Every time a comment is made on any CommentLuv enabled site (over 100,000 at last count) means the ComLuv server has to do the checking, searching, fetching and sending back of a feed for every request. With normal comments from normal people, it handles everything just fine and processes over a million comments a month, making a lot of people feel the luv.
The problem comes when the spammers get running and scraping a whole lot of blogs with old wordpress versions or bot-friendly comment forms with the CommentLuv plugin still installed. When that happens, the Comluv server can get hit a thousand times a minute with requests for a feed on a site that has not got one or has a badly formed file. That literally kills the server!
Fighting the spammers has been an almost full time job, I have missed so many deadlines for the plugin because I had to secure the server again or figure out how to filter away the bad requests or learn how to configure the Mysql server so it can handle so many connections on a database that has thousands of new rows inserted every hour.
This is why I’ve had to do a mass clear out of spam blogs created here and put in a new routine to ban any url that results in a feed error 3 times or more. I’ve also put in some checks and other space and bandwidth saving measures and hope this will take care of things for a while. Oh gawd I hope so!
I’ll get some tutorials up soon on how to troubleshoot your feed if you’re getting an error and how to unban your site once you get your feed sorted out but if you’re having troubles right now, submit a support ticket and I’ll see what I can do for you..
EasyAzon Plugin
Twitter: fmsseo
says:
Spammers really do spoil the best elements of the web.
It’s also reassuring that you are finding ways to combat this and continue to make CommentLuv a great experience for those that use it the way it was intended, to share the love.
All the best Andy,
Karl
Twitter: commentluv
says:
it’s a never ending job! the more popular the site gets, the more attacks it gets. What a way to spend my off hours!
Twitter: swashata
says:
Seems that you have really kicked off the spammers for now
… Hats off to your great work! Your plugin for intense debate has really increased the comment frequency on my blog 
.-= Swashata´s last blog ..MySQL date and time DataTypes Overview: DATE, TIME, DATETIME, TIMESTAMP, YEAR & Zero Values #Part2.1 =-.
Twitter: doolin
says:
Thanks!
Now to figure out how to handle the Feedburner part of it. I might have to remove the FD Feedburner plugin, not sure yet.
Any recommendations welcome.
.-= doolin´s last blog ..DIY WordPress: Thesis Theme Custom Splash Page =-.
Twitter: commentluv
says:
just visit the feedburner site. they have all the instructions and how to docs there
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
says:
Oh, no – so you mean any time my shared hosting’s slow or my blog’s unavailable, you’re going to kick me out?? Noooooo…
Actually, there was a problem with CommentLuv on my blog, this morning – I don’t know if it’s CommentLuv or IntenseDebate, or what, but it would show the list of posts, pretend to be working – then you hit Submit, and the comment shows up, but no CommentLuv link! (I have to double-check; it may be working again.) But that was odd.
Okay, spammers and scammers, leave our CommentLuv and Andy alone, now – let him work on the FUN stuff we all enjoy, while y’all go make your splogs and ‘netscrapers and other assorted landfill of the Blogosphere…
.-= Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..Have You Looked at Your Own Blog Lately? =-.
Twitter: HollyJahangiri
says:
Seems to be working okay now, Andy. Not sure what was up with it this morning, though – and I was not the only one having problems.
.-= Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..Posts & Comments: The Heart of Your Blog =-.
Twitter: thatgirlisfunny
says:
My god you work hard, man. Thanks for everything you do – so much goes on behind the scenes.
.-= thatgirlisfunny´s last blog ..Female UFC Fight Fans Are Hot! Actually, You Do Want to Date These Girls =-.
Hi Andy i’m new here.
Wow, you singlehandedly managed this site? how on earth you do just that?
.-= pamie849´s last blog ..Malaysia Super League 2010 Kelantan 0-1 Kedah, The Stupid Gol Keeper =-.
Twitter: commentluv
says:
it is still up and available purely because of caffeine . there, said it. coffee and code rules my life.
Twitter: rinish720
says:
Keep fighting the good fight, Andy. Your hard work def. does not go unnoticed. Much love to ComLuv!
.-= Larry´s last blog ..The verdict is in… you are all idiots =-.
Twitter: commentluv
says:
thanks Larry. The server has been really causing me to lose a lot of sleep this month!
Twitter: dswordpress
says:
Hi Andy, I’m sorry to hear about the troubles (not surprised, but sorry none the less!). A client of mine just contacted me, upset because their site has been marked as ‘spam’ by CommentLuv. Is there anything I can do to rectify the situation? They are not spam, just a regular travel blog – can I fix this somehow?
Thanks!
Cathy
Twitter: commentluv
says:
it’s ok, I think they contacted me and we managed to fix it for them. It was as easy as adding their url to the unban page. Hopefully, the next version of commentluv will do away with the banning system all together