I’m getting tired of all this trackback spam I’ve been getting; it’s averaged about sixty a week, usually in one or two big chunks. I’ve tried banning an IP address or two; let’s see if that helps.

How do I ban an IP address, you might ask? Well, it’s pretty easy.

Here’s how it works: first, of course, you need to know the IP address you want to ban. Then on your blog admin page, click on Configuration. Near the upper right of that page, you should see an “IP Banning” link. Click it and you will see a simple form with one input. Enter the IP address to ban and click the Add button; you should then see the newly banned IP address in a list below the form.
If you realize you’ve made a mistake or you want to un-ban the address for any other reason, go to that list and click the checkbox next to the address(es) you want to un-ban. Then click the Delete button below to delete the address(es) from your ban list.
When an address is banned, no computer using that address can leave a comment or a trackback ping. This isn’t foolproof, of course; there are ways for someone to get a new IP. If they are on a large ISP such as AOL, it may well be just a matter of signing off, waiting a few minutes, then signing on again.
For more about IP addresses, check out Wikipedia’s entry.