In the next day or two, I’ll be upgrading to WordPress 1.5 (WP). I’m currently using WordPress 1.2.2.
The developers of WP listened to their users and made major improvements. One of the best, which motivated me to do the upgrade, is better control of comments. I enjoy the very active comment sections I have on this blog, and I wouldn’t want to change that. Because of open commenting, however, trolls are having a field day. Restricting their ability to comment has inevitabley restricted commenters I like. (No, they don’t all agree with me.)
With WP 1.5, all that will change. The developers have implemented a feature called “automatic whitelisting.” After the upgrade, all comments will be held in the comment queue until I approve them. Regular commenters will be approved, of course. This will be a one-time deal, and your comments won’t be moderated after that. “Drive-by” commenters (Google searchers) and other first-time visitors will be held in the comment queue until I approve or delete the comment. Now here’s the best part:
Troll comments will never appear on the blog.
One thing habitual trolls enjoy is seeing their comments on the site, however briefly they appear. With WP 1.5, those days are over. If I suspect that someone is a troll, I will contact the person to verify the e-mail address. If I don’t hear back, I’ll assume the e-mail is fake, and the comment is deleted.
The developers also created blacklisting for WP, similar to the feature on Movable Type (MT). A comment containing a word I put on the list will not even make it to the comment queue. It’s zapped, killed, destroyed and sent away. I’ll never see the comment, trolls.
I’m too excited for words. 
There are several cool features in WP 1.5, but I’m upgrading mainly for the improvement in comment control. The developers also improved the WordPress wiki. It’s easier to understand and navigate, and much easier on the eyes.
When I decided to leave Blogger last year, I wanted to go to MT mainly because everybody else did. But at the time, my designer was offering a discount for moving to WP. I’d heard great things about it, but I was skeptical. There was no need to be. WP is a great tool. It’s much lighter than MT, takes up less space, and doesn’t require “rebuilding” every time you update.
In the past few months, I’ve worked with MT. I guest-blogged at Vodkapundit and contributed to GOP Bloggers and Easongate.com. I’m not a techie, but I adapted to MT pretty quickly. Based on experience, I made the right choice with WP. The only complaint is the comment/trackback link. For their next upgrade, I hope the developers will implement separate links. Other than that, I highly recommend you try this innovative, open-source software if you start a blog or you’re ready to ditch Blogger.
Addendum: If there are problems with the new commenting feature, please e-mail me instead of leaving a comment. The less trolls know about how things work, the better.
Update: As many bloggers already know, banning IP addresses is probably the least effective way to get rid of trolls. I just learned that WP 1.5′s new feature takes into account other factors, as I was hoping it would. If I didn’t say it before, I’ll say it now. In the words of Martha Stewart, “It’s a good thing.”
