WordPress Akismet Plugin Update For Better Spam / Ham Identification

I have been using Akismet plugin for about a month. One of the key deficiency of the plugin is occassional false positives (falsely flagging non-spam as spam) & false negatives (failing to identify spam).

As a result I need to occassionally check Akismet Spam tab (under Manage) to identify any false positives. Spams / hams are very much context sensitive. Comments out of context are often a surefire indication of spam. What may sound like a reasonable comment in the Akismet tab may turn out to be a spam with proper context. For example the following comment may appear very reasonable (actual comment received on my Consanesco Blog) ie. ham:

Good point. There are however a few other things many people should be aware of. Most know that cord blood banks collect, process, test and store the donated umbilical cord blood for the public use, taking into account the great number of people who are diagnosed with life-threatening diseases each year. Therefore, cord blood banks look after expectant mothers, informing them about the importance of their umbilical cord blood and the possibility of helping some people who suffer from terrible diseases. Nevertheless, the information and sensitizing of the population is not fully achieved as in the case of simple blood donation. Cord blood stem cell transplants are considered in order to replace blood marrow transplants. The possibility of finding the match for the patients in need increases, as in 2001 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies stated that roughly 20,000 American lives were saved through transplants of stem cells. I’ve covered some other aspects related to this topic on my website, Cord blood hub - please let me know if you find them useful.

Regards,
Michael Rad

However this comment was posted on an article which merely informs a new cord blood bank is being opened in Allendale. Due to total lack of context I have to agree with Akismet that it is indeed a spam.

Unfortunately at this time Akismet doesn’t provide you with the post information a comment (marked as spam) is associated with. That is the value which this update / enhancement provides you.

You can download the updated version of Akismet here. It adds a line displaying the post title (hyperlinked) associated with the comment. On mouseover it displays a post excerpt to provide you with better context. Please click on the image above for full view.

You may view the diff of this code with the original version here (navigate changes works only on Internet Explorer. Firefox users please scroll down to see the changes marked in yellow.

Note: This update / enhancement has not been reviewed by Akismet author.
Site(s) using it: I use it currently on Consanesco Blog. I eventually plan to use it on my other blogs too.

Support: I have created this modification to scratch my itch and have published and documented it in the hope that it will be useful to all. However I don’t have the resources to support it for free. You are on your own.