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Recovering a comment marked as spam in Wordpress

July 21st, 2008

This guide is for self-hosted Wordpress users and refers to Wordpress version 2.6.

The current version of Wordpress does not provide a mechanism for retrieving comments accidentally marked as spam. This can be circumvented with the Akismet plugin.

Akismet is a Wordpress plugin that evaluates and deals with regular spam comments as well as trackback spam.

If a comment matches up with spam in their database, Akismet dispatches it swiftly, saving you the hassle of moderating several spam comments on a daily basis.

As an added bonus, Akismet allows you to view caught (or marked) spam and retrieve it from the database.

Step-by-step instructions for recovering a comment accidentally marked as spam in Wordpress:

Step 1. Install the Akismet plugin.

Akismet is included in the core Wordpress distribution. It can also be downloaded from the Akismet website as a zip file.

If Akismet is not already in the plugins list, then:

  1. Download the plugin.
  2. Extract the zip file into the wp-content/plugins folder in the hosting area for the Wordpress website. This will create a new folder called “akismet” in the plugins folder.

Step 2. Activate the Akismet plugin.

  1. In the main Wordpress dashboard, click Plugins in the top right corner to access the Plugin Panel. Akismet will now be in the list of inactive plugins.
  2. Select Akismet and click Activate.

Note: Akismet activation requires a Wordpress API key. If you have a Wordpress.com account, you will find the API key in your profile page at Wordpress.com, or in the e-mail you received from Wordpress.com to acknowledge user registration.

Step 3. Find the comment that was accidentally marked as spam and retrieve it.

  1. Click Comments at the top of the Wordpress dashboard.
  2. Click Akismet Spam to access the “Caught Spam” panel.
  3. Find the comment to be retrieved and tick the “Not Spam” checkbox underneath it.
  4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click De-spam marked comments. The comment will reappear in the “Manage Comments” panel.

Posted in Uncategorized on July 21st, 2008 at 6:09 pm
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10 responses

  1. Mark comments:
    August 11th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Very helpful, thanks! Just waiting for my WP account verification email. I knew there had to be a way to get Spammed messages back.

    Mark

  2. Sylvia comments:
    August 16th, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    Thanks so much for these instructions! Kudos to you!

  3. C. Erickson comments:
    August 28th, 2008 at 12:26 am

    What if you *don’t* have a WordPress.com account? I don’t think I do. My blog is hosted by my hosting company, and I don’t remember ever having signed up for a WordPress.com account.

    So my question, I guess, is whether I need to independently sign up for a WordPress.com account to get my API or whether that will “mess up” my independently-hosted blog? Does that make sense?

  4. admin comments:
    August 28th, 2008 at 8:57 am

    Here is a copy of my e-mail reply to the question above:

    Hi Carolyn,

    This is what I got from the Akismet website (http://akismet.com/personal/):

    “You can get a free API key by registering for a WordPress.com user account. The API key will be emailed to you after you register. Please note that the use of the key is covered by our TOS and that free keys can only be used for personal blogs. If you are a commercial entity or if you are making more than $500 from your personal blog, please get a commercial key instead.”

    Privately hosted blogs (like yours) are separate from the free blogs available at Wordpress.com (unless your hosting company has gone and opened a free Wordpress account in your name, which is unlikely :)) So the two shouldn’t conflict with each other. And to get the free API, yes, you will need to sign up for a Wordpress.com account, which will end up having an address like “myname.wordpress.com”.

    Hope this helps!

    Cheers,
    Angie

  5. Mark comments:
    August 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am

    Yeah, just go register. They don’t have to host it. It works great I have enabled it on other blogs I work with.

    http://www.diaryforteens.com/
    http://www.nogripes.com/
    http://www.ultratech.us/

  6. C. Erickson comments:
    August 28th, 2008 at 10:16 am

    Thanks so much, Angie. That’s the information I needed.

    Now, after reading the snippet you posted, I have to go find out about those commercial keys. I didn’t set up my blog to earn revenue, but if that ever changes, I want to know what I need to do. :)

  7. rgz comments:
    August 28th, 2008 at 7:34 pm

    This was very helpful. Thanks a lot !

  8. ThinkingSerious comments:
    August 29th, 2008 at 9:21 am

    Thanks for the post, worked as described.

    @C. Erickson

    The plugin works after the fact. Just saved me right now.

  9. SSColeman comments:
    October 15th, 2008 at 5:43 am

    Thanks for the information. I was able to set up the Akismet plugin, but unfortunately, I guess my deleted comments were more than a month old, so they are still missing! Oops!

  10. Ruben comments:
    November 6th, 2008 at 11:57 am

    Actually, quite frankly, the commentary is more interesting messages themselves. (Not to insult the author, of course:))

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