I see that Captain Ranty has migrated to WordPress. During the Dickie Doubleday problems of last year, those of us using WordPress – and here I mean the self-hosted variety – were advising those using Blogger that the tools we were had at our disposal were sufficient to deal with the annoyance. CR and others have at various times had to switch on full moderation when DD bombarded them with his inane comments.
I recall a somewhat odd assertion from DD that his “sanctions” were working because I was moderating comments. In fact, I was doing what I had always done and what CR is now doing, using first comment moderation. As a first line of defence against spammers it is useful. If Akismet doesn’t get ’em, then first comment moderation ensures that their spam never sees the light of day. In the meantime, everyone else carries on commenting unaware that anything is going on. Likewise with DD and other trolls I’ve had from time to time. So DD was being moderated, but no one else was. His “sanctions” were ineffective and were being studiously ignored.
Other useful tools that helped to get rid of him were Real IP, which enabled me to filter using his own IP and not the plethora of proxy IPs he was using. As the “discussion” settings allow for a range of filters from IP to email address or any combination of numbers and letters you might choose, sending him straight to the spam queue was a simple matter. Okay, occasionally I would have to clear this out and save the logs for future reference, but for the most part I could carry on as if he didn’t exist. You just can’t do this with Blogger. Blogger uses a sledgehammer, whereas WordPress enables the user to slice cleanly with a scalpel.
Although CR has been having trouble more recently, precipitating his move, I haven’t had any problems since July of last year when DD tried to intimidate me into pulling a post. I didn’t and as predicted, he grew tired of the game and disappeared from sight – to annoy those who could not filter as effectively.
So, to CR, I say this; you will notice a difference. Things will only get better. No one can hear a troll scream from the spam queue.
The only real disadvantage to WordPress I’ve found is its security.
If you’re on shared hosting you’re incredibly vulnerable, even if you take precautions such as doing a manual install, limiting log-in attempts, moving your config file, etc.
I’ll take the chance as the risk is low compared to the usefulness of the tools available to me.
If you haven’t already, it’s worth looking at security plug-ins like “Bulletproof Security”. They help prevent most automated hack attempts.
Okay, not come across that one, I’ll check it out.
I am as happy as a dog with two wossnames.
DD was driving me insane.
I had to laugh at his final “broadside” on my Blogger site:
“Ranty, Email login on WordPress is fine with me.
A permanent sanction was always going to be the end result.
My work is done.
see ya.”
A permanent sanction? WTF does this deluded knob think he is? King of the Internets?
First comment moderation is a fantastic thing. I am sleeping much better now.
Thank you for your help and support while the tool was attacking me and others.
CR.
Sooo, he thinks that you moving to WordPress is some kind of victory for him? That boy is seriously off his meds.
So much for ‘care in the community’, eh? 😈
Clearly the cretin is living in a parallel universe where nothing makes any sense.
So, let’s get this right…
You have first comment moderation on not email log on. So the moronic little cunt can’t even get that right.
You have switched to a platform that allows you to filter out his crap yet allow normal commentary to continue uninterrupted without moderation. And he sees this as a victory?
Truly the parody event horizon has been passed. Deluded doesn’t even begin to cover it. What a twat. I didn’t think this level of density existed outside a black hole.