If there is at least 1 comment and 1 trackback to this post, then it means that my 'solution' to the comment spam worked. I won't tell you how I did it just yet, although you can probably get an idea by looking at the source code for the individual archive page for this entry.
Note that comments and trackback pings may not work on over entries in the meantime. (should be fixed now)
Update: Okay, it works, so here's how to do it:
- Open your FTP client and find the folder where you installed Movable Type.
- Now, rename mt-comments.cgi to something else. It will need to end in .cgi or .pl , but you can call it anything before the dot. I called mine 'post2site.cgi' but you can choose something different, and certainly if everyone had something different it would make the attempts of these spammer bots somewhat futile.
- You can do the same to your trackback script if you wish.
- Now, open mt.cfg and scroll down to find the line that starts '# CommentScript mt-comments.pl'. Remove the # character, and then replace 'mt-comments.pl' with the new name of the script. For example, mine now reads 'CommentScript post2site.cgi'.
- If you have changed any of the other filenames, do the same.
- Now, log in to Movable Type, and rebuild all of your files, to update the file paths in your entry files.
This isn't a perfect solution, but it may well help stop the flow of braindead SEOs trying to hijack blogs to get higher Google PageRank scores.
You can get an idea of the size of the problem because both Richard and David are currently ranting about the subject.
This is a test comment, to see if the changes I made worked. If you can see this then the change was successful.
Hey Neil thanks. Been having a bit of a problem with the same thing for a couple months now. Zip Code address sites etc…
Nice to see a way to stop that and hopefully curb what will become a problem.
Great tip! I’m on it right now! Definitely a sick and disgusting new development for the lowlifes.