The Top Commentator’s list is commonplace now. Most blogs get extra comments. However, of late, Top Commentators list is abused. The blogger is forced to deal with hundreds of near-spam comments. Many blogs have taken out the Top Commentator’s widget owing to this.
While this blog is new, with fewer comments, I still feel that the top commentator’s list is not worth it. So, to prevent PR leaks and other problems, I have changed some things around this blog:
- Hacked Top Commentator’s list: I have hacked the list to include two new attributes in the links –
target="_blankandrel="nofollow". They force open a new window, and removes SEO benefits respectively. I have taken this drastic step because I find many drive-by commentors who leave 2-3 comments, and find a place in the list for a few days. (PS: I will feature a HowTo on hacking Top Commentator’s widget and plugin) - Made weekly linklove a permanent feature: In order to reward my regular commentors and keep them happy, I will select good posts from the blogs of Top Commentators regularly(no time-clause, so that I can dodge spammers).
So, I will be able to prevent spam/near-spam comments getting credit, without compromising regular commentators. Now, you get exposure on sidebar and some click-throughs plus weekly links!
Do tell me your opinion about this move – do you love it or hate it?
Related reading
- Site update: New theme, new host, new blog and dofollow Top Commentators list
- Site update: Top commentators’ widget, link love and new theme
- Site Update : Asides and Footnotes
- How to update to Google Chrome beta/dev versions
Comment Spamming is a Problem I struggle. Everyday Morning I see almost 30 to 50 Spam Comments. I have noticed that most of the comments were post on some popular posts of the blogs. Stopping comment on that particular post has helped to some extent…
@Linu: Don’t you use Akismet? It helps a lot, now I don’t have any spam. However, it is a bit ironic that your comments were flagged spam by Akismet
And yes, stop comments after x days, they’re not useful anymore.