Help with an API Key?

  • astrangevictory

    (@astrangevictory)


    17 years ago

    Alright. I am getting INSANE amounts of comment spam, like 100-200 spam comments a day. I did a little research, and all signs point to Akismet being the answer. Well, I went to activate Akismet, and my website interface informed me that Akismet was not activated, and that I would need to input my API key to activate it. That’s all good and well, but no where can I find my API key! I went into My Account, but the only options are “Your Profile” and “Authors and Users”, and there is no place that states “Your API key is…” There are no initial emails informing me of my API key, either.

    I actually have WordPress through my webhost provider, Dreamhost. Would that make a difference?

    My ultimate question is this: How can I get my API key to activate Akismet? Please help!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

  • Try to read the page that prompts for WordPress.com API key again, this time very thoroughly. Then, you’ll know where actually to find it. ??

    Good luck.

    Would it have been so hard, poppacket, to offer help instead of smugness?

    For those still struggling, you’ll find actual help getting your API key in this post. I am including my journey since it may help soothe the frazzled nerves of those, who like me, reached the proverbial brick wall before we conquered the task.

    I read, REread and REREAD again, the page that prompts for the WordPress.com API key. Yep, the answer was there all along. However, to someone with an account with www.remarpro.com the NEED to get a WordPress.COM account seemed ridiculous if not absurd and contradictory to what I thought I understood about the differences in using one or the other to create a blog. I did not want to be bound by the design and marketing limitations of the Terms of Service of a WordPress.com freebie blog.

    So what did I, and likely “astrangevictory,” and I’m sure countless others do? We checked our www.remarpro.com dashboard expecting to see the sentence noting our API key and when not found, and we determined we were neither blind nor stupid, returned to the page prompting for API key and sat a bit scratching our heads. Finally, assuming I could always back out of future sign-up screens, I took a deep breath and clicked the link to setup an account at WordPress.com.

    Following the screen prompts, I DID create a WordPress.com account but only AFTER re-reading the Terms of Service and AFTER my light bulb moment when I noted a vital IF clause: If you create a blog on the Website,, meaning IF you create a free blog hosted by WordPress.com

    Further into the signup, I discovered that you can create a plain vanilla WordPress.com account and NOT a WordPress.com free blog. Whew! It was a simply check/not check option. But, really, couldn’t WordPress have pointed that out elsewhere and earlier in the process?

    Also, what had slipped my attention at the get-go was that when dealing with Akismet, you are using a PLUGIN program. And that plugin is associated with WordPress.com.

    Of course, all this struggle and confusion could have been avoided if someone at WordPress responsible for editing the page prompting for API key would add just a wee-bit more information and instruction. One can always hope! ??

    Well done katsturtz,
    just what I was thinking ??
    Lost track of the number of times I’ve seen the question asked.
    it would be so easy to put a link in the akismet setup screen.
    Other plugins using an API key don’t seem to have this problem.
    I expect astrangevictory has given up by now,
    but for others.

    My ultimate question is this: How can I get my API key to activate Akismet? Please help!

    https://wordpress.com/
    cheers. mike.

    Patience and thoroughness are highly respected, but there are times when you can overdo the hand-holding. Learning is an active process. Babysitting is just babysitting!

    It’s all explained in plain, clear English here:
    https://wordpress.com/api-keys/

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • The topic ‘Help with an API Key?’ is closed to new replies.