How to Remove the Comments Section from WordPress Blog Articles

We recently had to disable our Akismet plug-in, which offered reasonable protection from spam, but not stellar performance.

How they plug their plug-in ...
"Used by millions, Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from comment and trackback spam. It keeps your site protected from spam even while you sleep. To get started: 1) Click the "Activate" link to the left of this description, 2) Sign up for an Akismet API key, and 3) Go to your Akismet configuration page, and save your API key."

At a cost of $50 per month for unlimited WordPress commercial websites, some users want alternatives. Several spammy comments got by the protection anyway. We immediately though it would be a good idea to dump the comments section from WordPress.

For years Askismet was provided free with our WordPress host. But a compatibility problem prevented the host service from offering Akismet with a shared API key. Each website publisher was forced to get their own API key. Then came the shocker -- $50 per month for any Akismet spam protection coverage greater than ONE website.

The host provider didn't warn users about the cost. We thought we would just activate a new API key.  Deactiveted to old key and then watched spam increase at a rate of about three spammy comments per minute or 2300 new spammy comments in 12 hours -- without any protection. Instead of paying $50 per month, we removed the COMMENTS SECTION TAG ...

<div id="comment">
<?php comments_template(); ?>
</div>

You'll find yours in your Single Post (single.php) Template. You can search comments in your template to jump to the text illustrated above in bold. Simply remove the text and your comments section is removed.

As soon as we removed the COMMENTS SECTION TAG, the spammy comments stopped, except for about four that trickled in over the next five hours (forgot to uncheck "Allow people to post comments on new articles" in the Discussion Setting).

In summary, it's not very easy to learn how to delete the comment section. It's surprising there isn't a control feature in the discussion section that would complete the operation.

We're wondering how much the lack of a comment section and the lack of processing the pending spammy comments will increase the speed of our website and decrease the load on the host server.

Google Gmail Service Disruption on Thursday, October 22, 2014; Blogger Not Posting Emails Designated to Post Articles

Google reported an issue with Gmail at 2:52 AM on Thursday, October 22, 2014. Google Message: "We will provide more information shortly."

Google reported Gmail service has already been restored for some users at 3:13 AM Thursday, October 22, 2014. Google message: "We expect a resolution for all users within the next 1 hours. Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change."

Google reported the problem with Gmail should be resolved at 3:19 AM on Thursday, October 22, 2014. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better.

Emails to blogger are not posting to blogs at 11:15 AM Thursday, October 22, 2014.

Service Disruption Reported with Google Drive on October 22, 2014

Google was  investigating reports of an issue with Google Drive. Google message: "We will provide more information shortly at about 2:52 AM on Thursday October 22, 2014."

Google Drive service was reported restored for some users at  3:13 AM on Thursday, October 22, 2014., and we expect a resolution for all users within the next 1 hours. Google Message: "Please note this time frame is an estimate and may change.

The problem with Google Drive was reported resolved at 3:19 AM on 10/22/14. Google message: "We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. Please rest assured that system reliability is a top priority at Google, and we are making continuous improvements to make our systems better."


Times in Central Daylight Time.

AT&T Expanding 1000 Mbps Speed Internet to the City of Chicago

AT&T said Tuesday it is expanding its fiber network to Chicago. AT&T reported its fiber network can deliver speeds of up to one gigabit per second, about 100 times the national average. At that rate, a user can download 25 songs in one second.

AT&T announced in April that Chicago and the Illinois suburbs of  Des Plaines, Glenview, Lombard, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Park Ridge, Skokie and Wheaton were among 100 cities nationwide it was considering for the expansion of its fiber network.

AT&T did not provide information Tuesday about whether the suburbs would be included with the City of Chicago expansion.

In Austin, Texas, where AT&T has already installed its fiber network, the one-gigabit-per-second service, is available for $70 a month.

Google Fiber offers speeds up to 1,000 Mbps (1 Gigabit per second) for $70 per month in Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Missouri; and Provo, Utah.

In February 2014, Google announced it was considering rolling out Google Fiber service to the Georgia cities of Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, College Park, Decatur, East Point, Hapeville, Sandy Springs and Smyrna. The cities are part of a broader rollout that involves eight other metropolitan area, including Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham and Nashville.

Comcast fastest speed is 505 Mbps, but is about $300 per month and requires special commercial equipment.