Fake Comment Spam Cleaner By KentDevTools (Documentation)

Getting Started

Quick Start — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Overview

Fake Comment Spam Cleaner is a powerful WordPress utility designed to identify, quarantine, and remove automated spam comments that bypass traditional filters. It uses advanced pattern matching to clean your database and improve site performance.

Installation & Setup

1. Install the Plugin: Upload the plugin folder to your WordPress wp-content/plugins/ directory or install the .zip file via the WordPress Admin dashboard.
2. Activate: Navigate to the Plugins menu in WordPress and click Activate under Fake Comment Spam Cleaner.
3. Configure Settings: Access the tool via the new Spam Cleaner menu in your sidebar. Define your sensitivity levels and specify any “Safe Keywords” for legitimate commenters.

Running Your First Scan

1. Initiate Scan: From the Spam Cleaner Dashboard, click the Run Full Scan button. The tool will immediately begin checking all existing approved comments on your site.
2. Monitor Progress: The interface provides a real-time progress bar as it parses your comment database.
3. Review Results: Once the scan is complete, visit the Spam Logs page. Here, you can see exactly which comments were caught, review their source pages, and check the associated IP addresses.
4. Final Cleanup: After reviewing the logs, you can choose to delete the identified spam permanently to optimize your database.

Key Requirements

• Platform: A self-hosted WordPress website.
• Permissions: You must have Administrator-level access to run scans and delete database entries.
• Browser: A modern web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge) is recommended for the best dashboard experience.

Installation — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Core Requirements

To ensure the plugin operates correctly, your environment should meet the following specifications:

• WordPress: Version 6.0 or higher is recommended (minimum 5.8).
• PHP: Version 8.1 or higher is recommended (minimum 7.4).
• MySQL: Version 8.0 or higher is recommended (minimum 5.6).

Setup Process

1. Plugin Activation: Upon activation, the tool automatically creates its own database table (wp_fcsc_spam_log).
2. Migration: If you are updating from an older version, the plugin will auto-migrate the database without requiring manual reactivation.
3. Removal: Deleting the plugin from the WordPress dashboard will trigger a clean uninstall, removing all associated database tables and settings from your site.

Quick Start Guide — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Step 1: Configure Sensitivity

Navigate to Spam Cleaner → Settings to set your protection level:

• Level 1 (Relaxed): Best for community-focused blogs where you want to allow most discussions.
• Level 2 (Standard): The recommended balance for most business websites.
• Level 3 (Aggressive): Designed for high-confidence filtering on sites targeted by high-volume spam bots.

Step 2: Define Actions

Choose how the plugin handles flagged content. For your first use, it is recommended to set the action to “Mark as Spam” rather than “Auto-Delete” so you can review the results first.

Step 3: Initial Scan & Review

• Run Scan: Go to the Dashboard and click Run Full Scan to check all existing approved comments against your new settings.
• Audit Logs: Review flagged items in the Spam Logs. You can expand entries to see the specific reasons a comment was flagged, as well as the author’s IP and source page.

Step 4: Whitelisting

To prevent legitimate users from being flagged, add the email addresses or IP addresses of your trusted commenters to the Whitelist in the settings menu.

Features:

Dashboard — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Monitoring Site Health

The Dashboard provides a high-level overview of the plugin’s activity and the current spam landscape of your WordPress site.

• Spam Stats (Last 30 Days): A line chart displaying the volume of detected spam. A sudden spike often indicates a targeted bot campaign.
• Actions Taken: A breakdown of how the plugin processed flagged comments—whether they were marked as spam, moved to the trash, or deleted.
• Top Spam Reasons: Identifies the primary triggers for detections, such as specific blacklisted keywords (e.g., “casino”), helping you fine-tune your filtering rules.
• Run Full Scan: A manual trigger located in the top-right that scans all existing approved comments in batches of 200 to ensure database optimization without timing out.

