Stop Top Commentator Hijacking
One of the biggest flaws with the Top Commentator plugin is that it’s only definition of unique is the name that is used by the commentator.
This means if you have 2 commentators named Sarah commenting on your site, the Top Commentator link on your sidebar will keep flipping links back to the Sarah that last commented on your blog. (My Sarah commentators used as an example).
Problem is, that really isn’t fair to the Sarah who’s left 75 comments in the last 6 months! Not to mention it makes the Top Commentator plugin easily hijackable (is that even a word?) by spammers that slip through as real commentators.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one to notice the problem.
Stuff by Sarah (the third use of Sarah in this post is totally an accident though I presume I might rank well now for Sarah) released a fix for the Top Commentator plugin and I’ve just discovered it.
She’s modified the original plugin from Nate Sanden to change unique commentator factor from name to email address. Something a little more difficult for everyday blog commentators to hijack!
If you’re using the plugin I highly suggest that you go and download Sarah’s fix. Give your commentators the reward that they deserve without the risk of hijacking. :D
| 2.5 |
June 25th, 2008 at 10:42 am
Cheers for the link. I think this message about the plugin needs to be spread as much as possible. Not only with innocent issues such as yours but the spammers that are hijacking the top spots.
I guess the next job is to add in an options page for the plugin to make it simpler to use! :)
June 25th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Oooh, I like that fix!!
*and feels special for all those dang comments and getting linked because of it*
I hope your week goes well, Hon!!
June 25th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I always put my site name in as well (as you can see) - it lets people remember which Nicola I am, as well as being handy for SEO (or I could use Sarah and nick the top spot!)
June 25th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I’ll help by signing as Sarah Jo from now on! Thanks for the link!
;)
June 26th, 2008 at 12:43 am
Nice fix! Although I always use first and last :-)
June 26th, 2008 at 1:49 am
SarahG: Thanks for fixing the plugin, certainly deserving of a link. I hadn’t even thought about it until I ran across the blog of Blogging Tips.
Sarah: LOL you’re crazy. ;o)
Nicola: That’s only handy for SEO when you find a dofollow blog. :o) Though standing out for the sake of the blogger and other commentators is never a bad idea.
Sarah (Jo): No worries though it may help you to stand out should you make it onto the list next to the other Sarah.
Dennis: Use of your last name won’t help if a spammer comes along and slips through the cracks. They’ll see your full name there on the list to use.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Sarah seems to be a popular name among commentators. Definitely a good fix.