Also, I found out that the default on the plugin is 15 characters, so it will block a short comment, but tells you that the comment is too short. You can also adjust the min characters required. You should have given the author a chance. I’ve been running WP-Spamshield for over a year with no spam and no issues on a community site. I had some custom code in my child theme that the latest version combined with a WP change caused a known bug to stop certain users from commenting. I submitted a ticket (my first) and was contacted very quickly. He worked with me until “I” tired out at 3am and resumed helping me the next day. Thing is, he could have quit when it worked with the parent theme and told me I was on my own, but he kept helping and giving ideas to try. HE found the problem and although my site was sort of a one off site, sent me code to make it work for ME. He then turned around and added the code for his future releases just so I can continue to use his plugin. This is truly my favorite plugin that WP offers, with Yoast closely behind it. It is and will always be my first plugin on any new WP site. Thanks again Scott for the outstanding work! I hated that my site had issues for a day, but glad I met and got to know you as a result.
