Important

As of January 1st, 2009, I am no longer developing, maintaining or supporting Spam Karma. If you want to contribute to its code or download the latest GPL release, you can check out the code repository, over at Google Code.

Thanks.

1. Overview

Spam Karma 2 (SK2) is an anti-spam plugin for the WordPress blogging platform. It is meant to stop all forms of automated Blog spam effortlessly, while remaining as unobtrusive as possible to regular commenters. Spam Karma 2 is the proud successor to Spam Karma, with whom it shares most of the development ideas, but absolutely none of the code

2. Requirements

• WordPress: SK2 requires at least WP 1.5.1 (or up). It is compatible with all versions of Wordpress up to the latest release (2.1).
• mySQL: 4.0 or up is strongly recommended (some important functionalities might not work otherwise).

3. Installation

Install is the easiest ever:

(Note: if you are upgrading from a previous install, simply overwrite the older files with the new ones in the instructions above)

Please check SK2 GPL repository for any potential downloads.

4. The Aftermath

Everything worked? Good.

Not quite?

Just check out the FAQ & Troubleshooting Page, your answer might be there. Otherwise, you can try WP.org support forums.

For bug-reports exclusively, you can contact me using this online form (do not use the old support email account: it is no longer active).

5. Tip Jar

If Spam Karma saved your life/relationship/cat/mailbox and you feel overly generous, please feel free to make a donation.

If you don’t have cash, but plenty of time to spare, consider helping out with some WP community-related projects.

6. Other Languages

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Parlez-vous français? 日本語喋れる？¿Hablas Español? Parla Italiano? etc.

SK2 can probably speak your language !
Go here to find instructions on how to switch SK2 to a language other than English.

If your language is not in this list already (or even if it is, but you feel the translations can be improved), learn how you can contribute here.

7. Documentation and Extra Stuff

For more info about how SK2 works, what it does, how you can improve it etc, check SK2’s Documentation Blog on wp-plugins.net. Please feel free to contribute.

There are additional third-party plugins available to extend SK2’s functionalities. Check out the full list here.

SK2 will automatically inserts an “X spams eaten” message in your footer (you can disable or customize it in the admin options).

Using SK2? Eager to tell the world about it? Like having 300 little acronym buttons on the side of your page?

Say no more, we have what you need:
Feel free to download and do whatever you want with this kick-ass button, including using it on your own page, possibly with a link to this very page. However: hotlink it directly from this page, and I will unleash my legions of killer ferrets on you and your descendance, at the click of a mouse.

If you are a developer and would like to learn how you can very easily use SK2 as a support for your own anti-spam development effort, check out the SK2 API page.

If you have an idea on how to improve SK2 (and see no mention of it in the existing docs) feel free to contact me about it, but keep in mind that nearly any addition to SK2 can be done outside of the core, through an SK2 module. Feel free to contact me if you want to take on such a task and need a bit of help getting started.

Normally, SK2 should automatically check for updates on a reasonably regular basis, but consider checking that page back in a few weeks if you do not see any update.

8. What about Karma?

You mean, the sanskrit word that defines a concept in eastern religions?
I wrote an entry about it here.

9. Your comment was mistakenly eaten by Spam Karma?

Right this way, please…

10. Licensing and Legal Matters

Spam Karma 2 is not GPL. It is copyright and all rights reserved. However, it is absolutely free for download, use and non-commercial redistribution. Anything else is subject to prior written permission by myself. If you contact me, chances are I’ll say yes to any reasonable request.
External plugins (including those bundled with Spam Karma 2) are the property of their respective developers and, by default, subject to the same distribution rules.

What this mean in practice: Spam Karma is “free software”, in that it is absolutely free to download, free to use and even free to tinker with (although I typically would require any modifications made to it to be clearly indicated to potential users). What I do not want to see, though, is people grabbing a version of WP and SK2, packaging them together and selling them for $300 (as they could do, with GPL software). Bottom line is that I am not trying to make money with this, and I don’t see why somebody else should be able to without me having a say first.

Once again, this type of licensing doesn’t make any difference for 99% of users (it’s free for whatever you need it to do), and shouldn’t stand in the way of the remaining 1% with more specific needs. If you have doubt or questions, contact me: I am very open to any discussion or criticism regarding this format of licensing.

I am also very open to porting SK2 over to other platforms. Its architecture makes it extremely portable (for a WP plugin). Contact me if you think you may be interested in adapting it for another platform.

It goes without saying that this software is provided “as is”, without any guarantee of warranty of any kind, nor could I ever be held liable for any damages it could do to your system (see header of source code for details): if SK2 was to go berserk, screw up your database, delete your entire blog, kill your cat and rape your hamster (or the other way round), you’re pretty much on your own legally. It shouldn’t though.

11. Changelog

New in 2.3:

• Miscellaneous bug-fixes (UI, WP21 compatibility, compatibility with other plugins etc.)
• A few small changes in the modules (improving blacklisting module, disabling RBL for now).
• Important updates to Wordpress DB schema in order to try and improve its sluggish loading time (not directly an SK2 problem per se, but had to be done for SK2 to run fine).

2.2:

• Miscellaneous bug-fixes (UI, WP2 compatibility etc.)
• Fine-tuning of older modules to accomodate new spambot breed.
• Minor additions to SK2’s filtering modules to raise SK2 protections.

2.1:

• Full multilingual support (see available languages).
• WP 2.0 and SQL 5.0 compatibility
• Improved email integration (can flag/unflag spam directly from notification emails).
• Miscellaneous bug fixes and improvements