Comments are back and so am I. Comments had to be shut down because of the massive spam attack that crashed my host's server months ago. In the last two weeks another problem cropped up out of the blue, I couldn't publish posts for reasons that weren't easy to identify. The downside of Open Source is that you have to find the solutions to your own problems, and that takes time. After devoting a full Saturday afternoon (about 6 hours) I was finally able to identify the problem and find the solution in the MT User Guide. It was as simple as changing permissions from 755 to 777 (solutions are always simple. The difficulty is in accurately identifying the problem, and I think this principle holds true for everything in life).
As far as comments spam. Six Apart now provides very helpful recommendations. After considering the options, I decided to use MT-Close2. From what I've read, MT-Blacklist can mistakenly flag good comments as spam. Close2 closes older comments, which is where spammers do most of their dirty work. It is extremely easy to install and seems to work very efficiently.
I hope this helps anyone who is encountering problems with comment spam.
UPDATE
Another option is Junkeater. I have not tried this option but it seems to work well for other Movabletype bloggers.
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Posted by: diana at March 13, 2005 02:23 AMSo, are we going to just lay down and let Bush's people walk over us? Hell NO! They are going to kick us around with the Bankruptcy Bill, are they?
Hell NO!
Spread the word! Spread the word!
All of that junk mail from the Credit Card Companies wanting us to get mo' credit, spend mo' money. Any thing from a Credit Card Company with pre-paid postage, send it back in that envelope empty. Yes pre-paid postage permit envelope, just seal it and send it back EMPTY!
Posted by: Ricardo Cuervo at March 14, 2005 12:20 AMWelcome back Diana!
Posted by: supa at March 15, 2005 08:03 PMThank you supa. It's good to be back. Now I just have to find the time to blog.
Ricardo, thanks for the tip. I never would have thought of doing that.
Posted by: diana at March 16, 2005 07:42 PM