By Simon Hettrick.

Spam is annoying. That's hardly news, but it's not until you run a website with a commenting system that you realise just how expensive spam can be. We want an accessible commenting system that allows people to get involved with the topics discussed in our blog, but the ceaseless deluge of spam is making it difficult. Things have got to change (and we'd like your help)!

Our old commenting system allowed anyone to comment, but all comments were moderated. This was a source of some contention, because when you're motivated to comment on a blog, you want to see your response instantly. Allowing anyone to comment also means that the spammers can go crazy, and they continue to do so even though all spam comments are deleted and never published. Just like a never-ending lunch party at your grandmother's, the spam just keeps coming.

The spamfest has forced us to try out a new system. Before anyone can comment on the blog, they will need to register for a commenting account. We are aware that this is a burden, but once you have a commenting account, you will be able to comment on any post and without delay. To ensure that spammers don't get their hands on a commenting account, we have locked down accounts so that only people with academic email addresses (.ac.uk, .edu, etc.) can sign up. This doesn't mean that we only want academics to comment! If you don't have access to an academic email account, you can still email us to request an account.

Our new approach will certainly stop the flow of spam, but we fear that it is a little Draconian. Can anyone suggest an alternative approach for a Drupal commenting system? Once we've tried out a few different ideas, we will write up what worked best in a future blog post.