New Tool
While blog browsing last night, I found a new tool — Counterize II — at Writer’s Blog. I can’t imagine you’ll ever notice Counterize II. It’s a blog stats program. The most fascinating thing I learned off the bat? Someone in Washington DC hit this blog 92 times between 5-6 am this morning. At least that’s what I think. I had 94 hits between 5-6, and I had 92 hits from a single IP in Washington DC. And, interestingly enough, my “What Kind of Superhero are You” quiz post had 92 hits today. Coincidence? I don’t think so, but if you’re a SuperHero quiz freak from DC who reads this blog, please post in comments so I know you’re real. ‘Cause I think it’s a spammer. And if I can block that IP, I’m tempted. Or maybe I’ll just report it to Cogent Communications (the ISP of record).
But, seriously, if you’re a huge fan from DC who loves that particular post, just speak up. It’s OK. I’m glad you’re here.
Getting these stats prompted me to pick up another Plug-In tonight — Comment Timeout. It’s a way to automate the process of turning off comments on older, inactive posts. It’s customizable and works with trackbacks and pings as well.
Do you already use Akismet for you spam?
I actually really hate it when blog authors turn off comments to older posts. I like to periodically surf archives and it always really bugs me when I can’t leave a comment. If you don’t already, I would suggest using Akismet to filter spam. If you do, then you should never have to use a plugin like Comment Timeout to keep spammers from leaving graffiti all over the place; Akismet will catch them before they can and keep things clean and tidy while allowing your readers to still leave their feedback, if they want.
Yes. It is wonderful!
Akismet does catch them. I was experimenting with possible ways to keep the spammer from hitting the site at all. I had a fledgling theory that if they couldn’t leave a comment, they might be programmed to search elsewhere. It probably wouldn’t work that way, but I thought I’d try.
I also wonder if those quiz thingies might be spam magnets…which means I should resist posting them.
I have plenty of bandwidth now, but I prefer for legitimate visitors to use it.
Yeah, unless bandwidth is truly an issue, it’s generally not worth worrying about, especially if your spam filtering tools are doing the job of keeping them from messing up the place. There are some tools out there for blocking IPs, but then you run the risk of also unintentionally blocking legitimate readers. My philosophy has always been to look for the simplest solution. 🙂
Comment Timeout doesn’t change my database, so if I turn it off, comments are restored to their original state. I set it to 120 days and 14 days of inactivity, so I don’t think it will inconvenience too many real people. Since Akismet does a wonderful job of quashing spam, I may not leave it on very long — just long enough to satisfy my curiosity about some things. Especially if it might inconvenience real readers — I don’t want to do that. 🙂
So far, the max bandwidth I’ve used of my allotment is 4%, so it’s certainly not an issue.
Very cool. I use site meter and recently also started using Google analytics. I’ll have to look into that counterize, so thank you for sharing.
I’ve tried Google Analytics and really didn’t like it – it just wasn’t structured quite the way I like my stats. Counterize is closer to my preferred format and look and does a better job, I think, of accurately tracking traffic across my blog.
If you’re interested, I have a page on my blog of plugins I use. Most of them are what I consider to be essentials.
Thanks for pointing it out — I’d missed it on earlier visits to your page. By the way, your template is nice and clean.
Thanks! It’s a recent acquirement I noticed from the Weblog Tools Collection feed that comes into my WP dashboard from WordPress Planet. It’s based on the colors in the WP dashboard. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it. Credit goes to these guys. I’m just borrowing it. The three column format keeps my archives and categories list from completely overwhelming the sidebars. 🙂