WordPress.org

1. sparky672
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   The Akismet plugin is deleting old spam comments after a period of time (I'm guessing within a week).

   This box is NOT checked:
   "Auto-delete spam submitted on posts more than a month old."

   I've sent a message to Akismet support more than a week ago but I've not yet received a reply. I think this is a bug in the plugin... I have two blogs and they both have this problem.

   Not only does it delete comments that it's flagged, it deleted all the older comments I put into the spam folder prior to installing the Akismet plugin. In other words, I had spam comments in the spam folder before installing the plugin. A few days after the plugin was installed, those disappeared.

   I do not want Akismet to delete anything. I do not check/review comments often enough to verify false positives so I want all comments saved indefinitely, even the spam.

   Does anyone know why it's deleting spam comments even though it's set not to? Does anyone know of a workaround?

2. Joseph Scott
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   The Akismet plugin deletes comments marked as spam after they 15 days old. It has done this for a very long time. It isn't bug and it isn't something new.

3. sparky672
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   Quote: "The Akismet plugin deletes comments marked as spam after they 15 days old. It has done this for a very long time. It isn't bug and it isn't something new."

   You say that as if everyone should automatically know it.

   Since I just started using the plugin, how would I know this? I don't see any documentation anywhere that explains how all spam, even spam flagged long before the plugin was installed, will be deleted after 15 days. Where is the warning?

   Nothing here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/

   Nor anything relevant in the description inside the readme.txt file...

   "== Description ==
   Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not and lets you review the spam it catches under your blog's "Comments" admin screen."

   Lets me review the spam? Umm... not really, not if it's automatically deleted without warning.

   IMHO, the plugin should only automatically flag the spam. Deleting comments should be an option. Anyone neglecting to check comments more often than 15 days runs the risk of losing a false positive to this ridiculous "feature".

   Anyway, thank-you Joseph for the information. Looks like I'll just modify the plugin.

4. Joseph Scott
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   You are correct, I just reviewed the latest version of the plugin and it no longer shows the notice about deleting after 15 days. Older versions did, but at some point that was removed. I'll look at getting it added back in.

   We won't be removing the 15 day delete feature. Too many sites get tons of spam, leaving all of it in the database would increase the storage requirements and in some cases dramatically reduce the performance of the site.

   The plugin is open source though, so you are welcome to modify it how ever you'd like. Keep in mind that updates will likely over write your changes so you'll need to watch for that.

5. sparky672
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   Quote: "We won't be removing the 15 day delete feature. Too many sites get tons of spam, leaving all of it in the database would increase the storage requirements and in some cases dramatically reduce the performance of the site."

   And yet, some sites like mine don't get lots of spam so maybe auto-delete after 60 days is more appropriate.

   It just seems odd that "auto-delete" wouldn't at least be offered as a configurable option (on by default, 15-days by default). A person would have to consciously turn it off to create the database issues you mention. Besides, how is that any different than a site getting lots of spam that does not have the plugin installed at all? It too will just fill up.

   Here's another way it could be done: An option to keep a maximum number of spam comments... 500? Surely 500 comments will not impede performance.

   Just IMHO, a plugin that auto-deletes stuff, without a way to prevent or control the deletion, seems a bit intrusive.

   On the whole though, I love the Akismet service... just think the WordPress plugin needs more user control.

   While I got you here, the plugin page (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/) mentions several other features I don't see in my WordPress...

   - A comment status history, so you can easily see which comments were caught or cleared by Akismet, and which were spammed or unspammed by a moderator I don't see a status history anyplace.

   - Spam and Unspam reports now include more information, to help improve accuracy I don't see any reports anyplace.

   It's possible I'm just misinterpreting these feature descriptions so your clarification would be much appreciated. Thanks!

6. Joseph Scott
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   History : there is a history link under each comment. The history details are at the botto of the 'Edit Comment' screen.

   Reports : that is referring to the spam / not spam reports that get sent back to Akismet.com.

7. sparky672
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   No "history" link, just these...

   Not Spam | Delete Permanently

8. Joseph Scott
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   You should see it for non-spam comments.

9. sparky672
   Member
   Posted 5 months ago #

   quote: "You should see it for non-spam comments."

   If I can only see history on comments that are NOT in the spam section, then this statement seems somewhat misleading...

   "A comment status history, so you can easily see which comments were caught or cleared by Akismet, and which were spammed or unspammed by a moderator"

   After all, if it was already "caught" or "spammed", then you would not see the history.

   Don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for the plugin and the hard work you do. This is just some constructive feedback regarding about how misleading documentation can alter ones perception.

   ______________

   Until I have time to add options to the interface, I've changed the 15 day interval to 180.

   Line 389 in akismet.php (version 2.5.3) (contained within the akismet_delete_old() subroutine function)

   Original (delete spam older than 15 days):

   $comment_ids = $wpdb->get_col("SELECT comment_id FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE DATE_SUB('$now_gmt', INTERVAL 15 DAY) > comment_date_gmt AND comment_approved = 'spam'");

   Modified (delete spam older than 180 days):

   $comment_ids = $wpdb->get_col("SELECT comment_id FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE DATE_SUB('$now_gmt', INTERVAL 180 DAY) > comment_date_gmt AND comment_approved = 'spam'");

Reply

You must log in to post.