How to fix “Blocked as suspected bot” error on WordPress

Many bloggers encounters error “Blocked as suspected bot” while using a commenting plugin on their website. In this article, I will share my experience with this error and suggest how to solve it.




You can also visit my article “Best WordPress Comment Plugin | WordPress Comment Plugins Review” to find pros and cons of various comment plugins as it will help you in choosing right plugin for your site.

Blocked as suspected bot Error

WordPress default commenting system lack a number of features. Due to this, one has to use a comment plugin. I zeroed down on plugin wpDiscuz after seeing its reviews. It is a great plugin with all the features. However when I started testing it by posting a comment, I encountered the error.

I deactivated Jetpack to check whether it is interfering with wpDiscuz plugin or not. However the problem persisted even after deactivation of Jetpack. Later I submitted a ticket for wpDiscuz support and they mentioned that MOJO Marketplace or Bluehost plugin may be responsible for this issue. I was not having MOJO Marketplace activated and I was afraid to deactivate Bluehost plugin thinking that I will loose benefits of supervision of my site from Bluehost cPanel.

Solution – 1: Use of other Plugin

I decided not to deactivate Bluehost plugin and started finding a plugin where this problem does not occur. During search, I came across a plugin Replyable – Subscribe to Comments and Reply by Email. I found that this plugin was not having the issue and it had a working functionality of subscriptions for new/follow-up comments. However I was not fully happy due to following reasons:-

1. wpDiscuz plugin is well ahead in terms of functionality. It has mechanism of captcha to prevent spam comments, subscription option for follow-up comments etc.
2. Mention of Replyable in various notifications received by comment subscribers.

Hence I decided to give a try to deactivating Bluehost plugin thinking that if any issue happens then I will re-activate the plugin.

Solution – 2: Bluehost Plugin Deactivation

I deactivated Bluehost plugin from WordPress Dashboard. The error “Blocked as suspected bot” soon disappeared and plugin wpDiscuz started working perfectly. To my surprise, I found that Bluehost plugin is no longer present in Installed Plugins list. I tried to search this plugin in order to install it but did not found it on WordPress. After visiting Bluehost cPanel to check about any changes in functionality, I realized the following:-

1. I still can login into WordPress admit through Bluehost cPanel.
2. I can manage themes and plugins from Bluehost cPanel.
3. Automatic update of WordPress and its plugin no longer done by Bluehost. I have to do update from WordPress admin panel whenever I receive notification on Dashboard about updates availability.

I was ok with the above. Hence now I am without Bluehost plugin. Even if I wish I can’t go back to Bluehost plugin 🙂

That is all I had to say regarding the suspected bot error. Please subscribe this website to receive latest updates. Please also visit my page “Essential WordPress Plugins List for a Website” to find a complete list of plugins which will help in building a secure, SEO friendly and functioning website quickly.

Reference:

1. https://winningwp.com/best-commenting-plugins-for-wordpress/
2. https://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/wordpress-comments-plugins-compared/