How do I train Akismet to catch more spam?

Akismet is a spam‑fighting tool that uses machine learning to identify and filter out spam comments on websites. To maintain its effectiveness, Akismet relies on user feedback to continually improve its spam detection capabilities. This guide explains how you can contribute to teaching Akismet.

Important: Akismet can only learn from spam or false positive corrections if Akismet remains enabled. If you disable Akismet, it will not collect feedback, and the learning process will not improve.

How Akismet Learns

Akismet learns from the comments you mark as spam or not spam in your comment moderation interface. Every time you mark a comment as spam or not spam, you’re teaching Akismet and improving its accuracy for everyone.

How to Mark Comments in WordPress

To Mark blog comments as spam

  1. Go to the Comments section in your WordPress dashboard.
  2. Hover over the comment you want to mark.
  3. Click Spam.
The comment section of WP Admin. There is an arrow pointing to the option of "Spam" next to a comment.

To Mark multiple comments as spam

If you have multiple comments you want to mark as spam, follow these steps:

  1. Check the boxes next to the comments
  2. Select the “Mark as Spam” option from the bulk menu option at the top of the screen
  3. Press the “Apply” button.

To Mark a comment as “not spam”

Sometimes Akismet will flag something as spam when it is actually a legitimate submission. This is called a “false positive.”

  1. Navigate to Comments > Spam in your dashboard.
  2. Hover over the comment you want to unmark.
  3. Click Not Spam.

Marking Comments as spam on Other Platforms

The process may vary slightly depending on the platform you are using, but if it has an Akismet integration you should find similar options to mark comments as spam or not spam.

How to Mark contact form submissions as spam

Depending on which type of contact form you are using, you may be able to mark contact form submissions as spam as well.

For example, with Jetpack’s contact form (either the Form block, or the classic editor version), you can manually mark comments as spam/not spam via the Feedback section of WP Admin.

Best Practices for Teaching Akismet

  • Mark Obvious Spam: Always mark clear spam comments and contact form submissions as spam.
  • Mark Subtle Spam: If you notice less obvious spam, mark it as spam too.
  • Correct Mistakes: If Akismet mistakenly marks a legitimate comment or submission as spam, be sure to mark it as Not Spam.

Conclusion

By actively marking comments and contact form submissions, you play a vital role in enhancing Akismet’s spam detection capabilities. Your efforts help maintain clean and spam‑free comment sections and contact forms across many websites. Thank you for helping make the internet a better place!

If you continue to see things getting through that you’ve marked as spam, please reach out to Akismet Support with a few example comments and we’ll be happy to look into this further.

If you have general questions about Akismet, please contact us.