How to Setup Akismet WordPress Plugin (With A Free API Key)

If you’ve just started blogging, then you may not aware of comment and trackback spamming. These things can destroy your blog with spam comments and trackbacks. But you are lucky that there is a pre-installed plugin in WordPress named Akismet. It will help you to get rid of comment spamming.

One of the essential settings to configure after installing WordPress is to activate that Plugin. After activating Akismet, it will require an API key.

Many folks thought that they have to pay money to get the API key. But you can get it for FREE if you are going to start a personal blog, not a corporate blog.

To know how to setup Akismet WordPress plugin with a free API key, start reading this post.

Before going to the tutorial, here are some FAQ about Akismet.

[thrive_toggles_group”][thrive_toggles title=”What is Akismet?” no=”1/6″]Akismet is a WordPress plugin that filters comments and trackbacks spamming. It is founded by WordPress.com. [/thrive_toggles][thrive_toggles title=”What Does Akismet Plugin Do?” no=”2/6″] Akismet checks blog comments & pingbacks and filters out the ones that look like spam. Then it lets you review the spam it detects.[/thrive_toggles][thrive_toggles title=”Do I Need Akismet for WordPress?” no=”3/6″] Yes, you need Akismet if your blog comments are enabled. This plugin will help you to get rid of spam comments.[/thrive_toggles][thrive_toggles title=”Is Akismet Worth It?” no=”4/6″] Yes, Akismet is worthy if you want to get rid of comments and pingbacks spamming. By the way, you can use Akismet for free for personal blogs. [/thrive_toggles][thrive_toggles title=”Do I Need Akismet With Disqus?” no=”5/6″] No, Disqus has its own spam-fighting filters. [/thrive_toggles][/thrive_toggles_group]

How to Setup Akismet Plugin With A Free API Key

Setting up Akismet plugin is very easy. Just follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Sign Up for WordPress

At first, you need to sign up for Akismet with WordPress.com. If you already own a WordPress.com account, just login with your account. Otherwise, you have to create a new account. Just enter your Email address, username & password and click on “Sign Up” button.

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Step 2: Choose a Subscription Plan

On the next page, you need to choose a subscription plan. Select the basic plan to generate a free Akismet API key.

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Step 3: Make Akismet Free for You

Then it will ask you to pay $36/year. You can make it $0.00/year. Just drag the pointer to $0.00/YEAR (1). And click on “Continue” (2).

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Step 4: Get Free Akismet API Key

On the next page, you will get the free Akismet API key. Just click on the eye icon and it will show the API key. Your Akismet API key will be sent to your email address too.

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Step 5: Add Your Site to Akismet

Then you need to add your site to Akismet. Now click on “Add Site” (1) from your subscription plan. A box will be popped up. Just enter your site and click on “Add Site” (2).

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Step 6: Go to WordPress Dashboard and Enter API Key

Now login to WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins (1) > Installed Plugins (2). Then activate Akismet (3).

Then click on “Activate your Akismet Account”.

On the next page, enter your API key and click on “Use this key”.

If it works, it will show “Akismet is now activated. Happy blogging!”.

Step 7: Configure Akismet Settings

Akismet has two settings to configure.

The first setting is showing the number of approved comments beside each comment author. I’d recommend you to use this setting to figure out whether the comment author is regular or not.

And the second setting is strictness about showing spam comments. It depends on how much spam comments you are getting. If you are getting a lot of spam comments which is impossible to review, select the first option. But if you are not getting too much spam comments, select the second options. Because Akismet sometimes marks good comments as spam.

Save the changes. That’s it. You are done!

I hope this post helped you to get started with Akismet WordPress plugin. If you have faced any difficulties, feel free to let us know via comment. However, if you found this post useful, help me by sharing this post on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

[If you are new to WordPress, you will love our WordPress Guide for Beginnes]