As of Stop Spammers version 2023.2, the Database Cleanup has seen a major overhaul. Cleaning up your database is now one of three different methods you can use to rid your websites of the spammy stuff. Surface level, we’ve changed the menu to Cleanup so that it reflects a broader swatch of features. The new ones include enhanced user management and mass comment deletion.
Lookup and Disable Users
This functionality comes from a suggestion by a member of the WordPress community. The first tab on the Stop Spammers Cleanup page will allow you to search registered users on your website through a variety of means. You can search for any or all where a user has:
- Past approved comments: It can be helpful to view users who have made legit comments on your website to get a better sense of
- Past comments marked as spam: It of course is useful to see the bad actors
- A first name = last name: Spammers will sometimes input the same first name and last name
- A certain top level domain in their email: Certain TLDs are much “spammier” than others, including emails ending in .info and .ru
You can also search where a user has:
- A specified username: I use this to cleanup test accounts
- Registered before or after a specified number of days
- Not logged in before a specified date
- A specified role
Once you select Search, you will see all registered WordPress users on your website who have met the criterion you have specified. From there, you can individually select or mass select the accounts that appear in the table and either disable or enable them. They are not deleted, so you can undo your actions at any time. But these registered users will no longer be able to log in to their account if they are disabled. The functionality integrates with WooCommerce as well. If needed, you can also export the list to Excel.
Mass Delete Pending Comments
On tab two, you will find the count of pending comments currently on your website. If you’ve found them to all be spammy, you are able to delete them en masse here.
Looking for Feedback
If you would like to search for registered users in other ways that might be helpful to target spamers and spam, please let us know in the comments below.
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