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stop wordpress page comment spam

Page spam (not posts, but specifically “pages”) is out of control. Usually when I see a pattern like this, I’m not the only one experiencing it. So here is how to stop the seo spammers from adding comments to pages on your wordpress site. Because even if the spam filter stops them, you still have to clean that junk out.

  1. Login to your wordpress blog
  2. Hover over “Theme” and select “Editor” from the flyout menu
  3. Look for the “page.php” template on the lower right hand side.
  4. Remove this block of code and update.
    // If comments are open or we have at least one comment, load up the comment template.
    if ( comments_open() || get_comments_number() ) {
       comments_template();
    }

Move on down the road page-spam free.

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block wordpress page comment spammers

Over the last week the linkback spammers of the universe have started targeting pages on this blog as well as a few friends blogs. So, here is how to stop comment spam on wordpress blog pages.

The issue – many themes don’t have an option to turn off comments on the edit page for “pages” in wordpress. But, using “quick edit” you can turn off comments for a given page. Thus to disable comments on pages you need to:

  1. Log into the admin interface
  2. Select “Pages” from the left hand menu
  3. Hover over the pages shown and select “Quick Edit”
  4. Clear the checkbox on the right hand side the says “Allow Comments” for each page on your site.
  5. Click “Update” to save your changes.

I suppose this is a bigger issue for people using WordPress “Pages” as their CMS rather than as a traditional blog. As for this blog, it required editing just a few pages to turn comments off. Hassle gone.

#goodLuck! #fightTheCommentSpammers

Source: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/disable-comments-on-pages-1

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micro blogs – telling a story on a dime

I have the privilege, although lately I’ve had my head in the code more than the pr and marketing side of the business, of speaking to communications groups on the power of social media. You can thank my PR team for that really, although the content and delivery have to meet professional levels or they wouldn’t ask me back. But I have help with that too. The myth of the solopreneur is just that – a myth.

This year’s public speaking in particular has been strange but amazing having been invited to the IABC International Conference and now speaking at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco. Part of me knows I have content great relevant qnd can deliver it and save professionals hundreds of hours of time if they attend. Just seeing the data from 500 clients go by like the matrix you pick up on trends others don’t see. I have that privilege thanks to the work of my team. Yet it is still surreal.

Yet you should come. The PRSA International conference is Saturday through Tuesday in San Francisco. And my session is on Tuesday. Specifically I am speaking on Micro Blogs. The official description is:

Micro Blogs: How to Tell a Story on a Dime
Discover the next trend in micro blogging.
Learn the best ways to tell your story on micro blogs.
Learn the ins and outs of the hottest micro blogging platforms and discuss their brand storytelling potential.

There is an irony that the talk description doesn’t include a photo given all of relevant microblogs IMHO are visual focused. Yes there is twitter, but even the stats on twitter show that tweets with linked photos are much more popular. And I have to admit I am more likely to post to Instagram than twitter these days. You can’t describe a Lady Gaga Votive Candle and the correlation to DjangoDocs as easily as you can show it.

If you are going to be at the PRSA International Conference in San Francisco this weekend through Tuesday, please stop by by session. And I’ll be attending (not speaking as I’ll be exhausted, just attending) the San Francisco Netsquared Meeetup on Net Neutrality on Tuesday evening October 16th. Mainly so I can heckle @thisisnotapril cause I miss her.

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Fear of Missing Out and Travel

[this was in my drafts folder. I updated it with the photos and hit publish.]

I arrived in Austin tonight and immediately felt I had to experience Austin. Not that I wasn’t just here a month ago for a beautiful wedding. And at SXSW before that. And that I was just in Las Vegas speaking at CAPRSA this weekend. And before that in OKC for a lovely wedding. And before that in NYC speaking at PRSA’s Digital Impact Conference. ADD or not, I have no shortage of input. Yet I get to Austin and I have this fear of missing out.

So I choose to stay in my hotel and catch up on processing photos. And prep for my talk tomorrow (I really like to over-prepare. The audience deserves it.) And I wanted to process some of the photos from the rebuilding of the World Trade Center I took in NYC from last week.

But I can’t help it. I twittered a photo of Austin from my cell phone. Wrong move. I am also a photographer and I immediately see this tweet from djlawrasaurus:

Try n get a cool #bat shot

[this was in my drafts. unfinished. because I googled it and found out I was right next to the bat colony and it was almust sunset. there it is.]

Austin Texas

congress bat colony

kayak at congress

congress bat colony

bats and a full moon?

austin at night

So there is that….

 

 

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Don’t fake reviews. Or else.

From the New York Times

Company Settles Case of Reviews It Faked

Lifestyle Lift, a cosmetic surgery company, has reached a settlement with the State of New York over its attempts to fake positive consumer reviews on the Web, the New York attorney general’s office said Tuesday.

The company had ordered employees to pretend they were satisfied customers and write glowing reviews of its face-lift procedure on Web sites, according to the attorney general’s statement. Lifestyle Lift also created its own sites of face-lift reviews to appear as independent sources.

Full article here.

The short version is “don’t submit fake reviews.” Pretty basic really.

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Mom2Summit Panel Video: It’s the end of Marketing as we know it. And we feel fine.

Well it took me half a week, but here is the full video of our panel from the Mom2Summit last weekend. The title was “It’s the end of marketing as we know it. And we feel fine.” First the full video.


Panel: It’s the end of Marketing as we know it. And we feel fine. from Ed Schipul on Vimeo.