Spam Detection — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

The Scoring System

The plugin uses a sophisticated point-based heuristic to determine if a comment is legitimate or automated. Each suspicious signal adds to a “Spam Score.” If the total score meets or exceeds your defined Spam Threshold, the comment is flagged.

• Blacklist Keywords: Scans the content for specific words or phrases. Each match adds points to the score.
• Link Detection: Excessive URLs are a primary indicator of spam. You can set a maximum allowed link count before points are applied.
• Heuristic Signals: The tool looks for “throwaway” email domains (e.g., mailinator.com) and excessive punctuation (e.g., “!!!”) to identify bot-like behavior.
• Threshold Tuning: You can adjust the sensitivity in Settings. A lower threshold (e.g., 2) is more aggressive, while a higher threshold (e.g., 5) is more relaxed.

Spam Logs — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Reviewing & Bulk Actions

The Spam Logs page is your central hub for auditing the plugin’s decisions and managing flagged content.

• Detailed Evidence: Every log entry includes the author’s name, the source post URL, and the specific reasons the comment was flagged (including the full score breakdown).
• IP Intelligence: Each entry provides the author’s IP address with direct links to ipinfo.io for geolocation and AbuseIPDB to check the sender’s reputation.
• Bulk Management:
  • Delete All Spam: Permanently removes the comments from WordPress and clears the log.
  • Clear Logs Only: Wipes the report history while leaving the actual WordPress comments untouched.

Whitelist — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Protecting Trusted Users

To ensure that loyal community members are never accidentally blocked, you can define specific bypass rules.

• Trusted Entities: Add specific email addresses or IP addresses to the whitelist. These users will never be scanned, regardless of their comment content.
• IP Wildcards: Supports range-based whitelisting (e.g., 192.168.1.*), which is ideal for protecting your own office, home, or staging environment.
• Automatic Trust: By default, the plugin automatically trusts users with administrative or editorial roles (Administrator, Editor, Author, and Contributor). Subscribers and Guests are scanned normally.

Settings — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

Customizing Your Protection

• Sensitivity Levels: Choose between Level 1 (Relaxed), Level 2 (Standard), or Level 3 (Aggressive) to automatically adjust the spam threshold.
• Spam Actions: Define what happens to flagged items. You can set the plugin to simply mark them as spam, move them to the trash, or permanently delete them.
• Background Scanning: Toggle the Daily Automatic Scan to have the plugin audit your approved comments once per day in the background.
• Email Alerts: Enable notifications to receive an alert at the admin email address whenever new spam is detected. (Note: On high-traffic sites, it is recommended to keep this off to avoid inbox clutter).

FAQ:

FAQ — Fake Comment Spam Cleaner

What is the “Score Threshold” setting?

Each detection engine adds points to a spam score. The threshold is the minimum score required before a comment is treated as spam. The default is 3; a lower threshold is stricter and more likely to catch spam, while a higher threshold is more lenient.

Can I review posts before they go live?

Yes. In the Settings, change the Post Status to “Draft”. All new posts will then be saved as drafts in your WordPress dashboard for manual review and publication.

How do I update the plugin?

Update it like any other WordPress plugin—either via the Plugins → Updates menu or by uploading a new ZIP file. The database schema updates automatically, and you do not need to deactivate and reactivate the plugin after updating.

Which RSS feeds work best?

Feeds that include the full content in the <description> or <content:encoded> tags work best. According to the documentation, feeds from BBC, NASA, and Harvard Health are among the cleanest to use.

The plugin isn’t detecting spam. What’s wrong?

First, ensure the plugin is activated and the detection methods are enabled in Settings. Check if the commenter is on your whitelist or if the Score Threshold is set too high. You can try lowering the threshold to 2 and running a manual scan from the Dashboard.

What happens if my license says “Invalid key”?

Ensure you are copying the full key from your purchase email without extra spaces. If the issue persists, contact support at kentdevtools.com/Contact with your purchase email for assistance.