Every website owner or webmaster grapples with the issue of spam on their website forms. The volume of spam can be so overwhelming that finding useful information within it becomes quite challenging. What exacerbates this issue is that spam can populate your public pages, appearing in comments and reviews. You likely understand how this can damage your website's reputation, affect search results, overload your web server, and divert your focus from website development.
Website owners and webmasters need a solution to this problem. When selecting an anti-spam solution, the following requirements should be taken into account:
- The solution must operate automatically, eliminating the need for manual spam checks.
- It should provide a quick and efficient method of accuracy control.
- It must be universal, protecting all website forms simultaneously.
- It should be easy and straightforward to install and set up.
- It should not require any extra steps from your visitors, ensuring they do not have to confirm that they are humans, not bots.
CleanTalk Anti-Spam Solution
CleanTalk Anti-Spam is a cloud-based tool designed to block various types of spam that website administrators encounter daily. This includes spam in comments, contact forms, signups, registrations, subscriptions, newsletters, and WooCommerce reviews and checkouts.
This solution delivers the following benefits:
- All spam-related computations and decisions are processed on remote servers, reducing the load on your web servers thanks to cloud technology.
- The Service Dashboard provides detailed insights into website requests, equipping you with tools to manage service features. It clearly indicates whether a request was spam.
- The plugin can be installed and set up easily on any website in just a few minutes.
- With this single solution, all forms on your website are safeguarded.
- Spam checks are conducted without interrupting your site visitors, requiring no action on their part.
Several important service features require separate mentions:
- SpamFireWall - This feature blocks the most actively spamming bots before they can visit your website.
- Email Address Validation - This function verifies the authenticity of an email address in real time.
- Encode Contact Data - This feature encodes the email addresses displayed on your public pages, protecting them from being parsed by bots.
Let's go through an example on WordPress
1) To install the plugin: Navigate to your WordPress Dashboard → Click on 'Plugins,' then 'Add New' → In the search field, type 'CleanTalk.'
2) Install the plugin and activate it. You will be automatically redirected to the plugin's settings.
3) Click on 'Get Access Key Automatically,' then save the settings. At this point, a CleanTalk account will be created for you. The account credentials will be sent to your email.
That's it! Your website now has protection from spam. Any spam attempts will be promptly blocked.
Testing the Protection on the Contact Form by WPForms as an Example
To test the form, open the website in a new Incognito tab. This is necessary because the plugin doesn't register actions performed by the admin.
Navigate to the page containing the contact form and enter the test email address [ s@cleantalk.org ]. Click the "Submit" button to send the data. If the data is blocked, a corresponding message should appear.
The CleanTalk plugin captures the website request made via the contact form and forwards the gathered data to the CleanTalk Cloud for processing. In the Cloud, a decision is made regarding the "Spam/Not Spam" status. This status is then relayed back to the plugin, which either forwards the form data to the website backend or blocks it. This request data gets logged in your Anti-Spam Log within your service Dashboard.
To access your Anti-Spam Log, either go directly to your Dashboard or open the plugin settings and click the "Click here to get the Anti-Spam statistics" button.
Service Dashboard Features
The Anti-Spam Log - This tool gives you insight into all website requests processed by the CleanTalk Cloud, including their status and additional details.
Each request includes the following:
- Status — Denied or Approved
- Date and time of request
- Sender's username, IP, and email addresses
- Spam activity linked to these IP and email addresses
- Email address validation result — Fake or Real
You can click on "Details" under each request to access complete information.
This feature ensures that you never miss out on any data and allows you to monitor the accuracy of the filtering process. Another notable feature of the CleanTalk plugin is that it captures data even when a visitor makes a typo or fails the built-in form validation, making the data available in your Anti-Spam Log.
The Dashboard also allows you to:
- Manage your list of protected websites.
- Update your account settings.
- View summary statistics.
- Manage Personal Lists of IPs, Emails, Stop-Words, Countries, and Languages.
These features make our Anti-Spam Service a robust solution for spam protection and shielding your website from unwanted messages or requests.
Conclusion
A robust spam filter is essential for your website. CleanTalk Anti-Spam provides a one-week free trial, allowing you to verify its effectiveness in managing spam on your site. The service begins at $12 annually, and unlimited website usage is available for $25 per month. Rather than manually moderating and reviewing your messages, delegate this task to CleanTalk.