Lessons learned about video: Given this was my first real attempt at video, I learned a few things. Like you can’t work with MOV files on a PC with Movie Maker. Macs have iMovie, which rocks. And iMovie compresses video into mv4 files which is cool with youtube. Limiters: Youtube limits video length to 10 minutes. Facebook limits video length to 20 minutes. Google video allowed longer videos but they are shutting it down. The ONLY product that worked was Vimeo for a 32:56 video. In short, vimeo ROCKS!

A direct link to “It’s the end of marketing as we know it. And we feel fine“

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It’s the end of Marketing as we know it. And we feel fine.

I had the privilege of moderating the panel “It’s the end of Marketing as we know it. And we feel fine.” at the Mom2Summit this weekend in Houston. With the help of Katie we coordinated a panel with these three talented bloggers:

  1. Kirsten Chase (Motherhood Uncensored, Cool Mom Picks)
  2. Jordan Ferney (Oh Happy Day)
  3. Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess, Good Mom, Bad Mom)

In the planning phase it occurred to me that panel introductions are typically a bit boring. This led to “instead of introductions we could do ____” type thinking and conversations with HK. Various ideas such as non-existent peacock sightings (don’t ask) and bullhorns were ruled out.

Somewhere along the way Rachel suggested we do “interpretive readings” which led to a quick call to a friend from AAF at the Pastorini Bosby talent agency in Houston. They provided three amazing options and we would up selecting the brilliant actor David George. And David rocked the house!

Update: Here is the panel followed by the introductions:


Panel: It’s the end of Marketing as we know it. And we feel fine. from Ed Schipul on Vimeo.

Without further adieu. Here are the three blogger introductions for my panel at Mom2summit! (And a huge shout out to Katie Laird for all of her help putting the panel together!)

A dramatic reading of Kirsten Chase‘s blog post V is for Vasectomy.

A William Shakespeare Shatner tribute to the beauty of Jordan Ferney‘s blog Oh Happy Day.

Oh my, where do you start with The Bloggess? Well, we chose to go back all the way to Jesus.

Thanks to our organizers and the sponsors of Mom2Summit for bringing this great conversation to Houston! I also know from working with her that Maggie put in a ton of time on the summit so thanks Maggie!

PS – MistyKhan has a great recap of day 1 from the conference here. And be sure to check out the mom2summit photos on flickr!

PPS – Huge THANKS to Monica and Laura and Carrie for trusting me to run a panel. What were you thinking? Heh.

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Internet Famous – Cases in Point

The ability to express yourself through social media is not new. And to fight to become Internet famous.

And Gwen Bell asks some great questions on the topic of Internet Famous at what price?. All of which reminded me of this.

“The role of prizefighters, surgeons, violinists, and policemen are cases in point. These activities allow for so much dramatic self-expression that exemplary practitioners – whether real or fictional – become famous and are given a special place in the commercially organized fantasies of the nation.”

– Irving Goffman, The Presentation of Self, Pg 31

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The Tricksters of Social Media; Fakesters vs Avasters

“So much seems possible at the beginning of a trip, so many  things seem brimmed with meaning.” pg 5hat trick by cayusa on flickr cc license

“…trickster is a boundary-crosser. Every group has its edge, its sense of in and out, and trickster is always there, at the gates of the city and the gates of life, making sure there is commerce.” Trickster, pg 7

Reading about fakesters led me to this post on fake twitter accounts varying from Fake Steve Jobs to Fake Seth Godin to my favorite, Chuck Norris. Chuck throws down the tracks like

“When google has a question, they “norris” it.“

And some fakester parodies are richly deserved like rahodeb of Whole Foods (In)Fame(ity).

Motivations for fakester accounts based on famous people might include a desire for attention, satire, performance art, hatred of what a person represents, desire to be in on a “secret”, or admission into a Goffmanesque “back room” to blatant monetary goals. But there is a motivation of some kind that piggy-backs on top of someone else’s fame.  Every invention of a new namespace opens up opportunities for these reputation barnacles.

But there is a different type of “fake account” in the form of a completely made up person or object. A persona. And this type of fakester account is lumped in with the impersonators, and this is a mistake. I submit they are entirely different.

In disparaging terms, these are called “sock puppets.” Wikipedia clarifies

“The key difference between a sock puppet and a regular pseudonym (sometimes termed an “alt” which is short for alternate, as in alternate identity) is the pretense that the puppet is a third party who is not affiliated with the puppeteer.”

My problem with the “sock puppet” term is that the pejorative nature overrides the trickster legitimacy and social commentary conveyed. Hence I suggest a new term for those that have passed a social acceptance threshold within the community. For lack of a better word I’ll call these characters Avasters.

Avasters – an character created by a person or persons that is not based on a specific person living or dead. An invented character that acts and behaves with a unique personality. And earns the right to be considered a “person” within the community.

Continue reading “The Tricksters of Social Media; Fakesters vs Avasters”

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Enabling Conversation through Blog Bars

An Interesting post over at TrendCentral on "Blog Bars". Banks of computers set up conveniently so if someone wants to talk about your brand, they can easily do so immediately. From the site:

Blogging on location

As a way to create a more engaging, interactive and creative way for consumers to experience brands, stores and events, expect to see more “blog bars” (computer terminals which give the public the ability to post in real time and on location) to pop up in such settings. Consumers will have the opportunity to post fresh thoughts and reactions, pose questions, and receive immediate response.

This isn’t so different from the online concept of "badging" – having handy HTML that a blogger can copy to make it easier for them to talk about you. And it is a great idea.