(More!) New Tools for Fighting Spam

Last week we announced some new tools for fighting spam and promised a follow-up when we were ready with more features. Today we're releasing the ability for any TypePad user to block spammers. This has the effect of:

1. Removing the profile you block from your Followers list.
2. Preventing the profile owner you block from following you again (unless you Unblock them).
3. Preventing the profile owner you block from seeing any updates about your activity in their dashboard.

You can block spammers from two areas of TypePad:

1. You can visit a profile page and click the "Block" button that is now under the profile photo.
2. You can visit your Followers page and block anyone you'd prefer not to follow you. Please note: because we want to give you the chance to Unblock someone from that page if you made a mistake, you will not see a blocked user disappear from your Follower list until you refresh the page.

Once you've blocked someone you can unblock them by visiting their profile page again.

Here is what you'll see on a user's profile page:

And here is what you'll see on your Followers page:

As previously announced, we're going to continue to identify and clean up spammer accounts. While doing that we hope the new Block feature will help you take full control over your Followers list to remove anyone that looks like a spammer and keep your blog spic 'n span.

Comments

[@xannov]

Thank you Guys for sorting this out. I've just tried it out and it does exactly what it says on the tin. I can block the sploggers, and I can take control of my follow list once again.
Very happy now :o) (no more moaning on the Get Satisfaction forum!)

[Cookie!]

Thank you!

I know it's been a mad rush to get this thing live (without bugs) and we really do appreciate it and all the hard work that's gone into fixing this issue. It's been a long time coming and I'm thrilled that I now have one less thing to worry about regarding my little corner of the blogging community.

Well done!

[Simona Carini]

Thank you SO MUCH to the whole team for working hard on solving this problem. The new features work nicely. Thank you, I really really appreciate what you've done here.

[Kiril Kundurazieff]

Thank U!

I just came home to find I was being followed by MarkMyWord.

Now I can effectively tell it to KissMy***, hee, hee! ;-D

[Ulettmarie]

these are some very useful tips thank you for sharing with us :)

[Account Deleted]

Useful to preventing spam.Thanks for publishing this.

[Ian Stewart]

That's great, folks. But I still have to look at the Blocked followers on my Dashboard.

I have blocked everyone of the intruders on my Dashboard and also the followers listed (the same?) on my profile. They have disappeared from my profile but not from the Dashboard.

Can they be deleted somehow?

[Account Deleted]

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[Shomara 7]

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[Cmpalomo Edu Gov]

Thank you for having this feature in or most critical times. More and more citizens stand up of these concerns. Organizations can now share ideas across the globe to assure the protection rights of our users and visitors. The key element is to educate, train share ideas, and focus on important matters.

[Fajard]

ow, thanks for

[LnxWalt]

A nice start. Still needed: ability to flag a comment as _potential_ _spam_ (even on others' blogs). This should give the blog owner a signal to look at the comment and decide whether it belongs or not.

[Account Deleted]

Awesome! thanks....

[Bri]

We're so happy it's been working for you and that you're now able to control your Follow list the way you were hoping. :)

[Bri]

We appreciate the kudos, Cookie! We hope that you continue to enjoy the new feature.

[Bri]

We appreciate your kind words and appreciation, Simona! We work hard to make TypePad the very best for all of its users. Enjoy!

[Bri]

Hi Ian!

As more content appears on your Dashboard from the users you DO wish to follow, the older content will drop off.

[Bri]

Thanks so much for your suggestion! We'll definitely take this into consideration. :)

[Ian Stewart]

Thanks for that Brianna.

Best,

Ian

[Skeptico]

I must be missing something here. How does blocking a follower prevent someone leaving spam comments?