makes Movable Type, and while they have a vested interest in promoting their own TypeKey service, the article is relatively unbiased and points out cons to using the service as well as pros. It runs through different levels of steps from installing plugins that aid in spam prevention to steps to secure the base MT installation (like renaming your comments script). I found it very helpful and insightful, particularly the list of pros and cons for each suggestion.

So there you have it. And yes, speak .::.::.:..:::.:. is now orangehat. It fits me better, just leave it at that. As for the design... it's still crap, but a work in progress. So changes will occur as we merrily roll along.

Update: I found an extremely interesting article on The Register entitled, Interview with a link spammer. It provides some insight into why people use comment spam as a means to boost ranking, and what their motivations are. Truly interesting, albeit infuriating at the same time.