Right after you activate the plugin, you'll see a prompt in the top section of your wp-admin. Click on the big button that's in it:
The Akismet plugin requires that you have a special API key. Getting this API key isn't something particularly difficult, but we still need to go through a couple of steps. First, click on the Get your API key button:
You will be redirected to akismet.com (https://akismet.com/), where you will be able to complete the process. The on-screen instructions are very clear and take you through everything step by step. To get started, you first need a WordPress.com profile account. If you don't have one yet, you will be prompted to create it. Nothing fancy—just standard information is needed during signup. We covered this in an earlier chapter.
Once you do have the account and begin setting up Akismet, the thing you should pay special attention to is the specific subscription plan that you're going to select. At the time of writing, there are three available: Basic (free), Plus ($5), and Enterprise ($50). To get standard spam protection, you can confidently go with Basic, as shown in the following screenshot:
Now, this is tricky. The plan you've selected is based on voluntary donations. If you're not willing to spend any money, just take the slider that's in the center and slide it to the left, all the way to $0.00/yr:
After clicking on the final activation link, you will be redirected back to your WordPress website, and the API key is going to be already in the right field in Akismet settings.
If you're feeling confident, you can check the box labeled Silently discard the worst and most pervasive spam so I never see it. Akismet is relatively good at identifying which comment is actually spam, and checking this box will make those comments disappear. However, if you're concerned about Akismet misidentifying comments, leave this unchecked. All you have to do is click on the Save Changes button, and your blog is now protected from comment spam! This is demonstrated in the following screenshot:
