For some time now, “comment spam” or what I call “blogspam” has been a significant administrative problem here at Unspun™.

This is an “Administrivia” post, so if you don’t care much about how this blog operates, no need to read the rest of this post. Just, please, notify me if you notice any “odd behavior” while trying to interact with Unspun™.

If you are interested in more detail on what this upgrade is about, click the link to the full article (unless you’re already there) and read on…

I’m loathe to upgrade MovableType, because the potential for disaster is always present with an upgrade, and I don’t fully understand the MovableType architecture. (Consequent to this, I sometimes install things in the wrong places, which can really jack stuff up.) Six Apart, creators and “maintainers” of MovableType doesn’t help in this regard, because while most program upgrades from other companies always have an “INSTALL” document in the main directory of the upgrade, which explains exactly what to do with the particular package you’ve downloaded, MovableType assumes you have no right to run their product unless you can make do without that document.

And don’t anyone bother writing to say, “You’re supposed to read the mtupgrade.html from the docs directory” because a) if so, the missing INSTALL file should say so and b) it doesn’t contain information on going from, say, 3.12 to 3.14. In other words, it doesn’t cover account for the various types of upgrades someone might be using the package to effectuate.

At any rate, the new upgrade to 3.14 is supposed to help with some of the problems caused by comment spam. Specifically, comment spam — even though I force moderation on it — puts a heavy load on the server when spammers are out in force. Unspun™ blocks several thousand pornographic and “helpful gadget” and “irreplaceable service” spams per week so that you don’t have to see them (and so they don’t get better search engine placement by their unwelcome “affiliation” with Unspun™).

So, hopefully, after a bit of a false start this morning, I’ve properly upgraded my blog and things should work better. And I’ve noticed some cute new buttons on the Administrative pages used to create blog entries.

Let me know if you experience any difficulties interacting with the blog!