Solo Technology

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]

24 Responses to “That nofollow Thing”

1. Rirath on February 15th, 2007 9:25 pm
   

   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.

2. Chris on February 15th, 2007 9:49 pm
   

   Thanks Rirath. Perhaps if enough folks mention the topic, it’ll get noticed and considered for upcoming release.

   Well, one can dream…

3. Rirath on February 15th, 2007 10:59 pm
   

   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.

4. spencerp on February 16th, 2007 2:29 am
   

   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/

5. Chris on February 16th, 2007 12:06 pm
   

   Hi Spencer, I’ve never seen it messed up or give errors. You running any firefox extensions that might be hosing things up?

6. cctech on February 16th, 2007 2:26 pm
   

   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.

7. spencerp on February 16th, 2007 7:39 pm
   

   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..

8. Owen on March 6th, 2007 2:38 am
   

   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

9. Randa Clay on April 11th, 2007 2:46 pm
   

   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

10. Chris on April 11th, 2007 4:14 pm
    

    Good stuff, Randa. I’ll likely be by to swipe a logo soon.

11. Randa Clay on April 11th, 2007 8:33 pm
    

    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!)

12. AgentSully on April 17th, 2007 8:44 am
    

    I’ve been wanting to implement this on my site. Thanks for the info.

13. David Airey :: Creative Design :: on April 24th, 2007 4:41 am
    

    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!

14. moshu on May 22nd, 2007 10:26 pm
    

    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.

15. Chris on May 22nd, 2007 10:53 pm
    

    Hey Moshu, thanks for the thanks

    Your new blog (WordPress 101) looks quite interesting. Best of luck with that venture.

16. Hobo Design on May 23rd, 2007 1:10 pm
    

    Hello - we’ve just did the same. NoFollow never stopped anything apart from conversation…..

17. Ruby on May 24th, 2007 5:58 am
    

    New to blogging, but I’m looking into this dofollow tag… I think it definitely helps build a community…

18. » pingback » Dofollow and contact - WordPress 101 - The Blog on May 24th, 2007 6:13 am
    
    
19. » pingback » More on the Potential For DoFollow Abuse » Solo Technology on June 10th, 2007 1:13 pm
    
    
20. » pingback » 31 months later » Solo Technology on July 1st, 2007 8:59 pm
    
    
21. » pingback » *sigh* Welcome Back rel=nofollow » Solo Technology on July 10th, 2007 8:54 pm
    
    
22. Data Governance on August 30th, 2007 12:34 pm
    

    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?

23. azon on October 25th, 2007 7:58 am
    

    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.

24. Frank The SEO on January 14th, 2008 2:37 pm
    

    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

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