As many are aware, by default WordPress adds a rel="nofollow" to the URLs in comments. The genesis of this seems to be from a couple years ago when blog spam (I’d imagine trackback spam in particular) was getting worse and the options we have now weren’t around or as refined.
I’ve noticed some of the blogs I read don’t do this and have been pondering the idea of removing the nofollow here as well. After all, I think I squash the spam so why not let the spiders follow links back to commenters? Everybody deserves some link juice, right?
This evening I read Dougal’s post on the topic and I think he sums it up very well. Time to dump the nofollow thing.
Now if I could just get the plugin he suggested… site seems down. I tried the Semiologic dofollow plugin, but lost the commenter’s MyBlogLog pictures when it was activated.
[Updated: Found the dofollow plugin mentioned. Nofollow for 24 hours, then the tag will be removed. That gives me some time in the event that spam slips through. That gives everyone else ∞-1 days of followed links]
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February 15th, 2007 
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Good choice. Now if only we could get the Wordpress team to see the light and dump it from the core. I find I’m far more likely to comment on and participate in sites that do not use NoFollow.
Thanks Rirath. Perhaps if enough folks mention the topic, it’ll get noticed and considered for upcoming release.
Well, one can dream…
Well, they’ve promised to implement the most popular options on their new voting section… but somehow I doubt this will rise to the top over a few other basics by the next release. Maybe soon.
http://wordpress.org/extend/ideas/topic.php?id=240
Looks like a good one to vote on.
Chris, just curious, how is everyone getting the “MyBlogLog” things working on their blog’s? Because every time I try and go to that site, the site is messed up and giving error pages? =/
This is the only URL that works for me, and even that’s borked? http://mybloglog.com/
Hi Spencer, I’ve never seen it messed up or give errors. You running any firefox extensions that might be hosing things up?
We removed the nofollow from the blog comments because I think it is important to give some link love to one who takes the time to comment
. Akismet catches the spam anyway, so I am not worried.
Hi Chris, I just disabled all Firefox extensions, and tried loading the site, still a no-go. Here I found two MyBlogLog references in my HOSTS file, which I downloaded to help prevent spammers, trojans and so forth from coming onto my PC..
I removed those two lines that mentioned MyBlogLog, and their site loaded fine.
:) Thank God that’s all it was.. 
:)
That HOSTS file I was talking about, can be found here:
# This MVPS HOSTS file is a free download from:
# http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/
Maybe this will help others, if they come across the same troubles..
:) Thanks Chris for suggestion, and comment. Congrats by the way, on the new “moderator+” title for the WP.org forums.. 
:) Take care man.. 
Good move. I use the Semiologic one on my website and it works just fine. It’s a nice way to spread the love I find
Want to tell everyone that you’ve turned off the nofollow in your comments? Check out my new “ifollow” logos- grab one for your sidebar!
http://randaclay.com/archives/the-i-follow-movement
Good stuff, Randa. I’ll likely be by to swipe a logo soon.
You’re right- the orange one does look like I designed it just for you! I chose the orange one too (were you wearing your glasses when you stopped by my site? It was at the top. ha ha!)
I’ve been wanting to implement this on my site. Thanks for the info.
I removed the nofollow from my blog a while back too. Randa beat me to the mark with her logo design – a great idea on her behalf!
I was thinking about it for a couple of months… and there always was something more urgent, so I completely forgot to implement this. Thanks for putting up that banner/logo to remind me.
Hey Moshu, thanks for the thanks
Your new blog (WordPress 101) looks quite interesting. Best of luck with that venture.
Hello – we’ve just did the same. NoFollow never stopped anything apart from conversation…..
New to blogging, but I’m looking into this dofollow tag… I think it definitely helps build a community…
[...] other day I have visited my fellow moderator, HandySolo’s blog and read about his implementation of the dofollow plugin. Actually, I went to read that post [...]
[...] still not changing my mind: Getting rid of “rel=nofollow” on comments still feels like the right thing to do. However, I’m noticing more and more [...]
[...] I joined the movement celebrating the removal of nofollow tags from my comments (more on that here and here). In my most recent post on the topic, I bemoaned the potential for a low-grade yet [...]
[...] in February, I excitedly announced that I was getting rid of the rel=nofollow stuff on comment [...]
I’ve been debating on whether or not to do this on my blog. The reason is, I don’t have many webmasters viewing my blog (if any, because of the niche) so I don’t think its discouraging anyone from spamming me. On the other hand, if I do put dofollow, and then I do get spammed, won’t I be giving up some PR juice?
I have similar problems with my site http://www.unregisterednews.com. Effectively, nofollow concentrates advertising commission onto a few very popular websites and acts against a fairer, diluted spread of commission income. The internet is now a much harder place for non-established link based business. Nice one google.
It is important to give link-love only to commenters you can trust.
The solution you are using still leave you exposed to comment spam.
WordPress core does not handle nofollow properly, at least not the way it is recommended by head of Google anti-spam team Matt Cutts.
Please vote for the FIX idea at
wordpress.org/extend/ideas/topic.php?id=1112